Taylor Support Shropshire Premier Bowls League
Shrewsbury Derby, Fields face tough trip, Top two face away trips
There is a Shrewsbury derby between two in form teams in Gameweek 12 of the Salop Leisure Shropshire Premier Bowling League. Meole Brace host Hanwood with both teams having recovered from slow starts, and it will be the first time that Darren Wellings, Colin Beaman and Craig Wilson all return to the club they left in the Winter. Hanwood joint captain Mark Shore knows “there’s a lot of friends in the teams and we have a group chat between us. It’s not just the three we signed for this season, we have other players who have played for Meole Brace before. So yes there is good knowledge of their green, but we have to be careful because they are doing superbly considering the players they lost. We recognise they are doing much better than everyone anticipated.” Opposition skipper Andy Wigginton is “sure the returning trio will get a warm welcome! There’s a lot of friends on both sides and it’s always been a friendly rivalry between the two.” The other Shrewsbury team face a tough trip to Wrockwardine Wood, made tougher by the fact players are in the Isle of Man and the captain is on holiday! That will be good news for Wrockwardine, who have struggled lately after their good start but the visit of the Champions should fire them up given the past history between the two teams. However Castlefields do have strength in depth and will fight for every point like usual.
The top two face away trips themselves, with leaders Newport going to Wem USC and Sir John Bayley travelling further north to Chester Road. Newport have been flying this season but face a Wem team that are a much tougher nut to crack now with some good results so far this season, including four at Sir John Bayley last week. Newport captain Sam Millward recognises this as “the last time we won the league we only came away with 2 winners at Wem showing it’s a tough place to go. We’re without Kevin Keary, Paul Reeves and Dale Rudrum so we’ll just do as well as we can and try to compete from the off.” The Bayley face a Chester Road side who have struggled so far this season, not scoring above a 9-5 home success and losing their last home game against Meole Brace. The Bayley though have not pushed on from their early season form but did win at Burway last time out, and will be looking to win away again in Whitchurch to apply the pressure on the league leaders.
Bowring are another team that have struggled so far this season, and captain Rich Lawson knows a home game against the bottom side Hanmer is a good opportunity to start moving up the table. “Over the last few weeks our results have improved and I think we are doing ok. We struggled at home early on and maybe weren’t quite as good as we wanted to be, but we are starting to play better now. We are near the bottom but we have back to back home games and we have to make them count. Tomorrow is a very important game and they are a good side, but we have to make the most of home advantage. Quite a few of the teams around us have difficult matches and if we can get a couple of good wins then the table might be a fairer reflection of where we should be. At the start of the season we were unable to field a full strength team with people away and I missed two games as well due to illness. With key players missing we dropped points that we might have expected to pick up.” Hanmer got a vital win at home to Castlefields last week and will want to build on that. Ifton got a great home win last week and will fancy their chances of a good result at St Georges, where they nearly won last season and where the Dragons have struggled so far this season. St Georges know they need to start winning well at home to be at the top end of the table, especially given their excellent away form. Bylet are a team doing well the last few weeks and will fancy their chances of getting a good result at Burway, who lost their last home game and only got 2 last week at Meole Brace. Burway know they need a response if they are to achieve their aim of a top half finish for the first time.
Gamweek 12 Fixtures:
Meole Brace v Hanwood
Wem USC v Newport
Wrockwardine Wood v Castlefields
Bowring v Hanmer
Chester Road v Sir John Bayley
St Georges v Ifton
Burway v Bylet