14 clubs in new Shropshire Premier Bowls League season

The Furrows Shropshire Premier Bowls League will begin with 14 clubs after Wem USC vowed to start the season, writes JAMES GARRISON.

The north Shropshire side club held a crisis meeting last night after a shortage of players raised fears they would have to drop out of the top flight.

But club spokesperson Mo Corley today revealed: "We had a 20 minute discussion about the Premier side and that is safe."

That means Wem - with new skipper Colin Smith at the helm - will at least start the Premier League campaign which gets underway on Friday week.

But the search for fresh blood goes on, most notably to ensure the club's Tanners Shropshire League team - which like the Premier is also played on a Friday night - survives.

"We are desperate for new players because the Tanners League team is still in jeopardy," she added.

"We have got enough for a Tanners side but you can't go through a whole season with 12 players.

"We want to be fair to all the leagues and do our best to go for it because you don't want to drop out of any leagues so close to the start of the season."

Wem USC also plan to maintain their one team in the Wem League on a Monday night and intend to continue fielding two sides in the Whitchurch League on Tuesdays.