Worcestershire Short Mat Bowls Association

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  :

The first leg of the 2023 Two Shire Trophy competition, played at Bromsgrove, resulted in a win for Gloucestershire by 26 points to 14  –  Worcestershire scored 148 shots to Gloucestershire’s 185. Although the county lost, there was a notable improvement in performance overall compared with previous matches this season, with the county securing five wins and two draws from the sixteen individual games played. The format for this first leg of the competition was four pairs and four triples , each playing 13 ends.

In the morning session, in the pairs games,  there were wins for Leah Bisseker and Richard Rose ( 13-7, and also Malcolm Saunders and June Green ( 16-3 ).  –  Dave Grove and Alan Walters drew their pairs game. 11-11. The fours teams lost their games. The overall results of the pairs teams secured a two point bonus for shot difference for the county.

In the afternoon session Leah and Richard won their pairs game 10-8, with Malcolm and June drawing ( 9-9 ) . In the triples June’s team won 16-6 and Leah’s team won 13-4.

Summary of the day’s play below  :

This away fixture ended in a heavy defeat for Worcestershire  –  1-39.  Worcestershire scored 123 shots with Cheshire scoring 262.  Leah Bisseker and Richard Rose  had a very close competition in their afternoon pairs game and came very close to winning in a low scoring match. Unfortunately they drew  9-9 .

Summary of the days play below :