Five Arches v Pembroke Dock

Five Arches 83 Pembroke Dock 68 (Five Arches 12 pts Pembroke Dock 2)
14th June 2015

A total contrast to the day before with the weather warm and sunny and the Five Arches producing a fine performance against the Pembroke Dock team which finished third in the league last year. Rink 1 saw the return of Simon, assisted by Kev, Peter and Neil , they were involved in a real battle against Richard Hissey's rink. Evenly matched at 10 ends with 8 shots each, the Dock quartet pulled away to lead by 8 after 15 ends, a fine run of 8 shots in the next 4 ends saw the Five Arches pull level again and after swapping single shots on the final 2 ends, they remained level at 18 shots apiece. Captain Ben and his rink of Roger, Tony and James were up to their winning ways once again. After a great start they led by 15 shots to 4 at tea, however a fine fightback by Brain Dowling and his men saw the game level at 17 ends. Picking up 6 shots in the last 4 ends the Five Arches rink squeezed out a 23 shots to 21 victory. What a difference a "Dai" makes, Ashley's  Rink of Ken, David and the returning Mr Spencer had a storming start against the Pembroke Dock rink containing all three of their Open Week trophy winners. Leading by 16 shots to 1 at tea and 25 shots to 2 at 15 ends, they eventually won by 25 shots to 12 after a fine comeback by the Dock on the last 6 ends. Finally on rink 5 , Ben returned from conquering Europe to once again skip John, Jonno and Steve. Trailing by 4 shots at tea, they fought back to be all square after 18. Swapping shots on the remaining ends, this match also ended even at 17 shots each.  A great victory for the Arches, we have now gained  as many points in the first half of the season as we did in the whole of last season. Next game Sunday 21st June at home to Fishguard & Goodwick.

Kevin Lewis, Peter Hooper, Neil Dickinson, Simon Evans 18, Richard Hissey 18
Roger Thomas, Tony Powling, James Criddle, Ben Cloake 23, Brian Dowling 21
Ken Lloyd, David Lloyd, Dai Spencer, Ashley Hooper 25, Richard Jones 12
John Rees, Jon Hubbard, Steve Davies, Ben Simmons 17, Dave Buchanan 17

Five Arches v Haverfordwest

Five Arches 65 Haverfordwest 91 (Five Arches 2 pts Haverfordwest 12)
13th June 2015

A busy weekend for the Five Arches with home matches against Haverfordwest and Pembroke Dock. Saturday saw Haverfordwest  visit the Five Arches headquarters at Sutton Street. The weather was not nice, wet and windy, but the game went ahead as planned. Captain Ben and his rink of James, Roger and Jimmy , making his Five Arches debut,  were up against the County manager PDS Jenkins. The game was split into three, Ben and his rink flew away out of the blocks to lead 11 shots to 0 after 5 ends, this was matched by the Hafod quartet so at tea it was 11 shots each. The second half belonged to the Five Arches who pulled away to gain a 26 shots to 17 victory. Dai and his rink of John, Jonno and Steve had a tough afternoon, 11 shots to 2 down after 5 ends, they battled back to within 6 at tea however the Haverfordwest foursome pulled away again to win by 25 shots to 12. Ashley's rink of Kevin, Tom and Ken took a battering on rink 4. After a poor start they trailed by 17 shots to 2 at tea and only a brief flurry towards the end of the game, allowed them to reach double figures, Eventually losing by 31 shots to 10. In contrast, Neil  and his rink of Mike, David and Tony were involved in a nail biting contest. Up against County President Richard, they trailed by 2 at tea, fought back to be all square at 20 ends, only for the Haverfordwest rink to grab the winning shot on the final end. 

Roger Thomas, Jimmy Thomas, James Criddle, Ben Cloake 26, PDS Jenkins 17
John Rees, Jon Hubbard, Steve Davies, Dai Spencer 12, Marley Hughes 25
Kevin Lewis, Tom Lewis, Ken Lloyd, Ashley Hooper 10, Alan Whitehouse 31
Mike Day, David Lloyd, Tony Powling, Neil Dickinson 17, Richard O'Leary 18

Five Arches v Saundersfoot

Five Arches 76 Saundersfoot 105 (Five Arches 3pts Saundersfoot 11 pts)
6th June 2015

After last week's win at Whitland, the Five Arches were looking for perhaps another shock result against Saundersfoot. However we were brought back to down to Earth with a solid performance from a strong Saundersfoot sixteen. Rink two saw Neil and his rink of Mike, Fred and Harold have a tough afternoon against the Saundersfoot opposition. Every time they got close, the Saundersfoot rink pulled away again and ran out eventual winners by 29 shots to 17. On the next rink, Captain Ben ably assisted by David, Tony and James again had a tough afternoon, with Saundersfoot skip, Steve Poole in imperious form, they only allowed Ben and his men to score on six ends and ran away winners by 29 shots to 10. Rink four saw Dai skipping John, Jonno and Steve. In a tightly fought contest which swung from one side to the other, it looked as though it would go to Saundersfoot until the Five Arches rink picked up six shots on the 20th end to edge into the lead, only for the Saundersfoot rink to grab a shot on the last end to tie the match at 24 shots apiece. Kev and Tom provided a solid platform for the Five Arches to achieve their only rink win of the day, Ken and Ashley chipped in when they could and in a tense finale, in front of the rest of the players, hung on to win by 25 shots to 23. Busy weekend ahead with home games against Haverfordwest (Saturday) and Pembroke Dock (Sunday) to look forward to.

Mike Day, Fred Broomhead, Harold Ebdon, Neil Dickinson 17 Steve Dick 29
David Lloyd, Tony Powling, James Criddle, Ben Cloake 10 Steve Poole 29
John Rees, Jon Hubbard, Steve Davies, Dai Spencer 24 Myrddin Dennis 24
Kevin Lewis, Tom Lewis, Ken Lloyd, Ashley Hooper 25 Berwyn Dennis 23

Tenby Arches Ladies v Picton Ladies

Tenby Arches Ladies 6 pts. Haverfordwest Picton Ladies 0
30th May 2015

To use an old football cliché, this was a game of two halves, with the Five Arches ladies, sponsored by Tenby House, trailing Haverfordwest Picton ladies after 10 ends by 27 shots to 19, but all was to change after the break. The Arches ladies came back onto the green with 11 ends to play completely revitalised, turning an eight shots deficit into a comfortable 24 shots win. Was this due to the encouragement they got from Wigan at the tea-break, we will never know, but the Arches ladies, during this period, collectively played some of the best bowls this season? With the Tenby ‘Sharks’ playing a home league game, the ladies were on rinks five and six. Julia skipped the inside rink, with Carol, Mair and Gerry in support. At 10 ends, the Arches ladies were trailing by 14 shots to 9, but then picked up 29 shots, including two counts of five and a six and conceding just four. This was the Arches at their very best, finishing the game by winning 38 shots to 18. Alison and her team of Lynn, Lon and Helen were on the outside rink and trailed by three shots at the break. They then went on to win eight of the remaining 11 ends and secure a 23 shots to 19 victory, during which they picked up two counts of six. The final score was an impressive 61 shots to 37 victory for the Arches ladies.