THE 2015 Autumn Triples Tournament organised by the Monmouthshire Short Mat Bowls Association was held at Chepstow Leisure Centre on Saturday 17th October. Teams were divided into five groups of four teams which gave every team three games in the first round.

In two of the preliminary rounds the results were very close, being decided by points aggregate, but in the other three preliminary rounds the decision was more definite. The five group winners were Goytre (Colin Murdoch), Little Mill (R.Davies), Mathern (W.Gill), Usk (B.Abbott) and Usk (A.Hancock).

The quarter final line up was Goytre v Mathern, Little Mill v Usk, Usk v Caldicot, and Usk v Mathern. The matches were hard fought, with the semi-finalists teams

being C.Murdock, B.Abbott, P.Skinner and S.Jones. Both semi-finals were good games with only one and two points separating the teams, the match between Colin Murdock and Brian Abbott going to an extra end.

The finalists were Brian Abbott’s Usk team against Steve Jones’ Mathern team. All players in the final had difficulty in coping with an unforgiving mat which meant that the speed and direction of the bowls had to be absolutely right. After nine ends, both teams were level so an extra end had to be played which resulted in Brian Abbott, Tony and Ann Crabb running out as winners.

The secretary of the Monmouthshire Short Mat Bowls Association Roland Carey thanked all the players for attending. He also thanked Wally Gill and Steve Jones for transporting the mats, Pearl Gill for organising the trophies and the raffle and to Bill Bacon for organising the event. The trophies were presented by Bill Bacon.

The next event will be in March 2016.