Matt leads the field in ploughing match

Saturday's ploughing match at Jack Parsons Ower farm attracted 14 competitors and conditions were near perfect for the event which is in its golden jubilee year.

Matt Whitehorn scooped the top trophy - The Charlie Pointer Cup and silver salver. Besides collecting the overall champion's title, Matt won the junior reversible ploughs category and took home the Romsey Young Farmers' Club's shield. He now qualifies for the Hampshire 2007 County Ploughing Championships. He will also be taking part in this year's county championships at Northington near Winchester on Sunday November 12.

Ploughing match organiser, Pete Jewell, said he was pleased with the turnout for the match.

"Conditions were perfect. The ground was very friable. They did some very good ploughing but the judge Colin Young said one or two of them could have taken a bit more care with their ploughing," said Pete, who first ploughed for Wellow Growmore Club in 1957 and only stopped taking part in the competition when he took on the organising role some 30 years ago.

There were three categories in the ploughing competition - conventional ploughs, junior reversible ploughs and senior reversible ploughs.

Romsey's Jim Spark scooped the top accolade - the Cadbury Rose Bowl- in the conventional ploughs class.

Jack Parsons from Ower was second placed and Andy Poynter from Romsey's Broadlands Estate was third in the same class. And Tim Parsons clinched the Romsey Young Farmers Conventional Shield.

In the junior reversible ploughs category Richard Parsons, of Sparsholt, was runner-up to Matt Whitehorn and Nick Windell, from Wellow, was third.

Senior reversible plough champ was John Whitehorn who won the Edgar Long and the New Forest Farm Machinery cups.

Plaitford-based Chris Lovell was second and Darren Boyce third in the same category.

All award winners will be presented with their trophies at Wellow Growmore and Romsey Young Farmers' Club's annual dinner tonight (Friday).