Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
In 2016 the league won our first ever Senior Inter League, following this up in 2017, 2019 and 2022.
The Flowfit Shropshire Premier Bowling League today made history by winning the Shropshire Inter League for the first time. We breezed through the group with 3 wins out of 3 but then had to come through a thriller against the Market Drayton League by just 5 chalks in the Semi Finals before beating the Ludlow League in the final by 36.
Game 1 vs. Shropshire Ladies (won by 34)
We played the Shropshire Ladies team first today and had 7 winners to win by 34 overall. Darren Wellings led us off well winning 13 from 11-7 down and then Sam Millward 13. Wayne Phillips recovered from 15-10 down to win 19 and Stuart Rutter winning 14 from 13 across sealed the win. Dave Lloyd ran out from 19-14 down and Tom Roden won 13 last on to seal a comfortable win.
Scores:
Darren Wellings 21-13 Sally Clee
Colin Beaman 21-17 Clair Barker
Sam Millward 21-13 Louise Cotton
Wayne Phillips 21-19 Jodie Rutter
Stuart Rutter 21-14 Karen Bennett
George Williams 16-21 Cheryl Caswell
Dave Lloyd 21-19 Ange Gaut
Tom Roden 21-13 Holly Bishton
Premier League 163-129 Shropshire Ladies
Game 2 vs. Mid Shropshire 2 (won by 13)
We played the Mid-Shropshire team next consisting mostly of Premier League Players and beat them by 13. Darren Wellings gave us a great start winning 7 and Colin Beaman won 12 from 9-4 down to give us a lead of 23. But Jamie King was superb in beating Wayne Phillips 8 to put them back in the game but Dave Lloyd ran out from 16-15 down. Stuart Rutter then won 18 to extend the lead to 18 and after Sam Millward won 13 it was all over despite the two last losers.
Scores:
Colin Beaman 21-12 Matt Rhodes
Darren Wellings 21-7 Dave Brown
Dave Lloyd 21-16 Chris Worthington
Wayne Phillips 8-21 Jamie King
Stuart Rutter 21-18 Ian Gaut
Sam Millward 21-13 Martin Williams
Rob Roden 11-21 Martin Gaut
Tom Roden 18-21 Jamie Fletcher
Premier League 142-129 Mid-Shropshire 2
Game 3 vs. Whitchurch League (won by 36)
We played a winner takes all game with the Whitchurch League, who had also won 2 out of 2, but knew a narrow loss might also put us through as best runner up. But we went for the win and Darren Wellings gave us a great start winning 12 but we were only 1 up after 3 before George Williams won 12, Sam Millward 14 and Rob Roden 11 to win us the game before Tom Roden’s 8 win gave us a big aggregate victory, which ultimately meant the Whitchurch League didn’t go through as best runners up, which was a massive boost to us because they would have been dangerous on the Wem USC green.
Scores:
Darren Wellings 21-12 Clay Flattley
Colin Beaman 19-21 Neil Boxall
Stuart Rutter 15-21 Martin Lloyd
George Williams 21-12 Colin Smith
Sam Millward 21-14 Carl Hinton
Rob Roden 21-11 Ian McDonald
Tom Roden 21-8 Derek Wright
Dave Lloyd 17-21 Adrian Smout
Premier League 156-120 Whitchurch
Semi Final vs. Market Drayton (won by 5)
We were drawn against the Market Drayton League in the Semi Finals and knew they would be strong given they had beaten the holders the Wem League in the groups. We struggled to adapt to a heavy Wem USC green with Darren Wellings and Dave Lloyd both 15-9 down. But both battled back well with Darren winning 19 and Dave getting 17 and with Colin Beaman winning 12 we had a 7 shot lead. Sam Millward also struggled with the pace but battled back to 17 but Stuart Rutter won 16 to put us 8 up. With the last three on it didn’t look to good, with Tom Roden 15-7 down and Rob Roden 12-8 down with George Williams only 11 across. But Rob raised his game to eventually win 20, and with Tom and George both having a good run, Tom back to 18-14 down and George 17-13 up it meant we needed just 2 to win the game. But Tom didn’t score again so it was left to George, and when his opponent got back to lead 18-17 it didn’t look to promising. But George beat a 2 foot lead down the edge and then put one on the block next end second bowl to get to 20 and win us the game before getting out 18 next game to win us the game by 5.
Scores:
Darren Wellings 21-19 Chris Stretch
Colin Beaman 21-12 Jamie Brookes
Dave Lloyd 17-21 Connor Whitehall
Sam Millward 17-21 Cedric Bancroft
Stuart Rutter 21-16 Matt Beeston
Rob Roden 21-20 Gary Whitehall
George Williams 21-18 Matt Blackhurst
Tom Roden 14-21 Ian Atherton
Premier League 153-148 Market Drayton
Final vs. Ludlow League (won by 35)
Into the final and we played the Ludlow League who were made up of all but one of Burway’s Premier League side. Wayne Rogers beat Stuart Rutter 14 at number 1 but it was one way traffic for the rest of the first four as Colin Beaman won 13, Dave Lloyd 15 and Darren Wellings 18 to give us a 10 shot lead. Into the back four and Sam Millward played two marks exceptionally well to win 8 and the man of the match award and with George Williams winning 12 on his mark we had won the trophy! Tom Roden won 15 and Rob Roden got 18 to seal a 35 shot win overall and allow non-playing captain Rob Burroughs to receive the trophy from Mike Caddick for the first time ever!
Scores:
Stuart Rutter 14-21 Wayne Rogers
Darren Wellings 21-18 Adam Dovey
Colin Beaman 21-13 Nick Lewis
Dave Lloyd 21-15 Len Lewis
George Williams 21-12 Steve Burmingham
Sam Millward 21-8 Chris Dovey
Rob Roden 18-21 Kev Dovey
Tom Roden 21-15 Jolyon Partridge
Premier League 158-123 Ludlow League
On behalf of the Flowfit Shropshire Premier Bowling League I would like to thank non-playing captain Rob Burroughs and the players for bringing the trophy home for the first time and proving we are the best league in the county, as well as those supporters who came to watch. Would also like to thank the Wem League and especially Liz Taylor for running the competition so well and efficiently, as well as Deputy President Mike Caddick and referee Mike Potter and to Wem Sports and Wem USC for hosting us so well.
We celebrated our Senior Inter League triumph at our Presentation Evening by giving each of the players and our non-playing Captain Rob Burroughs a medal to celebrate our inaugural success. 5 of the 9 players were present to receive their medal from County President Phil Scott, with pictures below:
