ROSS-ON-WYE continued their recent run of success by claiming victory in the mixed fours competition organised by Herefordshire Short Mats Bowls Association.

Elaine George, Ian Roe and Pam and Ian Park were the victorious foursome, claiming a win over Hilary Carpenter and Dominic, Sandra and Anthony Rogers.

Their opponents reached the final after defeating their Woolhope team-mates John Jillings, John Mills and Shirley and Becci Cox, while Ross beat defending champions Sue and John Dix and Betty and Harold Aubrey.

Woolhope took the initiative early on in the final, establishing a 5-1 lead with a rare three-shot end in what was an otherwise tight scoring contest.

Ross, however, clawed their way back in with singles and set up a tense finale, tying the match after the regulation eight ends and forcing it into a tie-breaker end.

Ross then built a position around the jack which Woolhope were unable to disrupt and garnered the club their fourth successive county competition win.

A presentation also took place during this event to mark the sponsorship of the Herefordshire county teams by Westons Cider, who have assisted with the purchase of a new county kit. Jamie Harris, county association chairman, expressed his delight at securing a partnership with Westons, while Gemma Evans, communications officer at the Mucle-Marcle based firm, presented the new county shirt to Herefordshire premier team captain Becci Cox.

The final of the LEH Two Counties Trophy, the annual knockout competition for Herefordshire and Gloucestershire clubs, was also contested for the second consecutive year between two Gloucestershire teams.

Gloster Knights, seeking their third consecutive title, lined up against Tewkesbury.

The first session was a very tight contest which was edged by Tewkesbury who won by a single shot in the singles and won the pairs by two shots despite trailing 5-0 after the first two ends. The match was therefore delicately balanced going into the second session but the Knights made a storming start and after four ends they led 10-1 in the triples and 6-0 in the fours. The Tewkesbury triple then came back strongly and narrowed the gap to a single shot before slipping back slightly to lose by three shots.

In the Fours, however, there was to be no comeback and the Gloster Knights four ran out winners by 11 shots to give their team a 40-29 victory overall.

Norman Allen, Herefordshire association president and tournament sponsor, presented the trophies and complemented the participants on the high standard of bowls.

He also gave thanks to the organisers, particularly Rita Hancock who provided a buffet at the mid match interval.