WHITLAND 85

PENDINE 77

Over a week ago, Pendine with a skip and two leads unavailable due to work or holidays, had to juggle their rinks to face Whitland on their green in an evening match.

On rink one, DKT's regular rink was opposed by Colin and son Phil's lads. Pendine's quartet went out of the blocks in top gear with some superb bowls from lead Colin Thomas and second Curt Rance, added to by Dave Bosier and DKT, who were 13-0 up after five ends and 18-7 up after 10. Whitland rallied winning five ends on the trot, but then the match saw Pendine galvanise over the last seven ends to win 31-18.

Rink two had Geoff Hale move from third to skip in place of the unavailable Malcolm Thomas and lead Don James promoted to third to face Glyndwr Thomas's rink of John R. Denny and Beano. Geoff's lads bowled exceedingly well to hold a good Whitland rink to 18-18 on the 20th end, but dropped four on the last to lose 18-22.

Rink three had Mal Evans's boys, with John Jones making his league debut at lead, facing captain Dave Jenner's lads. This started well for Pendine being 5-0 up after five ends and 8-5 after 10, but a late rallied by Dave's rink peeled at 15-15 on the penultimate end, but Mal held one shot on the last to win 16-15.

Rink four had Stewart King Thomas's rink facing Steve Reese's four, including son Ashley at lead, and the precise Nigel Davies at third. After five ends, Pendine were 8-2 up, but regrettably after that the wheels fell off and Whitland won 14 of the last 16 ends to score a 30-12 win.

Final score: Whitland 10 points Pendine 4.

Rink scores with Pendine rinks first:

C. Thomas, C. Rance, D. Bosier, D. King Thomas 31 E. James, K. Michael, C. Wynn, P. Wynn 18.

N. Thomas, A. Collinge, D. James, G. Hale 18 J. Rees, D. Richards, H. Nicholas, G. Thomas 22.

J. Jones, R. Gosnold, E. Davies, M. Evans 16 A. Thomas, K. Hult, L. Price, D. Jenner 15.

J. Bosier, J. Gronow, M. Dix, S. King Thomas 12 A. Reese, S. Morse, N. Davies, S. Reese 30.

PENDINE 75

SAUNDERSFOOT 62

This was the return match versus Saundersfoot who Pendine had been successful in defeating away from home a fortnight before. No doubt Saundersfoot were looking for a reverse result and a hard match was envisaged and this proved to be the case.

On rink three, Stewart K. T's boys started well and were up 6-2 after five ends on Steve Dicks's four, and this match, with two good leads in opposition, namely Roy Kennion (Saundersfoot) and young John Bosier (Pendine) balancing each other out as did the rest of the players, was a very close game with 'Foot up 11-9 at tea, but Pendine dug in and eventually won 18-16.

Rink four saw brother David K. T. facing the talented and experienced skip Alan Brains's quartet, including Graham (Farmer) Hughes and young Joe Dennis at three. Paul Leeds subbing for lead Colin Thomas (who was unwell) fitted in nicely, and at 10 ends, Pendine were 12-7 up, and although Alan Brain had a good game saving many shots, Dave (broken toe) Bosier at three was back to form and trailing the jack on a number of occasions to maintain Pendine's upper hand and progress to a 24-14 win.

Rink five had Pendine's most consistent rink this season with skip Malcolm Thomas against John Jenkins's boys led by the sound and solid Allen Brace against the quiet and resourceful Don James. With the game all-square 10-10 at tea after which Malcolm's rink once again won the seven of the last 11 ends to succeed 18-15.

Last but not least, rink six saw Mal Evans's four facing Saundersfoot's captain Simon Evans whose bowling prowess is undisputed in the county. This turned out to be a thriller with both skips in fine form altering and saving ends throughout. After being 7-11 down at tea, Mal's rink pulled back to 15-15 on the 20th end to just lose 17-15 on the last end.

A very competitive match played in the best spirit of the game giving an upbeat Pendine side a 12 points to two win.

Rink scores with Pendine rinks first:

J. Bosier, D. Stewart, M. Dix, S. King Thomas 18 R. Kennion, N. Ruff, J. Dugmore, S. Dick 16.

P. Leeds, C. Rance, D. Bosier, D. King Thomas 24 G. Hughes, J. Haig, J. Dennis, A. Brain 14.

D. James, A. Collinge, G. Hale, M. Thomas 18 A. Brace, N. Hensman, P. Blayney, J. Jenkins 15.

N. Thomas, R. Gosnold, E. Davies, M. Evans 15 G. Cavell, F. Rogers, B. Desmond, S. Evans 17.