Pendine v Five Arches

Pendine 93 Five Arches 64

Saturday saw the Five Arches team visit unbeaten Pendine. This was always going to be a tough match as Pendine are the force to be recognised in the second division this year and the Five Arches have failed to play as well away, as they do in Tenby. However hopes were high that we could cause a bit of an upset. So far this season we have been blessed with good weather and Saturday was no exception.

Tony and his team of Eamonn, Ben and Ray had a cautious start and were 5-4 down after 6 ends. The Pendine quartet then pulled away on a tricky surface and led 21-8 after 16 ends, a brief flurry of 4 shots from the Five Arches promised a tight finish, but Pendine finished strongly to win by 25 shots to 12. Clive and his rink of Ken, Aaron and Mike had a very similar match as Tony's rink, a close start but with the Pendine foursome pulling away in the middle of the match to ease to a winning margin and again winning by 25 shots to 12. 

Ashley and his rink of Dai, Tony and Gwyn were involved in a very tight match. Leading by 11 to 10 at tea, the match continued in a similar vein in the 2nd half with the Five Arches quartet just holding on to win by 2 shots. Lee and his rink of Ken, John and Ben, surprisingly not on rink 3, had a close encounter with former Five Arches player Dai King Thomas. In a tight match, Pendine just had the edge but with the Five Arches picking up a 4 on the 19th end, an exciting finish ensured with the Pendine rink holding on to win by 21 - 16.

Overall a disappointing result for the Five Arches, but with two matches in the coming week we need to get back to winning ways.

Eamonn Maher, Ben Simmons, Ray Taylor, Tony Brown 12        S King Thomas 25

Ken Williams, Aaron Lloyd, Mike Gouldingay, Clive Webb 12   M Evans 25

Dai Rees, Tony Powling, Gwyn Beynon, Ashley Hooper 24       M Thomas 22

Ken Lloyd, John Hubbard, Ben Cloake, Lee Richards 16        D King Thomas 21

Tenby v Milford Haven

Milford Haven 62 (0 Points) Tenby 85 (14 Points)

After the shock defeat to Whitland last week, the defending Pembrokeshire League Champions, Tenby, travelled to Milford Haven.  The Tenby sponsored Layton and Company Solicitors and Chandler Rogers Estate Agents won by 23 shots and took the maximum 14 points.

At five ends, Tenby took control of the game and led by 5 shots.  At 10 ends, the lead had increased to 21 shots further increased to 43 at 15 ends.  Tenby finished with a 100 shots to 62 shots win but as two of the Tenby ‘rinks’ were one player short, a deduction of 25% was incurred and therefore the final result was a 23 shot win.

Rink 1 saw Pat Currie take on Tony Ellyatt and what a game it turned out to be.  Down by a solitary shot at 5 ends and by two shots at 10 ends the Tenby rink dug deep into their reserves to lead by 1 at the 15^th end.  The scores drew level at 18 ends (18-18) and then the former British Isles Champion; Pat Currie saved his rink by reducing a 5 count on the 20^th end and again played a winning shot on the final end to secure the two points.  Over the years there have been many times that Pat has turned in match winning performances and although overall the match was won, it was important to secure maximum points and thanks to the skilful play of Pat, it was.

Rink 2 saw a late change of formation.  Luke Rees was impressive as ever as was former Club Champion Steve Williams.  Craig Guymer has matured extremely well in his new skipping position when deputising for Phil Carpenter and this talented trio took control of the rink to lead 10-6 at 10 ends after drawing 3-3 after 5 (ends).  A further surge saw the lead extend to 11 shots at 15 ends and an unassailable lead was built up at the 18^th end (19-7).  A final winning margin of 25-9 was reduced due to the 25% deduction for the rink playing one player short.

Andrew Muskett’s rink were pitted against Roy Thomas and like Pat Currie’s game, it proved to be a close encounter.  Behind at 5 ends by one shot, they drew level at 10 ends but a dropped 2 and 3 in consecutive ends saw them fall behind at 15 ends by 11-15.  Unlike last week against Whitland, the rink rallied and a superb scoring sequence of 2, 4, 2 and 3 saw an advantage of 22-15 by the 19^th end.  The Tenby team could now breathe a sigh of relief now that a further 2 points were secured for the rink win.  However, just to make matters interesting they dropped a 5 shot count on the 20^th end and a single on the 21^st to scrape home by one.  Joe Richards was by far the most impressive on the rink and his performance was by far his best of the season.  As I have said before, the future is very bright for Joe and in this new position which I know isn’t his preferred choice, he will gain international honours far quicker and I know that the penny may have dropped with this likeable young man to this fact.

Former Welsh Champion Peter Day took over skipping duties from Paul Diment who moved to ‘second’ and with Cameron White as lead, this ‘rink’ also played as a triple against Brian Davies.  A dropped single on the first end was followed by the trio winning 14 out of the next 16 ends.  At 5 ends a lead had been built up of 7 shots (8-1) and a run of 5, 3, 3, and 2 shots saw them move out of distance of their opponents, 21-2.  The score had increased to 29-4 and 32-5 by the 15^th and 18^th ends respectively but a lapse in concentration saw them lose the last four ends to finally secure a 32-12 win.  With the 25% deduction in place, the final rink win was 24-12. Cameron White once again proved was a valuable member of the team he is by having another wonderful match and was backed up by the cool and assure Peter Day at skip.

In conclusion, this was a tough encounter and with issues about player availability leading up to the match and more disruption five minutes before the match was going to start, resulting in Tenby playing two ‘ rinks’ one player short, this was a performance which will be looked back onto as the key result which helped win the league again.  A loss would not have been disastrous but would have heaped pressure on the team, when in all fairness would not have been merited.  Over the years, Tenby have had their backs to the wall and the tremendous team spirit does come shinning through time and time again and this match was another example.

Next weekend the team take on Haverfordwest Castle who almost beat Saundersfoot a few weeks ago.  Therefore the Welsh Champions will take nothing for granted as they bid for a further 14 points to further increase the pressure on the Whitland team.

Rink Scores:

Rink 1: N. Dickinson, J Baggott, J Webb and P Currie 21 – 20 Tony Ellyatt.

Rink 2:  Luke Rees, Steve Williams and Craig Guymer 18 – 9 Peter Collins

Rink 3:  J Richards, D Spencer, J Roberts and Andrew Muskett 22 – 21 Roy Thomas

Rink 4.  C White, Paul Diment and Peter Day 24 – 12 Brian Davies.

Five Arches v Pembroke Dock Pater

Five Arches 130  Pembroke Dock Pater 38

A return to league action after our disappointing result in the cup and a return to sunny Tenby. After a sustained period of dry weather the green was running fast and true. A good win was required to keep the Five Arches in the race for the division 2 title.

Rink 2 saw Tony and his rink of Ben, Eamonn and John in imperious form, they were never behind and romped away to a 33 -10 win. Lee and his rink of Ken, Ben and Ken were once again drawn on rink 3 , the 5th time in 6 matches this season. Whatever mysteries may lurk on rink 3 were soon mastered by Lee and his team, storming to a 33-10 win including counts of 7 and 5.

Clive and his rink of Aaron, Harry and Mike continued their winning ways, they only dropped 6 ends in total and again won by 33-10. To break the pattern, Ashley and his rink of Dai, Tony and Gwyn won by 31 shots to 8, again only losing on 6 ends. In some ways a strange game with each rink winning by 23 and three of them with the same score but a very healthy win by 92 shots boosts our shot difference and the 14 points moves us to 3rd in the table.

Special thanks must go to Ken Williams and Harry Meads for stepping in at the last moment to help us out and also to highlight once again the good form shown by our youngsters, Ben Simmons, Aaron Lloyd and Ben Cloake who continue to impress with their play. Next match is against table topping Pendine down on the Carmarthenshire coast.

Eamonn Maher, Ben Simmons, John Hubbard, Tony Brown 33            S James 10

Ken Lloyd, Ken Williams, Ben Cloake, Lee Richards 33                        M Hyde 10

Aaron Lloyd, Harry Meads, Mike Gouldingay, Clive Webb 33                 J Russell 10

Dai Rees, Tony Powling, Gwyn Beynon, Ashley Hooper 31                 B Duncombe 8

Brains Five Arches v Pembroke Dock Mariners

Brains Cup - Five Arches 77 Pembroke Dock Mariners 80

The first match in the defence of the Brains cup ended in a narrow defeat away to the team we beat in last years final. The game was played on a warm spring evening and provided an exciting ending with the result in the balance until the final few bowls. In a tight game on rink 4, Ashley and his rink of Ben, Tony and Gwyn recovered from a deficit at tea to pull away to a slender lead with only two ends go, however the loss of 5 shots on these 2 ends proved crucial and the Mariners rink skipped by County Secretary Gerard eased to a hard fought 19-17 win.

Rink 3 at Pembroke Dock is well known for its peculiarities and Lee's rink of Ken, Ben and Ray were unfortunate to be drawn against a Mariners rink who their local knowledge  completely out bowled them. Although they only won 4 ends, they are a strong rink and will bounce back from this defeat. Clive and his rink of Steve, Mike and Aaron continued their run of good form.  They were always in the lead and were never troubled and eased to a 6 shot victory.

Tony with John, Cameron and Eamonn providing good support staged a fine recovery to go on to be our top rink. Five down with 8 ends to play they completely outscored their opponents in the remainder of the match to win by 9. Overall a disappointing result but a good, hard fought game. The Mariners have a tricky away game in Haverfordwest so we are still in with a chance of qualifying.

Eamonn Maher, Cameron White, John Hubbard, Tony Brown 25    G Gelderblom 16

Aaron Lloyd, Mike Gouldingay, Steve Williams, Clive Webb 24         D Halward 18

Ken Lloyd, Ben Cloake, Ray Taylor, Lee Richards 11                      G Bann 27

Ben Simmons, Tony Powling, Gwyn Beynon, Ashley Hooper 17      G Thomas 19