ABERGAVENNY Bowls Club has played two league games and a mixed team friendly in the past week.

In the MBA game at Newbridge both teams were successful on two rinks but Newbridge gained the victory due to their superior aggregate score. The winning rinks for Abergavenny were those of Robert Poynter and Gethin Hill. Robert Poynter’s rink gradually gained the upper hand after dropping six shots on the first end. After drawing level on the sixth end they went on to victory, despite a late resurgence by their opponents, to win by 20 shots to 15. Gethin Hill’s rink was 11 shots behind after 11 ends. They then took total control over the final half of the game to score 18 shots, conceding only two, to win by 23 shots to 17.

Unfortunately, the rinks of Matthew Vale and John Beaton were defeated. Despite a valiant effort by the rink of John Beaton, when they fought back from a 13 shot deficit, they could not quite register a win and were beaten by 26 shots to 25. Matthew Vale’s rink lost their way through the mid section of the game. They could score on only three ends in this period and were comprehensively defeated by 34 shots to 12.

An excellent performance by the GBL team at Avenue Road saw them win on all three rinks to defeat Bedwelty Park by 68 shots to 43. The rink of Kevin Mattthias was always in control of their game having established an early six shot lead. They maintained and extended that lead over the final quarter to win by 24 shots to 14. Although the rink of Darren Richards was behind for the majority of the game, they turned the tables over their opponents on the final five ends to win the game by 17 shots to 16. It was the same situation on Ron Smith’s rink as the scored heavily over the final quarter of the game to win by 27 shots to 13

In the friendly at St Martins in Hereford, the Abergavenny mixed team won on two rinks, lost on two in losing the game by 70 shots to 53. Bill Belli’s rink was in control from the start, and then extended their lead through the middle section of the game before going on to win by 20 shots to 11.

Ron Smith’s rink managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by scoring 11 shots over the final four ends to win by 17 shots to 16. The rinks of John Whomersley and Gethin Hill were never in contention, and therefore both lost by 22 shots to seven and 21 shots to nine respectively.

Last Sunday Abergavenny played The Captain’s Two Wood Pairs competition for The Ernest Holton Memorial Trophy. A total of 12 teams battled it out with the pair of John Vale and Robert Poynter winning through to the final, where they played Perry Morgan and Ann Whomersley, who was the first lady to appear in the final of this event. Robert Poynter and John Vale were the victorious pair and received the trophy from Mrs Sheila Holton, who had kindly donated the cup in memory of her late husband, a long standing and much respected member of the club.

This weekend Abergavenny entertain Bedwelty Park for their final MBA game of the season. Abergavenny will also play a friendly fixture at Talgarth in mid-week. In addition the club will be represented by several members of the club in the finals of the EMBA competitions which will be played at Crickhowell this Sunday.