SWINDON MANOR Ladies face a tough task today as they play top Midlands side Avon Valley (Lighthorne) in the third round of the Yetton Plate - the ladies inter-club knockout competition.

Manor lost in the Yetton Trophy at the first stage, going down 92-78 to local rivals Westlecot, but were automatically entered in the consolation Plate and have grabbed their second chance with both hands.

Fortune has been on their side, with a first-round bye before their round two opponents Fairford pulled out.

For many of the Manor ladies, playing in the last 32 of national indoor team competition will be a new experience but the likes of Jean Bird, Maureen Rogers and Doris Woodley have been there before and were members of Westlecot’s national winning side in the Mason Trophy (Over 60s Ladies Double Rinks) a few years ago.

  • WESTLECOT’S hopes of success in a national indoor inter-club team competition this season were finally ended this week.

The men - the only team left standing in the Over 60s Double Rinks - were beaten by 17 shots in their fifth round tie against Bristol on Thursday.

The Old Town club led 12-9 after five ends across the board but trailed 23-18 at 10. From then on, they were playing catch-up and finally lost 49-32.

At home, the rink of Kevin Embling, Geoff Smith, Terry Walton and skip Dave Snell made a good start but were eventually beaten 25-20 by Bristol’s Eric Seavill.

Away at Ashton Vale in Bristol, the foursome of Denis Holborow, Tony Rivers, Dave Matthews and John Thomas went down 24-12 to John Horsted’s quartet.

  • THE LADIES at Westlecot have enjoyed success over the past week in national championship and competition events in Area 10.

Wendy Anderson and Janet Willis are through to the inter-area final in the ladies Over 60s pairs after a last-gasp 19-18 victory over Sandra Hambidge and Pauline Gunn (MidGlos) in Wednesday’s Area 10 final.

They were tied 18-18 after the regulation 21 ends but snatched victory on the extra end.

The duo, together with Josie Lloyd, have also qualified for the inter-area final against the Area 9 winners in the Over 50s two-wood triples.

Lloyd, Anderson and Willis will be hoping to make it a hat-trick of inter-area finals as they play in the Area 10 final of the triples against the Malvern Hills trio of Amy Richards, Eira Drake and Pam Harris next Tuesday at home.

Katy and Lucy Smith have reached the Area 10 final of the pairs in the national championships. The sisters combined for a comfortable 21-6 semi-final victory over Cotswold's duo of Deborah Hurlford and Avril Hole.

Meanwhile, in the showdown between the sisters in the Area 10 singles semi-final, Katy took the honours 21-11 to book a place in the final against either Amy Richards (Malvern Hills) or Gill Fry (MidGlos).

Katy, together with her father Neil, will be seeking another area mixed title, after winning the mixed fours a fortnight ago, when they go in the Area 10 mixed pairs final tomorrow at Westlecot.

The men’s national championships and competitions are not as advanced as the ladies section.

However, Terry Walton, Dave Snell and Mel Biggs won the Area 10 final 17-15 in the Over 50s triples after a tight match against the triple of Brian Macnamara, Jim Knowles and Neil Smith, from Malvern Hills, on Wednesday. They are into in the inter-area final against the Area 15 winners.