It's Hanwood v Burway in Furrows Shropshire bowls league

Hanwood will face Burway in the pre play-off final as the battle to reach the Furrows Shropshire Premier Bowls League hots up.

Wem League champions Hanwood secured their passage to Tuesday's clash at Donnington Wood (7pm) with a come-from-behind victory over Highley League winners Abbey in a top class semi-final at Chester Road last night.

Hanwood won by 19 shots, but had to recover from losing three of the first four to be 15 behind.

A clean sweep of the middle four turned the tide, taking them 12 ahead.

And it was joint skipper Darren Phillips' 21-14 card in the last four that confirmed their success, despite fine resistance from Abbey's Tom Roden - whose 21-6 win from 15-0 up was the best of the night.

"It was a very good game," said Hanwood spokesman Phil Talbot, a 21-9 winner over Kane Beaman in the final four.

"Our three losers in the first four were three of our better players so we were up against it, but the rest of the team rallied pretty well.

"I always thought it was going to be very tight. I think the extra bit of experience in key games made the difference."

Talbot offered comfort to Abbey as well, backing the Buildwas-based club to challenge again in the future.

"They're a very good side with four or five good young players," he said.

"They showed they've got a lot of potential and I think they'll be back — with a couple more players they'll be a force."

Last night's pre play-off scores (Hanwood names first):

Carl Bowers 17, Will Plant 21; Phil Price 21, Pat Minton 16; Dave Burton 10, Sam Plant 21; Ben Talbot 16, Paul Evans 21.

Phil Lyttle 21, Les Williams 9, Russell Wellings 21, Simon Oldcorn 20; Keith Phillips 21, Chris Hayward 17; Ashley Wellings 21, Bob Plant 11.

Phil Talbot 21, Kane Beaman 9; Darren Phillips 21, Paul Yapp 14; Steve France 21, Alex Jones 18; Andy Roberts 6, Tom Roden 21.

Hanwood (217) beat Abbey (198) by 19 chalks.

• Bylet, who will face the winners of Tuesday's clash in the play-off, got a huge boost last night by reaching the Premiership Pool B final. The Bridgnorth club defeated Ifton by 27 shots at SJB despite being without skipper Mick Harries.

By CHRIS HUDSON