Five Arches 76 (9pts) Whitland 76 (5 pts)
26th June 2016
After successive away victories, the Five Arches returned to Tenby to play Whitland. The game promised to be close as only two points separated them in the league table and it certainly lived up to this.
Simon and his rink of Johno, TP and James struggled on rink one, conceding two counts of four and a count of five in the first half of the game, they trailed by 19 shots to 4 after 11 ends. However a better performance in the second half restricted the damage to a 28 shots to 13 defeat. In complete contrast Ashley 's rink of Viv, David and Dai had a storming first 12 ends to lead by 20 shots to 4. A comeback by the Whitland rink over the last 5 ends again narrowed the gap but the Five Arches foursome won by a comfortable 25 shots to 12.
However the remaining two rinks provided all the drama, Beano, skipping Steve, Roger and Ken had a nail biting game on rink 4. Leading by a comfortable 15 shots to 6 at tea, they endured a Whitland comeback to be level going into the last end. However a fine last bowl by Beano, when match down, enabled them to snatch a well-earned one shot victory. Gerald and his rink of John, Kev and Neil were last on the green. In an evenly matched game, they had eked out a 7 shot lead with 4 ends to go, however yet another fine comeback from the Whitland rink gave them a chance on the last end. 19 shots to 15 down, Whitland Skip Dan played a great shot to pick up three shots which tied the game overall but allowed the Five Arches rink to sneak another one shot victory.
Another great performance from the Five Arches team , winning on three rinks against the Whitland team is fantastic. Next up, home to Tenby on Wednesday night.
Jon Hubbard, Tony Powling, James Criddle, Simon Evans 13 Mike John 28
John Rees, Kevin Lewis, Neil Dickinson, Gerald Hewitt 19 Dan Jenner 18
Viv John, David Lloyd, Dai Spencer, Ashley Hooper 25 Steve Rees 12
Ken Lloyd, Roger Strong, Steve Davies, Huw Nicholas 19 Glyndwr Thomas 18
Fishguard 58 (4pts) Five Arches 70 (10pts)
June 19th 2016
In complete contrast to the previous day, this game was played in appalling weather, wet and windy , not the best conditions to play bowls but the Five Arches battled through to another important victory.
Ashley, replacing holiday bound Ben , assisted by Roger, Tony and Steve had a tightly fought contest on rink 3. One shot separated the team at tea and with his last bowl , Fishguard skip Davo won the match for his rink by 17 shots to 16. On the next rink, Gerald , backed up by Neil, Mike and John mastered the conditions , always in the lead they eventually ran out comfortable winners by 18 shots to 11. Unbeaten skip Dai , returned to the fold, and once again won. Well supported by Viv, Kev and David , they showed distain for the conditions to romp away by 24 shots to 14. Out in the murk of rink 6 , Webby with Johno, Ken and Simon had a close fought match once again. One shot behind with 2 ends to play , they just lost out to fine bowling by the home rink by 16 shots to 12. Another fine away win, we have won 3 out of first 5 away fixtures. Next up Whitland at home on Saturday at 1pm.
Roger Thomas, Tony Powling, Steve Davies, Ashley Hooper 16 D Hughes 17
John Rees, Mike Day, Neil Dickinson, Gerald Hewitt 18 T Evans 11
Viv John, Kevin Lewis, David Lloyd, Dai Spencer 24 M Barringer 14
Ken Lloyd, Jon Hubbard, Huw Nicholas, Jon Webb 12 M Bedford 16
Pendine 66 (4pts) Five Arches 76 (10pts)
18th June 2016
On a sunny spring day , the Five Arches travelled to Pendine hoping to carry on the improved performance at Saundersfoot the previous week. On rink 2, Gerald and his rink of John Mike and Beano had an up and down day. They started well pickings up 2 counts of 4 shots to lead by 15 shots to 6 at tea. However an inspired fightback by Mal Evans' rink had clawed the deficit back to only 2 on the 18th end and by winning the remaining three ends , they ran out winners by 22 shots to 17.
On rink 3 Ashley and his rink of Viv, Kev and David had a tremendous start and led by 18 shots to 3 at the tea interval. The second half of the game was more even but the Five Arches rink won comfortably by 25 shots to 11. Ben and his rink of Roger, Tony and Steve had the opposite game to Gerald's rink, losing by 10 shots to 4 at tea. The rink rallied and won the last 9 ends to win by 18 shots to 13. Finally out on rink 5, Webby ably supported by Ken, Bill and Simon had a close fought battle with Geoff Hale's Pendine rink, 2 shots down at tea, they led by a solitary shot on the 19th end only for the Pendine foursome to edge it over the last two ends to secure a 20 shots to 16 victory. A great win for the Five Arches, I don't think we have ever won at Pendine in the league before, perhaps the kick-start we need for this season.
Ken Lloyd, Bill Benham, Simon Evans, Jon Webb 16 G Hale 20
Viv John, Kevin Lewis, David Lloyd, Ashley Hooper 25 A Edwards 11
Roger Thomas, Tony Powling, Steve Davies, Ben Simmons 18 SK Thomas 13
John Rees, Mike Day, Huw Nicholas, Gerald Hewitt 17 M Evans 22
Saundersfoot 87 (10pts) Five Arches 75 (4pts)
11th June 2016
With Captain Ashley absent in the Pembroke Dock open, Vice-Captain Dai stepped up, hoping for an improved performance from the Five Arches boys after a disappointing previous two games. Webby and his rink of Ken, Bill and Steve started well, all square after 6, but a run of 15 shots with no reply from the Saundersfoot rink built up a lead which couldn't be caught and they ran out winners by 27 shots to 13.
Gerald, supported by John, Mike and Neil again had a steady start, and lead by 1 shot on the 14th end, however a disastrous drop of 6 shots enabled the Saundersfoot foursome to open up a gap and run out winners by 20 shots to 13. Captain Dai, with Viv, Kev and David were never in trouble, leading by 7 shots at tea they carried on in a similar vein to win by 25 shots to 19. Finally on rink 5, Ben and his rink of Roger, Bill and Tony had a similar game, leading by 3 shots at tea, they again played well in the second half to win by 24 shots to 21. A great performance against one of the stronger side in the division. Next game a double header away against Pendine on Saturday and Fishguard on Sunday.
Ken Lloyd, Roger Strong, Steve Davies, Jon Webb 13 Myrddin Dennis 27
John Rees, Mike Day, Neil Dickinson, Gerald Hewitt 13 Steve Poole 20
Viv John, Kevin Lewis, David Lloyd, Dai Spencer 25 Berwyn Dennis 19
Roger Thomas, Bill Benham, Tony Powling, Ben Simmons 24 Steve Dick 21
Five Arches 61 (0pts) Haverfordwest 110 (14pts)
4th June 2016
After the previous week disappointing performance against Milford, we were hoping for a confidence boosting performance against Haverfordwest. However this was not to be, we were comprehensively beaten on all four rinks. First up on rink 1 , in front of the pavilion, Gerald and his rink of John, Mike and Neil were in a tight match for the first six or seven ends but gradually the Haverfordwest rink began to pull away. They lead by 5 shots after 10 ends, 8 after 15 and finally ran out winners by 31 shots to 15.
Next up on rink 2, Simon , supported by late substitutes Dave and Tony and Ben had a slow start but battled back to be level after 10 ends. However the wheels fell off in the second half , scoring only 3 but conceding 22 shots, they lost by 31 shots to 13. Captain Ashley and his rink of Viv, Steve and Dai were never quite in touch with the Hafod rink, trailing by 4 shots at tea , they never got any closer and finally succumbed by 23 shots to 15. Finally on rink 4, Webby with Ken, Johno and Beano fought back from a slow start to be leading by 1 shot on the 13th end. However a couple of poor ends enabled the Haverfordwest rink to ease ahead and win by 25 shots to 19. Overall a disappointing performance against a strong Haverfordwest team. Special mention must go to (very) late substitutes Dave and Tony for stepping in and helping the team out. Next up away to Saundersfoot.
John Rees, Mike Day, Neil Dickinson, Gerald Hewitt 15 R Price 31
David Lloyd, Tony Powling, Ben Simmons, Simon Evans 13 G Barrett 31
Viv John, Steve Davies, Dai Spencer, Ashley Hooper 15 PDS Jenkins 23
Ken Lloyd, Jon Hubbard, Huw Nicholas, Jon Webb 19 R O'Leary 25