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Pontymister Athletic welcomed our friends and neighbours and our closest rivals Pontymister Welfare to Fields Road on Wednesday evening for a SML clash. This fixture is eagerly awaited on the bowling calendar and always fiercely contested, with both sides naming players who have played for both clubs.

The rain held off to get the game started and it was the home team that took the early advantage with all but one rink establishing early leads. The welfare, fielding a mixture of new and experienced bowlers however fought back hard and and on 3 of the rinks the scores were very close, but the mister men were calling the shots on the other rink and ensured victory overall with a massive win of over 30 shots. Final score Ponty Ath 91- 57 Ponty Wel (12 points to 2).

 

Rink 2 – a young and experimental 4 of Dai Bowd, Richie Jones, Effan Symmonds and Richie Murphy played a relatively experienced 4 from the Welfare. Playing with enthusiasm, skill and the support of Elvis our youngster completely dominated the game and recorded a massive 37-4 win.

 

Rink 3 brought together Spanner, Sean Kenvyn, Ken Mckinnon and Chris Beale who managed to a narrow win thanks to a 6 and 4 in the last few ends after trailing for most of the game against a talented 4 from the Welfare who were marshalled well by the experienced Gordon Shipp.

 

Rink 4 was another close encounter with Simon Webb, John Sheldon, Mike Lyons and Graham Smith representing the home team, however it was the away team who took the spoils with a hard fought victory.

 

Rink 5 saw a mix of youth, inexperience and old timers come together in the form of Jason Bradswaw, Jamie Roberts, Phil Huntley and Jack Collier, ( I’ll let you work out whose who) and in a very close game the Ponty 4 proved too strong for their opponents and recorded a fine win.

 

Overall, the game was played in fine spirits, and it was evident that the rebuild going on at the Welfare is working, with lots of new and unfamiliar faces acquitting themselves well and had it not been for the big score on rink 2 then this game would have gone to the wire.

It was great to have the Welfare boys back in the club house after the game where we all enjoyed a 5-star buffet and service put on by big Lloyd. We wish the Welfare success for the rest of the season and for the future and look forward to continuing our rivalry next year.

Pontymister Athletic travelled to the in-form Bedwas & Trethomas on Saturday in a top of the table  GBL Division 1 clash. Bedwas have put together a tremendous run of late and sit in 3rd place one place behind Ponty, so the boys new it was going to be a tough game. Unfortunately for Ponty, the game started with Bedwas taking the  initiative on all rinks, in fact Ponty never led on any of the rinks throughout the game and inevitably lost by an overall score of 22 shots (63-41).

 

Rink 1 saw Richie Beaugie, his walking partner Allan Elliot, captain Ian Collier and Graham Smith take on the home 4 of C.Brown,R.Cheeseman,R.Norman and skip K.James. The home team were far to good for the Ponty boys on the day and ran out winners by 13 shots.

 

Rink 2 brought together a strong Ponty 4 in Nick Harris, Shaun Kenvyn, Keith Richards and Jack Collier. They played D.Littlewood,J.Lewis,S.Killcourse and my old medical man Mal Williams.In the early stages Mal was changing heads and Bedwas built a substantial lead, but  the Ponty boys rallied and at one point cut the deficit to 4 only to fall at the last and lose by 7.

 

Rink 3 John Sheldon,Richie Jones, Alan Taylor and serial winner Tom Guy took on the Bedwas 4 of R.Smallwood, D,T.Jones,A,Smith and skip N.Rogers. Again, falling behind early on the Ponty boys fought back but unfortunately ran out of ends losing by 2 shots.

 

The boys were extremely grateful for the splendid buffet and the hospitality shown by the home team  and  wished them well  for the rest of the season. A disappointed Elvis was deflated after a traumatic week and ended up with Richie Jones for a medical overall in the Grange hospital.

Pontymister Athletic welcomed Rhymney Royal to Fields Road on Saturday in a Division 1 MBA clash. The mister men new that the Royal would be a massive challenge as they were fighting for survival in what can only be described as a brutal league, The game itself started close enough, but the rinks of  Dave Hill and Roger Venn surged into commanding leads and at the halfway point the home side led by 17 shots.

To the Royals credit, they were battling hard and led narrowly on two rinks , but Hill and Venn secured the points for Ponty with big wins. Going into the final ends, it looked like the Royal would get a well deserved 4 points, but for a miracle bowl on the last end by Andrew Goodwyn who picked up the jack to make a 5 gave the home side a 12-2 win (98-71).

 

Rink 2  was experienced but experimental as Mike Lyons returned, Phil Huntley played 2nd, Chris Beale 3rd and skip Roger Venn took on the Royal 4 of C.O’Brien, C.Dennelly,J.Chard and R.Chard. After an early scare which saw Royal press into a 6-1 lead the Ponty boys set about their task and dominated throughout with some high class bowls and recorded a fine 18 shot win.

 

Rink 3 brought together the ever improving Eathan Symmonds, Grandad Sid Phillips, Captain Lloyd Turnbull and everyone’s favourite Ronnie Morgan, who was sponsored by Annadin Extra  on the day. They were challenged by I.Jones,H.Davies,P.White and STYX who gave the Ponty boys a real battle. The game was close throughout , with Morgan lifting the roof on numerous occasions, but it was the away team who took the spoils,  recording  a narrow 3 point win.

 

Rink 4 of David Bowd, Chris Symmonds, Richie Murphy and Dave Hill were given a vote of confidence by the selectors and repaid them in fine fashion. Playing against A.Jenkins,C,Greaney,J.Prosser and Gary Heath, the Ponty boys were at it from the off surging into an early lead which continued to the end, winning by 11 shots.

 

Rink 5 Mr Goodwyns favourite rink saw him matched with Jason Bradshaw, Ken McKinnon and  the man with a spring in his step Roger Simms . They were matched with a tough challenge against A.O’Brien, D.Murphy,D.O’Brien and W.Jones. The first half of the game was evenly contested, but the Royal pulled away and going into the last end they led by 4 shots and warranted victory, but bowls can be cruel on times and we were about to witness an unexpected twist. With all the players and supporters deserting the green, Ponty were holding 2 on the last end , which was not enough, but Goodwyn took control and playing with weight, picked up the jack and made an incredible 5, that gave Ponty the points.

 

The Rhymney Royal boys were a credit to their club both on and off the field and although they find themselves bottom of the league they fought all the way and showed great unity across the rinks. We would like to wish the club every success in the future and in particular Gary Heath who is playing in the Monmouthshire o/60s final.

Finally, thanks to  Lloyd for a wonderful buffet after the game and good luck from everyone at the club  to our own finalists in the Monmouthshire o/60s triples Graham “SID”Phillips, Dave Hill, Roger Venn and substitute Phil Huntley. Lets get behind them and support them all the way to LLandod.

Sorry for the late report, Pontymister Athletic travelled to Newbridge on Saturday for a GBL league match. Newbridge are comfortable in the league, but nonetheless, Ponty were expecting a very tough game.

As expected the game was tight and after 5 ends the score was tied, this theme continued and at the halfway point Ponty led by the smallest of margins 1 shot overall, with two rinks and one trailing. The second half saw Ponty edge ahead of the home team and at 15 ends all rinks were up, albeit by a slender margin of 6 shots. Credit to Ponty they kept going in the sunshine and finished up winners by 12 shots {52-40} and a 12 -nil victory.

 

Rink 2 for Ponty saw  the return of the globe trotting Nick Harris who had to be content with a GBL role, Shaun Kenvyn, Keith Richards and Jack Collier take on T.Parker, S.Williams,R.James and G.Parker. The Ponty boys led from the start in a very close encounter against a very competitive home team, but experience told and they recorded a fine 6 shot win.

 

Rink 3 brought together John Sheldon, Andrew Willmott, Alan Taylor and the ever present Tom Guy, playing against C,Bourne, B.Porter, R.Churcher and G.Willis.The Ponty boys found themselves down in the first half by 6 shots but a spirited comeback in the second half  got them home for a narrow win.

 

Rink 4 was strong for Ponty with Martin “Spanner” Watkins joined by Andrew Davies, Captain Ian Collier and the dependable Graham Smith taking on P.Baylis,M.Jones,N.Llewelyn and G.Evans. Again a very close encounter saw the Ponty boys scrape home by 4 shots.

 

Pontymister would like to thank Newbridge for a warm welcome, for their hospitality and a fine buffet. Elvis the Teddy Bear was awarded to Nick Harris, not only for his late arrival, having missed the train and disrupted the entire team , but also for his inappropriate dress on match day, which a man of his position, should know better, Unbeknown to Elvis, he was in for a traumatic week, travelling around the country and being lost for the first time.