ALCESTER A were victorious in the first round of the Heart of England Senior Cup bowls competition last week at the expense of RSJC.

The competition is based on a four home/four away basis and star for the night was Chris Hollins, whose 21-8 in the away squad, together with John Alderson's 21-19 helped them to a one-shot victory.

The home four won by 19 shots thanks to fine 21-12 cards from both Dave Hovell and Peter Barber and a good 21-14 from Jean Bannister.

In the League, Alcester A were at home to King George VI and struggled somewhat as after the first four they were 15 shots adrift, only having been able to provide two very close wins, Renny Bannister 21-20 and Bob LeResche 21-19.

In the second half Alcester had to step up a gear and thanks to a fine 21-6 from John Alderson and an equally good 21-11 from Cath Osbourne they were back in the driving seat. Dave Roberts 21-18 also helped to tip the scales as they finished up with an overall 12-shot victory.

The B team travelled to Land Rover hoping for victory after their emphatic win at home over the same team the previous week.

However, despite having four winners each, a single figure losing card for Alcester proved decisive as they were edged out overall by just two shots. Garrick Williams came out top for Alcester 21-11. Other winners were Gordon Lycett 21-14, Gill Croft 21-15 and Bob Blake 21-19.

The club was on cloud nine last week as they notched their ninth successive Northfield League win with an emphatic 69-shot home defeat of Red Rooster.

Renny Bannister set the ball rolling with a marvellous 21-1 card closely followed by Dave Hovell's 21-2, Ken Harvey 21-6 and John Alderson 21-9 to continue the rout and Bob LeResche 21-11 and Peter Barber 21-16 finished it.

In the Heart of England League, Alcester A travelled to King George VI and bowled very well as a team to turn over the George by 14 shots.

Dave Roberts was best with 21-9 and John Alderson came off 21-12 to give Alcester the edge they required. With further wins from Bob LeResche, Cath Osborne and Peter Barber, Alcester achieved a well-earned league win.

The B team secured a 60-shot win over Land Rover B with four singe-figure winners. Keith Bryan and Gordon Lycett both bowled superbly for 21-4 cards, and Gill Croft 21-7 and Garrick Williams 21-8 closely followed.

An aggregate one-shot win against Austin RBL saw Alcester B through to the next round of the Heart of England Cup.

Rob Blake had an excellent 21-10 victory away with Keith Bryan winning 21-9 at home.