Ellie Wall marked her return to bowls by winning the Monday Night Merit Finals after an excellent display in the final winning 21-6 against Steve Hendy of Bowring. She was 4-1 down early on, but from 5 across, only conceded one more chalk in a very consistent display. In the Semi Finals, she had to come back against Ian Bates from 9-4 down early on, running out from 18-16 down. Steve also had a tough game against Emma Chetwood, being very close until Steve went 19-14 up and won 17.

In the Quarter Finals Ian had a very close game with Leila James until he went 20-15 up and won 18. Ellie raced 11-1 up on Patrick Evans Jnr, and kept this lead to win 8. Steve was 9-8 down early on against Michael Furness, before he surged ahead to win 12. Emma was 8-0 up on Paul Mills, and then 14-4, before Paul got back to 18 across. But Emma then ran out.

Thank you to the Bayley for hosting and to Celia Miles for doing the food. Thanks to Denise Tonks for doing the raffle. Thank you to Steve Wall, Dave Evans and Louise Cotton for running the qualifiers. Thank you to Sinclair, Madeley Cricket Club and Trench for hosting the qualifiers. Thank you to Malcolm Fletcher and Sean Round for helping me run the finals night.

The 2023 Monday Night Merit Finals will take on Sir John Bayley bottom green.

The finals will start at 6 p.m.

Dress code applies (collared shirt and black or navy trousers)

A new trophy has been kindly donated by Mike Potter for the winner, and by Malcolm Fletcher for the runner-up.

Malcolm will start off the finals with Rob Burroughs to support later on in the evening.

There will be a raffle to cover the after competition buffet.

Any questions please let Rob Burroughs know on 07901 229623.

1	Ian Bates			Leila James
2	Patrick Evans (jnr)			Ellie Wall
3	Michael Furness			Steve Hendy
4	Paul Mills			Emma Chetwood

Well done to the 8 qualifiers below from tonight’s Monday Night Merit Qualifiers.

Qualifiers	From Competition
Patrick Evans (jnr)	Monday Night Merit Qualifier – Madeley CC
Ian Bates	Monday Night Merit Qualifier – Madeley CC
Michael Furness ***	Monday Night Merit Qualifier – Madeley CC
Emma Chetwood	Monday Night Merit Qualifier – Sinclair
Steve Hendy	Monday Night Merit Qualifier – Sinclair
Paul Mills	Monday Night Merit Qualifier – Sinclair
Leila James	Monday Night Merit Qualifier – Trench
Ellie Wall	Monday Night Merit Qualifier – Trench

I hope to sort a final venue tomorrow, and then do the draw on Wednesday morning.

Thank you to all three greens for letting me use them tonight, as well as Dave Evans, Louise Cotton and Steve Wall for running the sessions.

The results of the qualifying sessions are below:

Madeley CC

Sinclair

Trench

Please find below the updated fields for the Monday Night Merit qualifiers as well as who is in charge.

They start at 6 p.m. There is no dress code.

Good luck to all the players.

Madeley CC (3 qualifiers) I/C Steve Wall

Player	Club
Ian Bates	Hadley USC
Tad Broome	Wrock Wood
Craig Christie	Donn Wood BC
Logan Church	Sinclair
Jim Churm	Bowring
Kerry Drew	Sinclair
Patrick Evans	Newport
Patrick Evans (jnr)	Newport
Michael Furness ***	Shifnal
Mick Jones	Newport
Chloe Handley	Shifnal
Alex Hart	Bowring
Lucy Hireson	Bowring
Sean Keeshan	Wrock Wood
Michelle Langford	Donn Wood BC
Tracy Gibbs	St Georges
Jack Morgan	Wrock Wood

Sinclair (3 qualifiers) I/C Louise Cotton

Player	Club
Martin Burman	St Georges B.C.
Owen Cherrington	Wrock Wood
Emma Chetwood	Newport
Ian Cohen	Bowring
Jo Cohen	Bowring
Roger Cotton	Wrock Wood
John Doherty	Edgmond
Peter Finnegan	St Georges B.C.
Rowan Fuller	Wrock Wood
Sarah Glenholmes	Edgmond
Steve Hendy	Bowring
Paul Lockley	Madeley CC
Chelsea Mills	Shifnal
Paul Mills	Shifnal
Sue Mills	Madeley CC
Ian Titley	Newport
Aston Wilde	Madeley CC

Trench (2 qualifiers) I/C Dave Evans

Player	Club
Tim Childs	SJB
Keira James	Bowring
Leila James	Bowring
Stuart James	Bowring
Peter Leath	Edgmond
Keane Sutherland	Sinclair
Natasha Sutherland	Sinclair
Timothy Treharne	Wrock Wood
Maureen Tudor	Bowring
Ellie Wall	Wrock Wood
Ollie Wall	Wrock Wood
Michael Wright	Edgmond

Please find below the fields for the Monday Night Merit qualifiers.

They start at 6 p.m. on Monday 1st May. There is no dress code.

Madeley CC (3 qualifiers)

Player	Club
Ian Bates	Hadley USC
Tad Broome	Wrock Wood
Craig Christie	Donn Wood BC
Logan Church	Sinclair
Jim Churm	Bowring
Kerry Drew	Sinclair
Patrick Evans	Newport
Patrick Evans (jnr)	Newport
Michael Furness ***	Shifnal
Ian Halford	Hadley USC
Chloe Handley	Shifnal
Alex Hart	Bowring
Lucy Hireson	Bowring
Sean Keeshan	Wrock Wood
Michelle Langford	Donn Wood BC
David Marriott	Shifnal
Jack Morgan	Wrock Wood

Sinclair (3 qualifiers)

Player	Club
Martin Burman	St Georges B.C.
Owen Cherrington	Wrock Wood
Emma Chetwood	Newport
Ian Cohen	Bowring
Jo Cohen	Bowring
Roger Cotton	Wrock Wood
John Doherty	Edgmond
Peter Finnegan	St Georges B.C.
Rowan Fuller	Wrock Wood
Sarah Glenholmes	Edgmond
Steve Hendy	Bowring
Paul Lockley	Madeley CC
Chelsea Mills	Shifnal
Paul Mills	Shifnal
Sue Mills	Madeley CC
Ian Titley	Newport
Aston Wilde	Madeley CC

Trench (2 qualifiers)

Player	Club
Andrew Hardeman	Sinclair
Keira James	Bowring
Leila James	Bowring
Stuart James	Bowring
Mick Jones	Newport
Peter Leath	Edgmond
Keane Sutherland	Sinclair
Natasha Sutherland	Sinclair
Timothy Treharne	Wrock Wood
Maureen Tudor	Bowring
Ellie Wall	Wrock Wood
Ollie Wall	Wrock Wood
Michael Wright	Edgmond

John Breeze won the 2023 Shropshire Verti-Drain and Turf Services Senior Merit after beating John Roberts Jnr in the final 13. He was always ahead, leading 9-2 early on and held off any chance of a comeback, with John getting closest after a couple of good 2s at 18-13, but John then ran out on his favoured round pegs.

There will be pictures and thanks posted on here over the next few days.

Below are reports from the other games tonight.

Semi Finals

John Breeze was 7-0 up and then 16-3 on Greg Needham before winning 4.

John Roberts was 5-3 down on Andy Garbett before going 8-5 up. It then went to 12 across before John ran out.

Quarter Finals

Greg Needham went 7-1 up on his brother Angus Needham before Angus got back to 7-6 down. He then went 11-10 up and it was nip and tuck till 18 across before Greg scored a 1 and a 2 to win.

John Breeze and Phil Emery had an even game till 11 across when John went 15-11 up. Phil got back to 16-14 down but too many short bowls meant John won 14.

Andy Garbett was 9-4 up on Nick Marshall and kept this lead until Nick got back to 19 across. However Andy scored two singles to win.

John Roberts was 10-7 down on Pete Gaut before going 14-10 up. Pete then got back to 16-12 down but John ran out.

Last 16:

Angus Needham was 13-4 up on Harry Church before Harry got back to 14-12 down, however Angus read out.

Greg Needham was 7-1 up but was pegged back by Lee Parton to 9-8. However Greg then went 17-8 up and won 9.

Phil Emery was 5-1 down on Phil Jones but then went 13-5 up on a 25m mark over the crown. He kept this lead to win 12.

John Breeze was 5-0 and 12-2 up on Will O’Hara before Will got back to 14-9 down. But John then ran out.

Andy Garbett went 7-0 up on Graham Bleakley and despite Graham getting back to 10-8 down, Andy kept the advantage to win 14.

Nick Marshall was 5-0 up on Simon Hall but Simon hit back to go 7-5 up. He then went 15-11 up and then 20-17 before Nick ran out.

John Roberts went 9-3 down on Nick Mullinder but then went 10-9 up. He then went 18-14 up before winning 18.

Pete Gaut had a close game with Louise Cotton, trailing 10-6 but then going 14-12 up. Louise was 20-17 up before Pete finished it off with 2 doubles.

The 2023 Shropshire Verti-Drain and Turf Services Senior Merit takes place tonight with 16 players hopeful of putting their name on the trophy for the first time. Games start at 6.30 p.m. with the first four games on the no.1 green and the last four on the no.2 green, with the Quarter Finals onwards to take place on the no.1 green.

Dress code applies.

Scores will be updated here. Live scores should be on from the Quarter Final onwards.

There should be some live coverage on the Mid Shropshire Facebook group here.

Please see a preview of each match below:

Harry Church (Sinclair) v Angus Needham (Sir John Bayley)

Harry was the best player in the league last year when winning the Division One Averages, while Angus has recently signed for Sir John Bayley after playing last season with Shifnal, helping them to the Division Two title.

Lee Parton v Greg Needham (Shifnal)

Lee has worked his way into the Bowring 1st Division team, finishing second in their Averages last season, while Greg has moved from Newport to St Georges and now is at Shifnal, helping them win the Division Two title last season.

Phil Jones (Wrockwardine Wood) v Phil Emery (Newport)

This is the tie of the last 16, with Phil Jones being a former Premier League Merit winner having come through the Shropshire Junior County, while Phil was an integral part of Newport’s domination in the Premier League which helped him make the Senior County side.

Will O’Hara (Sinclair) v John Breeze (Newport)

Will has settled down at Sinclair now after starting at Maddocks and then moving to St Georges. John is now back in the game after being a key player in the Senior County side and winning the Shropshire County Merit in 2000, showing he still has his competition form when winning the Norman Ford Classic at the start of this month.

Andy Garbett (Horsehay) v Graham Bleakley (Madeley CC)

Andy captained Horsehay to their historic win in Division One last season, while Graham played in every single Madeley Cricket Club team last season, including playing three consecutive Cottons on a Thursday night!

Nick Marshall (Bowring) v Simon Hall (Sinclair)

Nick has been at the Bowring for over 10 years now, working his way up to be a key player in their Division One side. Simon has been a consistent player for Sinclair till last season when he only made 8 appearances for them.

Nick Mullinder (Hadley USC) v John Roberts (Horsehay)

Nick won the Dixon and Driscoll Doubles last season and looks to make it a double tonight, while John won the Division One League Averages in 2015 and after playing in the Premier League at Newport, is now at Horsehay.

Louise Cotton (Wrockwardine Wood) v Peter Gaut (St Georges)

Louise looks to be the first female winner of this competition after becoming a key player in the Division One side at Wrockwardine Wood. Pete has come back into the game again after having a break from 2015 to 2022, and has a great record in Division One in each season he has played.

The deadline for our new Monday Night Merit is the end of day on Tuesday.

Qualifiers take place on Monday 1st May at 6 p.m.

The Final 8 will take place on Monday 8th May at 6.30 p.m.

The entry fee is £3. That does not need to be paid yet.

Players who didn’t play 6 games on a Friday last season are eligible to take part.

Entries by text or WhatsApp or Facebook to Rob Burroughs on 07901 229623.

The draw for the Shropshire Verti-Drain and Turf Services Merit is below.

The finals will start at 6.30 p.m. with games 1-4 on the no.1 green by the club and games 5-8 on the no.2 green. The last 8 will then all be on the no.1 green by the club.

Dress code applies.

1	Harry Church			Angus Needham
2	Lee Parton			Greg Needham
3	Phil Jones			Philip Emery
4	Will OHara			John Breeze
5	Andy Garbett			Graham Bleakley
6	Nick Marshall			Simon Hall
7	Nick Mullinder			John Roberts
8	Louise Cotton			Peter Gaut

The Final 16 of the Shropshire Verti-Drain and Turf Services Merit will take place on the Bylet, with the last 16 taking place on the two greens and the last 8 taking place on the green in front of the club.

The draw will take place tomorrow morning, and be posted on here in the evening.

Thank you to all those who helped run the qualifiers tonight, and to the four clubs and groundsman for doing a great job at getting the greens ready to play on given the difficult conditions today.

The results of the qualifiers are below.

Bowring

Bridgnorth

Horsehay

Newport