WESTLECOT men failed in their bid to claim their usual end-of-season Wessex League play-off place as they suffered a nine-shot loss at the hands of Carterton in their final east group match.

The Old Town club, four times overall Wessex League champions, missed out on extending their 2014/15 campaign on two fronts.

They did not finish in the top two in the east region group table to gain an automatic qualification spot or be awarded a wild card entry as one of the four best non-qualifiers for the first time for 13 years – and for only the second time since the early 1990s.

Westlecot had to beat Carterton in their final east group match to keep alive their wildcard hopes.

They made a slow start in their decider against Carterton and trailed across the board 19-18 on the four rinks after five ends but had moved into a 49-43 advantage after 11 but then Westlecot’s fortunes changed.

Opponents Carterton hit back from trailing by six shots at 11 ends to lead by six shots 64-58 at 15 and maintained their lead moving 74-67 up at 18 and finally claiming an 85-76 success and a wildcard into the end of season play-offs at Westlecot’s expense.

Rink honours were shared at 2-2 Ian Williams foursome winning at home by four shots but Mike Titcombe’s four went down by five shots, while away John Thomas’ rink edged home by two shots despite leading 15-5 at ten ends.

However, despite being tied 9-9 at ten ends Chris Cheesley’s quartet went down in Carterton by ten shots.

It was a disappointing end to the 2014/15 season for Westlecot, who are normally one of the strongest sides in the Wessex League east region.

However, this season they only finish in joint fourth place on 75 points with Oxford & District, lost five of their nine group matches and failed to reach the play-offs.

Meanwhile Swindon Manor concluded their tough debut season in the Wessex League with a heavy 71-shot loss to second-placed Loddon Vale (Basingstoke).

Spokesman and team manager Carl Fernandes said: “My thoughts on the first season are that I think we have had a problem adapting to the long session format of the matches.

“We dropped away in the last five or six ends in some of the matches and consequently lost them from being in fair positions, added to the facts we were not consistent enough to turn ends round when we were down whereas our opponents were of a higher quality and could recover from being down.

“At the same time we were complimented by some teams saying our position in the league did not reflect the way we played against them and that other teams were the same as us when they first entered the league and have improved each season, so we can take heart from that and hope to do better next year.

Fernandes added: “ We also have to take into consideration that we have not been able to field our strongest team in some of the matches.”

RESULTS

Westlecot v Carterton HOME - Rink 3: Kevin Embling, Huw Dawson, Terry Walton & Ian Williams beat Paul Sharman 25-21. Rink 4: James Nobbs, Mike Shawyer, Mike Bowden & Mike Titcombe lost to Bayden Sparks 17-22.

AWAY - Rink 1: Dave Matthews, Tom Pittuck, Gary Jackson & Chris Cheesley lost to David Clanfield 14-24. Rink 2: Denis Holborow, Geoff Smith, Craig Morphet & John Thomas beat Tim Jupp 20-18.

Score: Westlecot lost to Carterton 76 (4pts) - 85 (12pts).

Swindon Manor v Loddon Vale, Home - Rink 2: Mark Richman lost to G Lovett 6-36. Rink 3: Richard Young beat F Norris 17-14. Away - Rink 1: Paul Cooper lost to N Clarke 11-35. Rink 2: Ian Thomas lost to T Morgan 12-32.

Score: Swindon Manor lost to Loddon Vale 46 (2pts) - 117 (14pts).