Worcestershire Short Mat Bowls Association

This home fixture against a very strong West Midlands squad –  part of the ESMBA regional inter county matches  –  proved to be a great disappointment for Worcestershire, with West Midlands winning all of the individual 16 games played.  There were only three Worcestershire teams  which hinted at success and the possibility of winning their games.  After a disappointing start in the morning it seemed that Jim Tingle’s Fours team could buck the trend with a win. The team were level on 6-6 at the beginning of the 11th end, having drawn level at end 10. Unfortunately the West Midlands team scored 3 shots off this final end to win the game 9-6.

During the afternoon session, Belinda Gibbs/Terry Clifford were 10-5 up in their Pairs game at the end of end 8, but the opposition won a total of 8 shots from ends 10 and 13 to run out winning 18-14.

Richard Payne’s Triples team were leading up to end 8, but with 8 shots from ends 9,10 and 11 the Wes Midlands team eventually won 14-10.

The Squad for the fixture against West Midlands on the 10th December to be played at Bromsgrove Indoor Bowls Centre, is shown below :

The County President’s Cup 2023 consisted of drawn triples, which attracted 21 contestants. The winners were Malcolm Saunders,  Rob Franklin,  and Jim Tingle.   –   Reported  on the “Competitons page.

Rules as sent to all counties will be  shown below in due course  :

This away fixture against Gloucestershire was the second leg of the 2023 Two Shires Trophy competition. Gloucestershire won scoring 29 points to Worcestershire’s 11. Worcestershire won 4 of the 16 individual gams played and drew 1.  Gloucestershire scored 181 shots to Worcestershire’s 161. The county’s 161 shots represented 47% of the total shots for the day, showing that the competition was much closer than points difference shows. Gloucestershire retain the Two Shires Trophy.

In the morning session there was only one win  –  June Green and Pete Forster won their pairs game 12-9. They were behind their opponents for most of the game and after the 11th end of their 13 end game were trailing 8-9. With 4 shots off the last two ends they clinched victory in the final end. Terry Clifford’s triples team were 6-9 down at the start of the final end, and with 3 shots taken off this final end of their game, drew level with their opponents with a 9-9 final score.

The afternoon session saw increased success for the county. Leah Bisseker and Richard Rose won their pairs game 11-8, winning nine of the 13 ends played. In the triples Jim Tingle’s team had a wonderful win by 19 shots to 6. They won 9 of the 13 ends played with an impressive 4 shots off ends 6,12 and 13. Alan Pashley’s triples team won by 13 shots to 9, having led throughout their game. John Plant’s triples team had a game to remember. After 8 ends they were 2-12 down and looking at a heavy defeat.  Their opponents did not score again, with John’s team scoring 9 shots off the last 5 ends , just falling short of winning, but ending up losing 11-12.

Summary of the day, play below  :