SPENCER Melksham and Box trios have reached the ladies county triples final and also booked a place in the 2018 national championships at Royal Leamington Spa at the beginning of August.

The two clubs were successful in the quarter and semi-finals of the Wiltshire ladies triples competition staged at Box last Saturday.

Melksham caused a big surprise as they knocked out reigning champions Purton in the semis.

In the top half of the draw, the Melksham trio of Jenny Couch, Marilyn Jay and Delia Godwin beat Royal Wootton Bassett’s Barbara Twine, Ginny Nash and Lucy Smith 17-13 in the quarter-finals.

They made a fine start, leading 9-0 after five ends and 13-5 after nine, but were pulled right back to 14-13 at 17 ends before finishing with a flourish to seal a 17-13 win.

Meanwhile, Purton led Chippenham Town 14-4 after 10 ends only to be hauled back to 16-13 at the finish in their quarter-final.

However, when Purton and Melksham met in the semis, there was a big shock on the cards.

Godwin’s trio led 5-1 at five ends and 10-6 at 11, but were pulled back to 14-14 at 16. However, the Spencer ladies held their nerve to score a four on the 17th to lead 18-14 and only drop a two on the last end to claim a 18-16 success and reach the county triples final and secure a spot at Leamington to represent Wiltshire.

In the bottom half of the triples draw, Box blasted Bradford-on-Avon 26-1 in the quarter-finals, with the concession coming after only 10 of the 18 ends had been played to reach the semi-finals and a meeting with Highworth, who had beaten Wilton in the quarters 20-16.

The Box trio of Debbie Shadwell, Sue Cooke and Alex Jacobs were pushed all the way in the semis and were 10-0 down after seven ends.

But they battled back to wipe out the deficit over the next eight ends to lead 13-10 after 15 ends.

Highworth rallied with a single and a two on ends 16 and 17 to level at 13-13 and set-up a last-end decider, which Box took with a count of two for a 15-13 victory to claim a hard fought place in the county triples final and a place in the national triples at Leamington.

The attention now turns on Friday and two days next week to the county ladies pairs championship at various venues around Wiltshire.

  • THIS season, Wiltshire Ladies will play again in a four-county group in the West section A of the Johns Trophy, inter-county championship.

They will face both Dorset and Cornwall away before ending the group stages with a home match against Somerset at Devizes on July 7.

Only the group winner will then progress to the quarter-finals.

Wiltshire begin by travelling over the border for their opening match against neighbours Dorset at Sherborne on Saturday.

They follow this up with another away match this time against Cornwall at the neutral venue of Tiverton West End on June 23.

The Moonrakers end their group matches with a home game against Somerset at Devizes on July 7.