Haverfordwest 73 (4 Points) v Tenby 81 (10 Points)
14th June 2016
The first of two league games in one week started a few Tuesday’s ago (14th June) for the Tenby Sharks. The last time these two teams met resulted in a slender 2 shot victory at Tenby’s Sutton Street HQ where they haven’t lost in the league since 2014 – at the hands of Haverfordwest . The Selectors decided on a change of team and positions this game and on Rink 1, Kieran Peregrine, winner of 4 silver bowl titles was joined by Paul Diment, with 2 silver bowls to his name. They were joined by Liam Price, current holder of the Five Arches Bowl and Luke Rees, former Tenby Club Champion. Their opponents comprised former Welsh Indoor International and Tenby player, Alan Whitehouse. The Tenby rink raced off to a 7-1 lead, but then Alan and his third, Bill Jones, started playing and boy did they play, outscoring the ‘Pegs’ rink 11-1 to take the lead. A fine finish by Tenby reduced the deficit, but still a loss of 16-20.
Next door, the galacticos continued their unbeaten run. In fact, I cannot remember the last time they lost. At seven ends, the three internationals of Craig, Luke and Chris joined by Welsh fours winner Mike Jackson, were 6-5 up. Then, as is usual, a run of winning ends resulted in them extending their lead by fourteen shots over the course of six ends. Another strong finish resulted in a 28-14 lead. A change in personnel saw John Roberts switch from Peregrines rink to Andrew’s. Andrew was joined by Ben Cloake and Peter Day. The change did not seem to work as previously unbeaten Muskett, went down by 9 shots to County Team Manager, PDS Jenkins.
Ryan Thomas continued to skip and with Joe Richards, Peter Hooper and Cameron White continued his form – promptly dropping a five shot count on the first end. However, the likeable and talented Rhino did not let his head drop and rallied his troops. A couple of counts of ‘five’ and ‘fours’ saw them win their rink 24-17. In conclusion, a great win by the Tenby team. The selectors were brave enough to change formations leading up to the big game on Saturday against Prestiegne and although they [the changes] did not work as they would have liked, another game beckons on Thursday against Saundersfoot to try new ideas. However, it should also be remembered that Tenby still beat a very very good Haverfordwest team on their own patch and they have taken another step in retaining their league title.