A HOT-SHOT is the ultimate score on an end in a bowls match and is an extreme rarity, but Highworth men achieved this twice recently on successive evenings in the Wiltshire League.

The eight-shot maximum score in a rinks match (foursomes) or nine shots in a triples game is the equivalent of a 501 nine-darter in darts, a hole-in-one in golf or a 147 in snooker.

Highworth’s first hot-shot came when they were playing away at Town Gardens. After a slow but steady start the quartet (rink) of Rob Allen, Ian Thomas, Barry Ayres and Paul Stokes hit the jackpot with a maximum count of eight shots on the 16th end.

Their final score of 29-17 was an invaluable contribution to an overall hard-fought 83-73 win.

The celebrations were hardly over when 24 hours later Highworth were again in action, but at home this time to County Ground.

On the 21st and final end of their match, the rink of Rob Etherington, Gordon Pearce, Maurice Stratford and Steve Taylor also recorded a hot-shot.

This put the seal on a big win over County Ground and netted Highworth a further 14 points.

After winning the 2010 Swindon and District Four-Rink Evening League for the first time, the Highworth club set their sights on the Wiltshire Four-Rink League this year.

They are riding high and currently locked in a battle with Swindon and West End for top spot in Wiltshire Area A.

Swindon have finished their matches and are eight points clear at the top. However, if Highworth win their outstanding match against West End they would collect eight points and head the table.

The top two clubs in each of the four areas in the Wilts League then contest the play-off starting at the end of August.

To make the play-offs would be apt as Highworth Bowls Club is celebrating its 75th season of lawn bowling this year.

The club was established in 1936, when Highworth Parish Council agreed to allow the new Bowls Club to use a piece of land in the recreation ground, an area that eventually became tennis courts.

The newly-formed club settled on a fee of one penny per player per game, and continued to play on the recreation ground until 1950, when they acquired their own site on Swindon Road, where they still bowl today.

To celebrate their 75th anniversary Highworth have played several special matches in 2011.

They recently entertained a Bowls Wiltshire mixed team on their own green and won on three of the five rinks to secure a narrow six-shot victory.

And this coming Sunday, August 7 (2pm), they will stage a prestigious fixture when they entertain the Barbarians Bowls Association.