Pembroke Dock 73 Five Arches 74

After a couple of weeks off, the Five Arches resumed their First Division season with an away trip to Pembroke Dock.

We were hoping to build on our good start to the season, but Pembroke Dock is a hard place to get any sort of result so we were realistic in our expectations.

Ashley, with Ken, Tony and Mike, had a great game against opposing captain Richard on rink one. The game was tied eight shots-all after 10 ends and 17-all after 17 ends, but a good finish from the Pembroke Dock quartet allowed them to edge away to win by 24 shots to 17.

Rink two saw Clive and his rink of Joe, John and Harold hoping to add to their unbeaten start to the season. However, they were drawn against Pembroke Dock legend Les Davies, so it was not going to be easy. The home rink had a narrow lead of nine shots to five after 10 ends, by the 16th the score had advanced to 16 shots to 11 in Pembroke Dock's favour. Another strong finish by Les and his team increased their lead and they finished winners by 24 shots to 12.

Bucking the trend on rink three were Ray and his rink of Ben, Steve and John. Leading by 14 shots to three after 10 ends, they continued in a similar vein after the break to run out comfortable winners by 31 shots to four. This was a very fine performance and dropping shots on only four ends is remarkable.

Ray and his team had given the Five Arches a chance to snatch victory and Tony and his rink of Stuart, Jim and Peter responded well to this challenge. It was looking bleak after 18 ends, 21 shots to eight down, but a well-timed finish, picking up six shots in the remaining three ends, including a very important three on the last, gave the Five Arches an overall win by the smallest of margins of 74 shots to 73.

Another good performance from the whole team. An interesting game next, against reigning champions Tenby.

Rink scores (Five Arches first, Pembroke Dock skips only) were:

Mike Gouldingay, Tony Powling, Ken Lloyd, Ashley Hooper 17; Richard Jones 24.

Joe Hewitt, John Hubbard, Harold Ebdon, Clive Webb 12; Les Davies 24.

John Rees, Steve Davies, Ben Simmons, Ray Taylor 31; Brian Cale 4.

Stuart Askew, Jim Taylor, Peter Hooper, Tony Brown 14; Brian Dowling 21.

Five Arches 47

Tenby 109

On a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon, the Five Arches entertained table-topping Tenby.

After a good start to this year's league championship, the Arches would now face our sternest test. Tenby have been champions for the last four years and are once again leading the rest of us. Therefore any points gained from the match would be a huge bonus.

On rink two, in front of an appreciative crowd, Ray and his rink of Ben and Steve and new recruit Ben Sheldon played superbly against Tenby legend Pat Currie. They have been our top rink in the previous two matches and once again proved a force to be reckoned with. Comfortably in control after 10 ends by 15 shots to six, they maintained their concentration to emerge winners by 20 shots to 11.

Tenby hit back on the remaining three rinks to run out comfortable winners overall. Tony and his teammates Stuart, Jim and Johno were always up against the wall. They found themselves 25 shots to one down at tea and even after the addition of a few biscuits, the Tenby rink continued in a similar vein to complete a comprehensive 43 shots to six win.

On rink five, Clive, Joe, Ray and Harold had a similar experience. Trailing 19 shots to two at tea, they again suffered as Tenby piled on the shots to win by 35 to six.

Ashley and his rink of Mike, Tony and Ken had a tighter game out in the wilds of rink six. Up against multiple Gold Cup winner Paul Diment was always going to be hard, but the Five Arches quartet stuck at it and trailed by only five shots at tea. However, the Tenby rink kept this margin during the second half to complete a 20 shots to 15 victory.

An interesting game played in unpleasant weather. Hopefully we learned a lot playing one of the best sides in Wales. Special mention must go to Ben Sheldon who didn't know he was playing until an hour before and played superbly with Ray and his rink. Another two points gained and it doesn't get any easier, away to Haverfordwest tomorrow (Saturday).

Rink scores (Five Arches first):

Ben Sheldon, Steve Davies, Ben Simmons, Ray Taylor 20; Gerald Hewitt, Steve Sheldon, Mike Jackson, Pat Currie 11.

Stuart Askew, Jim Taylor, John Hubbard, Tony Brown 6; Ben Cloake, Brian Kingdon, Peter Day, Andrew Muskett 43.

Joe Hewitt, Ray Hine, Harold Ebdon, Clive Webb 6; Neil Dickinson, Dai Spencer, Joe Richards, Craig Guymer 35.

Mike Gouldingay, Tony Powling, Ken Lloyd, Ashley Hooper 15; Cameron White, John Baggott, Jon Webb, Paul Diment 20.

Goscar round-up

Goscar played their opening game in the Meyrick Owen League against Pendine at home on May 2, winning by 22 shots to 18.

We fielded our usual team of J. Rees, B. Winstone, J. Taylor and skip H. Ebdon, who took advantage of our fast green to give us a winning start to the season.

We had to take a less experienced team to Neyland Brunel due to a clash of dates.

On a heavier green, Goscar were faced with a more experianced Brunel team and were soon struggling to match the home team who were consistently on the jack.

Our new team members, Howard and Eirwyn, tried very hard to keep in touch, but were unable to match the strong Brunel rink.

In the end, Goscar were well beaten by Brunel 28 shots to 13.

We will have to learn from the experience and try harder next time.

Goscar team: H. Jordan, E. Davies, B. Winstone and skip R. Hine.

MILFORD HAVEN 28 TENBY ARCHES 38

The ladies (sponsored by The Fourcroft Hotel) travelled away to Milford a week last Wednesday. The weather was lovely and the green was running ok.

Rink three saw Alison and co 11-8 up at tea and they continued to stay in the lead to finish 18-15.

Rink four saw Julia and co in the same position, 10-6 up at tea, and they finished 20-13.

Rink scores (Tenby team first, Milford skips only) were:

L. Rafferty, A. Owens, H. Baggott, A. Redman 18; J. Collins 15.

C. Lloyd, G. Beeken, R. Silcox, J. King-Thomas 20; M. Coe 13.

On Sunday, the game between Tenby Arches and St. Issell's was cancelled owing to St. Issell's not being able to field a team.