Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Castlefields created more records in the 25th final of the Barlows Fire & Security Alan Mayhew Trophy as they won it for the 9th time overall and became the first team to win it three times in a row.
They were never behind after Mike Beer raced to a 21-5 win over Dave Lloyd on the longer marks, despite Rich Goddard being 10-2 down and Adie Rowe being 10-1 down for them early on. Both players got back into their games with Rich getting 14 in a high quality game with Clay Flattley, and Adie using his green knowledge to get back to 18. Paul Williams also had to fight back from 12-5 down versus Alex Jones, who excelled on the shorter marks, using the corners to his advantage to win 20. So Castlefields led by 7 after four games off.
Russ Pugh had a good start to lead Ant Bracken 10-4 but then trailed 12-10. However he regrouped, and was able to win 17. Jon Palmer and Scott Simpson was the best game of the night, with both going for the corners early doors before Jon changed up the length. There was never much in it, with Jon just being ahead, before a late run at the end by Scott Simpson across the middle earned him a 16 win and the “Mark Burroughs” man of the match award. Andy Judson was ahead most of the game against Gareth Herbert, but a late run by Gareth in the corners meant he run out from 19-16 down. Graham Wall was 7-2 down early on but managed to change up the good length Nick Wyer had early on and got back into the game and actually led near the end before Nick managed to get out 18. This meant the Bayley had closed the game to just 1 chalk after eight games off.
Callum Wraight was number 9 and he raced out of the blocks to lead 13-0 on his usual 20m marks. Kane Beaman managed to get in and matched him from then on in but couldn’t put a run together as Callum won 7. When he came off Carl Wear trailed Michael Cooper 14-7 and the other two games were level so it was still all to play for. But joint skipper Adam Jones put together a great run to go from about 10-7 down to run out against Kevin Hocknull in the corners to seal victory for the Fields. Carl Wear had got back into his game and led 19-16 before Michael won 20, while Kevin Price and Jamie Wyatt were 10 across before Jamie had a run to win 15.
Well done to Castlefields on their success, and commiserations to Sir John Bayley on just losing out but were part of one of the best quality finals the league has seen. Thank you to Meole Brace for hosting, doing the refreshments and the raffle. Thank you to Mike Potter for refereeing, measuring and taking photographs. Thank you to Barlows Fire & Security for sponsoring the competition once again, and to Alan Mayhew for attending tonight and continuing to support the competition.
| No | Castlefields | Score | Score | Sir J Bayley |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Beer | 21 | 5 | David Lloyd |
| 2 | Paul Williams | 21 | 20 | Alex Jones |
| 3 | Rich Goddard | 14 | 21 | Clay Flattley |
| 4 | Adrian Rowe | 18 | 21 | Chris Worthington |
| 5 | Russell Pugh | 21 | 17 | Ant Bracken |
| 6 | Jon Palmer | 16 | 21 | Scott Simpson |
| 7 | Andrew Judson | 19 | 21 | Gareth Herbert |
| 8 | Graham Wall | 18 | 21 | Nick Wyer |
| 9 | Callum Wraight | 21 | 7 | Kane Beaman |
| 10 | Adam Jones | 21 | 10 | Kevin Hocknull |
| 11 | Carl Wear | 19 | 21 | Michael Cooper |
| 12 | Kevin Price | 15 | 21 | Jamie Wyatt |
| Games | 5 | 7 | Games | |
| Aggregate | 224 | 206 | Aggregate |
Winning joint captain Adam Jones was “very pleased with the performance and result against a good Bayley side. There were some great games and battles from 1-12. The teams ability to battle and fight for each other and every chalk meant we were able to be in front early on and stay in front. Special mention to the 3 lads playing in their first finals Russell, Graham and Carl all did brilliant in a good atmosphere which will prove great experience for them. Winning the Mayhew cup 3 years in a row is a great achievement and something I believe hasn’t been done before so myself and Michael really proud of the team and squad!”
