Tenby 76 (2 Points) Whitland 100 (12 Points)
The undefeated Tenby sponsored Layton and Company Solicitors and Chandler Rogers Estate Agents welcomed Whitland in this top of the table league clash.
Whitland have consistently figured in the top three over the past 4 seasons having won their only league title in 2007. Both sides were in confident mood after both navigating through their respective Carruthers Shield Group. After 5 ends Tenby were 6 shots in arrears after Whitland came out ‘of the blocks’ quickly. Tenby rallied at 10 ends and led by 12 Shots. The usual break for tea came and Tenby looked to press their advantage home but Whitland came fighting back and led at the 15th end by 7 shots. With their confidence up and with scent of a famous victory against the defending Welsh and Pembrokeshire Champions, they led by 12 at the eighteenth end and won comfortably by 24 at the climax. Tenby had a solitary rink win and picked up 2 points to Whitland’s 3 rink wins and 12 points.
Rink 1 saw the rink of Andrew Muskett take on Stephen Reese and the Tenby quartet were behind at 5 ends by 4 shots (5-9), Closing the gap by 2 shots by the 10th (end) saw encouraging signs that they were beginning to take control but a dropped 3 shots the following end saw the momentum swing back to the Whitland four. This was short lived however as Tenby took 4 shots to close within 1. Surely now the rally would come? Unfortunately another 3 dropped shots the following end followed by dropping a 1 and then 2 shots, saw Whitland increase their lead to 7 shots. A single to Tenby followed by Whitland winning the next 4 ends saw Whitland running out comfortable winners 15-28.
Craig Guymer’s ‘Young Guns’ rink played against Alan Whitehouse. 0-13 down after 6 ends, it all looked bleak. But the rink is made of stern stuff, and rallied superbly to take a 4 and a 3 the next two ends. 3 dropped singles on the next ends saw Whitland pull slowly away but then a 4 and a 2 brought the game 13-16. The following ends saw the Tenby four play brilliantly and were consistently holding 4’s and above, end after end until Alan Whitehouse play ‘all or nothing’ shots and got maximum results each time. Luke Rees was once again outstanding and was backed up by Cameron White. Luke and Craig were also superb and together, this rink showed great composure and no little skill to recover from an awful start and with a little more fortune would have won the rink.
Paul Diment’s rink was always in control against a Whitland four with Colin Wynn at skip. Going into a 7-2 lead at five ends, the Tenby rink took two singles followed by 2 ‘fours’ to race into a 17-2. The lead increased by 18 shots but then four dropped ends of a single, three, two and a further single saw then only leading by 20-9 at the 15th end. With the team game slipping, it was time to take chances which unfortunately did not come off and a dropped 4 and 3 on the 19th and 20th ends gave a feeling of satisfaction for the Whitland four as they went down by only 6 shots at the end (23-17). In a normal situation this ‘rink’, who totally outplayed their opposition, would have won by 20 shots. The rink did have to push a lot harder and had to make things happen than play on their tried and tested tactic of waiting for things to happen due to Whitland taking control of the overall match. Once again, Credit to Gerald Hewitt who was superb again. I am running out of superlatives for Mike Jackson as once again his performance was of the highest level. Peter Day once again produced his usual high standard and as previously mentioned the score line flattered the Whitland Four.
Pat Currie, took on the Whitland Captain, Glyn Thomas, and once again blew their opponent away which has been the ‘norm’ for this talented rink – taking a 13-2 lead into the 9th end. The some reason, the ‘rink’, after tea, could not contain their opponents and lost the rest of the match 8-27. This was due to a damaging run from ends 13 to 17 which saw them lose a 3, 6 and a 7. The final result was 21-29 to the Whitland four.
After a perfect start to the season this result was not expected, especially at home. The Tenby team have always been gracious in victory but also in defeat and I must thank my players for their reaction after the game. Obviously disappointed in the result, it is fair to say that the best team won on the day.
Tenby have been so successful over the years that a defeat is always difficult to take and also trying to find reasons for the defeat. Whilst other teams may over react the Tenby Captain has, since as long as I have been playing, never panicked into making changes. The players under my tenure as team captain are the best in Pembrokeshire. I am not going to list the accolades that players have won, but they are by a distance the best in Pembrokeshire. The team will bounce back from this defeat and I have no doubt that when we look at our achievements at the end of the season, this was a defeat which helped us rather than hindered us in our objective of defending both the Pembrokeshire and Welsh Title.
Next week see’s an un-changed side, with no positional changes take on a Milford Haven side who not only have been struggling for performances but even a team. Only two weeks ago they pulled out of a tie against Tenby but strangely fielded a full strength second team the day after to play Five Arches. As the Carruthers Shield is a club competition it is obvious that the Milford selectors had enough players to choose from. However, as the match is to be played at Milford, I would edge my bets that the game will be on.
Rink Scores:
Rink 1: J. Richards, D Spencer, J Roberts and A. Muskett 15 – 28 S Reese
Rink 2: L. Rees, C White, L. Guymer and C Guymer 17 – 26 A Whitehouse
Rink 3: G Hewitt, M Jackson, P Day and Paul Diment 23 - 17 C Wynn
Rink 4. N Dickinson, J Baggott, J Webb and P Currie 21 – 29 G Thomas
Score Breakdown
5 ends, Tenby 19-25 Whitland
10 ends, Tenby 47-35 Whitland
15 ends, Tenby 60-67 Whitland
18 ends, Tenby 71-83 Whitland
21 ends, Tenby 76-100 Whitland