MILFORD HAVEN 64 (3 pts) v TENBY 90 (11)

 The N. D. Toy and Partners Tenby team made their third trip across the Cleddau Bridge in less than a month on Saturday. Having already played Milford Haven and Neyland in their Carruthers Shield group section, they returned to play the former in a division one league match. Again the Seasiders were without a number of key players for this clash and, after a couple more late withdrawals, gave debuts to young Joe Criddle and the not so young Jim Taylor.

Both acquitted themselves extremely well in the ‘cauldron-like’ atmosphere which was created at the Milford green by the baking hot sun. But unlike the conditions overhead, Tenby failed to shine in the opening stages and, in fact, trailed by six shots midway through, with two rinks up and two down. After the welcome tea-break, though, they began to move through the gears and, after catching their opponents, started to stretch away, with Jon Webb and his rink leading the charge with an impressive performance.

Alongside, John Roberts and his men (including the Criddle brothers) were having a battle royal with the Tony Elyatt foursome. With the lead changing hands throughout, the Tenby rink went into the final end one shot to the good, but saw their hopes of a win evaporate as Milford lead Keith Graham ditched the jack with his very first wood. After that it was a case of getting one close to make sure of second shot, which fortunately they did, with a draw perhaps being a fair outcome on the day.

Captain Andrew Muskett’s rink was one of those that trailed at the interval, albeit by only one shot, but three counts of four in the second half quickly turned things round as they went on to win by a healthy 13-shot margin. Also adrift at the break were Peter Day and his crew, who at this stage were facing a formidable deficit of 14 shots, having only managed to pick up three shots to 17 by their opponents. In contrast, the second half was mostly one-way traffic in Tenby’s favour, and when a count of four on the 20th end saw them get their noses in front for the very first time, it looked as if their fightback was complete. But Milford skip Keith Wood obviously had other ideas and, rallying his troops for one final effort, they themselves hit back in style on the last end to bag three shots and sneak home by one in a nail-biting encounter.

Rink scores (Tenby first, Milford skips only) were:

Dai Rees, Steve Sheldon, Joe Richards, Jon Webb 27; G. Jones 13.
Neil Dickinson, Joe Criddle, James Criddle, John Roberts 17; T. Elyatt 17.
Luke Rees, Ben Sheldon, Ben Simmons, Andrew Muskett 24; M. Lloyd 11
.Cameron White, Jim Taylor, Ben Cloake, Peter Day 22; K. Wood 23.

Tenby do have not have a match this weekend, with their scheduled fixture with Neyland having been rearranged, but they have a busy few days ahead of them towards the end of next week with three matches in four days, all away from home.First they travel to play league fixtures against Pendine and Castle, Haverfordwest, on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, respectively, and will follow those on the Saturday with a journey to Merthyr for their first round Carruthers Shield clash with Guest Memorial