Millwood win Munro Cup (From Barry And District News)

Millwood win Munro Cup

THE EAGERLY anticipated clash between Millwood BC and Dinas Powys took place at the Millwood green last Wednesday.

The two sides were the only teams able to win the Munro Cup with Millwood only needing six points and Dinas needing to win the match to stand any chance.

It was quite obvious that Dinas Powys had come to win the cup and they fielded a very strong side, as expected, with Jeff Wright, Peter Critcher, Len Webley and Clive Todd making four very experienced skips.

Millwood were in no way in awe of such company and were equally determined to win the cup for the first time in Millwood's short history.

They started brilliantly, with the Kenny Williams rink racing into a 9 shot lead after the first three ends. The Dinas rink were still shocked after Millwood picked up five shots on the 13th end when they were 19-6 ahead.

Millwood then proceeded to ram home their advantage, and they won four of the last five ends to win most handsomely by 28 shots to 8, with Roger Jones and Ernie Collier in particular outplaying the Dinas front pair.

George Hindmarsh's rink found it very hard going with Peter Critcher at skip for Dinas making a rare appearance in the Munro Cup and proving a real handful and ensuring his rink were going to give their team mates every chance of a win.

Millwood were always in arrears, losing 6-1 after six ends, then 14-3 after 11 ends. They did make something of an effort to get back into the match when they won three of the last five ends, but still went down by 10 shots, 22-12.

However Millwood still had a healthy overall lead from Kenny Williams's rink and this was the signal for Graham Brown's rink to press home the advantage (and boy did they do just that) although in the very early stages they were 4-3 behind and after seven ends were 6-4 behind.

Amazingly after they lost the 7th end, Brown's rink won the remaining 11 ends, picking up six shots on the 10th end, three shots on the 15th to lead 24-6 and a four and a two on the final two ends to complete a resounding victory by 31 shots to six with Brown delighted to put one over his old adversary Len Webley.

This brilliant rink score put Millwood in an almost unbeatable position as they were more than 30 shots in the lead overall and it would have taken an absolute catastrophic defeat on the Fred Phillips rink if Millwood were to lose from this commanding position.

This rink saw a very close contest once again, with Phillips up against a very good bowler in Clive Todd. The Millwood rink were well aware that victory was assured for Millwood if they kept their rink tight, and after six ends they were only two shots adrift at 7-5.

They pulled that score back to 11-10 after nine ends but they found themselves dropping a three and two singles to be 16-10 in arrears. But then a magnificent 13th end saw then pick up seven shots to lead 17-16.

Back came Todd's rink with a two and a single to lead 19-17 with just three ends remaining. Into the 16th end with the light fading badly, Millwood picked up three shots to go back into the lead 20-19.

Then with Dinas holding a big count, Colin James, the Millwood third, drove the jack off the rink to save and the end had to be replayed in semi darkness.

As it happened Dinas made the best use of fading light and picked up a four on the penultimate end to regain the lead 23-20. Millwood picked up a single on the final end to lose 23-21 but safe in the knowledge that the huge wins by Kenny Williams and Graham Brown meant there was no danger of defeat with Millwood scoring 92 shots against 59 to Dinas, an emphatic victory by the Millwood team by 33 shots, a wonderful effort.

It is fair to say Millwood thoroughly deserved to win this match as they outplayed Dinas on the night and also throughout the Munro Cup Competition as Millwood have tasted defeat only twice in a total of 14 matches, one of these defeats coming in the very first Munro match back in May.

The only other defeat acted as a wake up call when they lost badly at BP. At the start of the Munro competition the selection committee decided "if the club was going to be in it, let's go out and try to win it." This they did in great style, recorded some excellent wins including taking 13 points on the artificial surface at Cambridge and taking 11 points off favourites Rectory Road and also defeating Barry Athletic with something to spare.

The culmination of course was the great victory over arch rivals Dinas Powys, who paid Millwood a great compliment by fielding a very strong, experienced side. The Millwood policy of selecting the strongest side when available in the Munro has paid off and the club will be proud to receive the trophy for the first time. Well done Millwood - they accumulated 141 points throughout the Munro competition, a very good return indeed.

Rink scores v Dinas: Millwood: Roger Jones, E Collier, S Carr, Kenny Williams 28shots; Dinas: A Small, J Porter, G Bishop, Jeff Wright 8 shots; Millwood: D Davies, T Mullins, C Geen, G Hindmarsh 12 shots; Dinas: D Underdown, G Leach, J Thomas, P Critcher 22 shots; Millwood: Evan Chilcott, D Blake, Pete Taylor, G Brown 31 shots; Dinas Powys: D James, N Giles; J Cross, Len Webley 6 shots; Millwood: Brian Payne, B Davies (Captain), C James, F Phillips 21 shots; Dinas Powys: M Seaford, G Jones, G White, C Todd 23 shots. Millwood 92, Dinas Powys 59. Millwood 10 points, Dinas Powys 4 points

This Saturday, August 31 is finals day at Millwood when all the club internal competitions will be played. All those participating are requested to wear whites please.