Gameweek 1 Review

Hanmer and Hanwood head table, Bayley grind it out,  Chester Road & Ifton earn good results

Hanmer earned a dream start in gameweek 1 of the Salop Leisure Shropshire Premier Bowling League as they beat Bylet 12-2 to move top of the table, perhaps the first ever newly promoted team to do so. Captain Dave Ellison commented “on a special night in front of a crowd over 60. We got off to a great start winning the first four and then taking the middle four as well. Bylet, who are a great bunch of lads to their credit, won 2 games at the back which they fully deserved on the night. I don’t like to mention individuals but Mike Gilpin, who trailed Mick Harries at one time, came back to win 21-18 so deserves a mention as this went to spur the rest of the players on.” Playoff hero Alan Faulkner was best winner for the home side 6 while recent signing for the visitors, Jason Groom, won 8. Hanwood sit second after a much better start than their whitewash they suffered at Ifton on the first game of last season. Joint captain Mark Shore commented on a “great result against a much fancied team. In the first four St. George’s really pushed us hard with only Wayne Phillips being in control of his game. Ben Talbot put up a great batting display to edge out Clay Flattley in a classy game from the two left handers. Peter Grimston turned round a 10-2 deficit against Russ Wellings to lead 16-10 Russ battled back to get within touching distance but a couple of rubs ensured Peter got out 21-18. In the middle and Ian Gaut produced a great display against Glyn Wellings to win 7 (to be best winner) while Ash Wellings got off to a flyer against Nigel Evans although Nigel battled back to 10. Nick Davies and Dave Burton played very well to ensure we went into the back leading 6-2. In the back Greg Smith proved his quality again with a solid 21-5 win over Paul Beer while Mark Shore ran out from 6-3 to be best winner. This secured the agg for the eggs. Phil Lyttle continued his early season form with a workman like display against Simon Rhodes. Last on was Dan Wornell against Tony Rhodes. The dragons captain was in charge early doors but Dan Wornell fought back to 20-16 up only for Rhodes Snr to battle back and snatch a 21-20 victory. Overall we were very pleased to match the result from last season against an improved dragons team and playing them when the green was much slower than the corresponding fixture last season. That said it wasn’t slow!”

Ifton also earned a big home win against five time champions Newport which captain Dickie Jones described as a “good team performance and happy with the result.” They won 11-3 with Keiron Roberts winning 2 for the home side and Phil Emery 9 for the visitors. Chester Road earned a good 6 away at Wem USC to continue their decent form from last season. Skipper Paul Fowles said it was a “very good start to the season as our lads played very well. Ian McDonald was our best player and Mike Fielder was outstanding for them (winning 5 to be best winner). Andy Smith played like his old self and having a bigger squad is a major plus so looking forward to another good season.” Best winner for the Road was Gary Beff 12. Burway also gained a good win beating Wrockwardine Wood 10-4 with Wayne Rogers the best winner for the Ludlow side winning 5 and Martin Williams and Stuart Clee best winners for the Wrockites with their 16 wins.

Meole Brace earned a good 9-5 win over their rivals Castlefields in a game of no single figure wins. Best for Meole was Darren Wellings 12 in the first four where they went 3-1 up with Keith Walton winning 15 for the visitors and being best winner. The middle four was shared with Elliott McGuinness battling back to win 19 and Steve Freer edging out captain Pete Bound 16 in a high quality game for the Fields while Will Tarrell edged out Paul Williams 19 and Andy Wigginton coming back to win 17. Into the back and Nigel Bound beat the returning Ade Rowe 18 after a good start while visiting captain Andy Duckett and Mark Taylor both won 17 but Mark Thomas won 15 to seal the 9-5 win for Meole. Champions Sir John Bayley had to grind it out at neighbours Bowring after finding themselves 6-0 down. Captain Tom Roden says “I think it’s a result both teams may have taken before the game but we’re probably the happier side now. It looked like another 10-2 after going 6-0 down, but it shows the quality of our side to grind out 5 big points out of nowhere. It was nice to play a local derby in front of a decent crowd also. Ayden Smith was brilliant against Alex Jones in the corners to win 16 from 13-4 down, the game between Scott Simpson and Kieran Buckley was also a great game to watch, both lads giving it everything to win. Kieran played really well on his debut and won’t struggle for wins this year if he can play like that every week. Chris Ward was fantastic again to beat Rich Lawson and Rob Burroughs was also impressive beating Reece Farr 8 (to be best winner).” League Merit Winner Josh Bradburn was best winner for the home side winning 8.

Gameweek 1 Results