ABERGAVENNY Bowls Club's MBA team hosted Caerleon on Saturday in the second round of the Carruthers Shield, in a real nailbiter, reports JOHN WHOMERSLEY.

The result was in doubt until the final bowl, as Abergavenny squeezed into the next round by just one shot, winning 79-78.

Each team won on two rinks with the Abergavenny rinks of Robert Poynter and John McGregor being successful.

Robert’s rink took command from the beginning to win 23-9, while John's was seven shots down with five ends left, but then scored 13 shots to win 26-20.

Unfortunately, Mike Collins' rink conceded six shots over the final two ends to lose 22-17, while John Woodier’s rink was 17 shots behind with five ends left, but reduced the deficit slightly, losing 27-13.

Meanwhile, the ladies played two games last week, the first a league game at Beechwood Park, where each team was successful on one rink.

With Clare Morgan’s rink scoring a 21-10 win, the visitors managed to secure overall victory 36-28 after Jenni McGregor's rink suffered a narrow 18-15 loss.

The ladies played their first game in the new Betty Wardle one-rink competition on Saturday when they welcomed another Beechwood Park team to Avenue Road, registering a comfortable 25-8 win.

Earlier in the week, Abergavenny’s men played their second EMBA game at Gilwern, winning on three of the four rinks to register an 82-50 victory.

John Beaton, Bryant Chivers and Robert Poynter's rinks all held comfortable leads after 12 ends, going on to win 26-9, 20-11 and 19-12 respectively, but Mike Collins' rink conceded 11 shots over the final three ends to lose 18-17.

The GBL team had a difficult task at Abercarn on a fast green and with several new players, and were beaten 95-35.

This Saturday (May 24) Abergavenny host Bedwas & Trethomas in the Carruthers Shield third round, while the ladies play their second game in the Betty Wardle at Blackwood, followed on Tuesday (May 27) with an SW & Mon game at St Julians.