MELKSHAM and Shaw confirmed their dominance of Wiltshire's short mat bowling scene by picking up three top awards on Friday.

The club collected trophies for the county fours, county singles and a fourth consecutive county under 18 title at the Wiltshire association's presentation night.

With second place finishes in the county triples, Division Two North of the Winter League and the Winter League Cup, the club marked a highly successful year.

They owe much of this success to Chris, Sheila, Wayne and Steve Snook who won the fours competition and formed the basis of their other teams.

Dilton Marsh won Winter League Division Two South and through Chris Webber, Norman Oldfield, Derek Elliot and Dave Gilbert lifted the Winter League Cup. Marshfield's Cyril Davis Mills and Trevor Davis won the county pairs title and the club won Division Two North of the Winter League.

Wiltshire Short Mat Bowling Association spokesman David Tompkins said: "Short mat bowls has come a long way from five years ago when there were only a dozen or so clubs in the county and 100 members. Today there are over 30 clubs and 550 members.

"It's a little known sport, but we are trying to raise the profile. With four new clubs putting forward teams for the forthcoming winter season we are continuing the expansion of our short mat game. The county squad are currently standing second in the Inter-county Summer League."

For more information on short mat bowls contact Mr Tompkins on (01225) 793853.