County Match

Gloucestershire 119-128 Mid Glamorgan

GLOUCESTERSHIRE, having gained three winning rinks, just fell short by nine shots in their match against Mid Glamorgan at Mountain Ash Bowls Club.

The rink of Peter Godfrey, Martin Bevan, Tim Webb and John Tombs (all Victory Park) produced the highest winning rink when up against D. Giles they took a 6-1 lead then found themselves 11-6 down before hitting a purple patch that saw eight winning ends out of nine.

In that run they bagged two two’s, a three and a four along with four singles to jump into a 22-12 lead. They capped off a fine performance by winning the last end with a single for a 23-16 victory.

The rink skipped by Dave Williams (Cam Mills) fought out a terrific tussle with E. Lewis that saw them level at nine all after 10 ends. Still level at 15 and 18 ends there was nothing to separate the sides going into the final end in which they bagged the shot to win 17-16.

The quartet from Barnwood skipped by Mike Manns also had a hard fought encounter with P. Bonnett when at the halfway stage they lead 9-8. Three three’s put them in the driving seat at 18-12 ahead however they lost the lead on the 20th end and needed a three on the last end to record a 22-20 win.

Clive Bennett having been 9-8 up on S. Break dropped a four and a two and by the 15th end the rink was eight shots behind. A recovery brought about four shots and then a four on the 20th end gave them a chance of a win however losing the last end they suffered a 21-18 loss.

Eddie Broughton (Bishops Cleeve) saw his rink go behind by eight shots in just four ends to R.Mabb. By the time the 12th end had finished they were 18-5 down and facing an uphill struggle. Stopping the rot, they then turned the scores around with three consecutive fives to lead 22-19 but in the last three ends failed to score and went down by a single shot 23-22.

Maurice Hawkins (Yate) up against S. Crowdy scored just five shots in the first 14 ends to be 28-5 down. A five gave late on gave them double figures as they slipped to a 32-16 loss.