On a chilly late Spring evening with ominous looking dark clouds, this game against our “next door neighbours” and close friends Pontymister Welfare was reduced to 16 ends as a precautionary measure. The Welfare had a great victory at Bedwellty Park in the Carruthers last weekend and so were in good form coming into this SML clash.
The Athletic edged ahead by 9 shots on 5 ends, and increased that to 18 shots on 10 ends, before eventually winning by 36 shots, 35-71 & taking all 14 points. Despite the cold conditions, the green played well and everyone enjoyed the game.
On rink 2 the mister men were represented by Martyn (Spanner) Watkins, Ian Holder, Jason Webb, and “in-form” Andrew Goodwin who were locked at 3-3 on 5 ends against C. Ward, G. Tasker, T. Hall and Granville Vaughan. The mister men worked hard for a 7-12 lead on 10 ends with skipper Goodwin playing some great conversion shots, and despite a late rally by the Welfare the Athletic ended up winning 10-16. The only slight “blot on the landscape” came on the very last end when “Spanner” Watkins inexplicably bowled a wrong bias, no doubt he will be donating £1 to the Captain’s charity box on the weekend!
On rink 3 the foursome of Richard Beaugie, club model Ethan Simmonds, Scottish hard hitter Ken McKinnon, and South Mon Team Manager Andy Elias always held the upper hand against The Welfare’s W. Mac, G. Tasker, C. Dieght, and Gordon Shipp, being 3-6 up on 5 ends, 4-14 on 10 ends before picking up a “4” on the 12th end, and a “5” on the 15th end to finish with a convincing 5-28 victory.
On rink 4 the mister men combination of past master Phil Huntley, open the box jackpot winner Jamie Roberts, the young and very modest Jack Collier, and follically blessed Graham Smith had a tight game against R. Jones, H. Deakins, A. Edwards, and ex mister man Gwyn Jones. The mister men were 2-7 up on 5 ends, but the Welfare pulled things back to trail only 7-9 on 10 ends, the Athletic won the next two ends including a count of 3 on the 12th end, before the Welfare won the last four ends to lose narrowly 12-13.
On rink 5 debutant Simon Webb, experienced festival enthusiast Mike Lyons, the versatile Jason Bradshaw, and the man for all seasons Roger Simms played the Welfare’s S. Higgins, D. Wassell, A. Pritchard, and veteran campaigner Harry Clarke. The mister men led 2-3 on 5 ends, and 4-8 on 10 ends and then tellingly won three successive ends taking two shots on each to take a commanding 4-14 lead on 13 ends, the Welfare battled hard and won the last three ends to eventually go down 8-14.
Afterwards, as always we enjoyed Marie Willing’s wonderful buffet, the highlight as usual was her ice slices. Thanks Marie! A very pleasant hour was enjoyed by all before we departed.
We thank our friends Pontymister Welfare for their warm welcome and hospitality and wish them a very successful season.
For the mister men, next up are two very important games on the weekend, Ynysddu at home in the Carruthers Shield and Croesyceiliog away in the GBL. Let’s win both.