Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Chester Road & Ifton look for lift off, Top two look for big home wins, Friends reunite at Wrockites
Chester Road and Ifton will look to kickstart their season after a very poor first half considering their recent exploits in the league. They face each other in the double header with Chester Road at home first. Both teams have done well on each other’s green in recent years so home advantage may not count for much. Chester Road skipper Paul Fowles thinks “that both games will be close. We had a good win Friday after the disappointment of losing in the County Cup so we will be looking to carry on from last week.” Ifton captain Dickie Jones hopes to build on that cup win, but knows the league is the important stuff given their position. “We find ourselves bottom of the league so it’s the first of 14 cup finals. We know the green well, we have won there in the past so we hope to get a good score. We are without Nick, Leighton and Jacko which won’t help our cause but Rocky and Paul Hallett come in for their season’s debuts.” Bylet are in between the two sides, as well as Hanmer, and they face a tricky game against 3rd placed Meole Brace. Meole did win 12-2 there a couple of seasons back but they did win 9-5 against them last season, and will want something similar to take advantage of those two sides meeting. Meole will need to win to keep the pressure at the top as the top two are both at home.
League leaders Castlefields face Wem USC, who got a decent 4 last week after a couple of previous bad away results. Castlefields have picked up 19 points from their last two home games and will want more than that average to keep their advantage at the top. Sir John Bayley will hope to close the gap as they entertain Hanmer, who wouldn’t have seen the green before. The Bayley beat Bowring 11-3 on Friday and will want at least that to keep up their good form. Hanmer have picked up away after their poor start, winning at Chester Road and getting 4 at the Bylet, and will want to keep that up to keep their distance away from the bottom.
Wrockwardine Wood and Bowring will be familar with each other after playing each other last week in the County Cup, as well as the Wrockites having three former Bowring players. Wrockwardine captain Rob Jones knows it is a “tough game in prospect. Bowring are a decent side and we will need to be on our game to bring about the result we would expect at home. Having played them last Wednesday, then this Wednesday before the reverse fixture on Friday, we will certainly be familiar with each other.” Opposition skipper Jamie King is “looking forward to the game, we know that they will be looking for revenge after our win against them in the county cup! Both teams get along well and I’m sure if the rain stays off we will have 2 good games this week! Personally I like the double header and think it’s something that the league should look at if they ever wanted to change the format in the future!” Wrockwardine have been in good form since their home loss to Meole Brace, winning at Ifton and then an 11-3 against Burway at home, while Bowring have struggled recently, winning 1 in 6 since their whitewash over Hanmer. Newport are the form team in the league at moment and will look for a good home win over Hanwood. They have returned to their fearsome form on their home green but Hanwood have shown this season they have more resilience, they got 5 at St Georges last time out. St Georges will look for an improvement on that score when they host Burway, and would love a repeat of their 13-1 home win over them two years ago. But Burway got 4 there last year and would like something similar.
Gameweek 14 Fixtures:
Chester Road v Ifton
Sir John Bayley v Hanmer
Castlefields v Wem USC
Bylet v Meole Brace
Newport v Hanwood
Wrockwardine Wood v Bowring
St Georges v Burway