Hanwood keep Bayley boys honest at the top
Hanwood condemned Chester Road to their first defeat of the Salop Leisure Shropshire Premier League bowls season as they closed the gap on unbeaten leaders Sir John Bayley.
Darren Wellings (21-2), Colin Beaman (21-3), Ashley Wellings (21-7) and Simon Lane (21-9) all scored big wins as Hanwood won 10-2.
Richard Lawson (21-10), Gary Neal (21-14), Dave Payne (21-15) and Mark Shore (21-15) were also victorious for Hanwood, who remained second place in the table.
Chester Road had won three from three going into the match, but could only salvage two points thanks to 21-16 triumphs for Andrew Davies and Gary Beff.
Sir John Bayley did just enough to remain a point clear of Hanwood thanks to a 10-4 win at Wrockwardine Wood, taking six games – the best of which was a 21-4 triumph for David Lloyd.
Paul Evans (21-7), Scott Simpson (21-13), Chris Ward (21-15), Gordon Hawkins (21-17) and Spencer Clarke (21-19) also secured vital wins as the Bayley Boys recorded their second win on the road this season.
Winless Wrockwardine Wood are one point off the bottom, despite triumphs for Rob Roden (21-6), Steve Broome (21-10), Martin Williams (21-19) and Jamie King (21-19).
Castlefields are third in the standings – six points off the summit, having had two deducted this season – after picking up an 11-3 victory away to third-bottom Bylet.
There was just one single-figure win – for the home side’s Dan Davies (21-9) – in a close encounter.
Kiah Roberts and Adam Jones scored Castlefields’ best results – winning 21-13 each – while Andrew Judson, Michael Beer and Callum Wraight all edged to 21-19 victories.
Rich Goddard, though, had to dig the deepest – just getting the better of Jamie Taylor, 21-20.
Highley could not quite do enough to haul themselves off the foot of the table as they suffered their fourth defeat in four matches – 9-5 at home to Meole Brace.
After splitting the games five apiece, the bonus points were awarded once the aggregate shots score was calculated – with Meole Brace taking it 184-182.
That was despite Dave Scriven scoring a match-best result of 21-8. Sean Lockley and Stuart Gittings secured Highley a pair of 21-20 wins, while Geoff Wylde (21-16) and Dennis Edwards (21-15) were also victors.
In reply, Doug Edwards, Julian Cooke and Dave Redge secured Meole Brace’s best wins – 21-14 – while there were also victories for Will Tarrell (21-18) and Will Childs (21-17).
Hanmer thrashed Wem USC 11-1, with Lee Peate (21-6) and Nicola Dolby (21-7) securing their best results, while Ifton overcame St Georges by the same score.
Darren Lacey (21-4), Martin Jones (21-6) and Dave Bond (21-9) were the biggest winners for Ifton.
