Upcoming Club Competitions & Reports

Friday May 29th

The first two club competition matches were played today. Fortunately, the blistering heat had disappeared, to be replaced by a hot, but bearable, day.

First up was the Novices 1st Round match between Dave Ward and Sandra Gough. Sandra got off to a flying start and was 12-0 ahead after end 4. Dave came back with a pair and a single and Sandra replied with a 3 and a single, leaving the score at 16-3 in her favour after end 8. Scores of 3, 2 and 1 brought the scores closer at 16-9, with 11 ends played. Sandra closed out the match with two singles and a 3 to win 21-9.

On the next rink, Husband Alan played Neil Warley in Round 1 of the Handicap. Neil started with a 4 shot advantage and added another two in the first end. Alan came back with a pair, but Neil also scored a pair on end 3 for a lead of 8-2. Two singles from Alan and one from Neil and it was 9-4 in Neil's favour. He added another 3 shots over the next 2 ends and had a healthy 12-4 lead after 8 ends. Alan had to find something, and quickly, and a 2 and a 3 helped to reduce Neil's lead. A pair from Neil on end 11 left him with a 5 shot lead, but 3,2 and 4 from Alan doubled his score and put him in front for the first time in the match at 18-14. Three shots needed to win, but it was not all over. Neil scored 2 on end 15, Alan scored a single on end 16 and Neil scored another two on end 17 and it was very delicately balanced, with Alan leading by only 1 shot at 19-18. The game went right to the wire, with Alan scoring two singles to Neil's one over the next 3 ends and Alan scraped home 21-19. Alan will play Chris Emmett in Round 2.

Saturday May 30th

On a lovely sunny day, we had a good turnout and an enjoyable day for the annual Millenium Triples competition. There were 24 players in 2 qualifying groups of 4 Triples. There was a clear winner in each group, with both winning all 3 games.

In the Final, held over 6 ends, Laurie Mowatt, Lorraine Walters and Janet Townley won the first 2 ends, but were beaten in the remaining 4 ends by Jon Samuel, Ruth Copp and Jane Ward. Worthy winners, with 4 wins from 4 games on the day. (Photos above).

The trophy was presented by Wendy Cross, Club President.

Tuesday June 2nd

Jon Samuel played Keith Walters in the Handicap, on a wet, uninviting day. Receiving a 4 shot start,  Jon scored a single on the first end, but Keith retaliated with 2 shots on end 2, to take the lead. Jon then launched a 4 end winning run, to lead by 11-2. Three shots from Keith on end 8 reduced the deficit to 6 shots. Both players traded shots over the next 5 ends and the gap remained the same. Keith started to close the gap, winning 4 of the next 6 ends and scoring 7 shots to 2 from Jon. Keith was now only one shot behind. Jon rallied to win the following two ends, with a pair and a single to take him to two shots from victory.  Keith delayed the end with a 4 shot score on end 22 to level at 19-19. Jon sealed Keith's fate with two shots on end 23, to win 21-19. Jon will play Jim Bland in the next round

Meanwhile, Barrie Jones faced the formidable task of playing John Townley in the 91 Up. He won the first end 7-3, but John hit back, winning the next 2 ends 8-2 and 10-0, to lead 21-9. End 4 was a 5-5 draw, but John took command of the game with 4 successive wins and was leading 57-23 after end 8. Barrie held John to a draw on the next end, but it was only a temporary relief. John won 4 of the next 5 ends to gain a comfortable victory by 93-47. Jon will play Chris Emmett in the next round.

Wednesday June 3rd

Another wet and windy day saw John Townley play Sylvia Blackmore in the 2 Wood Singles. John got off to a flying start, taking only 6 ends to win the first set 9-1. The second set was more difficult for him. Sylvia put up a spirited resistance, taking the set to 10 ends. John was always in front, but Sylvia won 4 of the ends. However, John triumphed by 9-5 and won the match 2-0. He will play Damien Cleary in the next round. 

Friday June 5th

In the first round of the Women's Singles, former champion Elaine Robinson played Lorraine Walters. Elaine started well, scoring two shots on each of the first 2 ends. Lorraine then won the next 4 ends, all by a single shot, to level the score. Another two pairs from Elaine and she was 8-4 ahead. A single and a 3 from Lorraine was countered by two from Elaine and the score was 10-8 in Elaine's favour. Elaine slowly built on her lead with two singles, before Lorraine scored a pair. Elaine replied with 2 shots on end 15 and was 14-10 ahead. Lorraine now dominated the remainder of the match, winning 6 of the 7 remaining ends and stretching her lead to 7 shots at the finish. Final score Elaine 15, Lorraine 22. Lorraine will now play Marilyn Mowatt in the next round.

Tuesday June 9th

Two matches were played today. In the first Heather Fay, newly joined this year, played Jenny Ward in the first round of the Women's Singles. Heather started well, scoring singles on each of the first 2 ends, but Jenny struck back with scores of 2, 1 and 3 on the next three, to lead 6-2. A 3 and a 2 from Heather beat the two from Jenny, leaving Jenny with a slender lead at 8-7. Four winning ends (1,1,2,1) increased Jenny's lead to 13-7 by end 12. End 13 went to Heather by a single shot, but Jenny replied with a double. Three shots from Heather on end 16 and she was only 3 shots behind, but Jenny dug deep and scored a 2 and a 4 to win by 21-12. Jenny will play Janet Townley in the next round.

The second match of the day was in the Seniors, between Sandra Gough and Margaret Bullock. Margaret started with the mat and scored singles on ends 1 and 2. Sandra replied with a pair on end 3, but Margaret then launched into a 7 end winning run and established a clear lead at 15-2. With only 5 ends to play, Sandra was in a very difficult position. She won the next 3 ends, to close the gap to 6-15, but it was now not possible to catch Margaret in time. The game finished after end 13, with Margaret the winner by 15-6. Margaret will now play the winner of the match between Keith Walters and David Skilleter.

Wednesday June 10th

Sadly, Ken Ellison has had to withdraw from the 2 Wood Singles. Barrie Jones now has a bye to the next round, where he will play Elaine Robinson. Ken has also given Jeff Harris a bye to round 2 of the Seniors, where he will play Dave Ward.

Now, to a match that has been played. Neil Warley played Sylvia Blackmore in the Seniors 1st Round, with Janet Townley marking. Neil had a really tough opponent in Sylvia and he found it hard to keep up with her. He scored two shots on end 2, but Sylvia was in unstoppable mode, winning 4 of the first 5 ends to lead 9-2. Neil was not going to surrender, though, and scored singles on the next 2 ends to creep closer. It was not to be his day, with Sylvia again taking charge and scoring two pairs and a 3 to Neil's pair. By end 11, Sylvia was leading 16-6 and Neil felt that he was not playing well enough to beat her, so he conceded the match, with 4 ends still to play. Sylvia will play Alan Gough in the next round. 

Friday June 12th

There were 4 Club matches today.

First to play were Martin Hedges, new to the club this season, against Scott Jennings. Scott is in his second season, but his was his first competition. They were playing in the Handicap, but with both players on 12, it was a scratch game. Martin started the game in tremendous form and it looked like he would sweep Scott aside. The first 7 ends went Martin's way and he built up a 14-0 lead. The momentum then swung to Scott, with 4 winning ends and a reduction of the deficit to 7 shots. Martin then regained control of the match and won the remaining 5 ends. The final score was Martin 21, Scott 7. Martin will play Sandra Gough in the next round.

On the rink next door, there was a titanic contest between Sylvia Blackmore (2) and Wendy Cross (0) in the Handicap competition. Wendy started very well and she had overcome the 2 shot advantage held by Sylvia and had an 8-2 lead after 4 ends. Sylvia came back with a single and a 3, to make it 6-8. Wendy had a very good end 7, with 4 shots and a 12-6 lead. Sylvia was not going to take this lying down and launched a 4 end winning run, to take the lead 14-12. The next two ends went to Wendy and the lead changed hands again (15-14). A single from Sylvia to level, then a pair from Wendy to lead again (17-15), before a 3 and a 2 from Sylvia swung the game in her favour once again (20-17). Wendy was now under intense pressure, with Sylvia only one shot from victory. Wendy scored a single on end 18, to stave off defeat, but Sylvia secured the victory with a single on end 19. A magnificent match between two very good players. It was a shame that there had to be a loser.

Next to pay were Marilyn and Laurie Mowatt in the Seniors. Ends 1 and 2 were shared, before Laurie scored 1,3,2,3 to lead 10-1. Six ends played and Marilyn needing to do a lot of catching up. She duly obliged on end 7 with a pair, followed by 3 singles. With the score at 10-6 in Laurie's favour, it was now more of a match. Laurie increased his lead with a pair on end 11 and was now 6 shots ahead with 4 ends to play. Three shots and a single brought her within two shots of Laurie, with two ends to play. Laurie sealed Marilyn's fate; scoring 3 shots on end 14 and he couldn't be caught. Laurie was the winner by 15-10 and now plays Jon Samuel in the next round.

The final match of the day was another Seniors game between Keith Walters and David Skilleter. David scored a single on the first end, then Keith scored 3 shots on end 2. David replied with a single on end 3 to keep it tight. Keith had other ideas though and won the next 4 ends (1,2,4,1) and led 11-2 after end 7. Only 5 more ends were played, with Keith scoring 6 shots to David's two and winning by 17-4. Keith will play Margaret Bullock in the next round.