Archie breathe life into hopes of title

But Woore remained top of the District Invitation Winter League at the Whitchurch club going into the last week of fixtures, three points ahead of the Archie.

Their slim chance of a first time title were boosted by a 7-3 (117-99 on aggregate) victory over last winter’s champs Malpas Sports, followed by an 8-2 (118-94) romp against Bridgewater featuring a clean sweep of our singles winners.

And it’s Bridgewater that AWC will face on the last night of the campaign on Friday, by which time Woore may well be out of reach as they play bottom of the table District B this week.

Two single-figure doubles wins featuring the Hinton family helped District A brush aside Wem USC 9-1 (120-85) while Shropshire Mix held Adderley to a 5-5 scoreline after losing to 8-2 to Elephant & Castle 48 hours earlier. Tonight sees E&C take on Malpas before Adderley and the Mix do battle again tomorrow, as do District A and Wem in Thursday’s penultimate match.

It’s not even April yet, but one Shropshire bowls league will spring back into life tomorrow.

The first fixture in the county will see Meole Brace F take on Shelton A in Division Two of the Salop Leisure Shrewsbury Senior Citizens League.

They have the honour of starting early because the league has grown this year, secretary Chris Kershaw explaining: “Division Two has increased from 12 to 13 teams to accommodate the 61 teams taking part this season.”

The result is Llanrhaeadr A, Prince of Wales and Preston Brockhurst B have all gone up a division and the spare place in Division Five has been taken by new team Ye Olde Crofte from Oswestry.