Week 16 Review

Burway bash the Dragons, Wem seal good comeback, Chester Road and Newport earn good home wins

It was a good night to be at home in week 16 of the Flowfit Shropshire Premier Bowling League as all were home wins. The biggest home win was Ifton over bottom team Hadley USC, the home side winning 12-2. Dave ‘Rocky’ Jones was best winner and MVP for Ifton winning 6 while for the visitors Ray Gregory was best winner 12 but Rob Burroughs gained MVP for his 14 win. Burway also matched Ifton’s result, but against previous leaders St Georges in a terrific home result for the team. Stand-in captain Wayne Rogers said it was “the best team performance of the season to date all 12 played well. Nick Lewis was superb (being joint best winner and MVP 6) and the weather stayed dry which helped us with home advantage. Very pleased with the result.” Mark Rogers also won 6 for the home team with Ian Gaut best winner for the Dragons 18, earning him MVP.

Castlefields earned the best away result of the night, gaining 6 at Wem USC, but will be disappointed not winning after being 3-1 and 5-3 up. Rich Goddard starred down an edge winning 2 and MVP for the Fields, but Wem fought back led by Derek Wright’s best win of 7 and Fred Bailey’s MVP win of 13 which left Scott Thomas level with Adam Jones at 18 across and Castlefields 1 up. But Scott ran out to seal the win for the home side by just 2 chalks and add the two aggregate points to their 6 winners. Captain Mike Dulson had “expected a tough task against a side who have more time on our green than anyone. However we kept our resolve and fought to the end. With Fred Bailey and Scott Thomas playing some quality stuff to get us over the line.” Chester Road “bounced back well” according to captain Paul Fowles, as they beat Wrockwardine Wood 11-3. “Chris Nicholson by far was our best player and to be fair to Mark Jones, who played him, he was their best player. We are happy to go up the table to prove we are not a flash in the pan. They were not happy with the pace of our green maybe Hanwood could water their green when we go there next year” joked Paul. Best winner and MVP for the Road was Andy Moss 6 while Stuart Rutter added another MVP for the Wrockites winning 15, but their best winner was Mark Picknell 13.

Chester Road are three points behind leaders Sir John Bayley, who beat Meole Brace 9-5 at home. Best winners for the Bayley were Spencer Clarke, Paul Evans and Tom Roden 6, with Paul gaining MVP. For Meole, Dave Redge was best winner 10 while Colin Beaman gained MVP for his 13 win. Down Haygate Road at Bowring, Bylet gained a good 4 there to give themselves some daylight between themselves and the bottom spot. Captain Mick Harries was best winner and MVP for the visitors 11, while for the home side Josh Bradburn and Steve Cox were best winners 5, with Steve gaining MVP. Champions Newport beat Hanwood 11-3, with former captain Dale Rudrum leading the way with his 8 win, and Chris Grocott winning MVP for his 14 win. For the visitors, Dave Burton was best winner 10 and Nick Davies won MVP for winning 17. Captain Mark Selley said it was a “great team performance as we were 2-2 after the first four, with Nick Davies playing very well to beat Dave Rhodes. Then I was the only loser in the middle against Wayne Phillips and the last four did their job so very pleased.”

Sir John Bayley lead Chester Road by 3 points at the top, with Meole Brace 2 points behind and St Georges a further point behind. At the bottom and Bylet have moved three points clear of Hadley USC. Andy Moss is still leading the League Averages, with Wayne Rogers now having overtaken Aaron King with 11 consecutive wins. Stuart Rutter now has 7 MVPs, one ahead of James Duce.