LAST week’s Monmouthshire Short Mat Bowls Association league action saw leaders Dingestow visit Little Mill on Monday, and start strongly with two wins in the triples matches.

Although one mat was a comfortable 19-5 win, on the other mat it took two shots on the last end from skip Martin Phillips to eke out a one-point victory.

In the pairs, however, both Little Mill teams got off to a good start and never looked like being overhauled, and winning margins of 11 and 12 points gave the hosts the extra two points for the overall winning score.

What could second-placed Caerwent do to narrow the gap at the top in their visit to Magor on Tuesday?

Winning one of the triples each, Magor held a narrow lead going into the pairs.

Again, it was one win each in the pairs, but with a thumping 21-4 victory on one mat, Magor comfortably took the extra two points, leaving Caerwent 11 points behind Dingestow at the top of the league.

On Friday, Caldicot took advantage of Usk postponing their match and moved above them into third place with an 8-2 home win against Mathern, helped by two big scores; a 21-2 in one of the triples and a 25-4 win for skip Phil Skinner and his partner in the pairs.

This week teams will be playing their final scheduled league matches and, also, looking forward to the group matches in the Spring Triples competition.

Fifteen teams will take to the mats on Saturday March 14 to compete for the four semi-final places.

The four semi-finalists will then meet at Usk Memorial Hall on Saturday March 28 to decide the winners.

For more information, go to the Monmouthshire Short Mat Bowls Association website and Facebook page.