Heywood and Hawkeridge win county crown

8:15am Sunday 27th April 2008

Heywood and Hawkeridge are the new Wiltshire short mat bowls winter league champions.

Throughout the winter season 19 teams formed three leagues, northern, central and southern, with the winners and runners-up going forward to the play-offs at the North Wilts Indoor Bowls Centre to decide the county club champions for the 2007/08 winter season.

Melksham and Shaw won the northern league, with Seend the runners-up; Heywood and Hawkeridge won the central league, with Westbury Blue Circle the runners-up and in the southern group the winners were Durrington with Dinton Sharks the runners-up.

On completion of the first two games at the finals, Melksham and Shaw and Westbury Blue Circle were out in front both with six points having dropped one game each, closely followed by Seend with four points.

The surprise result was Westbury going down to Heywood and Hawkeridge. The final game before lunch also saw Westbury Blue Circle B drop a game to Melksham and Shaw B.

After lunch the fourth games saw Seend and Westbury Blue Circle maintain their winning ways but surprisingly Melksham and Shaw went down to Heywood and Hawkeridge B.

Going into the fifth and final games the situation was that assuming Heywood and Hawkeridge won all their games Westbury Blue Circle required three points out of a possible four to guarantee top spot.

Heywood and Hawkeridge A and B teams won both their fifth games with Seend and Westbury Blue Circle A and B teams playing each other.

Westbury A won their game and with the very last game still ongoing would decide the final result.

It turned out to be a cliff-hanger, Seend B taking the honours with the final wood deciding not only the result of the game but of the whole day's competition.

The final overall result was: 1st Heywood and Hawkeridge 15 points, 2nd Westbury Blue Circle 14, 3rd Seend 12 points (beating Melksham and Shaw by two shots).