Hay romps to bowls win over leaders

9:27am Thursday 10th July 2008

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HAY picked up their first Tarmac League win of the season when they crushed League leaders St Martin’s by 50 shots.

All four Hay rinks won their games as the home club romped away to a maximum points victory on a green that the visitors could not master, being somewhat heavier than their own green in Hereford.

The Hay four skipped by John Hughes had an excellent day by leading all the way, and on the final end, finishing with a flourish by scoring a maximum eight to win 32-8.

The only St Martin’s four that gave some hope for the visitors was that skipped by club captain Steve Booth that finally lost 19-15 in a game that was tightly fought after the home sides 7-0 start was matched by a five-shot score on the fifth end for the visitors.

St Martin’s then lost their second match in a row when they hosted Hereford and lost by eight shots in a match played out in very poor weather.

Neither club wished to abandon a match that was important to both clubs’ title hopes and completed a full match in the rain after already suffering two stoppages due to very heavy rain.

John Colley’s St Martin’s four fought out an excellent 16-all draw with the Hereford four skipped by Keith Caldicott that after the early skirmishes and the first stoppage for the weather saw a game played in which the St Martin’s four drew level on four occasions and were never more than two shots adrift of the their Hereford opponents.

Winning Hereford fours skipped by Olly Cox and Fred Rawlings each won by seven and five shots to swing the match in Hereford’s favour with the latter picking up five shots on the last end proving to be the decisive score at the finish.

Doug Bott’s St Martins four gave the home club their only result with a four-shot win in a match that severely tested the stamina of both clubs’ players on a cold wet and windy afternoon.

Hereford’s win confirmed their third place in the league table and opened up a 17-point margin over the clubs next in the table.

However, St Martin’s remain at the top despite losing their first matches this year as Kington in second place did not have a Tarmac League match this week.

With two matches still in hand over the champions, St Martin’s must feel that an opportunity has been lost to extend their lead and allow the other chasing club to catch up on their lead, as both Hereford and Leominster move closer to St Martin’s and Kington at the of the table.

Leominster move up to equal third place with Hereford with two handsome wins at home to Llandrindod and Wellington to preserve their unbeaten home record extending back nearly two years to August 2006.

Their 14-shot win against Llandrindod saw their best win of the day by the four skipped by Brian Cade with a 33-18 shot win bettered by the Llandrindod four skipped by B Harrison that came off the green with a 32-10 shot victory.

But the other two Leominster rinks together won by 21 shots and that was enough to put the match beyond doubt and in favour of the home club.

In an evening game later in the week, Leominster were hosts to near neighbours Wellington but proved much too strong for the village side, winning by 45 shots.

The Leominster four skipped by John Harris scored the highest rink score to date in this year’s league fixture list and one of the best scores ever recorded in the league with a 44-8 shot result.

But Wellington did score the day’s second-best result with Brian Foster’s four gaining a 27-13 shot win to prevent the Leominster clean sweep and take two rink points home for the villagers.

Leominster, with one only one match lost to date this year and matches in hand on all the clubs above them in the league, are mounting a strong challenge to the leaders as they attempt to better their runners-up position in last year’s competition.

RESULTS: Hay on Wye 97 St Martins 47 (Home Rinks W4 D0 L0), Leominster 93 Llandrindod 79 (W3 D0 L1), Wellington 89 Hay on Wye 64 (W2 D1 L1), Castle Green 72 Weobley 84 (W2 D0 L2), Leominster 103 Wellington 58 (W3 D0 L1), St Martin’s 60 Hereford 68 (W1 D1 L2).