Herefordshire last in Middleton Cup group with defeat (From Hereford Times)

Herefordshire last in Middleton Cup group with defeat

3:00pm Wednesday 27th June 2012 in Sport

HEREFORDSHIRE shared the rink spoils 3-3 in their final Middleton Cup group game away at Gloucestershire but a shot-difference defeat handed them the wooden spoon.

The top rink from Herefordshire was Connor Diggens (Kingsland), Tom Churchill (Eastnor), Mike Holmes and Luke Harwood (both Ledbury) who, after a tight start, sealed a 23-10 win on the final end with a quality five.

Another rink performing well was Marc Erhler (Bulmer), Doug Bott (St Martins), Paul Rainthorpe (Ross) and Mike Ricketts (Ledbury) who, after being held level at 15-15 came through strongly on the final three ends to win 21-15.

The other winning rink was Dan Holmes (Ledbury), Colin Walters (Leominster), Graham Williams (Eastnor) and Martin Griffiths (Ledbury) who after eight ends led 10-3, and held on to win 17-13.

Steve Jones, Mark Herbert (Eastnor), Barry Payne and Shaun Jones (Ross) led 18-16 up with six to play but only managed to win one more end, going down 19-25.

Ivan Beesley, Richard Cooke (Both Ross), David Holloway (Leominster) and Phil Middleton (Ross) were only one shot down (10-11) after 13 ends, they then lost the seven ends to finish 11-28 down.

The final rink of Mark Hewitt (Eastnor), Ron Caldicutt (Hereford), David Bithell and Ron Bithell (Kington) were leading 7-5 after seven ends but eventually went down 13-33 leaving the overall match result as Herefordshire 104 (six points) Gloucestershire 124 (16 pts).

Cornwall held their nerve to repel a late Herefordshire rally in the semi-final of the National Double Rink at Clevedon.

The rink of Dan Holmes, Mike Holmes, Luke Harwood and Mike Ricketts had a dream start taking a five on the first end and went on to lead 13-3, an advantage which they extended to17-6 after 11 ends.

Cornwall fought back but the Herefordshire quartet gained a well-deserved 23-17 win.

The other rink of Dan Palmer, B Payne, Shaun Jones and Phil Williams were leading 7-5 after eight ends but then lost six ends in a row.

On the 14th end, the Cornish skip played the shot of the day to pick up a seven for a 22-7 lead and although Herefordshire hit back, Cornwall held on to win 28-14.

l HEREFORDSHIRE gained a narrow 112-110 win, with each team registering three rink winners, when they entertained Oxfordshire at Ross-on-Wye.

The success was mainly due to the rink skipped by Dave Holloway outclassing their opponents on the day for a 26-10 victory.

Holloway’s four were backed up by Ron Perry’s rink who fought back from 16-14 down after 17 ends to win the remaining four ends for a 20-16 success.

The other home victory was by John Harris’s rink who were level at 11-11 after 12 ends but won six of the remaining ends for a 19-16 win. The rink skipped by Russ Jones had a tight match and went down 23-19, and Paul Rainthorpe’s rink were involved in a very low-scoring encounter before finishing down 17-12.

The final rink was skipped by Don Pugh and went down 28-16.

lBRIMFIELD bowler Ashley Edwards has earned the backing of chartered accountant DRE and Co.

Edwards, who is 23, is already a regular at county level and also has ambitions of a career at a national level.

The sponsorship deal will provide him with financial support for the next 12 months, which he says will help cover the costs of his travel and kit.