Week 8 Review

.Bylet shock Wrockites, St Georges dip out at Fields, Meole and Bowring win derbies

It was a night of staggering results in week 8 of the Flowfit Shropshire Premier Bowling League. Bylet sprung the biggest shock as they won at Wrockwardine Wood 9-5 to end their unbeaten home record and bounce back spectacularly from last week’s home defeat against St Georges. Wrockwardine had raced 4-0 up to, Dale Downes winning 10 and MVP to be best winner. But Bylet roared back winning all 4 in the middle, led by Scott Harries winning 9 and MVP, before taking 3 out of the back 4 as they won the chalks by 14 in the end.  St Georges also continued their excellent form as they got 6 winners at Castlefields, which could have been a great win as they lost by only 6 chalks. It was also memorable for captain Tony Rhodes, who was planning on coming back and playing 12 from work. But he had “a 90 minute delay to his flight from Edinburgh, then a crash on the toll road stopped me from getting there completely. I would have been there at 20.40 if all ok on the road.” This meant that Chris Ball had to play number 12, after not picking a bowl up for a few years, and did excellent to get 20 off Mark Taylor. “I rang him this morning and thanked him. By all accounts he feels he should have won which changes the result and I gather from the phone exchanges that we could have had more. But very proud of them all as they did brilliantly and were unlucky not to win in an intimidating atmosphere.” Best winner for the Dragons was Ian Gaut 11, with Glyn Picknell winning MVP for his 19 win. For the home side Keith Walton was best winner and MVP winning 9 as they snook the chalks.

Meole Brace moved into second place after a great win at Hanwood with 5 winners and sneaking the chalks by 4. Captain Mark Thomas was delighted with the win, “it was a great game that had the crowd hanging on until the last wood, which was a great effort from Mark Shore (Hanwood joint captain) for two. He touched the jack but unfortunately for him it went sideways to give Colin Beaman two and the game (winning 11 to be best winner). Some great pairings in the first four, Darren Wellings playing Dave Burton which saw some fine bowling (Darren won 14 to be MVP for Meole) and likewise with Will Tarrell and Wayne Phillips (Wayne won 20 for MVP). Two each in the middle and back four and good scores from the losing players was good enough to add the aggregate to the 5 wins.” Best winner for Hanwood were Ben Talbot and Tony Hotchkiss 13. Ifton have slipped into 3rd after only getting 2 at Wem USC, who continue their rise up the table. Scott Thomas was best winner for the home side 6, with Curtis Metcalfe getting MVP winning 10. Keiron Roberts was best winner for the visitors 9, while Dave Bond won MVP for winning 20, as they suffered another heavy away defeat after just getting 3 at Bylet. Home captain Mike Dulson said it was “a great team performance, we went 6-0 up and didn’t look like losing any of those games! The green was superb, the county will be really impressed when they get to use it in a couple of weeks.”

Bowring are now a point behind Ifton after beating Sir John Bayley 12-2 at home. Captain Rich Lawson commented on “our best team performance yet, I was looking for 8 winners so to get 10 against a top side like the Bayley is extremely pleasing. It could have been 12 winners, as both our losers were lying game on but Tom Roden and Spencer Clarke produced quality bowls to win their games (Spencer best winner 19 and earning MVP too). After our last two games we could have bemoaning our luck a little when we deserved more than just the 8 points we achieved, but I said we needed to go up another gear and we did just that, battling out the close games, none more so than Aaron King who came from 20-16 down to beat Alex Jones. If we carry on in the same vein then I can see no reason why we can’t attain a high finish this season, we’ve set ourselves a standard so it’s up to us to maintain it.” Best winners for the home side were Rob Roden and Dave Lloyd 7, with Rich Lawson earning MVP winning 18. Burway produced a great away performance as they got 6 at Chester Road, only losing the aggregate by 8 shots. Ian McDonald had the best card for the home side, winning 9, with MVP going to KP Jones winning 17. For the visitors junior player Adam Dovey was best winner and MVP 12. Hadley USC are back at the bottom but got a good four at Newport, Phil King leading the way 10 to be best winner and MVP. For the home side Alan Davidson continued his good form winning 7 but Sam Millward got MVP for winning 8.

St Georges remain top by 2 points to Meole Brace, with Ifton 3rd 4 points behind and Bowring a further point behind. Hadley USC are bottom 3 points off Wrockwardine Wood. Aaron King has the only 100% record after beating previously unbeaten Alex Jones. Stuart Rutter still is top of the MVPs with 4.