Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Fields face champs test, St Georges look to bounce back, Bowring want another good away haul
Castlefields face their toughest test yet when they travel to Champions Sir John Bayley in Gameweek 9 of the Salop Leisure Shropshire Premier Bowling League. Both teams were hotly tipped to be fighting for the title and are in the top three with Meole Brace sandwiched in between them. Castlefields have had a great start to the season, winning away at Hanmer and Newport and beating St Georges comfortably last week at home. Spokesman Keith Walton says “this is the third of three tough games, and if we perform as well as we have the last 2 games we should come out of the game with some reward. But you never know what happens on the night especially if the green is quick.” The Bayley will be buoyant after their 11-3 win over Chester Road last week, and vice-captain Rob Burroughs knows “it is a different challenge this week and need to be at our best to take on our main rivals in the league. We need to try and keep close with them as much we can as they are on fire at the moment.”
Meole Brace are just two points behind Castlefields and face a tough task themselves away at St Georges. Captain Pete Bound admits it’s our “hardest game away so far this season. I’m sure St Georges will be up for it after struggling the last couple of games. Team spirit is good in our squad so should prove to be a good game to watch for a neutral spectator.” Meole did only win at home last week with 5 winners but did have four 20 losers, and will want to get back to their previous form which put them top of the table. St Georges had recovered after a difficult start but after their shock home loss to Bylet they only got 2 last week at Castlefields which means skipper Tony Rhodes is unsure what to expect tomorrow. “If I honestly said I don’t quite know what to expect tomorrow I wouldn’t be lying. I hope for a WWBC performance (when they won 13-1) as opposed to the last 2 Fridays and hope as a team we get the spark back that’s been missing the last 2 weeks.”
Bowring find themselves flying high in 4th but face another away game at Newport. Captain Jamie King comments, “second away game on the spin and with the weather being so good it’s the worst time to be going to Newport! We have done well so far away from home I just hope we can keep our good form going.” They have scored 5 in three of their four away games and will hope for something similar. Newport will want to bounce back from their last home game, a 10-4 loss against Castlefields, and the weather will help them this time with the green being quick rather than wet like that game. Another team that will hope the weather will help them is Chester Road after last week’s home loss on a heavy green. They face a Bylet team which suffered after heavy rain themselves last week, scrapping a draw at home to Wrockwardine Wood from 4-0 up. But after their shock win at St Georges the week before, they will fancy their chances anywhere. Hanwood will also benefit from the dry weather as they face Hanmer who are struggling badly away from home. It might be a baptism of fire for the new boys, especially after struggling badly at Bowring the last away game. Hanwood have been great at home so far and will fancy a big win to move up the table, while Hanmer will need to improve away if they are to stay clear of the bottom.
Wem USC are in 5th and will travel to a Wrockwardine Wood side short of a few players this week. Wem have averaged 4 away so far and will be happy with that again, considering the Wrockwardine green should be sharp. The Wrockites got a great draw at Bylet from well down but would have rued not getting the win there. They have done well at home so far, and will want to keep that up. Burway are another team with good home form and will look to take advantage of an Ifton side struggling for form so far this season. They will love to repeat their whitewash over the Champions again while Ifton will want to match their 5 they got at Bylet earlier this season.
Gameweek 9 Fixtures:
Sir John Bayley v Castlefields
St Georges v Meole Brace
Newport v Bowring
Hanwood v Hanmer
Burway v Ifton
Chester Road v Bylet
Wrockwardine Wood v Ifton