Newport A shocked Premier League Castlefields as another high profile Premier League side crashed out. They beat them by 5 overall, holding them to a 2 chalk win at home with John Breeze’s 3 win invaluable, and then a 24 shot loss away, Wayne Lawrence’s 19 win crucial. Highley’s Premier team avoided an upset as they beat Allscott Heath by 74 overall, winning by 67 at home and 37 away with all 10 winners, Dave East the best at home 21-2 and Kris Johnson and Connor Bray away 21-11. The closest game of the round was between Sinclair A and Sir John Bayley A division one sides, with Sinclair winning by 2, holding the Bayley to a draw at theirs, with Darren Lord best winner 15, and winning by 4 at home, Jordan Millman their best 10.

Holders Hadnall are through after beating Hadley USC A by 39. They won by 24 at home, Kerry Dance best winner 11, and by 21 away, Will Childs best 21-8. Division One Champions Horsehay also progressed against Division Three Wrockwardine Wood B by 34. They won by 64 at home, Gavin Bridge best winner 2, and by 4 away, John Roberts Jnr best winner 15. Bowring beat another Division Three side in Worfield by 43, beating them by 29 at home, Steve Parton their best 21-1, and by 37 away, Nick Marshall best of 5 winners there 21-8. Madeley CC beat their Division Two opponents Charlton by 59. They won by 59 at home, Chris Wilkes best winner 2, and by 9 away, Kevin Lavelle best 21-11. Shifnal had already beaten Wrockwardine Wood Premier League side before the Prelims date by 6.

The results are below, with the next round draw below that, to be played on Wednesday 26th July.

1	Castlefields(P)(-27)	103	4	1	79	Newport A(+4)	At	Castlefields(P)
1	Newport A(+4)	84	2	3	86	Castlefields(P)(-27)	At	Newport A
Combined Result with handicap	Newport A(+4)	167	3	7	162	Castlefields(P)(-27)
2	Bowring A(+7)	94	3	2	65	Worfield A(+30)	At	Bowring A
2	Worfield A(+30)	68	0	5	105	Bowring A(+7)	At	Worfield A
Combined Result with handicap	Bowring A(+7)	206	8	2	163	Worfield A(+30)
3	Allscott Heath A(+13)	68	0	5	105	Highley(P)(-17)	At	Allscott Heath A
3	Highley(P)(-17)	105	5	0	38	Allscott Heath A(+13)	At	Highley(P)
Combined Result with handicap	Highley(P)(-17)	193	10	0	119	Allscott Heath A(+13)
4	H U S C A(+6)	76	2	3	97	Hadnall(P)	At	H U S C A
4	Hadnall(P)	102	4	1	78	H U S C A(+6)	At	Hadnall(P)
Combined Result with handicap	Hadnall(P)	199	7	3	160	H U S C A(+6)
5	Wrock Wood B(+34)	93	2	3	97	Horsehay A	At	Wrock Wood B
5	Horsehay A	105	5	0	41	Wrock Wood B(+34)	At	Horsehay A
Combined Result with handicap	Horsehay A	202	8	2	168	Wrock Wood B(+34)
6	Charlton A(+17)	84	1	4	93	Madeley C C A(+8)	At	Charlton A
6	Madeley C C A(+8)	105	5	0	46	Charlton A(+17)	At	Madeley C C A
Combined Result with handicap	Madeley C C A(+8)	206	9	1	147	Charlton A(+17)
7	Shifnal A(+12)	90	4	1	80	Wrockwardine Wood(P)(-29)	At	Shifnal A
7	Wrockwardine Wood(P)(-29)	100	4	1	55	Shifnal A(+12)	At	Wrockwardine Wood(P)
Combined Result with handicap	Shifnal A(+12)	157	5	5	151	Wrockwardine Wood(P)(-29)
8	SJ Bayley A(+5)	94	3	2	94	Sinclair A(+3)	At	SJ Bayley A
8	Sinclair A(+3)	85	3	2	81	SJ Bayley A(+5)	At	Sinclair A
Combined Result with handicap	Sinclair A(+3)	182	5	5	180	SJ Bayley A(+5)

1	Newport A(+4)					Bowring A(+7)	At	Newport A
1	Bowring A(+7)					Newport A(+4)	At	Bowring A
2	Highley(P)(-17)					Hadnall(P)	At	Highley(P)
2	Hadnall(P)					Highley(P)(-17)	At	Hadnall(P)
3	Horsehay A					Madeley C C A(+8)	At	Horsehay A
3	Madeley C C A(+8)					Horsehay A	At	Madeley C C A
4	Shifnal A(+12)					Sinclair A(+3)	At	Shifnal A
4	Sinclair A(+3)					Shifnal A(+12)	At	Sinclair A
5	Wrock Wood A(+1)					St Georges A(+2)	At	Wrock Wood A
5	St Georges A(+2)					Wrock Wood A(+1)	At	St Georges A
6	Prince of Wales Hotel					Trench A(+9)	At	Prince of Wales Hotel
6	Trench A(+9)					Prince of Wales Hotel	At	Trench A
7	Bylet(P)(-16)					Shifnal B(+25)	At	Bylet(P)
7	Shifnal B(+25)					Bylet(P)(-16)	At	Shifnal B
8	St Georges(P)(-28)					Sir J Bayley(P)(-26)	At	St Georges(P)
8	Sir J Bayley(P)(-26)					St Georges(P)(-28)	At	Sir J Bayley(P)

A new Thursday Night Merit is to be launched for bowlers who have played 4 games in the Thursday Night League this season.

It will be held on Sir John Bayley bottom green on Sunday 20th August at 10 a.m. There needs to be a minimum of 16 for it to run, and it is restricted to 32 players.

Entry is £10, and this will be invoiced to the clubs.

You can enter through Rob Burroughs on 07901 229623 or [email protected]

The deadline for entries is Monday 14th August so I will know if there are enough players for it to run.

The Ashton Shield Draw has now been completed. There is one prelim with Donnington Wood B taking on Allscott Heath C on Wednesday 19th July. The winners of that game will play in the Quarter Finals with 7 other teams on Wednesday 2nd August.

Preliminary Round on Wednesday 19th July

1	Donn Wood B					Allscott Heath C	At	Donn Wood B
1	Allscott Heath C					Donn Wood B	At	Allscott Heath C
2	SJ Bayley D					Bye	At	SJ Bayley D
3	Trench C					Bye	At	Trench C
4	Shifnal D					Bye	At	Shifnal D
5	Much Wenlock B					Bye	At	Much Wenlock B
6	Madeley CC C					Bye	At	Madeley CC C
7	Shifnal C					Bye	At	Shifnal C
8	Charlton B					Bye	At	Charlton B

Quarter Finals on Wednesday 2nd August

1	Winner of Match No 1					SJ Bayley D	At
1	SJ Bayley D					Winner of Match No 1	At	SJ Bayley D
2	Trench C					Shifnal D	At	Trench C
2	Shifnal D					Trench C	At	Shifnal D
3	Much Wenlock B					Madeley CC C	At	Much Wenlock B
3	Madeley CC C					Much Wenlock B	At	Madeley CC C
4	Shifnal C					Charlton B	At	Shifnal C
4	Charlton B					Shifnal C	At	Charlton B

Two Sinclair bowlers won the Under 15 and 18 Merits at St Georges Bottom Green. Jordan Millman retained the Under 15 Merit after beating Rowan Fuller in the final 6, while Daniel Corbett beat Akeel Duncan 15 in the final, running out from 15-14 down an edge.

The Semi Finals of the Under 15 were both 21-16. Rowan was 14-4 down on Ben Cutler but ran out from 16-7 down. Jordan was always ahead in his game against Jarrett Cotterill, leading 13-5 and 19-9. There were two prelims in the Under 15s, Rowan got past Luke Morris 13, running out from 15-13, while Jordan defeated clubmate Logan Church, having to come back from 12-8 down to win 16.

The Under 18 Semi Finals were extremely close affairs. Dan did lead Ben Cutler 12-5, but then conceded five 2s on the bounce to go 16-12 down. From 19-16 down he managed to run out. The other Semi was even closer, Thomas Oare led Akeel 10-2 down an edge before Akeel hit back to go from 13-9 down to lead 17-13. Thomas came back though to 20 across before Akeel got the one he needed.

In the Quarter Finals, Dan had got past Logan Church 15, a 6 break from 9 across helping him win. Ben beat the Under 15 Merit winner Jordan Millman, winning 12 from 10-8 down. Akeel had a close game with Luke Morris, having to fend off a fightback from Luke who got back to 19 across from 19-12 down, before Akeel scored two singles. Thomas had also won 19 against Rowan Fuller, coming back from 13-5 and 18-10 down to run out from 19-15 down. There was one prelim with Ben having raced 10-2 up on Jarratt Cotterill and winning 10.

Thank you to St Georges for hosting, and to Brenda Slingo for helping me run it. Well done to our two winners on their success.

Full scores are below:

Junior Merit Under 15 on Sat 24th Jun 2023

1

Jordan Millman

21

6

Rowan Fuller

1	Rowan Fuller	21	16	Ben Cutler
2	Jordan Millman	21	16	Jarratt Cotterill

1	Jordan Millman	21	16	Logan Church
2	Rowan Fuller	21	13	Luke Morris
3	Ben Cutler	21	0	BYE
4	Jarratt Cotterill	21	0	BYE

Junior Merit Under 18 on Sat 24th Jun 2023

1

Daniel Corbett

21

15

Akeel Duncan

1	Daniel Corbett	21	19	Ben Cutler
2	Akeel Duncan	21	20	Thomas Oare

1	Ben Cutler	21	12	Jordan Millman
2	Daniel Corbett	21	15	Logan Church
3	Thomas Oare	21	19	Rowan Fuller
4	Akeel Duncan	21	19	Luke Morris

1	Ben Cutler	21	10	Jarratt Cotterill
2	Logan Church	21	0	BYE
3	Daniel Corbett	21	0	BYE
4	Akeel Duncan	21	0	BYE
5	Rowan Fuller	21	0	BYE
6	Jordan Millman	21	0	BYE
7	Luke Morris	21	0	BYE
8	Thomas Oare	21	0	BYE

The 1st round of the Ashton Cup takes place tonight with a place in the Quarter Finals at place. The two winners in the Prelims meet as Division 4 Champions and current leaders Newport D play Sinclair C. Second placed St Georges take on Much Wenlock B, who are going well in Division 5. 3rd placed Wrockwardine Wood C have a local derby with Donnington Wood B, while two division 6 teams meet as Shifnal D play St Georges D. Two teams struggling at the bottom of their Division collide as Division 4 side Madeley CC C play Division 5 team Hadley USC C. Highley are flying high of Division 5 and play fellow side Sir John Bayley D. Charlton B play Horsehay C, and Bowring C take on Trench C.

1	Newport D					Sinclair C(+10)	At	Newport D
1	Sinclair C(+10)					Newport D	At	Sinclair C
2	Much Wenlock B(+13)					St Georges C(+1)	At	Much Wenlock B
2	St Georges C(+1)					Much Wenlock B(+13)	At	St Georges C
3	Wrock Wood C(+3)					Donn Wood B(+7)	At	Wrock Wood C
3	Donn Wood B(+7)					Wrock Wood C(+3)	At	Donn Wood B
4	Shifnal D(+29)					St. George’s D(+24)	At	Shifnal D
4	St. George’s D(+24)					Shifnal D(+29)	At	St. George’s D
5	H U S C C(+20)					Madeley CC C(+5)	At	H U S C C
5	Madeley CC C(+5)					H U S C C(+20)	At	Madeley CC C
6	Bowring C(+12)					Trench C(+6)	At	Bowring C
6	Trench C(+6)					Bowring C(+12)	At	Trench C
7	Horsehay C(+16)					Charlton B(+17)	At	Horsehay C
7	Charlton B(+17)					Horsehay C(+16)	At	Charlton B
8	Highley(+18)					SJ Bayley D(+19)	At	Highley
8	SJ Bayley D(+19)					Highley(+18)	At	SJ Bayley D

There are 8 ties in the Preliminary Round of the Harris Cup, but one has already potentially provided the story of the round. Shifnal A managed to defeat Premier League Champions Wrockwardine Wood by 6 chalks in a big shock. They won by 10 at home with 4 winners, Tom Killen the best of them 10, while away they lost by 45 with Paul Reeves their only winner 16.

There are other Premier League teams out to avoid a shock like that. Castlefields play a familiar foe in Newport, who have a few of their former Premier League players still in their team. Highley will be looking to avoid a shock like last year when they lost out to Trench as they play Allscott Heath. Last year’s winners, Hadnall, have Hadley USC A first round, while two of the Division 3 teams are in action. Wrockwardine Wood B play the Division 1 Champions Horsehay with a 34 chalk handicap advantage. while Worfield have a 23 chalk start on Bowring A. Division 2 side Charlton will look to shock Division 1 team Madeley CC, with the closest Handicap between Sir John Bayley and Sinclair, with the Bayley having a 2 chalk advantage.

The full draw is below.

1	Castlefields(P)(-27)					Newport A(+4)	At	Castlefields(P)
1	Newport A(+4)					Castlefields(P)(-27)	At	Newport A
2	Bowring A(+7)					Worfield A(+30)	At	Bowring A
2	Worfield A(+30)					Bowring A(+7)	At	Worfield A
3	Allscott Heath A(+13)					Highley(P)(-17)	At	Allscott Heath A
3	Highley(P)(-17)					Allscott Heath A(+13)	At	Highley(P)
4	H U S C A(+6)					Hadnall(P)	At	H U S C A
4	Hadnall(P)					H U S C A(+6)	At	Hadnall(P)
5	Wrock Wood B(+34)					Horsehay A	At	Wrock Wood B
5	Horsehay A					Wrock Wood B(+34)	At	Horsehay A
6	Charlton A(+17)					Madeley C C A(+8)	At	Charlton A
6	Madeley C C A(+8)					Charlton A(+17)	At	Madeley C C A
7	Shifnal A(+12)	90	4	1	80	Wrockwardine Wood(P)(-29)	At	Shifnal A
7	Wrockwardine Wood(P)(-29)	100	4	1	55	Shifnal A(+12)	At	Wrockwardine Wood(P)
Combined Result with handicap	Shifnal A(+12)	157	5	5	151	Wrockwardine Wood(P)(-29)
8	SJ Bayley A(+5)					Sinclair A(+3)	At	SJ Bayley A
8	Sinclair A(+3)					SJ Bayley A(+5)	At	Sinclair A
9	Wrock Wood A(+1)					Bye(+3)	At	Wrock Wood A
9	Bye(+3)					Wrock Wood A(+1)	At	N/A
10	St Georges A(+2)					Bye(+3)	At	St Georges A
10	Bye(+3)					St Georges A(+2)	At	N/A
11	Prince of Wales Hotel					Bye(+3)	At	Prince of Wales Hotel
11	Bye(+3)					Prince of Wales Hotel	At	N/A
12	Trench A(+9)					Bye(+3)	At	Trench A
12	Bye(+3)					Trench A(+9)	At	N/A
13	Bylet(P)(-16)					Bye(+3)	At	Bylet(P)
13	Bye(+3)					Bylet(P)(-16)	At	N/A
14	Shifnal B(+25)					Bye(+3)	At	Shifnal B
14	Bye(+3)					Shifnal B(+25)	At	N/A
15	St Georges(P)(-28)					Bye(+3)	At	St Georges(P)
15	Bye(+3)					St Georges(P)(-28)	At	N/A
16	Sir J Bayley(P)(-26)					Bye(+3)	At	Sir J Bayley(P)
16	Bye(+3)					Sir J Bayley(P)(-26)	At	N/A

The Junior Day for Mid Shropshire takes place on Saturday 24th June at 11 a.m. on St Georges Bottom Green.

This will involve running the Under 15 and Under 18 Merits, as well as the Junior Doubles.

There is no entry fee, or dress code.

Newport D and Sinclair C came through the Ashton Cup prelims to book their place in the 1st round. Newport beat Allscott Heath C by 21 overall, winning by 29 away, led by Kevin Edwards winning 6, but losing by 6 at home, Gary Cartwright the best for the away side 11. Sinclair won by 70 overall, winning by 35 at Shifnal C with 5 winners, Don Hood the best of them 9, while at home they had Daniel Corbett as their best winner 6, winning by 34 there.

The two teams meet in the Ashton Cup 1st round on Wednesday 28th June, while Shifnal C and Allscott Heath C go into the Ashton Shield, and will be joined by the 7 other first game losers in the 1st round of the Ashton Cup, with the revised draw below.

1	Newport D					Sinclair C(+10)	At	Newport D
1	Sinclair C(+10)					Newport D	At	Sinclair C
2	Much Wenlock B(+13)					St Georges C(+1)	At	Much Wenlock B
2	St Georges C(+1)					Much Wenlock B(+13)	At	St Georges C
3	Wrock Wood C(+3)					Donn Wood B(+7)	At	Wrock Wood C
3	Donn Wood B(+7)					Wrock Wood C(+3)	At	Donn Wood B
4	Shifnal D(+29)					St. George’s D(+24)	At	Shifnal D
4	St. George’s D(+24)					Shifnal D(+29)	At	St. George’s D
5	H U S C C(+20)					Madeley CC C(+5)	At	H U S C C
5	Madeley CC C(+5)					H U S C C(+20)	At	Madeley CC C
6	Bowring C(+12)					Trench C(+6)	At	Bowring C
6	Trench C(+6)					Bowring C(+12)	At	Trench C
7	Horsehay C(+16)					Charlton B(+17)	At	Horsehay C
7	Charlton B(+17)					Horsehay C(+16)	At	Charlton B
8	Highley(+18)					SJ Bayley D(+19)	At	Highley
8	SJ Bayley D(+19)					Highley(+18)	At	SJ Bayley D

Tom Killen won the Under 25 Merit for the first time as he came out of 4 entries on a very wet Sir John Bayley green. After a 20 minute delay due to a thunderstorm hitting the green just before 6, the four entrants braved the rain. Tom defeated Georgia Rawlins 13 after going 9-3 and 16-9 up, while Lucy Hireson beat Logan Church by the same score after racing 9-0 up and holding off a comeback when he got back to 10-6 behind. In the final, Tom upped his game after going 4-2 down versus Lucy, having a break of 14 to lead 16-4, despite Lucy playing some good shots and not quite working out. Lucy played an excellent shot to get in, but Tom wasn’t able to be caught, flicking out Lucy’s bowl at 20-9 up to win the title for the first time.

Thank you to the Bayley for hosting tonight, and to the 4 entrants for braving the conditions. Well done to Tom for winning the competition.