JAY Merrell, Graham Brown and skip Phil Ellis found themselves in a fierce battle against a team from Taunton Bowling Club in the third round of the men’s National Triples Bowls Competition - but they were in good form and came away with a splendid one-shot victory. 

What made it particularly difficult was Wellington had to play the game on their opponents’ green and so they  needed  time to get used to a different surface.

The Taunton trio were all good bowlers and took the lead early on. That continued for much of the game, with Wellington close behind but doing all the chasing.

Wellington were not going to give up though and in the last end they levelled the score at 15 shots all. 

The game was suddenly very exciting. There had to be a final deciding end!

A brilliant bowl by skip Phil Ellis was the shot of the day and Wellington were the winners by one! 

That single shot gave them the match 16 – 15 and they will go through to meet a team from Williton in the fourth round. If they can continue in such form they have every chance of going further in the competition.