Tenby v Neyland

Neyland  72 – Tenby 75.75 (4 points – 10 points)

After last weeks tremendous victory against Caerleon, the Tenby team travelled to Neyland to further their goal of retaining the League title against a Neyland team battling against relegation.  After already defeating Neyland away in a Carruthers Shield qualifying match by 55 shots earlier in the season, the Tenby team were in confident mood to pick up more valuable league points.  The task was far from easy and the Neyland team were unlucky not to win the league encounter.

The Tenby team had to, once again, play with one player short after a late withdrawal and at 5 ends the team pulled away to lead at 5 ends by 11 shots.  Neyland fought back to trail by 8.25 at 10 ends and 8 shots at 15 ends.  Neyland then took the lead at 18 ends, to lead by 2 shots.  A late rally by Tenby saw them win at the close by 3.75 shots and take 10 points to Neyland’s 4 (points).

Andrew Muskett’s rink started well, leading by 8 and 7 after the 5^th and 10^th ends respectively.  Neyland, with Alan King in fine form, came back to reduce the deficit to only 3 shots by the 15^th end and took the lead by the 18^th (end) to lead by 2 shots.  Tenby tried to rally, but went down by 22-23 at the close after dropping 2 shots on the last end with Andrew’s last bowl disappointingly well short of making shot. 

Jonathan Webb played against Gordon Robson, the Neyland Captain, and the rink were consistently in front by a couple of shots until the 15^th end, when a dropped count of 3 (shots) followed by a run of 4 consecutive lost ends saw them 17-20 down by the 19^th end.  A score of two saw the rink go into the final end down by the solitary one shot.  Then, with the team match also in the balance, Jon Webb played a superb bowl to make a count of 4 shots, to not only win the rink, but also win the match for Tenby.  John Baggott once again was excellent and was backed up with the ever consistent Neil Dickinson.

Paul Diment’s rink had a nice start, but by the 11^th end, they were 7-12 down.  By the 15^th end they were 14-13 up and holding a count of 5 until a fortuitous shot by the Neyland skip saw them drop a shot and the game was level once more.  15-16 down going into the last 2 ends, Tenby with Gerald Hewitt and Cameron White in great form throughout the match took a 1 (shot) on the 20^th end and then, when 6 down, Peter Day played the shot of the day by driving the ‘jack’ into the ditch to make 2 shots and win the rink 18-16.

Due to the late withdrawal of one of our players as already mentioned, the team had to play a ‘triple’ and due to this a penalty of 25% was imposed on the game.  Therefore, after 5 ends, the triple of Luke Rees, Steve Williams and Craig Guymer held a lead of 1 shot.  At 10 ends, the lead was 0.25 and at 15 ends it was 1.5 shots.  The triple still held that slender advantage until the last end, when Craig Guymer was very unfortunate not to make shot with his last bowl and the resulting dropped 2 shots saw a loss of only 0.25 shots (12.75 against 13).

In conclusion, it could have been the maximum 14 points but it could have so easily been a defeat of the same score and therefore the Captain is quite happy to take 10 points off a Neyland team who played very well.  I must say that the green played well and it was a pleasure to play on and credit must go to the Neyland greenkeeper and his staff.

Next week, the Tenby sponsored, Layton and Co solicitors and Chandler Rogers Estate Agents, travel to Morriston which will be a very difficult match and the team know that a huge improvement will have to be made if success is to be achieved in Swansea.  The team however will welcome back Mike Jackson, Pat Currie and Philip Carpenter.

Rink Scores:

D Spencer, J Richards, J Roberts and A Muskett 22-23 Neyland

N Dickinson, J Baggott, L Guymer and J Webb 23-20 Neyland

G Hewitt, C White, P Day and P Diment 18-16 Neyland

L Rees, S Williams and C Guymer 12.75 – 13 Neyland

County Competitions

Following the semi-finals played at Milford throughout the last week, Tenby have representation in all the five main competitions.  The singles matches were not played due to the bad weather on Thursday but with John Roberts playing Peter Day in the second semi-final, we will have a representative in the blue ribbon event.  Phil Carpenter plays Richard O’Leary of Haverfordwest in the other semi final.  Pat Currie and Jonathan Webb had an excellent win over former pair’s winners Nigel Davies and Steven Reese of Whitland and they will play Graham Hughes and Merv Dennis of Saundersfoot who defeated the junior international partnership of Luke and Craig Guymer by one shot.  As mentioned last week, Gerald Hewitt, Arron Lloyd and Joe Richards had already made it through to the final and they will play Peter Day, Andrew Muskett and Paul Diment.  The defending rinks champions of Mike Jackson, John Baggott, John Roberts and Phil Carpenter will play against Alan Whitehouse, Nigel Davies, Colin Wynn and Steve Reese of Whitland in which will be a very hard match and a repeat of the 2008 final.  Finally, Craig Guymer will play against the defending champion, Ryan Thomas from Haverfordwest in the under 25’s final – a repeat of last years final.

Carruthers Tenby v Caerleon

Caerleon 39 Tenby 136

The Tenby Club started their defence of the Welsh Club Championship last Saturday with a trip to Caerleon.  The Layton and Company Solicitors and Chandler Rogers Estate Agents sponsored team cam through the match in emphatic style winning by a huge margin of 97 shots.

In what could have been the worst draw possible in playing a Monmouthshire Team away, in the first round, the victory was never in doubt.  By the 5^th end, the Tenby team had a lead of 25 shots and 5 ends later held a lead of 46 shots.  The game as a contest was well over by the 15^th end, in which Tenby had a lead of 57.  The 18^th end the team was 83 shots ahead and finished with a 97 shot winning margin.

Philip Carpenter returned for the Carruthers having been ‘rested’ for league matches and held a narrow lead at 5 ends of a single shot.  The lead had increased to 8 shots by the 10^th end (14-6) and this increased to 9 shots by the 15^th end thanks to a five shot count on the 11^th end.  A finish of a 3 and 4 shots on the 20^th and  21^st end saw the rink record a 18 shot winning margin.

Pat Currie’s rink, with Luke Guymer in great form, raced off to a 7-1 lead at 5 ends and 15-3 at 10 ends.  The 12 shot lead was maintained at 15 ends and a run between the 17^th and 19^th ends in which they scored 4, 7 and 3 shots saw a final winning margin of 33-8.

Paul Diment’s rink started slowly but the second half of the game saw multiple counts consisting of three 4 shot counts, a five and a six to record a 38-11 shot win.  Gerald Hewitt was sensational and was a major factor in the rinks huge win.

Andrew Muskett, with Ben Simmons, making his Tenby debut was always in control.  14-2 up at 5 ends, the onslaught continued to record a winning margin of 27 shots (35-8).

As mentioned, Ben, played his first competitive match for Tenby having impressed with the Tenby Five Arches this season, and the young man did not look out of place in the star studded Tenby line up (!)

What a way to start the defence of the title.  With all other clubs over Wales showing interest in how Tenby would perform after last years heroic’s, there can be no doubt that Tenby once again mean business.  Next up is Morriston United from Swansea.  This will be a much sterner test for Tenby as their green is the exact opposite to Tenby’s slick surface and a major contributor in their success over the years.  The Tenby team lost to them in the quarter finals 10 years ago but defeated them easily a few years back, although that game was held at Tenby.   In spite of their green, the Tenby team are much more experienced than their Swansea opponents and over the past few years have proved that they are by no means a home team side and perform equally well on foreign greens.

The other Pembrokeshire representatives, Whitland, were surprisingly defeated at home by the Mid Glamorgan outfit, Ferndale, who although having lost a number of players to Aberdare Harlequins and Treodyrhiw, still managed a 7 shot win against the current Pembrokeshire league leaders.

Tomorrow, Tenby travel to Neyland in a Pembrokeshire League Division One match.

Tenby Scores:

Luke Rees; Cameron White; Craig Guymer and Phil Carpenter 30 – 12 Caerleon

Neil Dickinson; John Baggott; Luke Guymer and Pat Currie 33 – 8 Caerleon

Gerald Hewitt; Mike Jackson; Peter Day and Paul Diment 38 – 11 Caerleon

David Spencer; Ben Simmons; John Roberts and Andrew Muskett 35 – 8 Caerleon

Pembrokeshire County Competitions

At the time of this report, the Tenby Club were also well represented in the County Competitions and had the opportunity to have all Tenby finalists in the Open Singles; Pairs; Triples and also representation in the Under 25’s, Under 18’s, Singles and Rinks.

Luke Guymer and Craig Guymer were in the pairs against Saundersfoot with former Welsh Pairs Champion Pat Currie and Jonathan Webb in the other semi, against Whitland.  Gerald Hewitt, Arron Lloyd and Joe Richards have already made it through to the Triples semi final and they will play either Peter Day (Former Welsh Triples Finalist), Andrew Muskett (former Welsh Triples winner) and Paul Diment or a Whitland Triple.  The rinks have Mike Jackson, John Baggott, John Roberts and Phil Carpenter playing against Fishguard and in the singles, Peter Day takes on John Roberts, with the winner playing either Phil Carpenter (defending champion) or Nigel Davies of Whitland.  In the under 18’s, Luke Rees is cementing what has already been a great season for him and the under 25’s have Junior Internationals Craig and Luke Guymer.  Full final representation will be provided in next week’s report.

Chandler Rogers Sponsor

Tenby Bowling Club are delighted to have Chandler Rogers Estate Agents on board as mens' shirt sponsors this season.  Here Martin Rogers (l) and Karen Chandler (r) are joined by Tenby BC Chairman John Baggott.

Tenby v Pembroke Dock

Tenby 102 (12 pts)  v Pembroke Dock 50 (2)

The Tenby team, jointly sponsored by Layton and Company Solicitors and Chandler Rogers Estate Agents, entertained Pembroke Dock at Sutton Street, last Saturday, in the Pembrokeshire League Division One. Tenby once again started well and led by 19 shots as early as the fifth end. The advantage was further stretched to 36 shots at 10 ends and to 49 by the 15th end.

A rally from Pembroke Dock saw them reduce the deficit to 45 at 18 ends, but it was not enough and Tenby won by 52 shots at the close of play. Rink one was a very close affair throughout and although Tenby led by one shot going into the last end, a dropped score of two saw Pembroke Dock pick up a consolation two points. Thanks go to Aaron Lloyd who played exceptionally well on his Tenby debut and on this performance he has a great future in the game.

Rink two saw Pat Currie’s four take on Richard Jones. The match was very nip and tuck until the 10th end with the scores tied at 9-9. Then the Tenby four, with Dai Spencer in great form at lead, won nine out of the next 11 ends to win at the close by 25 shots to 12. Peter Day’s four played against Pembroke Dock captain Richard Hissey, and the Tenby outfit took an early 10-2 lead after five ends. The Pembroke Dock four, with Les Davies in superb form, staged a fightback to draw level 14-all by the 16th end, but Peter’s rink won four out of the last five to secure a further winning rink and won by 23 shots to 15.

Jonathan Webb skipped the youngsters’ rink of Luke Rees, Cameron White and Craig Guymer and the four were absolutely superb. The rink started off ok, scoring two singles and a double to lead 4-0. The next end (4th) saw them drop a single. What happened next was unbelievable and from ends five to 15 the scoring sequence was: 6, 2, 3, 7, 4, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 3. The score, at this point, stood at 36-1. A sense of normality crept back into the game and at the close, the impressive Tenby rink won by 39-7.

With news that Whitland had lost to Haverfordwest, Tenby once again, as they have been in the past, are in pole position to retain the league title. Tomorrow (Saturday), the Tenby club, having progressed through its Pembrokeshire section, continues its defence of the Welsh Club Championship with an away match against Monmouthshire side, Caerleon.