Division Two of the Summit Garage Staffordshire Premier Bowls League could be the most wide open league with only 15 points separating the 7 teams that remain in the division from last season. We have also added Baddesley into the mix, and with them having added Mike and Ben Lynch and Petrie Dewis, they should be close to bouncing back. Heath Hayes are the other new team in the league, and with a team predominantly made up of Stile bowlers, they will be challenging too. Short Heath Libs finished highest out of those 7 teams and with the addition of Lee Hulse will be expected to be at the top end of the table. Wrockwardine Wood finished level on points with them but have lost a couple of regulars and so may be struggling to get promotion. Willenhall Nordley B also finished on 88 points and with the addition of Mick Ledwidge should be expected to improve on that. Sutton Park didn’t lose a game at home last season and will know one or two away wins could make the difference this season. Baldwin will hope to make the most of their experience in their first season last year as they look to improve. Langley and Broomfield struggled last season, with Langley not recovering from a poor start and Broomfield not making the most of a good start, so both teams will be wanting more consistency if they are to move away from the bottom end of the table.
Captain’s Previews
Club – Baddesley
Captain: Phil Brown
Players signed: Ben & Michael Lynch, Petrie Dewis
Players left: None
Club – Baldwin
Captain- Jim Kernick
Players signed – none
Players left – none
Aim for your team – finish top half
Thoughts on the Division – likely to be very competitive and don’t see any team at this stage that’ll run away with it.
Club: Broomfield
Captain: Darren Griffiths
Players signed: None
Players left: None
Aim for your team: Looking forward to the challenge again and to try and improve on last season’s league position.
Club: Heath Hayes
Captain: Steve Wright
Aim for your team: We’re looking forward to bowling in the Summit League from Heath Hayes and will consist of mainly home bowlers with the assistance of 2 or 3 Stile regulars. Obviously the newcomers will have to get used to the green at home but have previous experience in this division. While not expecting to set the world alight we like to think a mid table finish is possible to allow us to improve the team moving forward.
Club: Langley
Captain: Sarah Beaman
Players signed: Chris Lambert
Players left: None
Aim for your team: Improve our home performances, particularly after the bad start we had against our local rivals, Broomfield last year. We have a happy but very competitive side and we want to do well. But our main aim is to enjoy ourselves. Happy Mondays!
Club: Short Heath Libs
Captain: Tony Rhodes
Players signed: Lee Hulse
Players left: None
Aim for your team: Have a better start to this year and improve our finishing position of last season.
Club: Sutton Park
Captain: Daniel Green
Players signed: None
Players left: None
Club: Willenhall Nordley B
Captain: Bill Pitt
Players signed: Mick Ledwidge
Players left: None
Aim for your team: We are hopeful to be in the promotion mix come the end of the season which means upping our away game.
Club: Wrockwardine Wood
Captain: Martin Gaut
Players signed: Steve Downs
Players left: Ian Delves. A couple of last year’s regulars will only play if short.
Aim for your team: To stay up!
