Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Friday 1st October
Archibald Worthington retained their Premier League status in a night of high tension and passion in Shrewsbury when they defeated Rhos by 13 chalks. Archibald captain Steve Heath altered the playing order from Wednesdays defeat against Newport and it played early dividends with two winners in the first four. Alan Ball was one of three 21-11 winners on the night for the “Archie” and together with his brother Chris who won 21-14 they led by 11 after both Arwel Davies (21-17) and Martin Chesworth (21-19 after being 18-10 down) won for Rhos.
The big winner on the night was Rhos’s Trevor Roberts who won 21-4 and when Martin Jones came off winning at 21-14, Rhos were 13 up. Archie player of the year Chris Pearce won 21-14 to reduce the deficit to 6 and Dave Gourley who played a great game to win 21-11, the margin was just 4 but Archie were back in front after 8 blocks off.
Giles Evans was recalled for the absent John Tew and all back four bowlers started well and at one stage all four were in front and he looked like a comfortable win for the Premier League side but Rhos fought back well and whilst Gerwyn Davies won 21-17, Steve Heath was to turn in a match winning performance. After Richard Wildigg had beaten Rhos Caption Geraint Evans 21-12, Steve won 21-11 and with his winning bowl, the match was won and the relief from all the noisy North Shropshire contingent was plain to see. Mervyn Williams was last man off and whilst he won 21-15 it was too late and Steve Heath could look forward to 2005 with his team playing in the Premier League for the 12th consecutive season.
Full Match Details:- Played on Friday 1st October at Meole Brace (Non-Premier)
Archibald Worthington B.C. v Rhos B.C.
| SCORE | PLAYERS NAME | NO. | PLAYERS NAME | SCORE |
| 21 | Alan Ball | 1 | Dave Haslam | 11 |
| 21 | Chris Ball | 2 | George Jones | 14 |
| 17 | Mark Cooper | 3 | Arwel Davies | 21 |
| 19 | Adrian Smout | 4 | Martin Chesworth | 21 |
| 14 | Callum Beddoes | 5 | Martin Jones | 21 |
| 21 | Dave Gourlay | 6 | Jeff Jones | 11 |
| 4 | Ian Price | 7 | Trevor Roberts | 21 |
| 21 | Chris Pearce | 8 | Tony Roberts | 14 |
| 21 | Steve Heath | 9 | Cyril Hannaby | 11 |
| 21 | Richard Willdigg | 10 | Geraint Evans (Capt) | 12 |
| 17 | Giles Evans | 11 | Gerwyn Davies | 21 |
| 15 | Paul Edgerton | 12 | Mervyn Williams | 21 |
| 212 | 199 |
Friday 1st October commencing at 7.00 pm
Relegation Play Off
Archibald Worthington match will play Rhos at Meole Brace (Non Premier Green)
Referee – Dave Card
Wednesday 29th September
Newport survived the first ever relegation decider tonight when they beat Archibald Worthington by 18 shots overall at Meole Brace in front of well over 200 spectators. An excellent start saw Newport 37 up after 3 games off with Brian Perry, Alan Davidson and Chris Grocott winning 5, 12 & 9 respectively. Chris Ball reduced the deficit to 31 when he won 15 but with two games shared in the middle four Newport were 34 up. Chris Pearce reduced the deficit to 19 when he won 21-6 and when Paul Edgerton led 18-5 with two shots on for 20, his opponent Paul Rudrum struck magnificently with his last bowl and scored 4 more decisive chalks which effectively won the game for Newport and with both Jeff Smith and Greg Fordham both winning, it ended up 212-194 in Newport’s favour and it will now be Archibald Worthington who play Rhos on Friday. The venue will again be Meole Brace but on the other green, commencing at 7.00 pm.
Played on Wednesday 29th September at Meole Brace (Premier)
Newport B.C. v Archibald Worthington B.C.
| SCORE | PLAYERS NAME | NO. | PLAYERS NAME | SCORE |
| 21 | Brian Perry | 1 | Callum Beddoes | 5 |
| 21 | Alan Davidson | 2 | Richard Willdigg | 12 |
| 21 | Chris Grocott | 3 | Steve Heath | 9 |
| 15 | Cliff Emery | 4 | Chris Ball | 21 |
| 18 | Dale Rudrum | 5 | Alan Ball | 21 |
| 21 | Phil Emery | 6 | Mark Cooper | 13 |
| 21 | Ian Whittington | 7 | Dave Gourlay | 19 |
| 17 | Geoff Round | 8 | Adrian Smout | 21 |
| 6 | Dave Westwood | 9 | Chris Pearce | 21 |
| 21 | Greg Fordham | 10 | John Tew | 15 |
| 21 | Jeff Smith | 11 | Ian Price | 16 |
| 9 | Paul Rudrum | 12 | Paul Edgerton | 21 |
| 212 | 194 |
Friday 24th September
Rhos, the winners of the Oswestry League have come from behind to beat Mid Shropshire League winners Bylet by 10 shots tonight at Ford tonight. Bylet started well and looked like having a 20+ lead after 4 blocks but Tony Roberts recovered well in the corners to score 15 and whilst Bylet had 3 winners, including a 21-12 from Nick Powner, Rhos were only 13 shots down after the first four games. In the middle four honours were even with 2 winners apiece and Rhos reduced the margin to 7 shots. Bylet captain had a big lead at number 9 and although he eventually won 21-15, Rhos captain Geraint Evans played very well to be the best winner on the night at 21-9 and with the last 2 games on the green Bylet were down in both games but only 1 up on aggregate. Rob Renke recovered from 9-0 down to get 17 but Bylet stalwart Tim Ealey never recovered from his bad start and when Gerwyn Davies won 21-17 it left Rhos 3 up and when No.12 Merwyn Williams beat Tim’s bowl in the corner he led 19-10 and Rhos could not lose and he eventually won 21-14 to give them a 10 shot advantage and now look forward to next Fridays final play off match against either Newport, who narrowly beat them last year in the pre play off match, or Archibald Worthington.
The two captains with match referee Dave Card (right) and League Secretary Mark Burroughs (left).
Pictured middle left is Bylet captain Mick Harries with Rhos captain Geraint Evans (middle right).
Pictured above Rhos, back from Left: Dave Haslam, Mervyn Williams, Gerwyn Davies, Tony Roberts, Trevor Roberts, George Jones.
Front : Jeff Jones, Martin Chesworth, Arwel Davies, Geraint Evans (Captain), Cyril Hannaby, Martin Jones
Pictured above Bylet, Back from left, Nick Powner, Scott Harries, Roger Jones, John Palmer, Jamie Chater, Tim Ealey.
Front: Graham Morris, Rob Renke, Mick Harries (Captain), Dave Card (Match referee), George Eddowes, Russell Morris, Tony Steadman.
Played on Friday 24th September at Ford
Bylet B.C. v Rhos B.C.
| SCORE | PLAYERS NAME | NO. | PLAYERS NAME | SCORE |
| 21 | Roger Jones | 1 | Tony Roberts | 15 |
| 21 | Nick Powner | 2 | Arwel Davies | 12 |
| 18 | Scott Harries | 3 | Dave Haslam | 21 |
| 21 | George Eddowes | 4 | George Jones | 20 |
| 18 | Jamie Chater | 5 | Jeff Jones | 21 |
| 21 | Graham Morris | 6 | Martin Jones | 20 |
| 21 | John Palmer | 7 | Trevor Roberts | 17 |
| 13 | Tony Steadman | 8 | Martin Chesworth | 21 |
| 21 | Mick Harries (capt) | 9 | Cyril Hannaby | 15 |
| 9 | Russell Morris | 10 | Geraint Evans (Capt) | 21 |
| 17 | Rob Renke | 11 | Gerwyn Davies | 21 |
| 14 | Tim Ealey | 12 | Mervyn Williams | 21 |
| 215 | 225 |
After Newport and Archibald Worthington finished on 131 points after 26 matches, the first ever relegation play off decider will be played. As a result of the bottom two teams being equal on points, a relegation play off decider will take place to determine who finishes bottom this season.
Friday 24th September commencing at 7.00 pm
Pre Play off Match
Bylet v Rhos
at Ford
Referee – Dave Card
Wednesday 29th September commencing at 7.00 pm
Relegation decider
Newport v Archibald Worthington
at Meole Brace (Premier Green)
Referee – Dave Card
Friday 1st October commencing at 7.00 pm
Relegation Play Off
The losers of the Newport or Archibald Worthington match will play the winners of the Bylet/Rhos match
Venue to be decided after the Newport Archibald Worthington game
Referee – Dave Card