County Match

Gloucestershire 141-88 City & County of Bristol

GLOUCESTERSHIRE retained the Punchard cup with a handsome 53 shot win 118-108 over City and County of Bristol at Bristol St Andrews Bowls Club.

In command in winning five rinks out of six the best came from Keith Bedford, Paul Nelmes (both Barnwood), Steve Hopkins and Dave Hopkins (both Cheltenham Whaddon) who up against Dennis Overton opened an 18-2 lead with a six and a five after eight ends and never looked back. By the 14 th end they led 22-7 following a three and with a further four late on cruised to a 31-9 win.

The rink skipped by Clive Marcham (Moreton) powered their way to a 10-5 lead after five ends having dropped a five on the very first end against Frank Maude. A run of nine consecutive winning ends took them into a 26-8 lead and they went onto gain a 28-16 win.

The Barnwood quartet with Mike Manns as skip started out by losing the first three ends to John Price before picking up a four to lead 6-4. Another four came on the 11th end and with a run of eight winning ends they went onto gain a 24-11 win.

Roger Harrison (Pineholt) up against Tony Carter trailed 9-7 after nine ends before a three gave them an 11-10 lead. Slipping behind by three shots they then grabbed six shots in three ends to go 17-14 ahead and with a four and a three gained a 24-15 win.

The fifth winning way came the way of the President Clive Bennett (Moreton) who up against Doug Johnson started out by taking an 8-3 lead after six ends. By the 11th end they led 12-5 then the shots dried up losing five consecutive ends. A five steadied the ship and with a two late on they squeezed home 19-17.

The one loss came as Jim Lawlor (Bristol St Andrews) up against John Hudson went 11-1 down after eight ends. Plugging away the rink pulled back to level at 12-12 after winning seven out of eight ends that included a four however they then lost four ends on the trot and slipped to a 20-15 defeat.