Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
The year 2003 provided a new name on the Champions Roll of Honour and the loss of the inaugural winners of the league when Chester Road became the first Northern based side to win the league championship and Battlefield were beaten by Mid Shropshire based Newport in the relegation playoff in front of a large crowd at British Sugar in October.
The season started with many pundits tipping Chester Road for major honours as they boasted an impressive list of new recruits including Andrew Moss, Paul Smith and last season’s Castlefields captain Andrew Duckett. They lost their opening game away at Craven Arms and then won their next four to reach third in the table behind Castlefields and St Georges. At the halfway stage Castlefields led the way by 5 points, but a 14-0 whitewash in the next game for Chester Road and an 11-3 defeat for Castlefields saw Chester Road top of the table for the first time. However Castlefields continued the fight and after 18 games led by 10 points, but then came the crunch match when Castlefields visited Chester Road. The “Roaders” put them to the sword with a mighty 13-1 win, were never headed, and eventually finished 15 points clear of second placed Castlefields with the 2002 winners St Georges a further point away in third. The league’s most improved team in 2003 was also Chester Road who amassed an extra 35 points than in 2002. Donnington Wood who eventually finished seventh, improved by 30 points on their 2002 season total.
Derek Wright of Wem USC won the League Averages with 22 wins, winning it on aggreagate. Spencer Clarke also had 22 wins but as he won 13 games on the bounce he won the most consecutive wins award.
The Alan Mayhew Trophy went to Donnington Wood for the second time with a 242-209 victory over local Telford rivals Wrockwardine Wood. Andy Stevens was the recipient of the “Mike Hinton” Man of the Match award and was presented with an engraved tankard after the match by the League President.
The Premiership Play-Off’s format was changed to an 8 a side competition and after some close qualifying matches, Chester Road continued their impressive form when they beat Ford in the final of the Pool A shield. Ifton collected their first ever Premier League Trophy when they lifted the Pool B shield after defeating Donnington Wood in the final at Newport.
On the individual front, Dale Downes lifted the Premier League Merit for the first time, (sponsored for the second time by “PRC Recruitment”) beating Paul Williams 21-19 in the final to take the trophy and £200 first prize at Hadley USC Bowling Club.
Lastly, but not least, the season finished with a series of play-off matches. The interest in joining the Premier League extended to the Oswestry League, when for the first time, Rhos the Oswestry League winners, applied to enter the play-off matches. Newport applied as league winners of the Mid Shropshire League and they played Rhos for the right to play Battlefield, who were the first League Champions in 1994 but, following on outflow of players at the start of the season, finished in the “dreaded” bottom place. The pre-qualifying match was held at Meole Brace to determine who would play in the “Play off” final. In a very close encounter where the match was dead level after 10 blocks, Newport had the last two winners and eventually won by 16 shots. The play-off decider was to take place at Allscott, British Sugar and, in front of more than 350 spectators, Newport overcame their Premier League opponents when they defeated Battlefield by 27 chalks, with former county star Alan Davidson’s win of 21-4 at number 9 being the decisive card.
2003 Hall of Fame
League Winners: Chester Road
Alan Mayhew Winners: Donnington Wood
Pool A: Chester Road
Pool B: Ifton
League Averages: Derek Wright (Wem USC)
League Merit: Dale Downes (Wrockwardine Wood)
Most Consecutive Wins: Spencer Clarke (Sir John Bayley)
2003 Season Final Table
Home Away Total Pld Pld W L GW Pld W L GW GW MW Agg Pts Chester Road 26 13 13 0 129 13 5 8 69 198 18 822 234 Castlefields 26 13 13 0 119 13 5 8 64 183 18 539 219 St Georges 26 13 13 0 119 13 4 9 65 184 17 567 218 Meole Brace 26 13 13 0 111 13 3 10 63 174 16 264 206 S J Bayley 26 13 13 0 121 13 0 13 52 173 13 300 199 Ford 26 13 12 1 109 13 1 12 59 168 13 127 194 Donn Wood 26 13 13 0 108 13 2 11 51 159 15 271 189 Wrock Wood 26 13 13 0 103 13 3 10 51 154 16 189 186 Wem USC 26 13 8 5 101 13 1 12 57 158 9 -175 176 Ifton 26 13 9 4 97 13 3 10 55 152 12 -123 176 Craven Arms 26 13 11 2 101 13 0 13 41 142 11 -346 164 Childs Ercall 26 13 9 4 85 13 0 13 30 115 9 -944 133 Archibald W'ton 26 13 9 4 79 13 0 13 33 112 9 -744 130 Battlefield 26 13 6 7 77 13 0 13 37 114 6 -747 126
Results
| Archibald Worthington | Battlefield | Castlefields | Chester Road | Childs Ercall | Craven Arms | Donnington Wood | Ford | Ifton | Meole Brace | S J Bayley | St Georges | Wem USC | Wrockwardine Wood | |
| Archibald Worthington | 9/5 | 2/12 | 4/10 | 11/3 | 11/3 | 9/5 | 6/8 | 8/6 | 6/8 | 9/5 | 2/12 | 8/6 | 12/2 | |
| Battlefield | 11/3 | 5/9 | 3/11 | 10/4 | 9/5 | 4/10 | 6/8 | 7/7 | 4/10 | 9/5 | 8/6 | 10/4 | 3/11 | |
| Castlefields | 13/1 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 13/1 | 11/3 | 12/2 | 10/4 | 12/2 | 11/3 | 12/2 | 11/3 | 9/5 | 11/3 | |
| Chester Road | 14/0 | 14/0 | 13/1 | 13/1 | 14/0 | 11/3 | 13/1 | 11/3 | 12/2 | 9/5 | 10/4 | 11/3 | 10/4 | |
| Childs Ercall | 10/4 | 10/4 | 7/7 | 5/9 | 9/5 | 4/10 | 9/5 | 9/5 | 8/6 | 8/6 | 4/10 | 10/4 | 10/4 | |
| Craven Arms | 11/3 | 12/2 | 8/6 | 9/5 | 12/2 | 11/3 | 10/4 | 7/7 | 9/5 | 13/1 | 5/9 | 4/10 | 10/4 | |
| Donnington Wood | 11/3 | 13/1 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 12/2 | 9/5 | 11/3 | 12/2 | 9/5 | 7/7 | 10/4 | 11/3 | 9/5 | |
| Ford | 12/2 | 11/3 | 11/3 | 9/5 | 12/2 | 12/2 | 11/3 | 3/11 | 9/5 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 12/2 | 11/3 | |
| Ifton | 11/3 | 10/4 | 5/9 | 5/9 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 8/6 | 7/7 | 13/1 | 10/4 | 9/5 | 6/8 | |
| Meole Brace | 14/0 | 8/6 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 14/0 | 10/4 | 12/2 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 11/3 | 11/3 | 6/8 | 11/3 | |
| S J Bayley | 10/4 | 13/1 | 11/3 | 10/4 | 13/1 | 11/3 | 13/1 | 10/4 | 12/2 | 9/5 | 12/2 | 10/4 | 13/1 | |
| St Georges | 12/2 | 11/3 | 12/2 | 11/3 | 10/4 | 13/1 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 13/1 | 7/7 | 10/4 | 13/1 | 12/2 | |
| Wem USC | 10/4 | 11/3 | 6/8 | 7/7 | 11/3 | 12/2 | 11/3 | 8/6 | 6/8 | 12/2 | 11/3 | 5/9 | 7/7 | |
| Wrockwardine Wood | 10/4 | 12/2 | 8/6 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 10/4 | 9/5 | 10/4 | 11/3 | 10/4 | 8/6 | 11/3 | 10/4 |
Click here for the Match Results
League Averages 2003
Player Name Played Won Lost Agg
1 Derek Wright 25 22 3 193
2 Martin Lloyd 26 22 4 170
3 Spencer Clarke 26 22 4 144
4 Peter Farmer 25 20 5 126
5 Paul Williams 26 20 6 119
6 Adrian Rowe 26 20 6 115
7 Glyn Herbert 26 19 7 129
8 Keith Wall 25 19 6 126
9 Andrew Duckett 26 19 7 105
10 Peter Bound 26 19 7 88
11 Richard Griffiths 24 18 6 130
12 Andrew Moss 26 18 8 120
13 Rich Goddard 26 18 8 116
14 Dale Downes 26 18 8 84
15 Nick Davies 25 18 7 81
16 Glyn Picknell 26 17 9 115
17 Dave Rhodes 26 17 9 104
18 Dave Burton 24 17 7 99
19 Alan Palin 26 17 9 98
20 Paul Smith 24 17 7 84
21 Mick Jones 25 17 8 81
22 Craig Barker 24 17 7 78
23 Nigel Bound 24 17 7 75
24 Carl Roberts 23 17 6 73
25 Shaun Nagle 24 17 7 66
26 Paul Latham 25 17 8 51
27 Roger Teague 24 17 7 28
28 Gary Neal 26 17 9 22
29 David (Rocky) Jones 20 16 4 157
30 Ian Booth 24 16 8 91
31 Mick Jones 25 16 9 62
32 Conrad Clapham 20 16 4 59
33 Keith Walton 26 16 10 54
34 Ian Dowley 26 16 10 53
35 Richard Harrington 25 16 9 49
36 Simon Parsonage 23 16 7 46
37 Chris Ball 24 16 8 41
38 Graham Dulson 26 16 10 30
39 Charlie Weaver 25 15 10 117
40 John Tew 25 15 10 100
41 Dave King 26 15 11 94
42 Martin Williams 25 15 10 92
43 Steve Broome 26 15 11 58
44 Jim Kellett 26 15 11 54
45 Tony Dodd 24 15 9 52
46 Rod Manley 23 15 8 49
47 Colin Beaman 25 15 10 49
48 Fred Bailey 25 15 10 46
49 Melvyn Jenkins 26 15 11 33
50 James Grimston 25 15 10 30
51 Chris Worthington 26 15 11 27
52 Tony Hotchkiss 25 15 10 27
53 Scott Thomas 25 15 10 18
54 Kevin Price 25 15 10 11
55 Roy Bradburn 25 14 11 76
56 Chris Greenway 23 14 9 71
57 John Breeze 23 14 9 62
58 Andy Wigginton 25 14 11 61
59 Alan Purcell 24 14 10 58
60 Gary Wall 23 14 9 55
61 Wayne Phillips 24 14 10 54
62 Mark Worthington 26 14 12 51
63 Paul Griffiths 20 14 6 48
64 Mark Shore 25 14 11 38
65 Mick Rogers 26 14 12 36
66 Wayne Rogers 26 14 12 16
67 Mal Evans 24 14 10 9
68 Tony Rhodes 26 14 12 -1
69 Ian Christmas 26 14 12 -11
70 Nicky Beard 23 13 10 68
71 Rob Jones 24 13 11 33
72 Peter Grimston 25 13 12 27
73 Phil Laker 21 13 8 16
74 Bill Tarrell 24 13 11 9
75 Steve Burroughs 24 13 11 6
76 Jonathan Martin 26 13 13 -14
77 Norman Harvey 26 13 13 -16
78 Dave Ellis 25 13 12 -29
79 Dale Booth 25 13 12 -55
80 Mark Rogers 20 12 8 71
81 Andrew Jones 19 12 7 60
82 Richard Lawson 23 12 11 36
83 Brian Shore 24 12 12 29
84 Keith Carter 21 12 9 29
85 Kevin Jones 26 12 14 14
86 Simon Bailey 24 12 12 -3
87 Mark Thomas 26 12 14 -11
88 Roy Crowther 25 12 13 -19
89 Geraint Williams 26 12 14 -27
90 Gavin Taylor 26 12 14 -35
91 Clay Flattley 22 11 11 52
92 Paul Jones 16 11 5 50
93 Andrew Hughes 15 11 4 49
94 Mark Burroughs 20 11 9 37
95 Phil Clee 26 11 15 25
96 Paul Fowles 17 11 6 20
97 John Coxill 23 11 12 5
98 Kevin Blount 20 11 9 5
99 Jimmy Green 23 11 12 -4
100 Allan Gaut 24 11 13 -4
101 Brian Hayes 21 11 10 -6
102 John Clarke 26 11 15 -12
103 Graham Rogers 26 11 15 -13
104 Michael Reeves 21 11 10 -13
105 Barrie Thomas 25 11 14 -25
106 Craig Davies 22 11 11 -30
107 Mark Oliver 26 11 15 -35
108 Graham Wood 26 11 15 -37
109 Alan Ball 17 10 7 65
110 Ian Gaut 23 10 13 0
111 Chris Pearce 25 10 15 -2
112 Keith Pessall 19 10 9 -21
113 Adrian Ashley 20 10 10 -26
114 Barry Keep 24 10 14 -28
115 Pete Griffiths 22 10 12 -29
116 Steve Faulkner 24 10 14 -32
117 Simon Rhodes 25 10 15 -38
118 Darren Watkins 23 10 13 -54
119 Rob Massey 26 10 16 -65
120 Mal Jones 25 10 15 -75
121 Peter Roden 19 9 10 26
122 Dave (Dicky) Jones 19 9 10 3
123 Ian Riddell 18 9 9 -22
124 Mal Parry 24 9 15 -28
125 Terry Gray 23 9 14 -34
126 Jimmy Fletcher 22 9 13 -35
127 David Wilding 21 9 12 -59
128 Malcolm Bartley 24 9 15 -79
129 Ged Ashley 26 9 17 -93
130 David Birch 16 8 8 14
131 Mark Selly 20 8 12 -13
132 Paul Williams 19 8 11 -18
133 Steve Heath 18 8 10 -36
134 Dave Webster 19 8 11 -38
135 David Gourlay 25 8 17 -47
136 Mark Evans 21 8 13 -57
137 Peter Thomas 26 8 18 -65
138 Alan Peach 21 8 13 -68
139 Callum Beddows 25 8 17 -70
140 John Nash 23 8 15 -83
141 Andrew Foster 21 8 13 -92
142 Terence O’Rahilly 23 8 15 -113
143 Simon Gerrard 14 7 7 -14
144 Harold Banks 17 7 10 -18
145 Mark Hinks 18 7 11 -43
146 Len Lewis 21 7 14 -48
147 Tony Cowdale 22 7 15 -61
148 Pete Jones 20 7 13 -62
149 Phil Price 26 7 19 -66
150 John Tanner 21 7 14 -73
151 Neil Clark 23 7 16 -89
152 Ian Price 21 7 14 -92
153 Colin Smith 23 7 16 -119
154 Adrian Smout 26 7 19 -124
155 Alan Hartshorne 26 7 19 -133
156 Mike Hinton 15 6 9 -11
157 Andy Jones 10 6 4 -15
158 Dave Rogers 14 6 8 -18
159 Andy Stevens 18 6 12 -28
160 Dave Ridgway 19 6 13 -55
161 Rob Wilkinson 21 6 15 -76
162 Ian Harvey 25 6 19 -115
163 Mike Riley 9 5 4 24
164 Gary Cooper 11 5 6 14
165 Alan Meredith 7 5 2 3
166 Colin Blent 14 5 9 -14
167 Chris Ball 14 5 9 -17
168 Mick Oliver 15 5 10 -25
169 Dave Bicker 16 5 11 -33
170 Philip Threlfall 14 5 9 -41
171 Steve Worthington 13 5 8 -44
172 Martin Blizard 17 5 12 -45
173 Steve Nicholls 16 5 11 -54
174 Terry Deakin 8 4 4 14
175 Tim Halliwell 12 4 8 -6
176 Dave Brown 8 4 4 -8
177 Nick Lewis 8 4 4 -15
178 Steve Walker 15 4 11 -61
179 Geoff Samuel 12 4 8 -61
180 Dave Hughes 15 4 11 -80
181 Bill Tunks 24 4 20 -123
182 Andrew Morgan 4 3 1 17
183 Del McKenzie 5 3 2 12
184 Des Hey 4 3 1 7
185 Ray Jones 6 3 3 -2
186 Mark Cooper 6 3 3 -5
187 Chris Bretell 7 3 4 -8
188 Phil Whatmough 9 3 6 -19
189 Andy Price 12 3 9 -65
190 Tom Cooper 10 3 7 -73
191 Steve Edwards 22 3 19 -175
192 Barry Clarke 25 3 22 -216
193 Mal Roberts 3 2 1 20
194 Colin Evans 3 2 1 10
195 Scott Lambert 5 2 3 7
196 Pete Sherry 3 2 1 5
197 Fred Watkins 5 2 3 -2
198 Richard Bond 4 2 2 -3
199 Chris Kelly 5 2 3 -15
200 Dave Beer 6 2 4 -26
201 Paul Edgerton 7 2 5 -35
202 Terry Williams 9 2 7 -52
203 Kevin Jones 13 2 11 -82
204 Paul Wellburn 14 2 12 -138
205 Rob Morris 24 2 22 -190
206 Gavin Price 1 1 0 6
207 Kevin Nicholas 1 1 0 4
208 Steve Dodd 1 1 0 4
209 Tony Poole 2 1 1 2
210 Giles Evans 2 1 1 -2
211 Michael Thomas 2 1 1 -4
212 Adrian Jennings 3 1 2 -7
213 Ray Hollick 2 1 1 -11
214 Ian Bailey 3 1 2 -16
215 Phil Evans 4 1 3 -21
216 Ben Gibson 4 1 3 -27
217 Clive Beaman 8 1 7 -41
218 Colin Price 6 1 5 -46
219 Dewi Jones 8 1 7 -47
220 David Hoffman 9 1 8 -50
221 R James 8 1 7 -66
222 Jesse James 11 1 10 -82
223 Terry Lucas 1 0 1 -1
224 J Lawrence 1 0 1 -6
225 G Balshaw 1 0 1 -7
226 Martin Boyd 1 0 1 -8
227 Stuart Rutter 1 0 1 -8
228 Rob Bilton 1 0 1 -8
229 Barry Davies 1 0 1 -9
230 Eddie Thorner 1 0 1 -12
231 Nicky Hughes 2 0 2 -12
232 Steve Robinson 1 0 1 -14
233 Colin Blower 2 0 2 -15
234 Tony Dowley 3 0 3 -16
235 Steve Shakespeare 1 0 1 -18
236 Andy Pearce 2 0 2 -26
237 Ted Griffiths 2 0 2 -26
238 Steve Rawlins 4 0 4 -30
239 Ian Bishop 6 0 6 -30
240 John Harrison 4 0 4 -37
241 Gerry Bradbury 4 0 4 -39
242 Robin Hillman 5 0 5 -40
243 Jonathan Ryder 5 0 5 -49
244 Derek Bishop 6 0 6 -66
245 Scott Beddows 11 0 11 -68
246 Harry Thomas 8 0 8 -72