On Sunday, May 20, Tenby played Milford Haven away in the Dyfed League. On this occasion, the head bared its fangs while the tail was fast asleep.

Tenby's top three pairs of Brian Cramb and Martin Morris, John Gottwaltz and Loz Phillips and Mark Poole partnered by Paul Heywood, all came in with wins.

Out of the last six pairs, Peter Hughes and Martin Creese scraped a half, while losses were the order of the day for Oliver Duckett and Alan Morton, Steve Amos and Mark Heywood, Ken Breaker and Richard Chapman, Nick Rogers and Gareth Rees and Neil Lovatt and Rob Hall.

Final result was Milford 5.5 points, Tenby 3.5 points.

Owain Picton and John Dyble were not quite as loud afterwards in the bar compared to last year, probably due to their loss in the Welsh Team Championships the same morning, followed by losing to Tenby's top three pairs in the afternoon. No doubt the decibel level will rise when they arrive at Tenby for the return fixture.

On Sunday, June 10, the intrepid Tenby 18 visited Ashburnham. This time the roles were reversed, with the head finding their fangs had been filed away, while the tail had a real sting in it.

John Morris and Steve Amos saved some pride for the upper echelons, by getting a half at top pairing. Losses were suffered by the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th pairings of Brian Cramb and Colin Murphy, John Gottwaltz and Phil Rees, Alan Jones and Gareth Powell, and Mark Poole and Matt Brown, respectively.

Fortunately, having a strength in depth allows for good pairings throughout the order, so excellent wins were the order of the day for Jamie Preston and Nick Rogers, Dean Kennett and Loz Phillips, and the performance of the day went to Martin Morris and Kenny Breaker who trounced their opponents by 6/5 on their own track, and this after Kenny was heard muttering about pulling out due to his bad golf.

All that was needed to get an excellent half overall was the final pairing of Peter Hughes and Martin Creese to win their match. The last time Buller played at Ash, he played in the top pairing and won, so playing at the number nine position should have been a doddle for him. Unfortunately, he was afflicted by a golf disease that begins with 'SH' and ends in an 'S,' and is all but unmentionable. Despite a fine performance from his playing partner Martin Creese, they succumbed and the overall result went to Ashburnham by 5.5 points to 3.5.

Overall, Tenby has had a fairly good start to the league. With three away matches in a row, we have a total of 18 points, which is equivalent to six points for every match played to date. The league this year is highly competitive, with both home and away fixtures for the best six clubs in Dyfed. All of the 'A' division clubs are fielding very strong teams, and the title will probably be undecided until the last match.

The hardest part of picking a team is not who plays and in which combination, but who has to be left out of the side. Apologies to those who make themselves available for the matches, but who are not selected for the team. Please remember that the league is 10 games, and there will probably be fixtures where for one reason or another there will be openings for players who are currently not getting into the side, and the co-operation and understanding of those on the periphery of the team is greatly appreciated.

L.P.