Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Meole close gap on Champs, Bottom two both win
It was a significant night on Week 23 of the Flowfit Shropshire Premier Bowling League as Meole Brace closed the gap on Newport to 11 at the top of the table. Meole Brace beat Chester Road 10-4 whilst Newport were thumped 12-2 at Wem USC. At Meole the home side might be thinking that they could have took more advantage as all their players scored 16 and above, with 2 19 losers. Mark Holland was best winner 16 for the visitors whilst Carl Hinton took MVP for winning 17. Gary Neal was best winner and MVP for the home side winning 5. Newport only got 2 winners at Wem USC, home captain Mike Dulson describing it as “our best team performance of the season. The result looked like it may of been heading for a 13-1 until some sublime bowling from Pete Farmer on a difficult mark enabled him to run out from 13-12 down against Colin Smith (to be best joint winner and MVP).” Jamie King was Newport’s other best winner 13, with Mike himself being best winner 10 and his father Graham getting MVP for winning 13 for the hosts.
At the bottom Archibald gained a point on Bylet despite having the tougher game against top 6 side Sir John Bayley as they won 9-5 compared to Bylet’s 8-6 against Bowring. Archie captain Dave Gourlay explains “it was a great result after being 5-1 down, we managed to gather ourselves and win the all important aggregate by 3 chalks and most importantly giving ourselves a fighting chance.” Steve Heath was best winner 13 whilst Rob Adams won MVP 18 for the home side, with Paul Evans being best winner 12 and Norman Harvey winning MVP 13 for the away side. Bylet only won the shots by 12 in their win, Rob Renke helping them do so with a best win of 21-7, as well as MVP Kevin Brazier 11. For the visitors Andy Morgan was best winner and MVP winning 7.
Bayley’s slip-up allowed Ifton to move into 3rd with a 10-4 win at Hadley USC. Captain Dickie Jones comments “it was another good win with Geriant Williams setting the tone, Leighton Roberts continuing his good season and Keiron Roberts not to be out done getting MVP (for winning 17) so our aim of finishing 3rd is still alive.” Ian Metcalf was best winner 11 for the visitors, with John Price best winner for the home side 11 and Steve Homer MVP 16. St Georges remain 4th as they gained a good 6 points at neighbours Wrockwardine Wood which pleased captain Tony Rhodes. “They came out the blocks smoking and but for a fantastic performance by Andy James beating Stuart Rutter could have had all four (which earned him MVP). We took 3 in the middle despite Andy Jones beating Nige Evans easily playing very well. Honours shared in the back with Simon Rhodes edging out Martin Gaut and Pete Gaut just losing out to Andy Marshall. Tom Langford sealed the aggregate with an impressive display against Jason Wilson (winning 2 to be best winner). All in all a good result. May have been a better result but happy.” Steve Roberts won MVP for the home side winning 8 with Tony himself best winner 9 for the visitors.
Castlefields have quietly moved up to 7th and with 2 out of 3 at home will fancy their chances of snatching 3rd. They beat Burway 12-2 with Callum Wraight best winner 6 and Dave Peach winning MVP 17. For the visitors Kiah Roberts was best winner and MVP 10.
The gap at the top is now 11 points with three games left. Ifton have moved into 3rd, 2 ahead of St Georges, who are 2 ahead of Sir John Bayley. At the bottom the gap is two points between Archibald Worthington and Bylet, with the two meeting at Bylet on Friday.
Rich Lawson, Glyn Picknell and Pete Farmer have moved clear at the top of the League Averages, both on 19 wins, with no change at the top of the MVP table.
| Won | Agg | Pts | Home Team | Premier | Away Team | Pts | Agg | Won | H | A | CH | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 239 | 10 | Meole Brace | V | Chester Road | 4 | 192 | 4 | ✓ | |||
| 4 | 201 | 4 | Hadley U S C | V | Ifton | 10 | 220 | 8 | ✓ | |||
| 6 | 215 | 8 | Bylet | V | Bowring | 6 | 203 | 6 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| 7 | 220 | 9 | Archibald Worthington | V | Sir J Bayley | 5 | 217 | 5 | ✓ | |||
| 10 | 237 | 12 | Castlefields | V | Burway | 2 | 182 | 2 | ✓ | |||
| 10 | 236 | 12 | Wem U S C | V | Newport | 2 | 181 | 2 | ✓ | |||
| 6 | 214 | 8 | Wrockwardine Wood | V | St George’s | 6 | 187 | 6 | ✓ |