The short mat bowls league season has reached its halfway stage. In Division 1 the defending champions, Woolhope A, have enjoyed an unbeaten first half of the season and lead the division by 22 points, although Ross-on-Wye A Team, in second place, do have a match in hand.

The next three teams are separated by only five points so the race for second place could be tight. At the bottom of the division both of the most recently promoted clubs, Llangarron and Escley, have a fight on their hands to avoid an immediate return to Division 2.

Ross B currently lead Division 2 by seven points. with the additional buffer of having played a match fewer than the three teams immediately behind them. Those chasing teams, Gorsley Chapel B, Fownhope and Weston-Under-Penyard B, are only separated by three points, so it looks to be a tight race for second place in this division too.

The county qualifying competitions for the National Championships took place over two weekends recently, and the Ross Club, and Ian Park in particular, built on their recent county championship successes.

They secured wins in four out of the five of the senior disciplines. At this stage, only the competition winners are guaranteed a place in the national championships in April, although additional places may be awarded depending on entry levels nationwide.

John Mills (Woolhope) won the Singles competition for the second time and then Ian Park (Ross) and Tony Vitale (Larruperz) won the Pairs. From that point, Ian Park and Ian Roe (Ross) swept up the remaining places playing with Ali Roe (Ross) in the Triples; with Dominic and Anthony Rogers (Woolhope) in the Fours and with Ali Roe and Pam Park (Ross) in the Mixed Fours.

Dominic Rogers took the winning place in the Under-18s competition.