Balcomb Trophy

Gloucestershire 44 Somerset 38

GLOUCESTERSHIRE Gloucestershire with a battling performance over came local rivals Somerset in the Premlinary Round of the Balcomb Trophy with a six shot win 44-38 at Cheltenham.

At one stage Gloucestershire where 23-15 down after nine ends before pulling back to lead by seven shots after 15 ends.

The rink of Ben Coldrick (Cheltenham), Max Risby (Cirencester), Lee Williamson and Nathan Kitchen (both Cheltenham) despite losing the first two ends to James Amery powered their way to an 11-2 lead with five winning ends that included a three and a four. The score when went to 11-7 after losing the eighth and ninth ends before three two’s and a single opened up a 18-9 lead. Three more shots came in the run in as their opponents had to score seven on the last end to win the match, however they could only manage one as Gloucestershire won it 21-19.

The other rink of Vince Wilks (Gloucester City), Peter Stinchcombe (Tetbury), Dougie Lewis (Gloucester City) and Matt Cuthbert (Cheltenham) faced an uphill battle right from the start against Nick Pearce when they started out losing 7-1 after just four ends. They managed to halt the tide with a three however that was short lived as they then conceded a four and a three followed by two singles to go 16-4 down. The turning point came when having scored a two they picked up a five on the 11th end and never looked back. A three and a two put them level and with two singles they led 19-18. Going into the last end with a one shot advantage they gained a three for a memorable 23-19 win.

Gloucestershire will now face Herefordshire at home in the first round to be played by 13 June.