A new away venue of GL1 Leisure Centre played host to Herefordshire’s opening Inter County Group Stage match of the season, away to Gloucestershire on Sunday 27th September. Newly elected County Captain John Mills will be looking to build on former captain Becci Cox’s incredibly successful final season that saw The Bulls make it all the way to finals day, just missing out to Oxfordshire who coincidentally join Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, alongside Worcestershire, in their regional group this year.
Captain Mills handed four debuts and one re-debut after a 15-year gap to Clive Matthews (Gorsley Chapel), Andre Edwards & Luke Waite (Ross) and Dave Nash & Tim Horton-Smith (Tarrington) respectively, all of whom were undoubtedly keen to throw themselves into county bowls against an experienced Gloucestershire side.
The opening session saw Joe Loveys take a 15-11 win whilst Gary Peachey lost out to Gloucestershire’s resident World Pairs Champion Saul Fetherstone 6-18 to split the points in the singles. In the pairs, the all-Ross duo of Dave Andrews & Ian Roe put in a strong performance to win 15-8 whilst Luke Waite & John Mills recovered well from a slow start to draw 13-13, with the overall score at 5-3 to Herefordshire heading into the triples and fours.
The second session certainly showed how close things were likely to be for the rest of the day. In the triples, a spirited comeback from a significant early deficit saw Clive Matthews, Tim Horton-Smith & Dave Watkins just fall short in a 10-11 loss. Meanwhile, Bryan Watkins carried his fine form over from last season in a strong team performance alongside Anthony Chesterton and Tony Vitale as they won 19-11. The fours saw similar results to the triples as David Nash, Linda Lewis, Shirley & Becci Cox lost out 8-13 whilst Andre Edwards, Pete Goulding, Nic Lloyd & Jim Knowles took a 13-3 win, maintaining Herefordshire’s slender overall advantage at 9-7 at the halfway stage.
Heading into the second half it was clear that the bonus points could once again prove to be all important, with every result feeling influential to the overall outcome of the match. A switch of fortunes in the singles saw Peachey take victory as Loveys lost out to Fetherstone whose two dominant performances ensured the bonus points went to Gloucestershire. This swing in momentum was cancelled out by the pairs where a win for Waite & Mills alongside a narrow loss for Andrews and Roe gave the Bulls the bonus points and, for a third session in a row, kept The Bulls just two points ahead at 15-13 ahead of the final session.
Another session that saw a win and a loss in each discipline, the bonus points ultimately proved crucial. A standout performance from Team Watkins in the triples, in addition to a battling defeat from (the other) Team Watkins, gave The Bulls the bonus in the triples and a 19-13 lead. Having gone into the session five shots up in the fours, it was advantage Herefordshire but also very clear that Gloucestershire would not give up without a fight. A slow start ended in a 6-14 loss for Team Knowles, leaving the Bulls with a one-shot lead for the bonus, with Team Cox holding a 15-11 advantage heading into the final end. A strong start from Herefordshire’s front end, in addition to former Captain Cox’s utilisation of her vast experience and game management, helped put any worries of a Gloucestershire comeback to bed as they took a three to win 18-11, securing the bonus points and handing The Bulls a 23-17 (193-187) win.
A huge congratulations to the County Team on a brilliant victory, particularly to Captain Mills as well as those representing their county for the first time. The 2026-27 season is well and truly underway!
