Tenby v Whitland
17 May 2014
After winning their opening group game against Pembroke Dock, the Tenby club hosted Whitland, who a week earlier had easily disposed of Fishguard and Goodwick by 77 shots. Tenby knew that a win would almost certainly see them qualify for the knock-out stages of the Carruthers Shield. Over the last few games, Tenby’s opponents ‘stayed’ with them for the first half of the match, only to then run out of steam and/or Tenby to find another gear. This again proved to be the case. Tenby held a six-shot lead at five ends; a nine-shot lead at 10 ends; a 24-shot lead at 15 ends; a 35-shot lead at 18 ends and closed the match with a 56-shot winning margin (104-48).
Rink one: Ryan Thomas replaced Paul Diment at skip following a late fitness test - which Paul failed (!) However, with Paul reverting to ‘third’, the rink was still strong - on paper at least. Aaron Lloyd played well at lead and with James Criddle having another very strong game at second, they set up a solid platform for Paul to complement their work. Ryan was then able to execute a wide variety of shots and display his natural talent to the full. After dropping two singles on the opening two ends, Ryan played a tremendous shot, turning the Tenby bowl onto the jack to make a count of four. The following end, Ryan picked up the jack for a count of six shots, but with a cruel twist, the jack rebounded back to its original placement - but still a score of two shots for the home side. Although the Tenby rink could consider themselves to be unlucky on that occasion, it was a sign of things to come. At the close, the Tenby rink had won 16 out of the 21 ends to record a 38-6 shot win. Rink two: Andrew Muskett’s four played against former Tenby Gold Cup winner, Steve Reese, of Whitland. The Whitland four started well and took control of the game, leading 7-2 after five ends and 9-6 after 10 ends. However, the Tenby rink were dogged in their play and scored 12 shots without reply over the next four ends. Steve’s rink reduced the score to 13-18 after 17 ends with a three-end winning streak, but the Tenby four won the remaining four ends to record a 24-13 win.
Rink three: Kieran Peregrine took on Colin Wynn, of Whitland. After taking an early lead, Colin’s rink started to cause some problems for the Tenby four and steadily built up a lead of 14-8 after 13 ends. The Whitland rink still held a good lead at 17 ends (17-11), but then Peg’s, Webby, Beano and Big Red took control, scoring on all the remaining ends: two, four, two and two. Final score 21-17. Rink four: John Roberts’s rink took on the Whitland rink skipped by Whitland captain, Glyndwr Thomas. This was again a very close game, with nothing between the two rinks. At 14 ends, the Whitland rink held an 11-8 lead. But in a similar manner to rinks two and three, the Tenby four won six out of the remaining seven ends, scoring 13 shots to one. A final score of 21-12. To be fair to Whitland, a 56-shot win flattered Tenby as in truth the match was settled on one rink. The dominant scoring by Tenby over the closing stages of the match could be put down to Whitland trying to force the issue with their choice of shots other than anything else