Five Arches v Saundersfoot

Five Arches  70 v Saundersfoot 105

Our run of difficult matches continued with a tough encounter against near neighbours Saundersfoot. With the sun shining and playing alongside the Tenby Ladies for the first time this season,  we were hoping to pick up some points to continue our promising start to the season.  Tony and his rink of John, Harry and Johno were in front of the raucous crowd on rink 1. The game was delicately poised after 10 ends with Tony and his rink holding a strong Saundersfoot quartet to 8 shots apiece. They then edged ahead after 16 ends to lead by 14 shots to 12 however Saundersfoot fought back picking up 9 shots in the next 4 ends to win the game by 21 shots to 15. Ray with a new rink of Ben, Jim and Harold continued his current run of superb form by winning yet again. They led by 14 shots to 6 at tea and despite dropping 11 shots in 2 ends they fought back to regain the lead and eventually ran out winners by 24 shots to 20.

Clive with Steve stepping up to 3rd for the first time and ably supported by Dewi and Joe were involved in a tight game on rink 3. They led by 12 shots to 10 at tea and by 19 shots to 18 after 17 ends however a loss of 6 shots on the next end proved costly and the Saundersfoot foursome ran out winners by 26 shots to 20. On rink 4 , the game was anything but close. Ashley with Tony, Stuart and Ken started well picking up 4 shots on the first end, after that it all went downhill for the Five Arches quartet only scoring 7 more shots in the rest of the match and they finished  losing by 38 shots to 11. A tough match against a good team. We picked up another 2 points which could prove very useful at the end of the season.

 
John Rees, Harry Meades, John Hubbard, Tony Brown 15             M Dennis 21
Ben Sheldon, Jim Taylor, Harold Ebdon, Ray Taylor 24                  B Dennis 20
Dewi McGhee, Joe Hewitt, Steve Davies, Clive Webb 20               S Howe 26
Stuart Askew, Tony Powling, Ken Lloyd, Ashley Hooper 11           S Dick 38

Haverfordwest v Five Arches

Haverfordwest  127  Five Arches 45

After last week's game against reigning champions Tenby, the Five Arches faced yet another tough foe in Haverfordwest. A number of players were missing and some new faces were brought in to face the challenge. With the Captain missing, vice-captain Ben stepped up to the plate to ensure everything was organised and well run.

Rink 3 saw, Johno skipping for the first time this season and he and his rink of Harry, Fred and Tony produced a very creditable performance. Leading by a single shot after 10 ends , they fought bravely in the second half as the Haverfordwest quartet applied the pressure but eventually went down by 21 shots to 12. On Rink 4 Peter and his team of Stuart, Five Arches newbie Eirwyn and seasoned campaigner Mike had a tough time against former Welsh Under 18 champion Ryan Thomas. Trailing by 17 shots to 4 after 10 ends, they battled on but finally succumbed by 37 shots to 7.  Our rink on fire, Ray accompanied by a couple of Bens and Steve again showed their potential. Leading by 12 shots to 7 after 9 ends, it looked very promising however Chris Court is a class bowls player, lying 2 shots down , he produced a shot to change this to 7 shots up and changed the whole game. The boys from Haverfordwest then took control and ran out winners by 33 shots to 19. Clive and his rink of Joe, Brian and Jim, also had a tough time out on rink 6. Trailing by 20 shots at tea , they could never get into the game and eventually lost by 36 shots to 7. 

A tough game against tough opposition, many thanks to Harry, Fred, Eirwyn and Brian who were playing their first games for Five Arches this season. Next game is home to Saundersfoot on Sunday 17th June.

Harry Meades, Fred Broomhead, Tony Powling, Jon Hubbard 12                PDS Jenkins 21
Stuart Askew, Eirwyn Davies, Mike Gouldingay, Peter Hooper 7                 R Thomas 37
Ben Sheldon, Steve Davies, Ben Simmons, Ray Taylor 19                         C Court 33
Jim Taylor, Brian Winstone, Joe Hewitt, Clive Webb 7                              R Price 36

Five Arches v Tenby

 Five Arches 47  v  Tenby 109

On a rain soaked Sunday afternoon , the Five Arches entertained table topping Tenby. After a good start to this year's league championship we would now face our sternest test. Tenby have been champions for the last four years and are once again leading the rest of us. Therefore  any points gained from the match would be a huge bonus. On rink 2 in front of an appreciative crowd, Ray and his rink of Ben and Steve and new recruit Ben Sheldon played superbly against Tenby legend Pat Currie. They have been our top rink in the previous two matches and once again proved a force to be reckoned with.  Comfortably in control after 10 ends by 15 shots to 6, they maintained their concentration to emerge winners by 20 shots to 11.

Tenby hit back on the remaining three rinks to run out comfortable winners overall. Tony and his teammates Stuart, Jim and Johno were always up against the wall . They found themselves 25 shots to 1 down at tea  and even after the addition of a few biscuits , the Tenby rink continued in a similar vein to complete a comprehensive 43 shots to 6 win. On Rink 5 , Clive, Joe , Ray and Harold had a similar experience , trailing 19 shots to 2 at tea they again suffered as Tenby piled on the points to win by 35 shots to 6. Ashley and his rink of Mike, Tony and Ken had a tighter game out in the wilds of rink 6. Up against multiple Gold cup winner Paul Diment was always going to be hard but the Five Arches quartet stuck at it and trailed by only five shots at tea. However the Tenby rink kept this margin during the second half to complete a 20 shots to 15 victory.

An interesting game played in unpleasant weather. Hopefully we learned a lot playing one of the best sides in Wales . Special mention must go to Ben Sheldon who didn't know he was playing until an hour before and played superbly with Ray and his rink. Another two points gained and it doesn't get any easier, away to Haverfordwest on Saturday 9th June.

Ben Sheldon, Steve Davies, Ben Simmons, Ray Taylor 20         Gerald Hewitt, Steve Sheldon, Mike Jackson, Pat Currie 11
Stuart Askew, Jim Taylor, John Hubbard, Tony Brown 6           Ben Cloake, Brian Kingdon, Peter Day, Andrew Muskett 43
Joe Hewitt, Ray Hine, Harold Ebdon, Clive Webb 6                   Neil Dickinson, Dai Spencer, Joe Richards, Craig Guymer 35
Mike Gouldingay, Tony Powling, Ken Lloyd, Ashley Hooper 15    Cameron White, John Baggott, Jon Webb, Paul Diment 20

Welsh Team 2012

Many congratulations to John Roberts for being selected for the Welsh International team.
Full team can be found here