WESTLECOT men completed a superb 48-hour double, defeating West Berks 32-31 in their fifth round tie in the national men’s O60 double rinks competition having earlier beaten Chipping Norton 107-55 in their latest and East region match in the Wessex League.

The senior men’s double rinks game with West Berks was expected to be a tight affair and that was how it turned out, with the rink of Kevin Embling, Geoff Smith, Dave Snell and Mel Biggs winning at home 18-11, while away in Newbury, the foursome of Denis Holborow, John Wilson, John Thomas and Terry Walton lost 20-13.

Those results meant the two sides were tied 31-31 overall after the regulation 18 ends at both venues and an extra end was needed to separate them.

Up stepped Walton’s rink in Newbury where the extra end was deemed to be played to win a 19th and deciding end with a single as skip Walton became the toast of Westlecot, drawing a shot with the last wood of the match to seal a hard-fought victory.

Across the board Westlecot led 8-7 after five ends but were 23-15down overall after 10 and 29-23 down at 15. However, a splendid run at home by Biggs’ rink from 10-8 down at 12 ends saw them score 10 shots and only concede a single helped secure the overall tie.

Westlecot now face Plymouth A, who beat Moonfleet (Weymouth) 32-27, in the quarter-finals on March 6 at a neutral venue.

  • WESTLECOT men stayed on course for a top two finish in the East section of the Wessex League and an automatic place in the end-of-season play-offs with an emphatic 107-55 win over Chipping Norton last Sunday.

They took the honours on three of the four rinks to collect 14 of the 16 points on offer to lie joint second in the table on 86 points alongside Carterton but 24 points adrift of runaway leaders Loddon Vale (Basingstoke).

The foundations for Westlecot’s big win were laid at home on the green of the Old Town club. Tom Pittuck’s rink romped to a comprehensive 41-3 victory, while Mike Titcombe’s quartet won their match impressively 29-13.

This massive 70-16 home advantage easily compensated for the six shots loss in Chippy by John Thomas’ four, although Chris Cheesley’s quartet did win their game by four shots to claim two more points.

Overall, Westlecot were 26-11 up after five ends and 49-27 at 10. From there, they powered away to lead 73-40 at 15 and 90-48 at 18 before finally winning 107-55 to greatly boost their shots difference.

Both Westlecot and Swindon Manor contest matches in the East region on Sunday.

Manor face Oxford City and County, while Westlecot meet Banbury both in vital matches for the clubs but for different reasons.

Manor will be playing their final match of the season, seeking a victory to enable them to finish on a high and record their third win and surpass last season’s all-time high of three wins and 53 points - their best since switching from the Oasis Leisure Centre to their new home in Rodbourne Cheney.

Currently, Manor have won two games and accumulated 46 points so any overall shots win over Oxford will guarantee at least eight points and beat last season’s performance.

Meanwhile, Westlecot need as many points as possible from their penultimate game against bottom-of-the-table Banbury to ease the pressure next week in their crucial final game of the season when they face Carterton.

Currently, Westlecot and Carterton are locked on 86 points but Westlecot have a game in hand.

However, Carterton have a superior shots difference, therefore a big win over Banbury could see Westlecot virtually clinch second spot behind Loddon Vale prior to next week’s scheduled game between the two clubs.