ON Saturday, Barry Athletic Bowls Club will have one of their biggest matches for many years, and possibly their best chance to qualify for the prestigious semi-finals of the Carruthers Shield for decades.

The Carruthers is the equivalent of the Welsh Cup which very few teams have had the honour of winning.

The Athletic have won the Shield just twice in their 108-year history, the last being in 1957.

Welsh bowling legend and long time Athletic member Russell Evans, was part of that 1950s team and although he does not play anymore, he rarely misses a match to cheer his team on.

The opponents on Saturday are Pembrokeshire champions Tenby Bowling Club, who have a formidable record in the competition.

To get this far Barry have had to beat Penarth, Cefn Cribwr, Caerau Athletic, Treharris/Trelewis, Aberavon, and in the last round they overcame six time winners Pontrhydyfen.

With home advantage, the Athletic will want to get off to a good start and hope that they can avoid the edge of seats finishes of the last few matches.

With the match starting at 2.30pm, it is hoped that good weather will attract a good crowd to watch the quarter final tie.