Keith Walton, the new Castlefields captain, has urged his team to try and narrow the gap between themselves and champions St Georges ahead of the start of the new Furrows Shropshire Premier Bowling League season tomorrow night.
Walton, having succeeded Alan Mayhew in the top job at Queen Street, leads Fields into a tasty home clash against Shrewsbury rivals Meole Brace, his former club, an appetising way to usher in the new campaign.
Fields were runners-up for the second season in a row last year but Walton knows they have to improve to stand any chance of landing their first title since 2000.
“We just want to put a bit more pressure on St Georges if we can,” said Walton, entering his 11th year as a Castlefields player. “They finished 22 points above us last season so that’s a lot to get back.”
Although Fields will have to do without Barry Keep, who has opted to take a break, they have managed to make two quality additions to their strong squad.
Birmingham-based Gareth Herbert, a regular in the Warwick & Worcester side, is an eye-catching recruit while Keith Wall has also made a popular return from Greenfields.
“They’re two good signings,” noted Walton. “Keith has decided he would like to play in the premier again and he’s a Castlefields lad so he’s coming home.
“Gareth has told me he’s going to play the majority of games and he’s very friendly with Jesse James, one of our players.”
Meole Brace, the opening night visitors to Queen Street, are hopeful of improving on last season’s fourth-placed finish with Mark Thomas, re-elected as captain, really looking forward to the challenge ahead. “Our aim is to improve on last year,” he confirmed.
“We might have over achieved last season, I’m not sure, but in the end we were disappointed to finish fourth as we were second at one stage.
“Going to Castlefields on the first night is going to be a test straight away, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Meole have signed Glyn Wellings from lower division Hanwood while Dave Bond, who will become a travelling companion from Oswestry for Ian Weaver, is the other new arrival and hinted at his potential by beating Scott Thomas in a friendly against Wem USC last week.
Thomas added he feels champs St Georges might struggle to pick up as many points this season after losing three key players and believes his team’s biggest rivals for honours could well be Castlefields and Whitchurch outfit Chester Road.
See also page 115 of this week’s Shrewsbury Chronicle.