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On a long overdue warm, and pleasant Summer’s evening we welcomed our friends the  Machen “Dragons” to Fields Road for this SML match.

Machen are a club who are working hard to rebuild and attract new members and we admire their efforts and the progress they are already making, and wish them every success with this project.

Machen held a 2 shot lead on 5 ends, but the mister men found their form over the next 5 ends to lead by 17 shots on 10 ends, the “dragons” pulled the defecit back to just 11 shots on 15 ends, but over the last three ends Pontymister maintained control to win 73-53 and take all 14 points.

On rink 2, making a welcome return our old favourite Frankie Trepleton played lead with Jamie Roberts, David Bowd and Roger Simms against Vince Quirk, R. Watkins, S. Lucas and C. Venables. Pontymister led 6-1 on 5 ends, and 10-4 on 10 ends, before Machen closed the margin to 12-8 on 15 ends, but with a “3” on the 16th end and a “2” on the 17th end it was the mister men who run out winners 17-9.

On rink 3, John Sheldon, Keith Davies, Ian Collier and Richie Murphy had a tough battle against M. Deem, C. Stafford, R. Jones and P. Cooksley. On 5 ends the Machen Dragons led 3-4, but the mister men won 4 of the next 5 ends to lead 9-5 on 10 ends, with a “4” on the 14th end Machen went ahead 11-12 but the mister men won all of the last 4 ends including a “6” on the 16th end to eventually win 21-12.

On rink 4, past master Phil Huntley, up and coming Jason Bradshaw, festival enthusiast Mike Lyons, and Fine Diner Andrew Goodwin, had a sluggish start against J. Mullahy, M. Burkitt, Mike Doody and Andrew Fallaize with the Dragons leading 2-5 on 5 ends. The mister men soon got into their stride however with a “7” on the 8th end, and a “3” on the 9th to lead 13-8 on 10 ends. Shots were shared four a piece over the next 5 ends to make the score 15-12 on 15 ends, with Machen coming back strongly taking two counts of “3” on the last two ends to narrowly lose 19-18.

On rink 5, the Pontymister foursome of Richie Jones, Beynon Jones, acting Captain Chris Beale and ex cabbie Graham Smith had a close game against E. Davies, M. Johns, M. Vacara, and Rhodri Holmes. Machen made a strong start to lead 1-4 on 5 ends, but with two “3’s” and a double over the next 5 ends, it was Pontymister who led narrowly 9-8 on 10 ends. The Dragons had a “4” on the 15th end to trail by just one at 14-13, but with two singles over the last 3 ends it was Pontymister who edged the contest 16-14 despite both rink’s winning 9 ends each.

After the game a very pleasant hour was spent in the company of our visitors over a snack and some welcome cool drinks. We look forward to meeting our friends Machen again in the return fixture later in the season.

On a cloudy, coolish Saturday afternoon, where there always seemed to be a threat of a downpour our GBL team made the short trip to our friends in Crosskeys.

Crosskeys have a very strong GBL team and so we knew this would be a tough battle.

The mister men raced into a 14 shot lead on 5 ends, but the Keys came back strongly to make it all square on 10 ends, before surging to a 24 shot lead on 15 ends & ending up convincing winners 63-39 and taking 10 points to the mister men’s 2 points.

On rink 1 Pontymister’s four of Mike Lyons, Richard Beaugie, Alan Taylor and Tom Guy played Mitch Santwris, B. Kane, G. Davies and Norman Bushell. Pontymister raced into a 2-14 lead on 5 ends thanks mainly to an “8” on the 2nd end. Crosskeys reduced  the deficit to 6-15 on the 10th end and then won 4 out of the next 5 ends including a “4” on the 14th end to trail only 14-16 on 15 ends, but with a “3” on the final end Pontymister secured a 15-20 victory.

On rink 2, the foursome of John Sheldon, Alan Elliott, Jason Bradshaw and Jason Webb trailed 5-3 to Crosskeys’  Chris Perry, Dave Greaney, B. Davies and Darren Hobbs on 5 ends, it was 10-7 to the keys on 10 ends, but after this point the home team took control with two counts of “5” on the 11th and 14th ends respectively to lead 24-9 on 15 ends, and eventually win by a thumping 28-10 scoreline.

On rink 3 the mister men rink of David Bowd, Dennis Lewis, and father and son combination of Ian & Jack Collier faced an uphill struggle against Alan Williams, C. Murphy, W. Hancock, and Russell (Rucca) Bryant despite having a good start and leading 1-5 on 5 ends. It was a case for Pontymister of  “peaking too soon” as the Keys boys took control winning all of the next 5 ends to lead 11-5 on 10 ends. The mister men did manage a “2” on the 14th end, but trailed 18-7 on 15 ends & eventually were well beaten 20-9.

We thank our friends Crosskeys for their hospitality and look forward to the return fixture at Fields Road in a few weeks time.

On a rather coolish Saturday afternoon, we welcomed our friends from Bedwas & Trethomas for this GBL clash. Bedwas always are a tough team to beat in any competition and so we were expecting a close game, and that’s how it turned out.

Bedwas & Trethomas led by 10 shots on 5 ends, and held a 7 shot advantage at the half way point, the visitors were up by 6 shots on 15 ends, but Pontymister finished very strongly over the final 6 ends to record what seemed an unlikely victory by 66-54 and pick up 10 very important points.

On rink 2, diplomat Malcolm Goldie, reliable Andrew Wilmott, consistent Alan Taylor and no nonsense hard hitter  Tom Guy, were 1-6 down to Mike Brock, Ron Cattle, Alan Thomas and Mike Aldworth  on 5 ends, the mister men pulled the deficit back to 6-9 on 10 ends, before the Bedwas rink picked up 12 shots in 4 ends with a “3”, “2”, “1” and a “6” respectively to lead 10-21 on 15 ends. At this point the Bedwas rink looked favourites for a big win, but the Pontymister men won 5 of the last 6 ends including two counts of “4” to lose by the narrowest of margins 21-22, which made a huge contribution to the overall win.

On rink 3, Alun Elliott, Jamie Roberts, Jason Bradshaw and Ian Collier played A. Hayward, R. Cheeseman, N. Rogers, and Mal Williams. Bedwas led 2-6 on 5 ends, 6-13 on 10 ends, but the mister men won 11 ends on the trot to lead 16-13 on 15 ends, and finally won impressively 23-16.

On rink 4, John Sheldon, Keith Davies, Keith Richards, and Jason Webb did battle against C. Norm, S. Aldworth, D. Littlewood and Derek Stingemore. The mister men trailed 4-5 on 5 ends, but with a “4” on the 8th end they leapt into a 11-8 lead on 10 ends, before Bedwas narrowed the deficit with a “4” on the 14th end to make it 15-13 on 15 ends. Bedwas took the lead on the 16th end with a “3” but the mister men showed true grit to win the next 5 ends and secure a 22-16 win.

There was also a friendly match played on rink 5, where Bedwas bus driver Dewi Perry very kindly guested for us as lead, and played with Beynon Jones, Richie Jones, and veteran Neil Harding. The mister men couldn’t quite get to grips with things against S. Clarke, J. Lewis, R. Smallwood, and K. James, with the visitors winning 8-23.

As always a buffet and drinks were enjoyed after the game, and a very pleasant hour was spent with our friends from Bedwas who we thank for their company and look forward to seeing again next week again at Fields road in a friendly.

On a fine, but coolish Saturday afternoon, we made the short journey through the lanes and into the Eastern Valley for an important MBA league clash with Cwmbran Park.

We have always enjoyed a special relationship with Cwmbran, which has stemmed from our sporting rivalry on the green and the respect we have for each other, but also from the friendship we have developed over many years off the green, enjoying each others company over a few beers after the game. Long may this continue!

The green played well, and although it was sluggish to begin with, it soon sped up after a few ends. The mister men edged into a 5 shot lead on 5 ends,  but Cwmbran fought back to take a slender 2 shot lead at the halfway point, before Pontymister began to find some momentum to lead by 9 shots on 15 ends, and eventually increasing the margin to 18 shots for an important 67-85 win and 10 very valuable points.

On rink 1, making his first appearance for the MBA side this season Sean Kenvyn played lead, Graham Smith second, Nick Harris third and Andrew Goodwin skip. Cwmbran’s four were  D. Blake, M. Wright, Bryn Berry and ex mister man, Simon (bumpy) Humphreys. The mister men got off to a solid start, with Sean Kenvyn building a strong foundation with close bowls, and everyone contributing when required. Pontymister led 0-6 on 5 ends, and could have had a “5” on end 6 if it weren’t for “bumpy” Humphreys brilliant saving shot to reduce the pick up to just a single. Simon’s efforts seemed to inspire his rink who then went on to pick up 10 shots in 3 ends with a “3”, a “2” and a “5” respectively. The score was locked at 10-10 on 10 ends, but the mister men won 4 of the next 5 ends to lead 11-15 on 15 ends, and then won 5 of the final 6 ends to run out 14-23 winners.

On rink 2, Ken McKinnon, Chris Beale, Richie Murphy and Dave Hill had a tough battle against K. Clarke, Howard Rees, Darren Taylor and P. Thomas. Cwmbran snook a 4-3 lead on 5 ends, but it was all square at 6-6 on 10 ends, both teams had counts of “3” and “4” over the next 5 ends with the mister men holding a slender 13-14 lead on 15 ends, but with a “5” on the 16th end, and a “3” on the last it was the home team who edged the contest 22-19.

On rink 3, Phil Huntley, Ethan Simmonds, Roger Simms and Roger Venn got off to a sluggish start against M. Metalfke, C. Pentney, Alec McGhee, and Martin Strange, trailing 4-2 on 5 ends. The mister men soon rallied though to win 4 of the next 5 ends to lead 6-9 on 10 ends. With a count of “4” on the 15th end the mister men led 8-15, and they went on to finish very strongly and record a convincing 10-24 victory.

On rink 4, Chris Simmonds, Sid Phillips, Captain Lloyd Turnbull and the shy, retiring Ronnie “rocket man” Morgan edged into a 3-5 lead on 5 ends against I. Wright, B. Summers, M. Williams, and P. Luffman. The Cwmbran four picked up a “3” on the 6th end and a “5” on the 9th end to take a 12-7 lead on 10 ends. The mister men reduced the deficit to just 3 shots on 15 ends at 13-16, and despite Pontymister picking up two “3’s” over the important last 6 ends, Cwmbran won a close game 21-19.

We enjoyed a very tasty buffet after the game with delicious hot corned beef pie’s and hot potatoes being a firm favourite with the mister men. Following much reminiscing and laughter it was time to leave. We thank Cwmbran Park for their wonderful hospitality and look forward to their visit to Fields Road later in the season.

On a distinctly cool early Summer’s evening we welcomed Newbridge to Fields Road for this SML fixture. Newbridge were promoted to the MBA Div 1 last season and are still going strong in the Carruthers Shield so we knew this would be a tough battle, and so it proved to be.

Newbridge edged into a 2 shot lead on 5 ends, before the lead swung back to Pontymister by the same margin on 10 ends, the game changed during the next five ends with Newbridge gathering momentum to take a 10 shot lead on 15 ends, and although the mister men battled hard over the final few ends, Newbridge ran out winners by 9 shots 57-66 & taking 10 points to Pontymister’s 4 points.

The green was fast, and despite one or two little tricks, it played very well.

On rink 2, promising new starter Simon Webb, experienced Richie Jones, the unflappable Dave Bowd, and the talented campaigner Phil Huntley were locked at 3-3 on 5 ends, but then won 4 out of the next 5 ends to lead 8-5 on 10 ends. The Newbridge rink of P. Blanche, K. Davies, G. Evans and R. Thomas hit back strongly taking a 4, a 3, and a single on the next 3 ends respectively and led 11-14 on 15 ends, and they managed to hold on for a hard fought 13-15 victory.

On rink 3, Pontymister’s “Spanner” Watkins, Yorkshireman Jamie Roberts, utility player Chris Beale who’s currently in a “rich vein of form” and his long suffering workmate Nick Harris had another very hard tussle with J. Jones, R. James, Phil Churcher, and Clive Cridland. The teams were level 3-3 on 5 ends, but the mister men began to find their form with three “2”‘s and a “3” over the next 4 ends to lead 10-5 on 10 ends with vice Captain and Treasurer Beale playing some terrific conversion shots. The Newbridge rink rallied to win 4 of the next 5 ends to edge into a single shot lead for the first time in the game at 12-13 on 15 ends. The Mister men took a “2” on the 17th end to make the game all square going into the last end. With the Athletic holding the shot they needed for victory and with the situation in the head being fraught with danger, skip Harris decided to play a blocker half way down the green, to which “Spanner” who wasn’t aware of this intentional tactical ploy, memorably shouted “Bloody hell, Nick’s ran out of steam hasn’t he boys?”. The blocker did it’s job with Newbridge’s last bowl smashing into it and the mister men edged home 15-14.

On rink 4, the four of Richard Beaugie, “up and at ’em” Malcolm Goldie,  talented Mike Lyons and follically blessed skipper Graham Smith had a good game against B. Hipkiss, N. Llewellyn, D. Morgan and T. Perry. Newbridge led 3-6 on 5 ends, but the mister men pulled back to 11-11 on 10 ends, and worked hard to lead 17-12 on 15 ends, they maintained their 5 shot margin to finish 19-14 victors.

On rink 4, it was an evening of woe for the mister men’s John Sheldon, Beynon Jones, Ian Collier and Richie Murphy who did battle with T. Parker, T. Harper, R. Churcher and E. Harding. It all started fairly well with the score 4-5 on 5 ends, but the Newbridge men began to take ascendance to lead 7-13 on 10 ends. The mister men fought back picking up 2 singles, but then dropped a “4” on the 15th end to trail 9-20. Newbridge deservedly ran out 10-23 winners in the end despite Pontymister’s hapless foursome’s best efforts.

After the game we enjoyed a light buffet and refreshments with our friends from Newbridge who we  send our best wishes to for the rest of the season.