NORTH Wilts men came from seven shots down at halfway to win a closely-fought local derby against Christie Miller by two shots in the latest round of matches in the central region of the Wessex League.

The Chippenham side were 20-16 down across the board at five ends and 34-27 down at nine but had turned matters around by end 15 to edge ahead by three shots overall 54-51 on Sunday.

From then on it was nip and tuck with overall scores level 56-56 after 16 ends with North Wilts edging ahead 61-58 at 17 and finally winning 63-61 after the allotted 18 ends.

Rink honours were shared 2-2 with the quartets skipped by Richard Gainey (seven shots) and Dave Williams (one shot on last end) producing the victories to compensate for Trevor Cooke’s four shots loss and Maurice Byron’s two shot reverse.

North Wilts pocketed 12 of the 16 points on offer to move up into fourth spot in the table just a point behind Thornbury and six clear of Christie Miller and are back in Wessex League central section action again on January 22 when they face basement club Nailsea.

RESULTS

Home - Rink 5: Chris Farrell, Ian Bristow, Barry Freeman & Trevor Cooke lost to Chris Easton, Dale Hayward, Nigel Price & Paul Macdonald 16-20. Rink 6: Gerry Tinson, Alan Greenland, Alan Small & Richard Gainey beat John Bailey, Malcolm Hole, Richard Buckland & John Crowder 18-11.

Away - Rink 3: Don French, Eddie Haslop, Mike Pickering & Maurice Byron lost to Jordan and Chris Moore, Dave Laws & Andy Moore 13-15. Rink 4: Richard Ellis, Pete Sanders, Andy Bradfield & Dave Williams beat Rod Summers, David Hayward, Paul Barnes & Darren Anteney 16-15.

Score: North Wilts beat Christie Miller 63-61 and by 12pts to 4.

NEXT FIXTURES

Sunday January 15: Bristol v Christie Miller.

Sunday January 22: Thornbury v Bristol; Nailsea v North Wilts; Clarrie Dunbar v Christie Miller.

WILTSHIRE bowlers suffered a trio of round two disappointments last weekend, crashing out of all of the inter-county championship events at the last 16 stage.

The ladies lost at home at North Wilts to Dorset 111-91 in the Atherley Trophy while the men fared no better, also on Saturday, losing narrowly away to Gloucestershire at Cotswold (Stroud) 100-98 in Liberty Trophy.

To complete the unwanted treble on Sunday Wiltshire’s junior men’s side went down 33-29 to Dorset at Dolphin (Poole) in the U25 inter-county double rinks championships.

County ladies were tied overall 26-26 after five ends and were only 61-51 down at ten but had cut the gap to only seven shots at 15 when trailing 88-81.

However, visitors Dorset produced a strong finish 23 shots to 10 to win 111-91 overall after the allotted 18 ends.

Wiltshire did share the rink honours 3-3 with victories from Fizz Mace, Sheila Garlick and Alex Jacobs rinks but two heavy defeats for Jean Collier and Irene Button’s rinks cost Wiltshire dearly in the final analysis.

RESULT

Wiltshire Ladies v Dorset (at North Wilts) Rink 1: Ann Roberts-Phare, Lyn Brown, Wendy Ivory & Alex Jacobs (all North Wilts) beat Lyn Howard 19-17. Rink 2: Eileen Hawker (Christie Miller), Lynne Stanford (Five Rivers, Salisbury), Bev Lilley & Sheila Garlick (both CM) beat Julie Leake 20-11. Rink 3: Carol Massey (NW), Judy Hallard (Swindon Westlecot), Joan Coleman (FR) & Sue Cooke (NW) lost to Joan Halliwell 15-18. Rink 4: Julia Hunt (W), Karen Funnell, Jane Taylor & Jean Collier (all NW) lost to Sue Dadson 6-27. Rink 5: June Coyle, Jan Tombs (both NW), Wendy Anderson (W) & Fizz Mace (NW) beat F Yates 24-13. Rink 6: Yvonne Savin (CM), Linda Perfitt (W), Janice Rowe (FR) & Irene Button (NW) lost to Penny Cresswell 7-25.

Score: Wiltshire lostto Dorset 91-111.

THE county men went down on successive days in their inter-county matches in the Liberty Trophy and U25 double rinks.

The senior men’s side lost narrowly to Gloucestershire on Saturday 100-98 despite drawing on the rinks 3-3 in their second round (last 16) tie.

Wiltshire made a good start and led 39-32 at five ends but were 60-55 down at nine ends but could not close the gap completely after that.

They were 90-84 down at 15 ends and cut the gap to only 92-89 on the next but at 18 finally lost 100-98 despite a tremendous battle.

The rinks skipped by Andy Moore (14 shots), Mike Titcombe (5) and Ian Jefferies (4) were all successful but the 12 and 11 shots losses suffered by Tom Warner and Neil Smith’s rink were decisive in the final analysis. It was these two rinks who had recorded the biggest wins in the previous round against Berkshire.

Twenty-four hours later on Sunday the junior men’s side bowed out of the inter- county Under 25 double rinks competition when losing 33-29 against Dorset away at Dolphin IBC (Poole).

They trailed across the board for practically the whole of the match.

Wiltshire U25s were 12-7 down at five ends and 20-13 at nine but pulled back to only 26-25 down at 15 and moved ahead 28-26 on the next.

But their hopes of a fine recovery and victory were wrecked on the 17th and penultimate end when they dropped six shots to trail 32-28 and finally went down 33-29.

RESULTS

Wiltshire v Gloucestershire at Cotswold (skips only) Rink 1: Neil Smith lost to Nathan Kitchen 9-20. Rink 2: Andy Moore beat Keith Hinder 19-5. Rink 3: Tom Warner lost to Ben Coldrick 12-24. Rink 4: Mike Titcombe beat J Tombs 20-15. Rink 5: Ian Jefferies beat Mike Prosser 21-17. Rink 6: Wayne Snook lost to Alan Tregoning 17-19.

Score: Wiltshire men lost to Gloucestershire 98-100.

Wiltshire U25 men v Dorset at Dolphin, Rink 6: Jordan Moody, Ashley Peach, Craig Hatherall & David Leighfield beat George Spracklen 20-10. Rink 5: Tom Newman, James Richman, Craig Morphet & Mike Titcombe lost to Martin Puckett 9-23.

Score: Wiltshire U25s lost to Dorset 29-33.