Abergavenny Bowls Club had a busy week of bowls, playing two games in the MBA, one in the EMBA, and one in the GBL.

The first game in the MBA was at Bedwas and Trethomas, one of the long established first division teams and where Abergavenny have had little success in recent years. Abergavenny managed to win on three of the four rinks to win the game by 71 shots to 66 and score an invaluable 12 league points away from home.

The rink of Matthew Vale held the advantage throughout their game to record a victory by 20 shots to 14. Ieuan Jenkins’ rink was involved in a close game for the first half but then took the initiative in the second half to win by 20 shots to 17. Robert Poynter’s rink was six shots behind after the first ten ends but outscored their opponents for the rest of the game to win by 20 shots to 17.

Unfortunately the rink of Gethin Hill conceded 15 shots through the middle third of their game. Although they won on 11 of the 21 ends, they were defeated by 20 shots to 14.

The second MBA game of the week was at Machen, where each team won on two rinks. This game was very close with Abergavenny having a two shot deficit after 17 ends. However, on end 18, Machen scored six shots on one rink and five on another to turn the game in their favour. This enabled them to secure a sufficient lead to win the game by 76 shots to 67.

The two successful rinks for Abergavenny were those of Robert Poynter and Ieuan Jenkins. Robert Poynter’s rink took command in the second half of their game to win by 21 shots to 13. Ieuan Jenkins’ rink did well to win after conceding five shots on the eighteenth end. They overturned the situation, scoring seven shots on the final three ends to win by 22 shots to 16. The rinks of Gethin Hill and Matthew Vale were never in contention after the first five ends and were defeated by 22 shots to 14 and 25 shots to 10 respectively.

The EMBA game was at Gilwern where Abergavenny won on three rinks to win the game comfortably. Abergavenny gained six league points which put them at the top of the table at the present time. It seems that the final game of the season against Chepstow will decide the winners of the league for this season.

RTB Ebbw Vale provided the opposition at Avenue Road for the GBL game. Abergavenny could not match their opponents and were defeated by 61 shots to 35 They lost on two of the three rinks and tied on the third. The rink of Fred Mutimer was unlucky not to win, drawing their game 18 shots each. The rinks of Jeff Gibbon and Derek Bailey suffered defeats by 20 shots to eight and 23 shots to nine respectively.

This weekend Abergavenny have representation in the Open Pairs final of the MBA competitions. These finals will be played at St Julians Bowls Club in Newport where the Abergavenny team of Matthew Vale and Gethin Hill will play against a team from Crosskeys for the right to be the MBA champions. By qualifying for this final they have also qualified to play in the Welsh Bowls Association finals played at Llandrindod Wells during week commencing August 15 2016.

On Saturday Bedwelty Park will be the visitors to Avenue Road for a GBL game.