Back-to-back Castlefields wins sets up key clash
Two victories in 48 hours put Castlefields on the coat-tails of Sir John Bayley ahead of a key week in the thrilling battle atop the Shropshire Premier Bowls League.
Castlefields trail rivals Bayley by just a single point ahead of Friday’s crunch clash between the two after an impressive derby win on the road at Shrewsbury rivals Hanwood last Wednesday.
And Fields followed that up with a home success over Wrockwardine Wood while Bayley, themselves home winners on Wednesday, fell to defeat on the road at St Georges two days later.
Castlefields saw off county town rivals Hanwood 8-4 (228-195 aggregate) to pocket two extra winning bonus points for a success away from home.
And then came Friday’s 8-4 success over reigning champions and third-placed Wrockwardine, courtesy of a 226-194 aggregate.
Graham Wall’s 21-7 success over Steve Broome was a key contributor for the Shrewsbury side.
Bayley followed up a midweek 8-4 success over Highley with a narrow 7-5 (208-205) defeat at St Georges.
Cody Everitt saw off Kane Beaman 21-11 for the hosts’ best result. Bayley now lead the overall standings on 144 points, by a single point from Castlefields.
The pair do battle in Bayley’s Wellington base on Friday evening.
It was a positive week for St Georges, who are up to fourth after that win over Bayley followed up another home success, over Burway via eight games to four (230-199).
Ifton are sixth after a comfortable 8-4 win over fourth-bottom Burway. Ifton, along with Chester Road, were not in action on Wednesday but a 236-170 success over Burway came with impressive wins for Nicky Jones (21-3 over Jesse James) and Keiron Roberts (21-5 over Duncan Pressley).
Chester Road won their sole fixture on Friday by seeing off Hanmer 8-4 (223-189). It was successive defeats for Hanmer, who were also beaten convincingly at Bylet.
Bylet put distance between themselves and bottom two Adderley and Wem USC by seeing off Hanmer and then Adderley 10-2 (240-182) in a crucial relegation clash.
Meole Brace lost 10-2 at Highley in a mid-table affair having beaten bottom side Wem 10-2 previously. Wem then picked up a useful 7-5 (207-194) win over Hanwood on Friday.