Bridgewater v Ludlow Castle Pre-Playoff Preview & Draw

Bridgewater meet Ludlow Castle tonight in the second of the three pre-playoffs with Ludlow aiming to bounce back from Monday’s narrow loss and Bridgewater aiming to make their mark. Ludlow fought back so well on Monday and were unlucky to come up short. They will be hoping for a much better start this time round, and lead out with the three Lanes in order to achieve this. Ben and Jesse James will have some green knowledge from their junior days, as well as Ben having a fine run in the Open here just last month. Bridgewater have several ex-league players in their side, with Stuart Bailey, Dave Gourlay, Greg Fordham, Chris Pearce and Adrian Smout all having plenty of experience in it as well as the playoffs. Dave, Greg and Adrian have played in recent Playoffs with Archibald Worthington and Hanmer so know what it entails. Greg produced on of the best playoff performances seen in his last game in this, while Dave’s single figure win at the death helped Archie survive in 2013. Both are in the first four along with Stuart Bailey, hoping to lead from the front, with Adrian at number 12 hoping his experience will bring it home.

Bridgewater captain Julian Willis is the only survivor from the 2005 team that tried to get into the league previously and knows they “recognise we are the ‘underdogs’, the team with the fewest players who have experienced playing in the Premier league bowls. However the team, backed by the club’s committee, has ambition to try and push to the next level. So it is important to see how far we can go and what we need to do to get to the next level. Both teams, we recognise on paper are stronger than us, far more experienced of this kind of event  and atmosphere. However,  we hope our friendly enthusiasm will help bridge the gap over the two nights, and we can be proud of efforts. Irrespective the whole team are pleased to have got this far, proud to represent not only Bridgewater Bowling Club, but also the Market Drayton league, and thankful to be given this opportunity by the Shropshire Premier League.”

The game starts at 7.15 p.m. at Sir John Bayley, with a £1 entry again. The referee will be Mike Potter and dress code applies once again.

Draw: