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On a warm, sunny afternoon we welcomed Caldicot to Fields Road for this important GBL clash. The green looked in fine fettle and was running quick so all was set for a good game of bowls. 

The Athletic were always in control in this match being 13 shots up on 5 ends, 32 shots up on 10 ends, 46 shots to the good on 15 ends before running out victors by 59 shots 91-32 & taking all 12 points. 

On rink 3, the star performance went to the foursome of Malcolm Goldie whose bowls were reportedly attracted like magnets to the jack, Alan Elliott, club Captain Lloyd Turnbull and talented young Jack Collier. All four mister men were at the very top of their game and it was a very tough afternoon for  R. Jackson, D. Baker, E. Jones and D. Searle. The Pontymister rink won 40-2. 

On rink 4, Pontymister’s John Sheldon, past master Phil Huntley, versatile Jason Bradshaw and skipper Jason Webb began rather slowly edging ahead 4-3 on 5 ends, & trailing 8-9 on 10 ends, but began to move ahead of the Caldicot four of A.  Vincent, M. Pollard, S. Barnett and D. Edwards leading 17-12 on 15 ends to win comfortably 22-15 in the end. 

On rink 5, the mister men rink of  Martyn (Spanner) Watkins, Mike Lyons, Alan Taylor and Tom Guy were 5-2 up on 5 ends against Caldicot’s  M. Brown, T. Jones, P. Harrison & R. Hughes, before increasing their advantage to 15-8 on 10 ends, and then stretching away 21-11 on 15 ends, before eventually running out 29-15 winners, once again proving that “you can always rely on Tom Guy” 😁. 

We thank our friends from Caldicot for their company & look forward to the return fixture later in the season. 

On another sunny, warm afternoon the mister men were on the road again for the next chapter in this season’s Carruthers Shield adventure.
Today we were at Caerleon where we met up with a few old friends from our by gone years.
Caerleon have been struggling for playing members in recent seasons but are always well organised and we knew that anything can happen in the Carruthers shield and as they had home advantage we were prepared for another tough battle.

The game began very tightly and Caerleon held a 3 shot lead overall after 5 ends, Pontymister edged ahead by 2 shots after 10 ends, but extended their lead to 24 shots on 15 ends before winning by 30 shots overall 64-94 at the end.
The green played a little tricky and heavy and it certainly took the away team some time to get to grips with it.

On rink 2, the foursome of promising young Ethan Simmonds, veteran Keith Richards, all rounder Roger Simms, and the consistent Roger Venn started slowly against  P. Edwards, G. Morgan, Roy Evans and K Jones. The Pontymister men were 1-7 down after 5 ends, but began to get their arm going to lead 8-10 on 10 ends, 10-17 on 15 ends before  winning 14-22.

On rink 3, Chris Simmonds, Sid Phillips, Andy Elias & Ronnie “out” Morgan were 2-5 up against P. Church, H. McDonald, D. Lee, and Mike Jones after  5 ends, and led by the same 3 shot margin 7-10 on 10 ends before they began to move away 11-18 on 15 ends to finally win comfortably 15-29.

On rink 4, Dave Bowd, Graham Smith, Richie Murphy and Nick Harris had a tough afternoon against Derek Miles, Peter Stark who played magnificently, Ian Bode and Mike Piper. The mister men struggled to find the tight line and dropped too many bowls short. The score was tied 4-4 on 5 ends, with Caerleon leading 10-7 on 10 ends, 16-13 on 15 ends before Caerleon  deservedly won 22-18.

On rink 5, the rink of  stand in Captain Chris Beale, Ken McKinnon, Dave Hill and Andrew Goodwin took some time to adapt to conditions against Caerleon’s H. Thomas, M. Gillott, J. Griffiths and George Gibb narrowly leading 3-4 on 5 ends before beginning to get to grips with conditions for a 6-12 lead on 10 ends, increasing that to 6-19 on 15 ends before winning convincingly 13-25.

Despite a few rumblings in the distance and one or two drops of rain being felt around the 15th end the forecasted thunderstorms never materialised and an enjoyable time was had. The afternoon ended with a very pleasant buffet and cold drinks.

We thank Caerleon for being such great hosts and wish them all the very best for the rest of the season.

For the mister men, the draw for the last qualifying round of the Carruthers has given us a home tie against our friends from Ynysddu on Saturday 25th May so we will need to be at our best for that match.

On a lovely late Spring evening, we welcomed our close neighbours, arch rivals, but very good friends Crosskeys to Fields Road for this South Mon League match. Crosskeys are flying high in the MBA, SML & Carruthers shield so far this season so we were under no illusions this would be a tough task, and so it proved to be.

The game began fairly closely with the Keys holding a slender 3 shot lead on 5 ends,  however this was extended to 22 shots on 10 ends,  44 shots on 15 ends with Crosskeys winning by the same margin of 44 shots on 18 ends. The final score being 42-86 (0-14 points).

On rink 2, the rink of Mike Lyons, Jamie Roberts, captain Chris Beale and Secretary Nick Harris took the lead on the first end but from that point onwards the Keys began to get to grips with things and take control with lead Chris Perry finding the tight line perfectly, second Rob Thomas consolidating, Simon Bushell slotting a few gems in, and ex mister man and our close friend Ian Slade playing some brilliant shots. The mister men battled hard but the keys were too strong running out 11-22 winners.

On rink 3, the Pontymister foursome of young Ethan Simmonds, big Dave Kenvyn, GBL Captain Ian Collier, and the effervescent Roger Simms were locked at 4-4 after 5 ends with  A. Williams, D. Holster, Russel “Rucca” Bryant and another ex mister man Kieran Davies. Crosskeys soon began to take control and led 5-12 on 10 ends, 6-23 on 15 ends before eventually running out 9-23 winners.

On rink 4 consistent Lead Dave Bowd, the versatile Scotchman Ken McKinnon, young Jack Collier, and Richie Murphy led 3-2 on 5 ends against Dave Greaney, C. Murphy, Darren Hobbs and Joe Nicholls. The score was locked at 8-8 on 10 ends before the keys picked up a 3 on the 11th end and a 6 on the 13th end to eventually win 11-20.

On rink 5 the Pontymister rink of Richard Beaugie, Sean Kenvyn, Jason Webb, and Graham Smith were all square at 4-4 with A. Williams, K Edwards, Tony Brown and Paul Watkins before the Keys rink moved ahead 5-12 on 10 ends, it was 10-18 on 15 ends before Crosskeys closed the game out 11-21. 

Crosskeys were far too strong for the Mister Men on this occasion and the highlight of the evening from a Pontymister perspective were the delicious hot dogs served by Chairman Andrew Goodwin after the game.

We wish our friends from Crosskeys all the very best for the season, you’re going to take some stopping this season lads!

For the mister men, we must now concentrate on 2 important games this weekend, Caerleon away in the Carruthers Shield, and Caldicot home in the GBL. (PS – Thanks to Crosskeys for agreeing a 2 rink friendly at home on Saturday at very short notice).

Onwards & upwards!

On a warm, sunny day at Fields Road, we welcomed Beechwood Park for this 3 rink friendly match. What should have been a very enjoyable afternoon for everyone was marred by an accident early on in the game when one of the Beechwood ladies had a nasty fall and had to go to hospital for treatment. We extend to Eileen Kempster our very best wishes for a full recovery. 

On rink 2, Phil Huntley making his first Saturday start of the season, Richie Jones, Jason Webb, and Jack Collier narrowly led the Beechwood rink of S. Williams, R. Kirkland, D. Murphy and J. Mundy 4-3 after 5 ends before increasing their advantage to 12-3 on 10 ends. Beechwood staged a mini comeback to trail 15-7 on 15 ends but the mister men won the last 3 ends to finish 18-7 winners.

On rink 3, the combination of Martyn (spanner) Watkins, Ian Holder, Allan Taylor, and no nonsense South African Skipper Tom Guy, were involved in a close game with P. Norris, B. Moss, R. Davis and E. Kempster. Following Eileen’s very unfortunate accident Pontymister’s Sean Kenvyn very kindly replaced her. The scoreline (not that it mattered at all) was 20-16 to the mister men.

On rink 4 the home rink of Dennis Lewis, Jamie Roberts, Jason Bradshaw and Ian Collier had a very tight battle with J. Miller, L. Hyde, N. Holyoake, and T. Allcock (no relation?), leading 6-2 on 5 ends, 8-6 on 10 ends, trailing 9-14 on 14 ends before picking up a couple of counts to eventually finish 18-14 winners.

Whilst the game was enjoyable, our thoughts were and continue to be with Eileen, we once again wish her a full recovery and hope Beechwood have a successful season. 

On a gloriously sunny Spring afternoon, the mister men hit the road again for the potentially dangerous Carruthers Shield game at 4th division Panteg Park. The last time the club played at this venue was in 2002, so this was a new experience for many of our players. Panteg Park are a well organised, good club who always are well turned out and their green played very well. 

The mister men started very well, racing into a 10 shot lead  across the board after the first end. The Athletic were 25 shots up after 10 ends, 40 shots to the good after 15 ends and eventually run out winners 54-122.

Top rink for the mister men was the four of young Ethan Simmonds, experienced campaigner Keith Richards, the evergreen Roger Simms and the dependable Roger Venn who trailed 6-5 after 8 ends against “The Park’s” S. Vaughn, C. Bryant, greenkeeper Paul Grey, and M. Bird,  but rallied soon after picking up a succession of counts to take firm control of the game and eventually winning convincingly 10-34. 

Next door, the Pontymister rink of Captain Supremo Chris Beale, hard hitting Scotchman Ken McKinnon, Dave Hill fresh from his holidays, and club Chairman Andrew Goodwin were always in control against P. Eastman, B. Roberts, A. Winstone and V. Jones, leading narrowly 11-14 at the midway point, but increasing that to  12-23 at 15 ends before running out winners 16-27.

On rink 2 Chris Simmonds, Sid Phillips, Andy Elias and the shy, retiring Ronnie “the rocket” Morgan blasted off to an 0-8 lead against the Panteg Park rink of B. Porter, C. Guinne, L. Jones and G. Herbert after 5 ends, before the “park” staged something of a mini comeback to trail only 7-12 after 10 ends. After this point though the mister men shifted into warp factor 4 eventually landing as 13-29 victors.

On rink 1, Pontymister’s Dave Bowd, Graham Smith, Richie Murphy and Nick Harris started well with a 2 and a 3, but then dropped two consecutive counts against G. Collins, W. Evans, Duncan Lewis and Terry Casa to trail 9-6 on 5 ends, the mister men began to gain the upper hand & led 10-17 after 10 ends, with the Panteg men narrowing the scoreline to 14-19 on 15 ends before the Athletic won 5 of the last 6 ends to run out 15-32 winners.

The match was played in a very sporting, friendly but competitive manner throughout and afterwards a very pleasant hour was spent with our hosts who provided us with a very tasty buffet and cold drinks.

We thank Panteg Park for their warm hospitality and wish them a very successful season.

Next up in this year’s Carruthers Shield adventure is another away tie at Caerleon next Saturday 18th May. 

Following the previous Wednesday’s deluge at Oakdale when a snorkel and flippers would have been the most appropriate dress code, it was a welcome relief to be in shirt sleeves and shorts on the hottest day of the year so far for our short trip up the valley to do battle with our friends at Ynysddu in the South Mon League.

Ynysddu are a very competitive club and our matches against them are normally close and this proved the case once again, with Ynysddu leading by 5 shots on 5 ends,  the Athletic leading by 2 shots on 10 ends, the game being all square on 15 ends before the mister men rallied in the final 3 ends to secure an 11 shot victory 61-50 taking 11 points to Ynysddu’s 3 points.

The green played well and the pace was good.  It was a perfect Spring evening for a game of bowls, and the atmosphere across all four rinks was competitive but also convivial.

On rink 1 the “Athletic” (not meant as a descriptive adjective) foursome of David Bowd, John Sheldon, Jack Collier, and Richie Murphy were 6-1 down on 5 ends to Ynysddu’s J. Helmore, Callum, B. Warwick and Mark Warwick before winning 10 of the next 13 ends to run out 10-15 winners.

On rink 4, the mister men’s rink consisting of the versatile all rounder Malcolm Goldie, no-nonsense Scotchman Ken McKinnon, South Mon Team Manager  Andy Elias and Club Chairman Andrew Goodwin were locked into a very tight game with J. Smith, W. Davies, A. Bartlett, and Roger Williams with the score level at 9-9 on 10 ends. Unfortunately, the Pontymister men couldn’t sustain their form in the second half of the match with the home four  taking control with counts of 3, 4, and another 3 to finish 21-13 winners.

On rink 5 the mister men rink of Richard Beaugie, Keith Richards, Graham Smith and veteran campaigner Roger Simms were involved in another epic struggle with the Ynysddu foursome of J. Jones, C. Coombs, I. Bartlett, and M. Cublly. On 5 ends Pontymister led 2-5, on 10 ends it was 3-9, before Ynysddu won 5 ends on the trot to edge ahead 11-9 on the 15th end. Pontymister  picked up a 2, and a single on the 16th and 17th ends respectively before Ynysddu pinched a single on the last for a 12-12 draw.

On rink 6, folk music enthusiast Mike Lyons, “Owls” enthusiast Jamie Roberts, captain marvel Chris Beale and tropical traveller Nick Harris  began with two singles against the rink of A. Harrhy, Ben Helmore, Eliott Bartlett and Dave Thomas  but then lost 4 ends on the trot to trail 5-2 after 6 ends. After this point though the mister men clicked into gear and began mastering the short to three quarter lengths, with Mike Lyons providing a solid platform, Jamie Roberts playing some telling bowls, and the back end pairing adding shots or converting heads when called upon. With only a handful of shots in the game overall, the mister men picked up a 4 on the 17th end and a single on the last to end up 7-21 winners.

Afterwards everyone enjoyed a very tasty buffet and liquid refreshments in the pavilion, it was a perfect ending to a very enjoyable evening. Our thanks go to our friends from Ynysddu, we wish them a very successful season and look forward to the return fixture later in the year.