Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Wem shock Castlefields, Horsehay earn fab five, Bylet edge home, Hanmer win away
It was a week of interesting results in week 1 of the Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowling League. Wem USC provided the shock result with the beating of last year’s runner-up Castlefields 9-5 at Leek Street. Captain Andy Marshall said “it was a good win but it’s only week one so we aren’t getting ahead of ourselves and we are looking forward to another good challenge away at Meole Brace. They played a strong first four and we did well to be 2-2 and 17 down. Darren Fitzpatrick had a tough debut against an in form Gary Neal (who was best winner 8 with Callum Wraight). Then we started to comeback with good wins from Colin Smith and George Williams and I just dipped out to Rich Goddard. We were 4-4 and 13 down. Simon Lewis put in a top class performance to turn the tide by beating Russell Pugh 10 (to be best winner). Andy Judson fought back well to beat James Weaver on a very good debut. Tim Jordan battled well to beat Jon Palmer 20 in a very tight game from the start. This left Ian Metcalfe needing to win 17 to win the game for Wem. There’s a reason his nickname is Box off and he didn’t disappoint!” The Champions Sir John Bayley also nearly lost their first game but beat Highley 11-5 and by 7. Dave East was best winner 5 but the returning Reece Farr was best winner for his new club 6.
Horsehay started life in the league with a fab five winners at Hanwood. Spokesman Steve Reeves commented “it was a good start for us getting 5 winners away from home in our first game, 1-12 we were superb and there was good support around the green for both sides. I’m sure there were a few of the lads who were nervous before the start but they certainly never let show and battled for every chalk. Hopefully we can use this as a springboard for our home game this coming Friday.” Best winner for them was Craig Baugh 8, while for the home side it was Darren Wellings by the same score. Bylet edged home the closest game of the night by just 2 chalks to Burway to win 8-6. Skipper Cheryl Caswell said “it was a really good result for us against a good Burway team, who we only just managed to beat last year at home despite having a larger squad. Multiple games on the night could have gone either way and the scores could have been different in favour of either team but all credit to Burway. They were great sports all evening and we enjoyed their company in the club after the match and the Black Horse. I’m sure there were a few sore heads on Saturday!” Best winner for the home team was Joe Dicken 7, while Richard Lane and Paul Williams were best for the away team.
Hanmer won away against Adderley again but not quite as big as last year, 10-6 instead of 14-2. But captain Ieuan Pugh said it was “a great way to start the season! A good night against a good side. Good luck to Adderley for the rest of the season!” Best winner for them was Richard Zolman and Mike Gilpin 11, while for the hosts it was Gary Whitehall and Ade Jennings 12. Meole Brace got a fab five to at St Georges, with Andy Wigginton best winner 8 and Gordon Hawkins and Joe Killen best for the Dragons by the same score. Wrockwardine Wood are the early leaders with a 12-2 win over Ifton led by Jamie King’s 21-3 win. For the Miners it was Owen Jackson who was best winner 14.
| W | Agg | Pts | Home Team | Away Team | Pts | Agg | W | PP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 5th Apr Salop Leisure Shropshire Premier | |||||||||
| 10 | 243 | 12 | Wrockwardine Wood | V | Ifton | 2 | 164 | 2 | |
| 7 | 220 | 9 | St Georges | V | Meole Brace | 5 | 195 | 5 | |
| 7 | 218 | 9 | Hanwood | V | Horsehay | 5 | 191 | 5 | |
| 6 | 213 | 6 | Adderley | V | Hanmer | 10 | 224 | 6 | |
| 7 | 210 | 9 | Wem U S C | V | Castlefields | 5 | 207 | 5 | |
| 6 | 203 | 8 | Bylet | V | Burway | 6 | 201 | 6 | |
| 5 | 191 | 5 | Highley | V | Sir J Bayley | 11 | 198 | 7 | |