ROYAL Wootton Bassett won their fourth Wiltshire men’s four rink league crown in six years when they beat Westlecot 75-55 in the play-off final at Devizes last Sunday.

The previous day, holders Chippenham Town had seen their title hopes evaporate as they lost 89-73 in their delayed semi-final to Westlecot.

Bassett were always in charge of the final and led 18-16 at five ends, 33-26 at 10 and 48-42 at 15 before pulling away with a final flourish to lead 64-50 at 18 and claim a 75-55 victory after the allotted 21 ends.

They took the honours on three of the four rinks, with the foursomes of Barry Sictorness, Terry Walton, Gary Morphett and Steve Snell (skip) plus Andy Blake, Graham Richards, Kyle Anderson and Dave Godwin (skip) locked for top honours with nine-shots triumphs. Kevin Embling, Dave Snell, Mel Biggs and Mike Snell (skip) were not far behind, winning by eight shots.

The only Bassett rink to suffer a loss was Neil Collett’s four, who lost by six shots to Mike Titcombe’s rink.

Chippenham Town had earlier put up a strong challenge against Westlecot in the semi-finals.

A poor start ultimately led to their downfall despite a fine recovery in the second half of the match as they went down 89-73.

Chippenham only took the honours on one of the four rinks as Alan Stell, Eddie Vine, Richard Gainey and Willie Jones won their match 20-16.

The annual showdown between Wiltshire men and ladies was scheduled to have been staged on Wednesday of this week at Chippenham Park, the home green of men’s president Dave Williams.

The ladies team is led by president Ruth Gerrish (Bradford-on-Avon) and is drawn from 15 clubs around the county, with Devizes having the largest representation of four players.

The men’s team, led by Williams, is drawn from 12 clubs, with Chippenham Park having the largest representation of seven players.

Last year’s annual showdown between ended as a 111-111 draw at Avon.

  • WILTSHIRE men’s presidential tour is set to take place this weekend in Somerset, with Dave Williams (Chippenham Park) and his tourists being based in Taunton.

Four games are arranged at Taunton BC (Vivary Park), Wellington BC, Taunton Deane and Yatton.