Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Friday 5th October
Newport retained their Premier League status tonight with 10 chalk victory over Pontesbury. Newport had three of the first four winners but found themselves 1 shot down as Daryl Edwards won to 15. On reflection Pontesbury had a number of good cards with big leads in the first four and this ultimately cost them as Newport had a clean sweep of the middle four and put themselves 31 chalks ahead. Once again Pontesbury threatened a remarkable comeback with Tony France winning 21-6 to reduce the deficit to 20 with just two games on the green, Dave Povey 18-9 and Andy Jones 16-9, they were only 8 shots from glory, but a great fight back by Martyn France and a valuable 13 by Jeff Smith secured the vital chalks and Newport won 221-211 and will play Premier League bowls next season.
Full Match details:
Newport B.C. v Pontesbury B.C
| PLAYERS NAME | NO. | PLAYERS NAME | SCORE | |
| 21 | Alan Davidson | 1 | Pete Thomas | 19 |
| 21 | Phil Emery | 2 | Emlyn Jones | 19 |
| 15 | Cliff Emery | 3 | Daryl Edwards | 21 |
| 21 | Wayne Lawrence | 4 | Alan Potter | 20 |
| 21 | Dale Rudrum | 5 | Gareth Ingram | 16 |
| 21 | Brian Perry | 6 | Barry Challinor | 12 |
| 21 | Daniel Hand | 7 | Danny Blythe | 13 |
| 21 | Dave Westwood | 8 | Steven Williams | 11 |
| 21 | Ian Whittington | 9 | Dennis Walton | 17 |
| 19 | Martyn France | 10 | Dave Povey | 21 |
| 6 | Neil Hallett | 11 | Tony France | 21 |
| 13 | Jeff Smith | 12 | Andy Jones | 21 |
| 221 | 211 |
The two captains shake hands before the match with Match referree John Coxill (centre) Dale Rudrum (left) and Alan Potter
The winners Newport.
From left, Cliff Emery, Dan Hand, Jeff Smith, Alan Davidson, Brian Perry, Wayne Lawrence, Phil Emery, Dale Rudrum, Ian Whittington, Martyn France, Neil Hallett, Dave Westwood.
The gallant losers, Pontesbury.
From left, Emlyn Jones, Danny Blythe, Tony France, Pete Thomas, Gareth Ingram, Dennis Walton, Alan Potter, Daryl Edwards, Dave Povey, Steve Williams, Barry Challinor, Andy Jones.
Wednesday 3rd October
Pontesbury finished comfortable winners of tonights pre play off match against District and will now play Newport on Friday 5th October at British Sugar.
Pontesbury started with the first four winners to lead by 13 chalks. In the early stages, two of the first four matches appeared to be going the Whitchurch based sides way with Carl Hinton 19-10 up against county star Daryl Edwards and with Pontesbury captain, Alan Potter 14-8 down against Eddie Broad. Both Pontesbury players recovered to win their matches to lead by 13 chalks. Gareth Ingram then won to 3 and the match was nearly over although District did reduce the deficit to 20 after blocks off, Pontesbury had the last four winners and won by 56 chalks.
Full Match details:
Pontesbury B.C. v District B.C
| SCORE | PLAYERS NAME | NO. | PLAYERS NAME | SCORE |
| 21 | Daryl Edwards | 1 | Carl Hinton | 20 |
| 21 | Pete Thomas | 2 | Alan Molyneux | 15 |
| 21 | Emlyn Jones | 3 | Richard Pullen | 19 |
| 21 | Alan Potter | 4 | Eddie Broad | 17 |
| 21 | Steven Williams | 5 | Paul Higgs | 16 |
| 21 | Gareth Ingram | 6 | Pete Owens | 3 |
| 16 | Barry Challinor | 7 | Brian Jones | 21 |
| 10 | Danny Blythe | 8 | Mike Mullock | 21 |
| 21 | Dave Povey | 9 | Phil Scott | 13 |
| 21 | Dennis Walton | 10 | Jim Evans | 13 |
| 21 | Tony France | 11 | Dave Pullen | 8 |
| 21 | Andy Jones | 12 | Mike Sullivan | 14 |
| 236 | 180 |
Pontesbury win by 56 chalks
The winning team Pontesbury, (from left) Barry Challinor, Daryl Edwards, Danny Blythe, Andy Jones, Dennis Walton, Dave Povey, Pete Thomas, Tony France, Alan Potter (captain), Emlyn Jones, Steven Williams, Gareth Ingram.
Defeated District, (from left) Alan Molyneux, Eddie Broad, Richard Pullen, Carl Hinton, Mike Mullock, Brian Jones, Mike Sullivan, Dave Pullen, Paul Higgs, Jim Evans.