Gameweek 2 Review

Wrockwardine make history, Bayley whitewash again, Burway & St Georges earn fab five

Wrockwardine Wood made history in Gameweek 2 of the 25th season of the Salop Leisure Shropshire Premier Bowling League as they became the first ever team in the league to earn the four extra away points for winning away. They won 10-6 at Wem USC to move joint top of the league. Captain Stuart Clee was delighted, “the game was a hard fought one against an improved Wem side. I was very pleased to grab the away win to start the season well but we are under no illusions that it is a long hard season and it’s only a start. We will get behind each other week in week out and perform as best we can. I would like to personally wish Wem all the best for the season.” Best winner for the away side was Stuart himself 10 while Connor Whitehall’s 4 win was in vain as they lost out on the aggregate points by just 3 chalks. Sir John Bayley are joint top after inflicting back to back 14-0 whitewashes against the same team, Meole Brace. Joint captain Chris Worthington commented that “in the knowledge that Meole had lost a few players I was still wary that they’ve got some good players who could cause damage and my order reflected that, we started off strong with 4 winners and 38 up, as the games went on the momentum and atmosphere picked up just in time for Meole’s strong middle. We weathered the storm and had a few scares with one or two cards well down, John Potter was 8-17 and ran out, showing the strength in character of the players we’ve brought in. Kieran Buckley was nip and tuck early doors before running out from 8-6 to show his class. Again every player battled on and off the green which is hopefully setting the tone for the season.” Tom Roden was best winner for the Bayley winning 5.

St Georges earned a fab five at Newport as they recovered well from a poor opening result. Joint captain Ian Gaut acknowledged it was a “great result. Just as we aimed for. Tweaked the playing order which caught them out and really were unlucky not to have two more winners. Barry Gilder was star man against John Roberts and sets the team up well for the visit of Castlefields next Friday.” Best winner for the home side was Russell Pegram 8 while Dave King was best for the visitors 10. Burway also got a fab five at Hanmer to continue their good start. Joint captain Russ Davies comments “well as we said we want to get more than last year (2 games) and we had two out of the front four, Duncan Pressley rallying hard to get his game off and another impressive performance from Ben James. Wayne Rogers then got us a third game with a decent win. Star man was Chris Dovey, who found a mark and nailed it to win to 4 (and be best winner). Jolyon Partridge added the 5th. Very pleased with 5 games, green was holding a lot of water so maybe a leveller although most of us struggled with the weight. But look forward to the Wrockites on Friday, as I’ve heard they are stronger this year!” Robin Bennett was best winner for Hanmer, winning 4.

Castlefields earned a solid 10-4 win over Bowring, but were thankful to have a 20 winner and two 19 winners also. Adam Jones continued his good start to the season with another single figure win to 5, while Mike Beer showed his fighting qualities once again coming back from 17-5 down to win. Adam Patrick was best for the visitors winning 10. Ifton bounced back from their first week hammering by beating Chester Road 10-4, but only won the aggregate by 6! Leighton Roberts was best for the home side 12 but Chris Stretch bounced back very well from last week to win 6 and make the aggregate close. Bylet enjoyed a comfortable home win over Hanwood to make a good start to their home season, but will rue losing two games 20 and one 19 as Hanwood scrambled 5 winners. Rob Steventon was best winner for the Islanders 9 while Ash Wellings won 14 for the visitors.

Sir John Bayley and Wrockwardine Wood lead the early table on 20 points with Meole Brace bottom with 7. Chris Dovey is top of the League Averages with a plus aggregate of 32.