Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
The Flowfit Shropshire Premier Interleague team dipped out to the Wem League by 11 shots in the semi finals, this after beating the same team by 24 in their last group game to get through as the best runner-up by 1 shot!
We started off by playing the Market Drayton Seniors team and we had to play well to beat them by 26 after only being 9 up off four. Dave King 21-14 and Rob Burroughs 21-11 provided a good start and once Darren Wellings got 19 from 15-4 down it meant that we still had our noses in front despite Aaron King getting 15. Dave Lloyd 17, Ian MacDonald 20 (from 15-6 down), Craig Ashley 14 and Rob Roden 16 meant we won comfortably in the end.
Full scores:
Premier League vs. Market Drayton Seniors
Dave King 21-14 Pat Davies
Darren Wellings 19-21 Pam Forrester
Rob Burroughs 21-11 Ian Acton
Aaron King 15-21 June Edwards
Dave Lloyd 21-17 Roy Franc
Ian McDonald 21-20 Ray Foster
Craig Ashley 21-14 Pauline Mellor
Rob Roden 21-17 Frank Hodgkin
Totals 160-134
Premier League won by 26
In the second game we faced the Whitchurch League A side, who had lost to the Wem League by 25 in their first game. We didn’t get off to a good start as inspired bowls by Carl Hinton and Colin Smith meant they beat Dave King 14 and Rob Burroughs 10 respectively. But Rob Roden led the comeback beating Derek Wright 15 on marks to the crown and back and Craig Ashley beat Martin Lloyd 12 on a round peg to put us back in it. Ian McDonald though lost 20 from 20-17 up but Aaron King won 20 to cancel this out and then Dave Lloyd won 14 to put us 3 up with Mark Thomas just starting his game. But Paul Bradley played incredibly well over the middle to lead 19-7 and despite Mark Thomas getting back to 14 in the corners it was too late as Paul got the two he needed to win the game for Whitchurch by 4.
Premier League vs. Whitchurch League
Rob Burroughs 10-21 Colin Smith
Dave King 14-21 Carl Hinton
Rob Roden 21-15 Derek Wright
Craig Ashley 21-12 Martin Lloyd
Ian McDonald 20-21 Paul Latham
Aaron King 21-20 Adrian Smout
Dave Lloyd 21-14 Steve Rogers
Mark Thomas 14-21 Paul Bradley
Premier League 141-145 Whitchurch League
In the final group game we knew to win top spot from Wem we would have to win by 40, but also knew that a good win would seal second place and give us a good chance of being the best runner up. We had a great start against the Wem side, despite 18 from Dave King as Rob Roden played some great bowls to win 11, Rob Burroughs won 14 and Darren Wellings won 15 playing to and from the middle of the green. After Craig Ashley came off losing 16 we were 15 up so had to play well to win the group. But Aaron King was 18-9 up, and Ian McDonald about 12-6 up gave us hope but the wem league fought back to gain the shots they needed. Aaron won 17 and then Mark Thomas 18 to leave us 22 up with Ian McDonald 15 across. At this time Whitchurch had beaten the Market Drayton Seniors by 66, meaning they had an aggregate of 45. At that moment we had an aggregate of 44 with Ian left on, so it meant he had to win 19 for us to go through as best runners up. At 17-16 down it didn’t look good but Ian then led 20-17 in the corners before his opponent Mark Shore got in. Mark then chucked the block off so Ian returned to his favoured corners and then put a wood about a foot away from the block for game. But Mark then ran the jack through to leave his wood a foot away but Ian played a perfectly weighted wood which unfortunately ran into the back of Mark’s leaving the game 20-19. But fortunately Mark played two poor bowls last end and Ian won the game and took us through by a single shot!
Premier League vs. Wem League
Dave King 18-21 Sam Millward
Darren Wellings 21-15 Rich Lawson
Rob Roden 21-11 Phil Emery
Rob Burroughs 21-14 Carl Preece
Craig Ashley 16-21 Danny Wornell
Aaron King 21-17 Lee Bowden
Mark Thomas 21-18 Mark Selley
Ian McDonald 21-19 Mark Shore
Premier League 160-136 Wem
Table:
Wem League Won 2 Agg +76
Premier League Won 2 Agg +46
Whitchurch League Won 2 Agg +45
Market Drayton Seniors Won 0 Agg -167
The semi finals were on the other green at Prees and we drew Wem again in the semis.
Rob Roden soon found himself 15-4 down but battled back to 13 which Aaron King virtually cancelled out over the middle in winning 14. Dave King then won 17 to put us ahead before Darren Wellings got 12 to leave us 7 down. Rob Burroughs edged out Danny Wornell 19 to close the gap and with Dave Lloyd 15-8 up it looked like we might take the lead with Craig level. But Mark played some good woods on a round peg against Craig to win 14 and when Dave won 17 it meant we were 7 down with Ian McDonald just going on against John Lumsden, which he had to win 14 for us to go through. But John never let him get away and won 17 to give the Wem League a 11 chalk win.
Premier League vs. Wem League
Aaron King 21-14 Sam Millward
Rob Roden 13-21 Phil Emery
Dave King 21-17 Carl Preece
Darren Wellings 12-21 Rich Lawson
Rob Burroughs 21-19 Danny Wornell
Craig Ashley 14-21 Mark Shore
Dave Lloyd 21-17 Mark Selley
Ian McDonald 17-21 John Lumsden
Premier League 140-151 Wem League
The Wem League beat the Tanners league by 2 in the Final to win the interleague.
I would like to thank on behalf of the Flowfit Shropshire Premier League the captain Mark Thomas for leading us all day and getting the side together, all the players for representing the league and supporting and marking, and to BBranded for providing us with shirts for the first time meaning we had an all together look.
The team picture is below:
Back from left: Ian McDonald (AWC), Dave Lloyd (Bowring), Aaron King (Bowring), Rob Roden (Bowring) & Craig Ashley (Wem USC).
Front from left: Rob Burroughs (Hadley USC), Darren Wellings (Meole Brace), Mark Thomas (Captain, Meole Brace) & Dave King (St Georges).