The weekend of Bowling kicked off early on Friday evening, 3rd July, when Dinas entertained their nearest, and dearest rivals The Murch, in the hugely prestigious 'Village Cup'. It was great to see six full mixed rinks of bowlers enjoying a hugely enjoyable match, played out in a very friendly and sporting manner. As for the result, well Dinas came out on top, ahead in four of the six rinks, with one drawn, and were able to retain both the Cup itself and 'bragging' rights, at least until next season!!.
After the match all the players indulged themselves in a sumptuous buffet and marvellous company of friends both old and new to reflect on a super evening of bowls for the village.
On Saturday 4th July the Dinas 1st team took on the more serious challenge of a tough looking Carruthers Shield 2nd round trip to Skewen, who were clearly 'up' for the tie. On a fast and tricky surface it was perhaps not surprising that the home team started well, and after seven ends they held a very slender lead at 25-24. At this stage Chris Blake's rink was up by eight, with Alex Meddins trailing by the same amount.
By now however Dinas were getting to grips with the green and over the middle seven ends began to exert a measure of authority on the game, scoring 34 shots to the home sides 18 as they established a 15 shot advantage, with Meddins' rink fighting back to take a one shot lead and Ritchie Janes' four also moving seven ahead.
At this stage the very strong and experienced Dinas quartet of Matt Gershenson, Andrew Harvey, Clive Todd and Alex Meddins went into overdrive, outscoring their beleaguered opponents to register 20 shots to 2 over the final seven ends to complete a fine 35-16 victory.
Indeed this was to be the bedrock of a very solid 32 shot, 96-64 win for the villagers with Chris Blake's and Ritchie Janes' rinks also winning, by nine and seven respectively. Mike Ackland's rink battled through a very closely contested affair, before going down by two shots, but by then the victory had already been secured.
The victory sets up a last 16 away tie against Old Landorians, with the game to be played on Saturday 18th July.
D.Parker, C.Parsons, A.Hodges, C.Blake (26-17) M.Gershenson, A.Harvey, C.Todd, A.Meddins (35-16) J.Coles, D.Vowles, M.Edwards, R.Janes (18-12) J.Ackland, T.Hurcom, G.Griffiths, M.Ackland (17-19)
To round off a hugely successful weekend the 'A' team, after a three week break, continued their unbeaten start to the PG2 season with a 90-78,10 point home victory over Guest Memorial, to notch their 5th straight win.
A super 32-8 win for Neil Giles' rink proved to be the decisive score of the afternoon, with all four on the rink playing their part in an excellent victory.
D.James, J.Follon, M.Seaford, N.Giles (32-8) M.Diment, B.Harris, D.Ireland, A.Jones (23-18) G.Leach, R.Diment, G.White, P.Marks (19-25) T.Gittins, H.Lamont, C.Bates, C.Scott (16-27)