Our Veterans team qualified for the BCGBA Veterans County Championship finals with ease, just dropping one game in each match to top the group.
Thank you to Competitions Secretary Mike Potter for the below report.
Shropshire Crown Green Bowling Association
Veterans Team Championship
Thursday 11th July 2024 Newport BC No2
In the year when Shropshire took our turn hosting the Group 4, round robin event of the Veterans Team Championship, the Selectors and players knew only too well that the advantage of playing on one of our local venues would give us a boost, not to be wasted, in the pursuit of winning the group and qualify for finals day of the National BCGBA Competition.
With the knowledge that winning the first match would put us on a good footing to achieving our goal, we began the day facing North Midlands in the “3 on the card” 8-a-side tournament that saw
Wayne Rogers, take a 14-12 lead onto a good 21-14 card. Glyn Herbert, from 5-6 hit 8 doubles to win 21-11. Dave Redge fought back valiantly from 8-17 to tie 18-18 before dipping out 18-21. Mark Holland shared the score throughout till from 17-17 ran out 21-17. Martin Williams almost ran out from 13-13 winning 21-14. Derek Wright, from 9-9 went on to 19-13 and then found it tough going before win of 21-17. Ian Gaut, turned a 5-10 deficit into a 16-10 then won 21-13. Mark Thomas had to fight hard to keep his lead from 12-3 to 12-10 and 18-10 to 18-14 before ending off 21-14 that gave us 7 out of 8 winners and an aggregate of +44.
Meanwhile, Staffordshire were enjoying amassing 6 winners as they saw off Warwick & Worcs by 11.
Our second match against Warwick & Worcester did not start well at first as Wayne Rogers struggled from 5-4 up to trail 7-16 before going down 13-21. The scores on each side of Glyn Herbert’s card looked like a mirror image as it went 7-7, 11-11, 14-14 until from 19-19 Glyn made it 21-19. Mark Holland was in domineering form as he went from 10-4 onto a 21-8 win. Roy Bradburn, took control to go from 10-9 up to 17-11 but then needed to work hard to get home 21-17. Martin Williams, wrapped up a polished performance as he recorded a 21-9 win in just 16 ends. Derek Wright, raced into a 11-3 and 18-8 lead before completing his comfortable 21-12 win. Ian Gaut, took control from 5-7 to turn it around to lead 14-7 & 19-9 then got in with a 21-11 card. Mark Thomas, raced from 6-3 to 18-6 before ending it 21-10 that again gave us 7 out of 8 winners and an aggregate of +53.
Meanwhile, Staffordshire were ending North Midland’s chances by defeating them by 37 and gave them, like us, their second win which would make our last match of the day “a winner take all” encounter between ourselves and Staffordshire.
Our third and final match saw Wayne Rogers race into a 11-3 & 15-6 lead that he saw wiped out until at 19-19 he finally got home 21-19. Glyn Herbert, trailed all the way down the card only to steal a 21-21 win. Mark Holland, saw his 10-7 lead rapidly become a 10-15 & 13-19 deficit, before he rallied to get up to 18-21. At this point, with 3 games off, the match lay evenly balanced. Roy Bradburn, held his 2 chalk lead going from 12-10 until at 17-15 ran out 21-15. Martin Williams, battled back from 9-13 and 16-19 to grab a 21-19 winning card. With the last 3 games on the green, we held a slim 8 chalk lead. Derek Wright, had a very level game as the scores tied at 9-9, 14-14 until at 18-18 he went onto win 21-19. Ian Gaut, played supremely to go up 13-3, 18-7 and finished the game 21-7 that was the best card of the day by anyone on the green that day which cemented our overall win. Mark Thomas, turned a deficit of 8-11 into leads of 14-11 & 17-12 before ending the game 21-15 that again gave us 7 of 8 winners and an aggregate of +30.
Meanwhile, Warwick & Worcester finally secured their first victory of the day and third place after seeing off North Midlands by +11.
With all games finished, the Shropshire team had completed a trio of matches, each with 7 out of 8 winners and a total agg of +127.
Congratulations lads on a dominating display throughout the day becoming truly deserving group winners and we look forward to accompanying the team to the finals venue on 1st August.
Shropshire Veterans Squad 2024
Mark Thomas, Wayne Rogers, Ian Gaut, Derek Wright, Dave Redge, Mark Holland, Martin Williams, Glyn Herbert, Roy Bradburn, Phil Lyttle.
