Wednesday 18th June Border League, Home match against Pulham Market
After last weeks first defeat in this league we were keen to get back on track with a win. A very warm afternoon meant it was perhaps a little too hot to be playing competitively, but as it’s not often we can say that in this country we shouldn’t really complain.
Joe and Phil had a fairly easy win 36-5, as always it is the luck of the draw as to which which pairing you get drawn against and they were lucky enough to come up against the least experienced team this week.
The other two matches were much more hotly contested affairs, with the games going right to the wire. At the finish Hazel and Danny drew 11-11 on their rink, with Michelle and David losing 10-15.
The final result was a 6-3 (57-31) victory and leaves us second in the league, just one point behind the leaders.
Tuesday 17th June UWL, away at Kenninghall Red Lion
This was our first return fixture of the year so the UWL season is over half way to completion.
I don’t think any teams in the league look forward to encountering the green at Kenninghall with its various angled slopes and the infamous brick wall. It certainly is a challenge to try and read the green. The likelihood of overturning our 6-0 defeat on the first day of the season looked unlikely.
As the match progressed Kenninghall gradually gained the advantage on two greens and ran out healthy winners 29-13 and 25-7. The third match was a much closer affair with the lead changing several times during the evening with the match not settled until the final end, where despite the best efforts of Michelle, David and Phil they went down 18-19.
So a further 6-0 defeat, 73 shots to Kenninghall and 38 to Wortwell.
Thursday 12th June UWL at Home to Gissing
It’s been a while since we have played Gissing. We went into the game in the unexpected position of being higher than them in the league table.
A lovely summers evening was enjoyed by all.
Out of the three rinks that were played the outcome on two of them were fine representations of the way our club has played over the past few seasons. Both rinks suffered big set backs but emerged victorious. Tom, Hazel and Danny on rink 2 were behind most of the evening but came back strongly to force a victory by 19 shots to 15. On rink 1 Phil, David and Michelle were holding their own in the early stages but then lost the fourth end by 7 shots, a real setback. They didn’t let this get them down and fought their way back into the game coming out on top by a score of 22-18. On the third rink Barry, Joe and Sarah found harder competition and unfortunately lost their match.
The overall result was a 4-2 defeat (58-50). we were not too far behind on shots which on another night could have given us a more positive result.
Wednesday 11th June Border League Away at Shropham
This was the first time any of us had played at Shropham. A lovely set up with the Clubhouse and Village Hall either side of the Green. A manicured but very fast surface did not suit us and made for an interesting afternoon, which was not helped by the quite severe slopes on some of the rinks.
To be honest none of our teams really came to terms with the speed and angles of the green, and consequently we suffered a resounding defeat, our first of the season.
The final score was 0-9 (25-51). The individual rink scores were 12-16, 8-22 and 5-13.
Wednesday 4th June Border League match at home against Hoxne
We started this match in the top spot in the Border League and were looking to maintain this position by putting on a good performance this afternoon.
David Morton and Joe Goldie got off to a good start on Rink 6, and never rarely looked in trouble. They finished the afternoon with a win: 20 shots to 5.
Sarah Day and Phil Poulton managed to establish a good lead at the halfway point but a spirited response from the Hoxne pair gave them a worrying finish to the match. They did well to keep their noses ahead and came out on top 16 - 10.
Tom Bell and Terry Broomfield were involved in a very tight match where initially there were never very many points between the two teams, but towards the end they pushed home their advantage from an end in which they managed to take 5 shots from Hoxne. They ran out 16 - 11 winners.
A great result! A 9 - 0 win, our first of the season, with an overall shot difference of 52 - 26.
We have retained that top spot with this fine result!
Tuesday 3rd June UWL Match Away to Wortham
We came up against a very strong Wortham team this evening.
On one rink we were never really in contention and finished the evening losing by 30 shots to 9.
The other two rinks fought well and with a few ends to go both teams managed to get their noses ahead and it looked like we might salvage 2 points from the match, which would have been most useful. Wortham though summoned up the resources they needed to press hard in those last few ends and we ended up losing on both rinks, with scores of 14 - 19 and 15 - 20.
So an overall loss of 6-0 (69-38) left us very disappointed. We’ll have to try and do better next week.
Wednesday 28th May Border League Match away at Harleston Rec.
None of our six players had played at Harleston Rec., it is a lovely little ground tucked away beside the Leisure Centre.
We had had a little rain during the morning but this had cleared up by the afternoon. We even saw a few rays of sun!
David and Michelle and Tom & Terry stormed away to substantial leads on their rinks but Joe and Phil were having a much tighter game where the lead kept switching. They ended up three shots behind going into the last end and did well to pick up the three shots needed and manage to draw their game 14 - 14.
On the other two greens our opposition started to make some in roads into the leads that we had earlier established, but left it too late. so we ran out winners on these rinks: Tom & Terry won 16 - 6 and David & Michelle won 15 - 8.
So our best victory in this league so far 8 - 1 (45 - 28). This sees us pushing for top spot in the league with four wins out of four.
Tuesday 27th May UWL Match at home to Hoxne
On what had been a miserable day weather wise players arrived not sure whether or not we would play as the forecast was not great. About 30 minutes before we were due to start the heavens opened with a torrential downpour but it cleared in time for us to play. The rain pretty much kept away for the rest of the evening with a just a few spots that weren’t worth the trouble of donning waterproofs.
For the second game running our opponents arrived with one player short which gave us an advantage, but as it turned out this was the rink that ended up being the tightest.
The match started with all rinks being fairly even, but after about four ends Wortwell started to show their dominance on a heavy green which suited our players. On rinks one and two we started to pull away with some decisiveness ending up with scores of 27 - 10 and 21 - 9 respectively.
On the aforementioned rink three it was a lot tighter until the closing ends where Tom, Hazel and Danny came good with a 19 - 11 victory,
So our first 6 - 0 win of the season. Total shots were 67 - 30.
Wednesday 21st May Border League Match at Home to Dickleburgh
The rare sight of Gerald Smith playing in a Border League game was matched by the sudden appearance of Sheila being called as a replacement player for Dickleburgh who arrived for the match one player short.
An excellent afternoon’s play with a 7-2 victory (56-37). Well done all players.
Tuesday 20th May UWL Match away at Dickleburgh
A chilly evening found us at Dickleburgh, although we played them in the cup last season it has been a long time since we have played them in a league match. We went into the match against the team who presently sat at the top of the league, so for us new comers to the top division it was a daunting proposition.
On the middle rink our trio struggled to match the opposition all evening, however our other two rinks we had closer games.
Gerald, David and Sheila had on up and down match where the lead switched back and forth. With two ends still to play they were 16-9 down, but had a good last two ends to get up to 14 points, maybe if they’d had a couple more ends they might have turned the result around.
On the third rink Tom, Phil and Hazel were ahead for the whole match, and went in to the final end with a 16-11 lead. This final end made for an exciting finish to the game as Dickleburgh were holding four shots, with a measure for the fifth shot. Fortunately for us our nearest shot just beat Dickleburgh’s fifth wood giving us a narrow 16-15 win.
The final result was a 5-1 (56-39) defeat.
Wednesday 14th May Border League Match away at Fressingfield
Our second match in the Border League. Still trying to get used to the different tactics involved in Australian Pairs play.
First time for all of us playing at Fressingfield. Very well kept Green and a friendly atmosphere made for an enjoyable afternoon. A beautiful warm day in quiet surroundings didn’t do any harm either.
Michelle and David got off to a flying start and never looked troubled on their rink. They came away with a 24 – 7 win. Tom and Phil had an up and down match and arrived at the end of the tenth end with a narrow lead of 6 – 5, but they came good in the end finishing with a result of 16 – 6. Hazel and Danny were trying hard to keep in their game right to the end, but unfortunately went down 13 – 7 against a strong pairing.
So overall we came out winners 7 – 2 (47 – 26), two wins out of two in this league, so far.
Tuesday 13th May UWL match at home to Long Stratton
We finished second to Long Stratton in Division 2 last season so we were the two clubs that were together promoted to Division One. We were expecting a tough match which is exactly what we got.
Tom’s team on Rink 1 were always ahead of their opponents and finished worthy winners 17 – 9. Barry’s team were drawn against a very strong trio on Rink 2 and went down 32 – 7. The third match up on Rink 3 proved to be a much tighter affair. We went into the last end level at 17 – 17. The eighteenth end anded up being decided by a very close measure and we lost out by less than an inch to finish up losing 18 – 17.
The final result was a 5 – 1 defeat (59 – 14), but the result apart it was an enjoyable game played in a good spirit.
Monday 12th May UWL Cup match at home to Stradbroke & District
Good to meet up with Stradbroke & District who we left in Division Two this season following our promotion.
This first round cup match was played in a very friendly atmosphere.
All of our teams played very well, and we came away 69 – 29 winners having won on all three rinks. Cup matches are settled on total shots won.
So we have successfully navigated the first round, let’s see who we have to face in the second round.
Wednesday 7th May Border League match at home to Stradbroke White Hart
Our first match in this newly formed league saw both teams in learning phase getting used to the Australian Pairs rules. We were also getting used to playing the opposite way across the green to usual, which we have decided to do for this league to even out the wear and tear on the green.
The weather could have been kinder it was quite chilly, but fortunately the black rain clouds in the sky kept away from us. I should imagine that when we get to the height of Summer this will be a most pleasant way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.
The pattern of the match felt like a carry over from the previous evening with two matches being very tightly fought, these two games finished with 11-10 and 16-12 defeats. Michelle and David kept up their excellent performance of the previous evening to come out on top on their rink by a score of 26-6. This gave us an overall 5-4 (48-33) victory.
Tuesday 6th May UWL match at home to Scole
Back to our more usual weather with a decidedly chilly evening where pullovers and fleeces were much in evidence.
Two rinks were extremely tight with the lead changing several times during the evening, staying like that to the end of the games. We ended up losing narrowly on both rinks 14-16 and 15-17.
The other rink of Michelle, David and Phil got a grasp on their games from the beginning and by introducing the long cott later in the game, came out strong winners 36-10.
Our overall result was a 4-2 victory (65-43).
An enjoyable evening despite the weather. It was good to meet up with the members of Scole who were promoted to the First Division a couple of seasons ago. We look forward to playing them on their green later in the year.
Thursday 1st May - UWL Away Match against Connaught (Wensum)
Our first away match of the season gave us a pleasant evening with some shorts and shirt sleeves in evidence, very unusual for this stage of the season, so a very nice evening for a game of bowls.
The match started very evenly; after five ends all three rinks were level pegging. Two of our rinks with Skips Tom & Gerald continued with very close matches, finishing with a narrow loss 15 - 12 and a draw at 15 - 15. Our third rink struggled in the latter stages and unfortunately went down by 28 - 10.
Overall a loss of 5 1/2 to 1/2 (58 - 37), our worst result so far this year but considering we have just gained promotion and Wensum are presently top of the league this wasn’t too bad especially away from home. We’ll try and redeem ourselves at our place.
Tuesday 15th April - UWL Home Match against Stradbroke White Hart
Our second match of the season saw us welcome back our friends from Stradbroke White Hart.
It was nice to see old friends again, with friendly rivalry ahead. On a nice clear evening we set off on our quest to win a match in Division 1. We started well with all rinks winning the first three ends. It was a hard fought match with 2 rinks being very tight and the rink of Sheila Smith, Terry Broomfield and Gerald Smith having a good first half being well ahead with the other 2 rinks, being very close with one shot in it.
The second half was even more exciting with us fighting for every point, Gerald's rink did very well and kept moving ahead managing a win of 25 - 9 Then Tom Bell's rink came good winning the last 3 ends to get a result of 16 - 13. This left Barry's rink to get a clean sweep. Going into the last end they were one shot down but after the first few bowls were holding enough to get a win, with just the Skips to go it was the same after Barry's last bowl we were holding 4 then they had their last bowl which was a perfect shot taking the end with 1 shot, meaning a loss of 14 - 16. But all rinks did well to give us a win of 5-1 55 - 38.
Well done everybody lets go again.
Tuesday 15th April - UWL Home Match against Kenninghall Red Lion
Tuesday saw us open the summer season, we are now in Division 1 which will try our skills to the limit. Our first match gave us a chance to rekindle our friendship with Kenninghall Red Lion whom we haven't played for a few years now. It was nice to see old and new faces.
As usual for the first match of the season it was miserable and overcast with signs of rain. We started a little bit early to try and get all the ends in as it was getting dark early. We did not start very well it took us a few ends before we managed to get a score on the board but once we did we had to fight a deficit so catching up was the name of the game. At halfway we had done well being up on two rinks and down on one. With the weather and darkness closing in; we decided to play just 14 ends which was a shame as we were just coming into our own.
The final result was Wortwell 28 shots Kenninghall 37 with a result of 0-6 we were all pleased with this for our first match in Division 1 and the first match we have lost at home for three years, so well done to all the players.