Tenby 114 (12pts) Haverfordwest 74 (2)
15th August 2015
The Molson Coors sponsored Tenby Sharks team created history last Saturday at the Sutton Street Stadia when they secured an historic eigth consecutive Pembrokeshire League Division One title, eclipsing the teams of the 1960s and the '90s.
Rink one: To say that the Keiran Peregrine rink got off to a flyer against the experienced Richard O'Leary rink would be an understatement. A count of three, followed by three counts of five shots took them into an early 18 lead. The best start to a game that I have seen was in the 1990s when_the rink of Viv John, Chris Thomas, myself and Jimmy Oliver took three counts of six shots over the first three ends against Dick Evans, of Milford Haven. The fact that Jimmy and Dick never saw eye to eye was especially pleasing to our Jim and I did see a rare smile from the great man. At 10 ends, the Haverfordwest rink did make some inroads into the lead and trailed by 20-9. That lead was further reduced over 15 ends to 22-14. The Tenby rink, with Luke Rees, Jon Webb and county singles champion John Roberts, then rallied over the next six ends by outscoring their opponents 7-3 to secure a final winning score of 29-17.
Rink two: Paul Diment's rink keeps getting stronger, with the addition of a new international in Joe Richards. However, the duo, who were joined by international Ryan Thomas and county player Cameron White, got off to an awful start by dropping a double and a four over the first two ends. Tenby scored two singles before the Haverfordwest rink, skipped by indoor international Alan Whitehouse, took a count of three to extend the lead at five ends to 9-2. The question on everyone's lips: "Was Diment suffering from a Gold Cup hangover?". The answer came on the following end, when the maestro took a count of seven to level things up. A single the following end saw the rink take the lead 10-9. Then Diment played a great two-foot trail shot to make a count of six, only for Whitehouse to play an equally impressive shot to make shot. The Haverfordwest rink took a two to retake the lead 12-10. That's when the talented Tenby rink took the game by the scruff of the neck and restricted the Haverfordwest rink to nil over the next 12 ends - scoring 24 shots themselves! The scorecard looks so impressive that it has been laminated by Cameron White, but for you avid readers: 3, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1 and 1 Final score 34-12.
Rink three: With Craig Guymer moving house, but still finding time to watch 85 per cent of the game, Luke Guymer took over skipping duties to maintain his 100 percent start to the season. Chris Court played third and after a troublesome start to his Tenby career when he couldn't buy a win, the very likeable and talented former international has certainly found his feet and is proving to be a very popular member of the Tenby team. Mike Jackson continues to excel at lead and I would be happy to go on record that Rafa is the stand-out lead for the season. Huw Nicholas, or commonly known as Beano, is a very dependable player and now has three county titles to his name to go with his county rinks title. Dropping two counts of two shots and one of four over the first four ends, they trailed by 8-3 against the rink skipped by former Milford Haven player, Gareth Barrett. Scoring a two, four and a three over the next five ends levelled things up 12-12. A dropped single and pair saw them fall behind 15-12, but then in a similar way to the Diment rink, they took the bull by the horns and scored 2, 7, 2, 3, 2, 5, 1 and 4 in between a two and a single for Haverfordwest. Final, score 38-18.
Rink four: One of the top performing rinks for Tenby, the rink of Aaron Lloyd, Gerald Hewitt, Peter Day and Andrew Muskett had a late withdrawal through injury of vice-captain Gerald Hewitt, but an able replacement was found in the form of Special Olympic bound Shaun Peregrine, non biological brother of international Ryan Thomas. Wigan's rink got off to their usual high start by taking a 6-3 lead after eight ends. Then the wheels truly fell off Longshanks's chariot when he dropped 3, 2, 4, 3, 4 to fall behind to county team manager, PDS Jenkins. Things didn't get much better for the dependable rink as they only scored on three ends out of 13 from their 6-3 position to finally lose by 27-13.
In conclusion, another very comprehensive performance by the defending and newly crowned county champions, Tenby. Shaun Peregrine and Steve Sheldon pick up their first championship medals and well done to them. Diment has extended his Pembrokeshire record to 23 league titles. Tenby Sharks have dominated again in Pembrokeshire, but the task now is to win against RTB Ebbw Vale tomorrow, something which they have every chance of doing, but a very big challenge is before them. Hopefully, I will be able to report of something special in the club's 92nd year and another star, symbolising another Carruthers win, will be above the Tenby town crest.