Balcomb Trophy
Gloucestershire 44
Somerset 38
GLOUCESTERSHIRE battled to beat Somerset in the preliminary round of the Balcomb Trophy by six shots (44-38) at Cheltenham.

The rink of Ben Coldrick (Cheltenham), Max Risby (Cirencester), Lee Williamson and Nathan Kitchen (both Cheltenham) despite losing the first two ends to James Amery powered their way to an 11-2 lead with five winning ends that included a three and a four.

The score then went to 11-7 after losing the eighth and ninth ends before three twos and a single opened up an 18-9 lead. Three more shots came in the run-in as Gloucestershire won it 21-19.

The other rink of Vince Wilks (Gloucester City), Peter Stinchcombe (Tetbury), Dougie Lewis (Gloucester City) and Matt Cuthbert (Cheltenham) faced an uphill battle right from the start against Nick Pearce when they started out losing 7-1 after just four ends and were 16-4 down.

The turning point came when they picked up a five on the 11th end and never looked back. A three and a two put them level and with two singles they led 19-18. Going into the last end with a one-shot advantage they gained a three for a memorable 23-19 win.

Gloucestershire will now face Herefordshire at home in the first round to be played by June 13.