Thank you to Mike Potter for the below report.
Shropshire Crown Green Bowling Association – Veterans “Consolation Shield” Championship
Semi-finals & Finals Day – Monday 15th September, 2025 at Prees BC
With the news that Sir John Bayley had conceded their place against Pontesbury in the Semi-final, the remaining teams gathered at the North Shropshire venue of Prees BC to contest the one Semi-final & Final of the 2025 Wrekin Consolation Shield Championship.
On a cool late Summers day with heavy rain laden clouds bellowing across the sky by strong gusts of wind, two of the 6 a-side teams, met to firstly contest their Semi-final match with defending Champions, Wrockwardine Wood taking on Charlton on the newer green at Prees BC.
Highlights from the Semi-final
Wrockwardine Wood v Charlton
Alan Gaut wasted little time turning a 1-3 deficit into a 10-3 lead on Chris France and carried on to 14-4 & 17-7 before finishing the game off 21-8.
Likewise, after losing their first end, Alan Jones raced into a 14-1 lead before Alan Davies got hold of the jack for a short lived period as Alan regained it and soon ended it 21-4.
Birthday Boy, Steve Faulkner celebrated by extending his 6-0 lead to go 12-3 before Alan Pritchard showed some resistance as he fought his way into double figures to trail 16-10 but could not stop Steve from running out 21-10.
Capt. John Clarke found the going tough as Charlton’s Maz Taylor adapted better to the conditions to lead 12-0 and following a brief revival by John, Maz went on to run out from 14-7 to win 21-7.
Ian Evans and John Lumsden played the closest of games as they tried to lose each other on various marks but as the scores went 5-5, 13-13 and 17-17 it was clear to see it would go to 20-20 from which Ian with the last bowl of their epic 32nd end game, came out on top 21-20.
Tony Garmson went on from 5-5 to lead Warwick France 12-7 and then ran out to seal his winning game of 21-7.
Wrockwardine Wood 112 – 70 Charlton. Wrock. Wood won by 42.
Everyone moved to old green for a repeat of last year’s title match Wrockwardine Wood versus Pontesbury.
Highlights from the Final
From 9-9, Alan Jones pushed ahead in to a 17-12 lead before Brian Bennett hit back, dropping just 1 chalk as he almost ran out on his way to winning 21-18.
From 4-4, Steve Faulkner forged himself in to a 14-6 lead over Den Walton who responded by closing the gap to 4 chalks as Steve led 14-10 which he maintained as they shared ends until finally Steve won the game 21-17.
Allan Gaut, from 6-6 went on to lead Tony France, 14-9 and kept the pressure on to go 18-11 and finish 21-12.
Ian Evans & Peter Williams matched each other at 9-9 & 13-13, then Ian took the lead 18-13 only to have Peter level again 20-20, but it was for his second game Ian came out on top 21-20.
From 6-6, John Clarke moved forward to 12-6 & 16-10 on Kev Jones who closed the gap to within 2 chalks but from 18-16, John ended the game 21-17.
Tony Garmson from 12-8 opened up his lead to 17-8 & 20-13 before Dave Povey seemingly made use of the heaviest downpour of the day, to get back in to the game before Tony finally ended it 21-18.
Wrockwardine Wood 123 – 105 Wrock Wood won by 18.
| No | Wrockwardine Wood | Agg | Score | Score | Agg | Pontesbury |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Jones | 18 | 18 | 21 | 21 | Brian Bennett |
| 2 | Steve Faulkner | 39 | 21 | 17 | 38 | Dennis Walton |
| 3 | Allan Gaut | 60 | 21 | 12 | 50 | Tony France |
| 4 | Ian Evans | 81 | 21 | 20 | 70 | Peter Williams |
| 5 | John Clarke | 102 | 21 | 17 | 87 | Kevin Jones |
| 6 | Tony Garmson | 123 | 21 | 18 | 105 | Dave Povey |
| Games | 5 | 1 | Games | |||
| Aggregate | 123 | 105 | Aggregate |
Shropshire President (2025) Simon Fullard was on hand to present Wrockwardine Wood the Winners Shield and congratulate the team on a successful defence of their title.
Congratulations Wrockwardine Wood
