Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Newport extend lead, Archie move off bottom
It was a significant Wednesday night in Week 19 as Newport extended their lead by 3 points at the top and Archibald Worthington moved off bottom spot. Newport beat Chester Road 12-2 with Alan Davidson the best winning 8 with Russ Pegram getting MVP for winning 9, with visiting captain Martin Lloyd winning 14 for best winner and Chris Nicholson 16 for MVP. Meole Brace slipped further behind Newport when beating Burway 9-5. The first and middle fours were shared before Meole took 3 out of the back 4, led by best winner Nigel Bound 9. Adrian Rowe earned his second straight MVP for winning 15, with Ben Allen gaining MVP for the visitors winning 13 and Roy Crowther the best winner 10.
At the bottom Archibald Worthington took advantage of a much changed Castlefields side in beating them 10-4. Castlefields had 7 changes from their team last Friday and this helped Archie move off bottom spot. Ian MacDonald was best winner and MVP 6 for the hosts, with Graham Wall replying for the visitors 13 for best win and MVP. Bylet got 3 at Wrockwardine Wood to see them slip to bottom spot by three points, albeit with a game in hand Friday. Tim Ealey was best winner for them winning 14 with Nick Powner being MVP winning 19. Andy Marshall was best winner for the home side winning 10 with Martin Williams MVP for winning 18.
Ifton moved 9 points clear in 3rd place with a great 12-2 home win over Sir John Bayley. Home captain Dickie Jones claimed “the performance is right up there as one of our best considering the green was waterlogged at 7. Every one played well but if i had to pick one out it was Dave Bond who was involved in a great game with Chris Ward (with both getting MVP).” Best winner for Ifton was Megis Phillips 8 and for the Bayley was Sam Plant 13.
The closest game of the night was at Hadley USC with the home side winning 9-5 against the Bowring by just 13 chalks. Hadley took the first four 3-1 with Kris Lewis and Adrian Smith the best of the night winning 7, the former winning MVP. Bowring took 3 out of the middle 4 with captain Rich Lawson leading by example winning 5, and close the aggregate to just 4, before Hadley took 3 out of the back 4, despite Andy Morgan winning MVP for winning 13 for the visitors. St Georges got 6 winners at Wem USC, which please captain Tony Rhodes “especially after their good result at Wrockwardine Wood last week. Conditions not good at all with heavy rain at times on a green that is far better than previous but still not great. Chris Brettell (best winner 6) and Colin Smith (MVP 10) were excellent for them as was Dave King (best winner 9) and great away wins for Simon Rhodes (MVP 17) and Jason Wilson late on.”
So Newport have moved 8 points clear of Newport, with Ifton 8 behind Meole, although they’ve played a game more, with Wrockwardine Wood moving 4th. At the bottom Archibald Worthington are now 3 points clear of Bylet, but Bylet have a game in hand away at the Bayley Friday.
Pete Farmer still leads the Averages, now by 10 shots on aggregate from Glyn Picknell, with the MVPs unchanged.
| Won | Agg | Pts | Home Team | Premier | Away Team | Pts | Agg | Won | H | A | CH | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 224 | 8 | Wem U S C | V | St George’s | 6 | 191 | 6 | ✓ | |||
| 9 | 238 | 11 | Wrockwardine Wood | V | Bylet | 3 | 187 | 3 | ✓ | |||
| 10 | 242 | 12 | Ifton | V | Sir J Bayley | 2 | 187 | 2 | ✓ | |||
| 7 | 223 | 9 | Meole Brace | V | Burway | 5 | 201 | 5 | ✓ | |||
| 7 | 212 | 9 | Hadley U S C | V | Bowring | 5 | 199 | 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| 8 | 226 | 10 | Archibald Worthington | V | Castlefields | 4 | 189 | 4 | ✓ | |||
| 10 | 240 | 12 | Newport | V | Chester Road | 2 | 174 | 2 | ✓ |