Hanmer edge out Donnington

Hanmer earned the right to take on Hadley USC on Friday at Bicton at 7 p.m. as they edged out Donnington Wood by 13 tonight at Meole Brace. Donnington edged the front and middle fours but two good cards at the back for Hanmer brought it home.

Both teams went out strong first four and it was a tale of three one sided games with Dan Taylor at number one to lead 12-4 on the shorter marks against Welsh Champion Graham Bennett, and although Graham scrambled a few at the end on the longer marks, Dan won 11. But All England Junior Merit Champion Andrew Armstrong was playing a 25m straight mark well for Hanmer against Mark Worthington to lead 12-3 and 16-8 and won 11 to cancel out Dan’s card. Dave Taylor always led against Mike Gilpin for Donnington Wood leading 14-8 and 19-11 and Mike couldn’t lose him but managed to get 14. Lee Peate and Gavin Taylor had a close game, Gavin on the longer marks and Lee on the shorter ones, with Lee just pulling away at the end to win 15 for Hanmer. But it was Donnington Wood who led by 1 overall.

Into the middle and Donnington most likely had the youngest ever four in playoff or maybe league history with an average age of about 24. But it was youth that triumphed against Hanmer’s experience as they extended their lead by 3 to 4. Ash was off first in a quick game winning 14, using the shorter marks to his advantage. Kieran Buckley played very well on 25m marks before Marcus Hughes pulled some back down an edge to get back to 17. Graham Rogers always led against Kane Beaman, winning 12-4 on long marks before Kane managed to get back to 15 over the middle. The last game of the four was a long game with Ayden Smith playing his trademark up to the crown and back with Alan Faulkner going corners and it was Alan who just edged it 19 to make the lead 4 to Donnington.

Into the back and it was a case of a couple of big cards winning it and it was Hanmer who made the best start. Chris Probert led 10-0 and Dave Ellison 12-4 and despite Tim getting back to 13-9, Chris ran out. Chris Worthington tried his best to pull some chalks back against Dave but Dave kept finding a good bowl to halt any revival and he won 11 for a lead of 18 for Hanmer. With Donnington Wood players Paul Evans 14-9 up on Joey Williams and Reece Farr 13 across with Jack Butler Hanmer only needed a couple more and they achieved that with ease. Paul won 15 and Jack 20 which meant a win for Hanmer of 13.

Thank you to Meole Brace for their use of their green and facilities, and to Mike Potter for refereeing and Peter Jones for measuring. Also a big thank you to Mark Thomas and Terry Sambrook for doing the raffle which totalled £113.20, of which 25% will go to Meole Brace, 25% to a charity of their choice and 50% to the league.

Pictures will be posted later but scores are below: