The first round of the Ashton Cup starts a week earlier with Bowring C taking on Shifnal D. Shifnal will start with a 19 point advantage after being relegated to Division 6, and with Bowring C currently bottom of Division 4, they will be confident of an upset. However Bowring Captain Stefan Whitehouse says “Shifnal is always a tough green to play on, but hopefully the 5 away players selected will do the job and keep the games close. Our number 1 green is always tough for away teams to play and I’m hoping we will pick up the points there.”