Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
League Winners start defence against County Cup Winners, Tasty clash at Meole, Hanmer look for good start
The Salop Leisure Shropshire Premier Bowling League opens with a bang tonight with three local derbies along with new boys Hanmer making their league debut the main talking points. All eyes in Telford will be on the Bowring as the KGJ Insurance County Cup holders take on defending champions Sir John Bayley in what promises to be a fiercely contested local derby. Bowring have beaten the Bayley 11-3 and 12-2 the last two seasons and will be looking for more of the same. They have a new captain in Jamie King and he thinks the team have had good preparation after playing in the World Club Championships last weekend. “I think after 2 competitive games on Sunday for most of the side we are prepared for tomorrow night. In terms of the season we are as ready as we can be, we have had a few friendlies and the team have been putting the hours in on the green.” The team have signed Ayden Smith, Reece Farr and Kieran Buckley all from Donnington Wood and they will go straight into the action. “We have a few new faces and of course it will take time for them to adjust and get used to the green but I’m sure they will be fine. It’s a massive game to start the season, a local but friendly derby against last year’s winners so doesn’t get much harder than that to start a season. Obviously we know SJB are a great team as they proved last year so we have to respect them for that. They have many county players and strength in depth but as we are at home I’d like to think we will come out on top in what I think will be a tight game. We had a good result against them last year at home but anything can happen on the night. Obviously we are looking for as many winners as possible to make a good start but realistically I think that against last year’s champions any sort of win will be a good result for us. I’d like to congratulate SJB on winning the league last year and wish them all the best for the season.” The champions have a new captain to in Tom Roden, who captained the side before they won the league, and thinks “it’s a game both sides are looking forward to. A local derby between 2016’s SPBL and County Cup Winners which should attract the biggest crowd of our season. We just want to do better than last year as Bowring battered us that night. We were lucky to get 2 in the end. They’ve lost 3 and signed 3 so won’t be any weaker and we’ll have to play at our best to get anything from there as they’re usually very good at home.” New signings Chris Worthington and Rob Burroughs go straight into the action tomorrow for the Bayley Boys.
Over in Shrewsbury, all eyes will be on Meole Brace who play Castlefields in another fierce derby. Both teams have new captains with Pete Bound in charge of Meole Brace and Andy Duckett for Castlefields, but whereas Meole have not made any signings, Castlefields have made two, Steve Freer and Adie Rowe, who had been at Meole for over the last 30 years, and is sure to have a warm welcome back. Meole are still on the number 1 green that they used last year, and after the poor condition of the green at the start of last season they are grateful that they are in much better knick this time round! Pete comments “the greens are better at the start of this season than last year. Playing a local team in Castlefields who knows the green is always a challenge at any time of the year. Having said that if we are going to progress these are the sort of games that we have to go into looking to win. The players have put the time in to practice and are looking forward to it.” Also on the outskirts of Shrewsbury are 2016 Most Improved Team Hanwood who hope to have a much better start than last season when they got no winners at Ifton first game! They take on St Georges in a tough first game and will hope their green will have some run in it to help them. Joint captain Mark Shore says “the majority of the team played Sir John Bayley last night in the Wem League and returned a good 11-1 victory. Obviously the Wem League SJB team is very different from their Premier team but there were still some decent players on show for the Bayley so this first competitive game along with a friendly last week against West Brom has ensured our lads are up and running. The green is immaculate which gives the players that extra bit of confidence. That said we recognise the improvements St Georges have made to their squad and they will offer a stern test but we believe we will end up with more points at the end of Wednesday than we did after our opening fixture of last season!” The Dragons are skippered by Tony Rhodes again and with their new signings will be a force in the league this season and will hope for a good start to their campaign in trying to win a first title for 10 years.
Eyes in North Shropshire will be on Wem USC and Hanmer where Wem take on Chester Road in a North Shropshire Derby and Hanmer open up their maiden campaign against the Bylet. Chester Road won 11-3 at Wem USC last year but despite their new signings will be hard pressed to repeat that win as Wem have also strengthened. Wem though did lose their opening game of the season at home last year to bottom side Hadley USC so will be hoping to prevent lightning striking twice! Chester Road had a great season last year and will be looking to maintain those standards again this one! Hanmer finally made the breakthrough last season and captain Dave Ellison is “relishing the prospect of pitting our wits against the best teams in the county. We have been knocking on the door for seven years and now is our chance to show we can compete at this level. We have quality in depth this season with a squad of 28 players and I will look to use most if not all at some stage of the season. Our new signings Gary Whitehall and Jack Hewitt will come in straight away and so will Rich Pullen whose knowledge of Hanmer will prove invaluable. Danny Hughes has come back to us and we all know how good he can be on his day. We have a few players on shifts but we can now replace them with quality. A lot of people will say that our season will depend on our home form but I personally think we will get points away from home and surprise people. Our first match with Bylet is a good fixture for both teams as our green won’t be running like it will say June and July so they will have it easier than most. The atmosphere will be good on a special night for the club and a win will stand us in good stead for Wrockwardine Wood on Friday.” Bylet though have strengthened themselves with Staffordshire stars James Duce, Jason Groom and Rob Perry coming in along with the return of Rob Fuller and will be a much tougher prospect this season. But none of their players will have seen the green before so how well they adapt will determine how many points they get.
Ifton and Newport both have disappointing seasons last year so will hope for a good start in their quest to put that right. Newport have had a good record at Ifton, getting 6 there the last couple of seasons but will be without Chris Grocott as he is at the World Indoor Championships. They have signed Pete Cookson and Justin Pegram along with Russ Pegram being back in the side and will hope Alan Davidson will be available due to his new work commitments. Ifton have re-signed Richie Griffiths as well as late signing Joey Williams, and along with Curtis Metcalfe and Ian Jones, will be looking for a good start like last year when they whitewashed Hanwood in their first home game. Burway and Wrockwardine Wood was an opening fixture last season when the Ludlow side won 10-4 after the same score there in favour of the Wrockites the year before. Burway will be looking for their players to improve themselves and gain them more points but their home form was good last year apart from one defeat. Wrockwardine will be hoping to reach the heights of 2015 again with their three players coming back after a year at the Bowring as well as Dan Taylor signing, and improving their away form is a target for new skipper Rob Jones.
With no other local leagues playing tomorrow it’s a great chance for people to come and watch some top quality bowls all over the county with some absolute cracking games!
The league would like to wish all the players and teams all the best for the season ahead on what hopefully will be dry and warm Wednesday and Friday nights!
Gameweek 1 Fixtures:
Bowring v Sir John Bayley
Meole Brace v Castlefields
Hanwood v St Georges
Wem USC v Chester Road
Ifton v Newport
Burway v Wrockwardine Wood
Hanmer v Bylet