WOOLHOPE C came out on top when 35 teams of short mat bowlers from across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire gathered for the 23rd annual Macmillan Charity Fours tournament at Bromyard Leisure Centre.

The Woolhope quartet took the trophy on shot difference, edging out Ross, Weston and Woolhope A who, like the winners, had each won all four of their matches.

The winning Woolhope team of Ian Park, Dominic and Anthony Rogers had to call on a number of substitutes from other teams (Luke Rawlings, Jim Tingle, Joseph Loveys and Andrew Biggs) due to injury preventing Sandra Rogers, the fourth member of the team, from competing on the day.

Park, the competition organiser, was also grateful to teams from Llangarron, Woolhope, Larruperz and Whitchurch who each played an extra game to fulfil the fixtures of a team who pulled out on the eve of the tournament.

Jamie Harris, Herefordshire Short Mat Bowling Association chairman, thanked all involved in organising and running the event as well as those who helped out on the day, making a special presentation to Carole Glass who manned the refreshment stall all day.

Peter Rowland from Macmillan Herefordshire praised the generosity of all present in contributing to the £1,950 raised on the day.

Bowlers from the Redmarley and Bromsberrow club donated £380 as part of the winding-up distribution of their club’s assets. The club has been forced to disband due to dwindling membership.

Herefordshire's teams are making good progress in the inter-county championship with both likely to qualify for the main knockout phases.

The Premier team are second in their regional qualifying group with one remaining match while the A team lead their group and need only 12 of the 40 points available from their last match away at Avon to clinch top spot.