Worcestershire Short Mat Bowls Association

Herefordshire, fielding a very strong team and at home, won this fixture by 29 points to 11 ( 205 shots to Herefordshire and 149 for Worcestershire.

The first session was disappointing for the County with one Singles loss and also defeats for both Pairs teams. Richard Rose in his Singles match was close to victory only to be denied in the last end when his opponent drew level.

In the second session Mark Bourne’s Triples team had a narrow hard fought victory by 13 shots to 12 with the other Triples team narrowly losing by 9 shots to 12. Richard Hulbert’s Fours team had a well earned victory 8 shots to 6 with the other Fours team losing 7-10.

At the half way stage Worcestershire had two wins, one draw  out of the eight matches played.

The third session saw both Singles and Pairs losing.

The fourth session was the County’s most successful with two wins and one draw from the four matches played. Maureen Tingle’s Triples team won 12-9,Terry Clifford.s Fours team drew 8-8 and Richard Hulbert’s Fours team won their match 7-6 to clinch their second win of the day. This was a particularly satisfying day for Richard Hulbert’s Fours team as the Herefordshire Fours had only lost one match out of their previous eight matches.

A summary of the day’s play is set out below :

This home fixture saw the County narrowly losing to Gloucestershire by 18 Points to 22 ( 181 shots for Worcestershire and 186 shots for Gloucestershire )

In the morning session there were wins in the Singles for Richard Rose ( 17-12 ) and Richard Payne ( 11-10 ). Richard Payne won 10 of his 15 ends win Richard Rose winning 9. Unfortunately both pairs teams lost.

Session 2 saw both Triples teams losing but there was a narrow win for Richard Hulbert’s Fours team by 9 shots to 8, and a draw by Ben Mole’s Fours ( 8-8 ).

In session 3 Richard Rose was denied a hard fought win when his opponent snatched an equalising shot with his last bowl of their match. The second Singles match together with the Pairs were lost.

In the final session of the day both Triples won, one of the Fours teams also won with only a narrow 9-11 defeat for the second Fours team. Mark Bourne’s Triples team only lost three ends of their thirteen end match to romp home 17-3 winners. Pete Hopkins with his Triples team also had a comfortable win by 13 shots to 6. Ben Mol’s Fours team were narrowly leading 5-4 with three ends remaining in the match, and then went on to win two of those three ends – each by 5 shots – to become worthy winners 15-5.

A summary of the day’s results is set out below :