County results – Shropshire win game of the day

The first round of County Championship matches brought a number of close games as well as some convincing victories. The first result was a close win for Staffordshire over Merseyside. 

In Merseyside’s home venue at the Mossley Hill Bowling Club set on a hill in picturesque south Liverpool. This artificial green is one of a number whose increasing use is not 100% welcome.

Although widely seen to be important to the future of the game the use of artificial greens has seen a number of counties attempt to prevent their use. Currently all attempts to prevent their use have been rejected. 

This small and tricky green has already proved to be a reliable home venue for the Merseyside men. With some of the Staffordshire men struggling to get used to this quick & slick surface, and the banter flowing as quickly as the drink, the Merseyside men claimed nine winners on the way to a fifty-three point win. Phil Lee led the way beating Nathan Dawes (21-06).

At the Staffordshire home venue of Hammerwich in Burntwood the home players were even better. Thanks in no small part to having a single figure win in every block they claimed ten winners on the way to a sixty-nine point win. Ben Dixon claimed the best win over Ryan Walters (21-06).

The other game in their group saw a convincing win for Wales over Gtr Manchester. 

The Welsh men bounced back from a disappointing season to beat a Manchester team hoping to repeat an impressive 2018 season. A hugely impressive win in both legs saw the Welsh men claim fifteen wins and a thirty one point win. 

At the Manchester home leg of Ashton Cricket Club Leighton Roberts beat home star Dean Ferris (21-13). 

The Welsh men were in full control from early on at Broughton and Bretton thanks to Andy Delooze (21-03) and Kevin Nicholas (21-08). Though Robbie Ellis will be prod of his win for the Manchester men (21-04). 

Probably the most anticipated game was the battle, which it most certainly was, between Shropshire and Yorkshire. This game was a repeat of the 2009, 2011 and 2016 finals which saw the Yorkshire men claim two trophies. Today though it was a tale of revenge for the Shropshire men.

At the Yorkshire venue, Crosland Moor, the Shropshire men were thankful for two huge wins. Debutant Jon Palmer and Callum Wraight both won 21-06. Yorkshire were indebted to Jack Dyson (21-08) for being able to claim a nine point home leg victory as news from Shropshire filtered through.

At Newport Bowling Clubs number two green the Shropshire men were in control. Although James Davison (21-07) kept the Yorkshire men in the battle the coup de grace was delivered by Wayne Rogers (21-08). The early dominance by the home men proving so important in this close win by five points overall. 

The other group game saw things a little more clear cut as North Lancs and Fylde eased to a forty point win over Cumbria. 

The Cumbrian home leg in Barrow (North Scale BC) saw an impressive win by the North Lancs visitors. Tommy King led the way (21-05) ably assisted by Stuart Mort (21-10) and although a Cumbrian late fight back led by Dave Jones (21-09) they couldn’t prevent a North Lancs win by eleven points. 

Down the M6 in Preston the home venue of Bamber Bridge Catholic Club saw a closer game. The Cumbrian visitors were in the game until a last block double of Derek Ainsworth (21-05) and Michael Leach (21-09) saw the Preston men home. 

Group two contains just three teams as Isle of Man were not able to secure funding to guarantee their participation this year. This meant the reigning champions Warwick and Worcester had the day off. They looked on as Cheshire played South Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire claimed a narrow win home and away. In Northwich at the Rudheath Club Jonathan Sneddon claimed a hugely impressive win (21-07) as the team claimed seven winners. A mention though to Steve Curbishley (21-04) as the Cheshire men looked the sneak a home leg win. 

Both decisive game wins in the last block and it was the same at Dearne Sports in Rotherham as Lee Johnstone (21-07) for Cheshire and Andrew Sorsby (21-08) for South Yorkshire saw the game out. It was just enough in the games for the South Yorkshire men as every bowl had something on it.

The biggest win of the day saw Potteries ease past Lancashire. The Potteries men have a better recent history than Lancashire men and probably went into this game as slight favourites.

In Stoke at the tricky Florence club it was a dominant display by the home men. Only Kevan Shaw (21-20) could claim a win for the Lancashire men as the Potters, led by Oat cake specialist Kerry Morris (21-06) registered a seventy-three point win. 

At the legendary Garswood Hall club it was just as impressive for the Potteries men. Although Paul Winrow (21-09) was impressive for Lancashire the Potteries men responded as the tow Matts, Matthew Hill (21-10) and Matt Fellows (21-12), saw an eleven point away win from seven winners. 

The other game saw the 2017 winners North Midlands lose both legs to Derbyshire. Prior to the game the money was on North Midlands to record a victory on the way to trying to reclaim the trophy. Derbyshire found the form that took them to the final in 2008 and 2013. 

At the tricky Dunlop club in Coventry Steve Adams and Paul Hawker (both 21-08) led the way and although Tyler Dewis responded (21-09) it was the away men who won by a single point. 

Over in Derby at the Co-op club North Midlands got off to a good start thanks to Matt Horton (21-12) but Richard Gill (21-09) helped the Derby men to eight winners and a twenty-four point win.

Attention now turns to the next round of fixtures on Sunday 2nd June. This is the last chance for teams who lost the first game to remain in with a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Fixtures for Sunday Jun 2nd
Section 1	North Midlands	V	Lancashire
Section 1	Derbyshire	V	Potteries & District
Section 2	Cheshire	V	Warwick & Worcester
Section 3	Cumbria	V	Yorkshire
Section 3	North Lancs & Fylde	V	Shropshire
Section 4	Greater Manchester	V	Merseyside
Section 4	Wales	V	Staffordshire

Results for Sun May 5th

Won	Agg	Home Team	Venue	Away Team	Agg	Won	Margin
8	233	Derbyshire	Derby Co-op	North Midlands	209	4	+24
6	197	North Midlands	Dunlop No.2	Derbyshire	198	6	-1
14	431	Derbyshire	Combined	North Midlands	406	10	+25
11	251	Potteries & District	Florence T & B No.1 Green	Lancashire	178	1	+73
5	203	Lancashire	Garswood Hall Bc No1 Green	Potteries & District	214	7	-11
18	465	Potteries & District	Combined	Lancashire	381	6	+84

Won	Agg	Home Team	Venue	Away Team	Agg	Won	Margin
5	198	Cheshire	Rudheath Bowls	South Yorkshire	196	6	+2
7	219	South Yorkshire	Dearne Sports	Cheshire	206	5	+13
13	415	South Yorkshire	Combined	Cheshire	404	10	+11

Won	Agg	Home Team	Venue	Away Team	Agg	Won	Margin
7	204	Cumbria	North Scale Bowling Club	North Lancs & Fylde	215	5	-11
7	232	North Lancs & Fylde	Bamber Bridge Catholic (brownedge)	Cumbria	203	5	+29
12	447	North Lancs & Fylde	Combined	Cumbria	407	12	+40
7	204	Yorkshire	Crosland Moor B. C.	Shropshire	195	5	+9
7	217	Shropshire	Newport No 2	Yorkshire	203	5	+14
12	412	Shropshire	Combined	Yorkshire	407	12	+5

Won	Agg	Home Team	Venue	Away Team	Agg	Won	Margin
4	210	Greater Manchester	Ashton Cc	Wales	213	8	-3
7	202	Wales	Broughton And Bretton Bowling Club	Greater Manchester	176	5	+26
15	415	Wales	Combined	Greater Manchester	386	9	+29
9	237	Merseyside	Mossley Hill Athletic	Staffordshire	184	3	+53
10	240	Staffordshire	Hammerwich Bc	Merseyside	171	2	+69
13	424	Staffordshire	Combined	Merseyside	408	11	+16

Full scores from games played Sunday 5th May

	Played at Derby Co-op
Pos	Derbyshire	Score	Score	North Midlands
1	Gareth Nash	12	21	Matt Horton Man Of Match
2	Dan Petcher	17	21	Shane Day
3	Adam Hartley	21	13	Russell Prosser
4	Darren Carter	21	15	Ben Lynch
5	Conor Chamberlain	21	17	Andy Gibbs
6	Richard Gill	21	9	Ben Percival
7	Ed Wallis	17	21	Dane Hopwood
8	Nigel Iliff	21	15	Michael Lynch
9	Dan Hartley	21	19	Matty Allen
10	Ed Furniss	19	21	Peter Varney
11	Matt Kelly-walley	21	18	Jordie Baddeley
12	John Dewey	21	19	Stuart Perry
	Total	233	209

	Played at Dunlop’s No 2
Pos	North Midlands	Score	Score	Derbyshire
1	Darren Plenderleith	21	5	Jon Guess
2	Paul Lamb	8	21	Steve Adams
3	Steve Pratt	9	21	Craig Shore
4	Lenny Fulleylove	17	21	Phil Clapham
5	Tyler Dewis	21	9	Richard Peach
6	Natty Tonks	21	17	Dan Golpin
7	Liam Dennis	14	21	Adam Stubbs
8	Darren Tring	21	20	John Finch
9	Daniel Edkins	21	11	Matt Bradwell
10	Scott Horbury	21	10	Andy Milsom
11	Richard Mnr Burdett	8	21	Paul Hawker
12	Stuart Nash	15	21	Ian Brown
	Total	197	198

	At Florence T&B
Pos	Potteries & District	Score	Score	Lancashire
1	Gary Owen	21	14	Chris Cooke
2	Mark Melvin	21	10	John Durrands
3	Martin Hallam	21	20	Jack Marrow
4	Kevin Boon	21	15	Danny Mayers
5	Kerry Morris Man Of Match	21	6	Chris Morrison
6	Joe Melvin	20	21	Kevan Shaw
7	Chris Kearns	21	15	Ray Bevington
8	Mark Norcup	21	16	Stuart Hodson
9	Andy Ferris	21	16	Andy Morrison
10	Darren Stanway	21	18	Steve Gilfedder
11	Richard Clay	21	17	Micheal Heap
12	Lee Brown	21	10	Damien Morrison
	Total	251	178

	At Garswood Hall No 1
Pos	Lancashire	Score	Score	Potteries & District
1	John Crossley	21	12	Joe Williamson
2	John Brown	16	21	Josh Towey
3	Paul Winrow	21	9	Gareth Stanway
4	Neil Bithell	16	21	Paul Dale
5	Barry Simm	12	21	Matt Fellows
6	Ryan Semmens	21	17	Aaron Jones
7	David Higginbottom	17	21	Anthony Lloyd
8	Mark Britton	14	21	Jon Price
9	Harvey Birch	21	14	Lee Dale
10	Chris Hook	13	21	Steve Parkin
11	Neil Rodgers	21	15	Paul Charlesworth
12	Duncan Watkins	10	21	Matthew Hill
	Total	203	214

	At Rudheath BC
Pos	Cheshire	Score	Score	South Yorkshire
1	Tom Vickers	15	21	Richard Atkin
2	Andy Hamman	18	21	Paul Wildgoose
3	Dave Obrien (vc)	19	21	Andrew Turner
4	Danny Nixon	21	10	Matthew Bower
5	Robert Winnington (c)	21	18	Barry Connolly
6	Glynn Cookson	15	21	Stuart Thompson
7	Mike Yearsley	21	19	Paul Bailey
8	Adi Faulkner	0	0	Andrew Whitaker
9	Steve Curbishley	21	4	Joe Westall
10	Neal Ocego	19	21	Dean Missere
11	Jason Cornes	21	19	Gary Hanson
12	Steve Morrey	7	21	Jonathan Sneddon
	Total	198	196

	At Dearne Sports
Pos	South Yorkshire	Score	Score	Cheshire
1	Chris Brown	19	21	Tommy Johnstone
2	Kevin Nixon	21	15	Phil Davies
3	Ross Meese	21	16	Carl Armitage (vc)
4	Danny Sillitoe	13	21	Dave Phillips
5	Chris Kelly	21	14	Noel Burrows
6	Jack Clarke	21	19	Dave Jackson
7	Nick White	15	21	Jamie Bramley
8	Glyn Davies	18	21	Andy Birtles
9	Ryan Clark	21	19	Larry Wells
10	Richard Jackson	7	21	Lee Johnstone
11	Mark Booth	21	10	Neil Smith
12	Andrew Sorsby	21	8	Ben Phillips (c)
	Total	219	296

	At Crosland Moor
Pos	Yorkshire	Score	Score	Shropshire
1	Scott Fisher	21	15	Michael Beer
2	Craig Gant	21	13	Andy Moss
3	Dave Fox	6	21	Jon Palmer Man Of Match
4	Graeme Wilson	21	18	Colin Beaman
5	James Martin	6	21	Callum Wraight
6	Kevin Burns	20	21	Martin Lloyd
7	Ashley Tattersley	21	14	Sam Millward
8	Josh Brown	21	11	Peter Farmer
9	Liam Griffin	14	21	Paul Reeves
10	Jack Dyson	21	8	Adrian Rowe
11	Ashley Daykin	11	21	Rich Goddard
12	Robert Hitchen (c)	21	11	Andy Duckett
	Total	204	195

	At Newport No 2
Pos	Shropshire	Score	Score	Yorkshire
1	Spencer Clarke	21	16	James Hanson
2	Darren Wellings	21	13	Josh Mordue
3	Scott Harries	21	18	Thomas Hanson
4	Clay Flattley	13	21	Wayne Moseley
5	Stuart Rutter	21	14	Stuart King
6	Glyn Herbert	21	13	Gareth Coates
7	Wayne Phillips	21	16	Kieran Smith
8	Ashley Wellings	17	21	Gary Siswick
9	Tom Roden	19	21	Ian Booth
10	Paul Evans	14	21	Chris Mordue
11	Kiah Roberts	7	21	James Davison (c)
12	Wayne Rogers	21	8	Mark Regan
	Total	217	203

	At North Scale BC
Pos	Cumbria	Score	Score	North Lancs & Fylde
1	Baz Lowden	19	21	Andrew Cairns
2	Martin Barrow	5	21	Thomas King
3	Chris Irvine Man Of Match	21	11	James Grimston
4	Zach Walker	21	19	John Bottomley
5	Gareth Jones	10	21	Stuart Mort
6	Darren Woodend	11	21	John Whittaker
7	Andy Armstrong	21	16	Darren Edmondson
8	Mark Coulter	21	17	Tim Barnett
9	Kieran Clark	21	19	Steve Clamp
10	Paul Thompson	21	19	Dave Worthington
11	Dave Jones	21	9	Mel Byron
12	Adam Miller	12	21	Ian Nicholson
	Total	204	215

	At Bamber Bridge Catholic Club
Pos	North Lancs & Fylde	Score	Score	Cumbria
1	Ashleigh Woof	18	21	Ian France
2	Lyndon Carr	17	21	Dan Varcoe
3	Owen Jackson	21	17	Graham Law
4	Peter Hawkes	21	20	Martin Wilson
5	David Watters	17	21	Ira Collier Man Of Match
6	Simon Coupe	21	14	Mark Ashburn
7	Brian Morgan	17	21	Steve Carruthers
8	Dean Butler	21	17	Danny Rogers
9	Sam Patterson	21	16	Darren Naylor
10	Derek Ainsworth	21	5	Liam Baxter
11	Michael Leach	21	9	Paul Kissock
12	Jon Metters	16	21	Matty Stewart
	Total	232	203

	At Ashton Cricket Club
Pos	Greater Manchester	Score	Score	Wales
1	Dean Ferris	13	21	Leighton Roberts
2	David Walker	14	21	John Bonatti
3	Matt Gillies	21	16	Ian Dutton
4	Chris Heyes	21	13	Richard Zolman
5	Paul Heap	11	21	Ian M Jones
6	Tim Holt	19	21	Craig Griffiths
7	Ben Gloag	16	21	Nick Jones
8	Charlie Roberts	19	21	Martin Jones
9	Jimmy Hynes	21	6	Daniel Hughes
10	Andy Raymond	21	10	Adam Penlington
11	John Davies	18	21	Graham Rogers
12	John Ashton	16	21	Andrew Hughes
	Total	210	213

	At Broughton & Bretton BC
Pos	Wales	Score	Score	Greater Manchester
1	Jason Jones	13	21	Gary Ellis
2	Kris Charlton	21	17	Darren Griffiths
3	Andy Delooze	21	3	Paul Leah
4	Kevin Nicholas	21	8	Andy Lowe
5	Robin Bennett	21	11	Andy Murray
6	Mark Parry	4	21	Robbie Ellis Man Of Match
7	Kris Fearnley	12	21	Tom Eccles
8	Lewis Scott	21	9	Nick Turrell
9	Mike Riley	21	10	Jack Hargreaves
10	John Short	21	13	Dean Hibbert
11	Geraint Booth	16	21	Ben Stapleton
12	Paul Walley	10	21	Gareth Gwillam
	Total	202	176

	At Mossley Hill Athletic Club
Pos	Merseyside	Score	Score	Staffordshire
1	Phil Lee	21	6	Nathan Dawes
2	Terry Glover	20	21	Mark Jones Man Of Match
3	Mike Havern	21	12	Nick Wyer
4	Peter Jones	21	12	Reece Farr
5	Danny Barwise Capt	21	11	Jamie Wyer
6	Mike Tunstall	21	20	Kevin Hocknull
7	Tex Allen	21	18	Robert Perry
8	Robbie Fitzpatrick	11	21	Daniel Davies
9	Josh Bunting	21	16	Paul Busby
10	Lee Downing	21	9	Jason Westwood
11	George Curran	17	21	Nick Newey
12	Owen Doyle	21	17	Peter Cookson
	Total	237	184

	At Hammerwich BC
Pos	Staffordshire	Score	Score	Merseyside
1	Scott Simpson	11	21	Matty Gilmore
2	Chris Ward	21	8	Andy Hayes
3	Aaron Tapper	21	12	James Whalley
4	Stuart Edwards	21	17	Ian Sherbrooke
5	David East	21	17	Nick Burridge Capt
6	Glynn Storer	21	7	Neil Sherbrooke
7	Craig Barker	21	13	Brian Hanlon
8	Darrell Handley	21	16	Chris Barton
9	Dan Bodley	19	21	Nigel Hughes
10	Ben Dixon	21	6	Ryan Walters
11	Kevin Handley	21	14	Anthony Thompson
12	Gordon Hawkins	21	19	Dave Mcdermott
	Total	240	171