GORSLEY Chapel Oaks claimed their maiden Herefordshire Summer Bowls League title following a nerve-racking final, defeating defending champions Lea S.M.B.C 7-3.

The Lea were looking to become only the second team to defend the Summer League and had stormed to the top of the Swallows Division.

Meanwhile, Gorsley faced a tense final game against Woolhope to get them to the final, taking four points away at the Winter League champions to book their place.

The singles saw Gorsley strike first, with Joe Loveys beating Merion Attwood 16-12. This was counteracted by a 12-5 victory for Lea in the fours, putting the overall score at 2-2 at the halfway stage with Lea three shots up overall.

The second half saw both Gorsley teams start strong. In the triples, Jason Chester, Anthony Chesterton and Dean Rudman reached a 10-3 lead by the halfway stage before a strong comeback from Lea’s Bradley Kite, Adrian James and Steve Kite led to a tense final end.

Lea held the three shots required to secure a draw before a final bowl draw from Rudman gave Gorsley the points and put them one shot up overall.

At this stage the Gorsley pairing of Sophie Heather-Warner and Joe Loveys were up on John Clapson and Merion Attwood 7-6 going into the final end.

Only holding one of the three shots required, Attwood saw a final bowl fire brush the holding wood, with a 7-7 draw enough to give Gorsley an overall 7-3 victory by only 1 shot at 41-40.

For more information about short mat bowls in Herefordshire and how you can get involved, visit hsmba.org to find your local club.

Herefordshire opened their 2023-24 Inter County Championship season with a strong performance away at Avon, recording a 29-11 (220-152) victory.

Facing an opponent they had not been drawn against in several years and with a number of players unavailable, Herefordshire travelled down the M5 unsure as to what the day ahead would hold.

However, The Bulls started the match well, taking all eight points from the first session before shared points in the triples and fours left the score at 12-4 at the halfway stage.

Despite an Avon fightback in the third session, Herefordshire battled on to hold 19 points ahead of the final session of the day, taking the bonus points in both the singles and the pairs.

Convincing victories in the triples and fours gave Herefordshire the final two bonuses on offer to start the season off in an impressive fashion.