TWENTY-two teams arrived for the Monmouthshire Short Mat Bowls Association Spring Triples Tournament at Chepstow Leisure Centre earlier this month.
The teams were divided into four groups and all teams had at least four games in the first round. All games were well fought, and the four Group winners went on to meet in the semi-final. The semi-final between Caerwent 1, captained by N Price, and Brynithel, captained by H Williams, was a close game resulting in an 8-3 win to Caerwent.
The other semi-final between Caerwent 2, captained by G Norrie, and Dingestow 3, captained by B Brown, ended with a convincing 14-5 win to Caerwent. The final was therefore an all Caerwent affair with a clear result in favour of the team captained by Nick Price.
All stood for a minute’s silence in memory on Bill Bacon, who had organised, umpired and scored the tournament for many years up until his very recent death.
He will be sadly missed by all, but his memory and contribution will live on.
Throughout the years of the competition the major responsibility for making the event happen has fallen on the shoulders of Mrs Pearl Gill. To show their appreciation of her work the League Vice Chairman, Mr Tom Chaloner, presented her with a bouquet of flowers from the Monmouthshire Committee. He also thanked Colin Berg for picking up responsibility for arranging the matches and scoring the event.
At the end of the final Mr Chaloner presented all finalists with trophies, and the winning shield to Nick Price.
The success of the event was a reminder that the sport of short mat bowls is still strong and popular. All clubs are keen to welcome new members and to give newcomers the opportunity to try it out. The Autumn 2020 tournament will be held on Saturday, October 17, 2020 at Chepstow Leisure Centre.