On Monday 10 July Royal Wootton Bassett hosted the quarter finals of the men’s four wood singles to see who would attend the county semi-finals this coming Sunday at Devizes BC.

Mike Titcombe (Westlecot) vs Danny Russell (Salisbury)

On paper this match should have been a cracker for players and spectators alike. However, young Mike Titcombe came out of the blocks flying! Despite dropping a single on the first end, Mike picked up 9 shots over the next 5 ends to take a 9-1 lead at 6 ends. Danny then got a deserved single shot, before dropping a 2 from good bowls by Mike, before then picking up a further one. This left the scores at 11-3 to Mike after 9 ends. Unfortunately for Danny, with the opportunity of reaching the semi-finals beckoning for Mike, he cranked up the gears and picked up the 10 shots he needed in just 6 ends running out a 21-3 winner. Mike then eagerly awaited to see who he would play on Sunday.

Graham Shadwell (Spencer Moulton) vs Justin Davis (Holt)

Another cracking game on the cards involved long-time Middleton skip and England International Graham Shadwell playing newly-promoted Middleton skip Justin Davis. Unfortunately for Justin, Graham arrived with keen intent and took an early 11-1 lead after just 6 ends. A superb three shots for Justin on the 7th end brought the game closer and it looked like the comeback might be on. Unfortunately for Justin a string of singles and doubles meant Graham took a 19-7 lead after 15 ends. Justin tried to rally and picked up 5 shots over the next three ends to bring the scoreline to 19-12 to Graham. However, Graham then picked up the two shots he needed and ran out a 21-12 winner. Graham will now play Mike in the semi final.

Graham Hatherall (Westlecot) vs Ben Gadd (Holt)

The next match saw two first-class players doing battle and the second contingent from Westlecot and Holt in the quarter-finals. Graham started well taking an early 5-0 lead after 3 ends before Ben caught the weight and ramped up the pressure taking 7 shots without reply to even the scores at 7-5 to Ben after 7 ends. Despite a couple of singles from Graham over the next few ends, Ben started playing really well and picked up a number of shots to take a 15-8 lead after 15 ends. Ben then played a brilliant end to take three shots on the next end to take an 18-8 lead at 16 ends. Despite this setup Graham’s experience and calm demeanor shone through and he picked up 10 unanswered shots over the five ends to even the scores at 18-18 at 21 ends! Unfortunately for Graham Ben then picked up a single and a double to take the match 21-18 and book his place in the semi-finals.

Tom Pittuck (Swindon Town Gardens) vs Russell Francis (Spencer Moulton)

This match was one to watch with the young, enigmatic Tom playing the experienced Middleton Cup skip and National Triples winner Russell (Spencer’s second contingent in the quarter-finals with his club mate already securing his place in the semis). The game started very closely with neither player giving anything away and the score line of 10-8 to Tom at 13 ends showed the low-scoring taking place. This fashion continued until the 21st end when the scores were tied at 14-14 (after Russell had played a fantastic end to secure three shots). The next couple ends proved to be difficult for Tom in which Russell picked up two doubles back-to-back to take an 18-15 lead after 24 ends. However, not to be undone the youngster dug in and picked up a treble on end 25 to level the field. The game then swung in Tom’s favour with a brilliant single and double on ends 26 and 27 to win the match 21-18 after 2 hours and 10 minutes!

Semi Final line up (approx 12.30pm Sunday 16 July at Devizes BC)

Mike Titcombe vs Graham Shadwell

Ben Gadd vs Tom Pittuck

Please see below for the schedule for the upcoming quarter and semi-finals held at Devizes BC this Sunday.

All support from friends and family will be greatly appreciated.

Finals Schedule

On Friday 16 June Wroughton BC hosted the quarter finals and semi finals of the ladies two wood singles to decide who would represent Wiltshire at the National Finals at Leamington Spa in August.

Quarter Finals

The first match saw Julie Jones from Purton take on rising young star Lucy Smith from Royal Wootton Bassett. Julie stormed to a 5-0 lead after 4 ends, before Lucy fought back and at 14 ends the score stood at 10-10. Lucy then turned up the heat and took a crucial single and double but after two singles from Julie the score stood at 13-12 to Lucy after 18 ends. The next three ends saw a single for Julie to level the scores but a single and a double for Lucy saw her take the match 16-13. Lucy then awaited the winner of Margaret Cooke from Broughton Gifford and Alex Jacobs from Box.

The second quarter final between Margaret and Alex looked to be a slightly one-sided affair with Alex taking a string of scores to take an early 8-2 lead after 6 ends. However, after a spirited fight back from Margaret saw Alex’s margin slowly dwindling. After 18 ends the score stood at 13-11 to Alex but with a couple of singles, Alex finished off the match with a 15-12 win and a semi final line-up against Lucy Smith.

The first match of the bottom of the draw saw Sandra Bartlett from Winsley take on Kathryn Yeoman from Box. Unfortunately this match was a largely one-sided affair with some great bowling from Kathryn seeing a string of shots over the opening ends to take a 10-0 lead after 8 ends. Kathryn continued with this form to see out the match 15-4 after 15 ends and book her place in the second semi final.

The last quarter final match saw Janet Hardie from North Wilts take on Julia Hunt from Wanborough. Similarly to Kathryn’s previous match this was a relatively one-sided affair with Julia taking a 9-2 lead after 8 ends. Despite a good few ends from Janet, Julia finished off the match with a flurry of singles to take the match 16-7 after 18 ends.

Semi Finals

The business end of the evening saw some great line ups with the experience Johns Trophy skip, Alex Jacobs, taking on the young brilliance of Lucy Smith. The in-form Johns Trophy skip Kathryn Yeoman then lined up against the also in-form Julia Hunt.

Unfortunately both matches turned out to be very one-sided with some excellent bowling from the Johns skips with Alex winning the match 15-5 after just 17 ends and Kathryn going even better with an impressive 18-3 win after just 14 ends.

BW is pleased to announce that Alex and Kathryn will now represent Wiltshire at Leamington Spa later this year and we wish them the best of luck.

In this afternoons second Fours Semi Final Chippenham Town rink of Rob Clews, Jim Fitzpatrick, Richard Gainey & Neil Connor overcame Tom Walkley, Terry Walton, Neil Smith & Mel Biggs 20-16 to book their place at Royal Leamington Spa where they will play Northamptonshire B in the Preliminary Round on Sunday 20th August @ 2.00pm.

Justin Davis skipped his triple comprising of Rob Jeffreys & Pete Hardie to an 18 shots to 15 win over Highworth to complete a semi final double this afternoon. In a close game against Dave Murray, Mark Richman & Rob Etherington from Highworth they opened up an early lead but at 14 ends the score was all level at 13 all, but over the next 4 ends they managed to pull away to take the victory.

In the first of the Fours semi finals played at Devizes this morning the Holt rink of Wayne Simmonds, Justin Davis, Wayne Snook & Ben Gadd took on the spirited Swindon four of Mickey Pearce, Steve Barker, Geoff Porte & Carl Fernandes.

The game was very tight for the first half with a 4 on the first end for Holt and a fantastic 7 on the fourth end. However, the Swindon foursome fought back with 3s on the third, eighth and nineth end to bring the scores to 15-10 to Holt at the halfway point.

However, some excellent bowling from the Holt boys and 11 unanswered shots up to end 14 saw the Holt lads win 33 shots to 13 and book their place at Royal Leamington Spa where they will play Yorkshire A on Monday 21st August at 9.30am.