NORTH Wilts ladies are still actively involved in one national team competition – the Mason Trophy, O60s ladies double rink competition.

They were thwarted a fortnight ago in their bid to book a place in the quarter-finals when the scheduled match against Thornbury was called off.

The fifth-round tie has been re-arranged for Friday, with one rink being played at home at Westcroft (Chippenham) and the other away at the South Gloucestershire indoor club.

To date, North Wilts A side have won four games, beating Purnell (Paulton) 42-26, Clevedon 49-31 and Christie Miller 53-29.

Then in round four, they eliminated Taunton Deane after a comfortable 41-22 victory which saw them take the honours on both rinks at home and away.

The selection committee had opted originally for the same eight players again but Ann Roberts-Phare is unavailable for the change in dates, so is replaced by Viv Baskerville who played in a couple of the earlier rounds.

She comes in at two in Jean Collier’s rink, with Jane Taylor switching over to number two in place of Roberts-Phare in Alex Jacobs’ rink.

Despite all of their success in national championship and team events since the turn of the century, North Wilts have not reached the quarter-finals in the Mason Trophy before.

  • PLACES at the two blocks of national championships at the end of this month and early in April at Melton & District and Nottingham are nearing completion.

In the main championship events for both men and women in Area 16 that incorporates North Wilts, Christie Miller and Clarrie Dunbar plus North Somerset, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, several local players have endured mixed fortunes.

Alex Jacobs (North Wilts) lost in the singles final, going down to Clarrie Dunbar’s Teresa King 21-11, with King gaining revenge for a narrow 21-18 loss to Jacobs in the quarter-finals of the O60s singles.

North Wilts duo Ann Roberts-Phare and Fizz Mace lost in the pairs final to Clevedon, while Clarrie trio Thelma Bailey, Debbie Shadwell and Jeanette Wheeler went down 20-12 to MidGlos, skipped by Pauline Gunn, in the triples final.

Thelma Bailey lost to Margaret Dyer 18-21 in the new two-bowl singles at Bristol in the final at the weekend.

In the age groups, North Wilts star Jacobs faces Malvern Hills’ Julie Morgan in the O60s singles final at Cotswold (Stroud) on Sunday, bidding for a last 16 place at Nottingham.

Also hunting at Nottingham will be Sue Bird and Jeanette Wheeler (Clarrie Dunbar, who play this week against Pamela Harris and her Malvern Hills partner in the O60s pairs final.

In the men’s section, Clarrie’s Graham Shadwell is through to the last 16 at Melton & District in two championship events – singles and pairs.

He booked his Melton spots when defeating Moonfleet, Weymouth’s Darren Nutman 21-16 in the inter-area singles final at Street, and 24 hours later at the same venue, combined with Russell Francis to beat Weymouth’s Doug Rumbell and Martin Puckett comfortably 21-11 in the inter-area pairs final.

Shadwell bids for a hat-trick of Melton last 16 places when he links again with Francis and Craig Hadfield-Doughty to face a trio from St Andrews (Weston-super-Mare) of Lee and Sam Stocker plus Craig Walker in the inter-area final of the triples at Street on Saturday.

In the other area 16 men’s finals, Malvern Hills players reigned supreme.