Leominster lose at Hay but still lead the way at the top

3:57pm Thursday 14th August 2008

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TARMAC League leaders, Leominster and St Martins both suffered mixed fortunes.

Both clubs lost one match out of two played but kept their positions ahead of Kington in third place who did not have a League match this week.

Leominster came unstuck at Hay on their heavier green where the home club won by 10 shots but rink honours were shared with two rink wins going to each club.

Warren Rickets’ rink picked up the first rink win for Hay with a narrow 20-17 win but the 10-shot margin in a 24-14 shot win for the rink skipped by Hay’s Dave Walker provided the decisive result on the day.

Leominster’s two rink wins were hard-fought with a two-shot win at 19-17 for Tracy Powell’s four and a single-shot win for Fred Williams’ four at 19 -18, which gave the visitors four rink points in only their second league defeat this season.

Three days earlier, Leominster had entertained Weobley and recorded a comfortable 28-shot win but still conceded a rink win to the visitors to maintain their top spot.

G Lloyd skipped his Leominster four to a 30-9 win that effectively won the match for the home club with their 21-shot winning margin. But Barbara Warburton’s Weobley four exacted revenge in their game against Fred Williams’ four as they reversed the result of their earlier meeting with a 24–18 win that prevented a Leominster clean sweep.

Second-placed St Martin’s let slip an opportunity to close the gap on Leominster at the top of the table when they visited Wellington in a top-versus-bottom fixture that the home club won on three rinks out of four to record a 29-shot victory.

Leading the way for Wellington in a well-deserved win for the villagers was the four skipped by Ken Hancock with a massive 35-7 win. This settled the match as the other rinks were much closer contests.

Brian Evans and Tony Hoare skipped the other victorious Wellington fours to five and three-shot wins in a result that put a big question mark on St Martin’s championship hopes as they suffered their fifth defeat in six matches.

Only John Fraser skipped a winning rink for St Martin’s as they came off the green with a 19-12 result that salvaged two rink points for the visitors.

In their latest match, St Martin’s revived their hopes in a 27-shot win at home to Castle Green, to record their 10th league win of the year.

Bizarrely, all have been won on a three-rink-to-one winning margin and their latest match was no exception.

In a match cut short by heavy rain, Graham Hepworth skipped the Castle Green four that stopped an all-rink win for St Martin’s with a 25-11 win.

Jim Knowles’ four produced St Martin’s best result on the day with a 27-10 win, which was well supported by the four skipped by Vince Ledbury with a 28–13 win to record the highest score of the match.

Hay continued their welcome return to form to record their sixth win out of six when they visited Weobley and conceded only one rink in a 26-shot success.

Rob Williams skipped the Hay four to the day’s best win with a 17-shot win when they won 28 – 11, followed by Darren Ricketts who skipped a second Hay four to a comfortable win with a 25-20 result.

Mike Powell saved the home club from a whitewash when his Weobley four won 27-19 to secure two rink points from the match.

Hay have now climbed to fifth place in the table after their disastrous start to the season when they drew just one match and lost a further eight before picking up their first league win.

They now lie only 11 points behind Hereford and just 15 points behind Kington in third place.

RESULTS: Leominster 93 Weobley 65 (Home Rinks (W3 D0 L1), Hay on Wye 79 Leominster 69 (W2 D0 L2), Wellington 87 St Martins 58 (W3 D0 L1), St Martin’s 87 Castle Green 60 ((W3 D1 L0), Weobley 68 Hay on Wye 94 (W1 D0 L3)