Wealden bowlers beaten

With ex-England player Lee Shoobridge and two current under-25 internationals in their team Swale were always going to be difficult to beat but Wealden more than held their own for three-quarters of the game.

The away rink skipped by Alex Parsons had a rip-roaring start, putting 11 shots on the board before their opponents scored. With the two home rinks led by Ivan Parsons and Chris Thomas locked in close struggles the early stages of the game were just in Wealden's favour.

However, gradually the losing Swale home rink made a spirited recovery to pull themselves back into the game and with their second rink piling on the shots the balance of the match began to move away from Wealden.

At the three-quarter stage the match could have gone either way, but the closing ends mainly favoured Swale as they just edged the two Wealden home rinks by two and four shots respectively.

Wealden's lone winning rink, the four led by Alex Parsons, had to fight all the way for their win as they eventually clinched a one-shot victory on the last end, but with Swale pulling further away in the remaining game the match became well beyond Wealden's reach.

The cup run will give the men every encouragement for the remaining league games and they have now leapfrogged over Denton Island into second place place.

Wealden 59 Swale 88

Home: Ivan Parsons 12 L Shoobridge 16, Chris Thomas 15 P Barricott 17. Away: Alex Parsons 23 C Hall 22, Ralph Steele 9 M Johnson 33.