WILTSHIRE'S hopes of retaining the South Western Counties League title were dealt a severe blow.

They were beaten by two shots in their opening match of the 2004 campaign at Gillingham by Dorset.

Despite the narrow 114-112 loss, Wiltshire only took the honours on two of the six rinks and only collected four points to host Dorset's 18.

The two winning rinks skipped by Jeremy Haselton and Nick Grenfell registered 17 and 16-shot successes respectively.

Results (Wilts skips first)

Rink 1: Terry Spreadbury 14 R Atkins 24; Rink 2: John Lucas 15 R. Dowell 27; Rink 3: Adie Lloyd 12 M. Grimsdale 17; Rink 4: Nick Grenfell 27 R. Button 11; Rink 5: Jeremy Haselton 29 S. Bryce 12; Rink 6: Rob Etherington 15 W. Payne 23.

Wiltshire will play their next South Western Counties Championship game on Sunday, when they travel to Wadebridge to face Cornwall.

Team

Rink 1: Shari Akhavan (Swindon), Des Rideout (Westlecot), Ben Gadd (Holt) and Nick Grenfell (Box).

Rink 2: Paul Kistle (Westlecot), Malcolm Curtis (Malmesbury), Jeremy Haselton and John Lucas (Chippenham Town).

Rink 3: Stewart Tait (Wootton Bassett), Miles Roberts (Purton), Mike Shawyer and Jeff Nichols (Westlecot).

Rink 4: Adam Marshall (Wootton Bassett), Tom Bowden (Spencer Melksham), Norman Gould and Adie Lloyd (Chippenham Town).

Rink 5: Richard Hindley (Wilton), Chris Starsmeare (Rodbourne Cheney), Paul Sloman (Westlecot) and Paul Macdonald (S Moulton).

Rink 6: Nicholas Heenan and Norman Gould (Salisbury Victoria) Bob Tanner (Downton) and Terry Spreadbury (Amesbury).

WILTSHIRE Vice Presidents recorded an emphatic 146-94 victory over their Northants counterparts at Highworth.

This enabled them to reclaim the trophy, annually contested between these two associations.

They took the honours on four of the six rinks and drew on the other two.

The biggest win was registered by Adrian Wood's quartet who won their match 37-10.

Results (Wilts names first)

Rink 1: Dave Edmunds 26 Reg Abbot 20; Rink 2: Alan Penfold 17 Chris Incles 17; Rink 3: Jim Hunter 16 George Dunscombe 16; Rink 4: Martin Salter 21 Tony Buckmaster 18; Rink 5: Adrian Wood 37 Tony Purcell 10; Rink 6: John Duncan 29 Lance Stead 13.

SWINDON & DISTRICT Men's Bowling Association will play their next representative match on Sunday.

After nearly a month's break owing to friendlies being cancelled, president Ken Downton (Shrivenham) will lead his team into action against South Warwickshire in the annual fixture at Stratton Churchways (2.30pm).