Bowls round-up - Lillington and Bilton ladies manage to draw on all three rinks

LEAMINGTON HOME GUARD

Home Guard travelled were away to Matrix on Thursday for the return 5 rink triples fixture which the Guard suffered a substantial defeat with a score line of 68-97. The Guard had two winning rinks both of which finished with the same 18-13 score line. Martin Bayley’s rink consisted of Mike Hall and Brian Smith, who were 6 all after nine ends but a 6 on the 13th turned the table in the Guards favour by enabling the victory. John Henfrey supported by Clive Antrobus and Neil Duxbury were 7-3 down at the halfway stage but again a 6 on the 15th end paved the way for the win. Captain Fred Sawyer back from an enforced lay off with Alan Rawlinson and John McDermott trailed the whole game despite a recovery in the second half, finishing on the wrong side of a 21-11 score. Dave Davies and Pete Larkin’s rinks went down 9-21 and 12-19 respectively.

Home Guard travelled to Whitnash for the annual Sunday Morning fixture but fared no better going down 75-105. The Guard only had one winning rink courtesy of Captain Fred Sawyer with Mike Hall and Clive Antrobus who were victorious over Martin Dean’s trio after a very close encounter to claim the win on the last end with a 5 after being 1 shot down to produce the 18-14 winning score line. Les Woodfield with Roy Scott and Neil Duxbury came close to a win with a 13 all score on the penultimate end, but Keith Glenn’s trio took the last end by a single shot to spoil The Guard’s morning. Dave Davies supported by Pete Larkin and Pete Warren finished on the wrong side of a 15-18 score after being 6 all at 9 ends. John Henfrey, Mike Harrison and stand-in skip Mrs D Strain all suffered heavy defeats. It was noted after the match that Whitnash had managed to field a good deal of their stars!

LILLINGTON

Lillington Ladies won their Friendly, home to Stratford Upon Avon, 3 x triples, 53-31

Georgina Dark, Rosemary Murphy and skip Sue Hornsby eased into a 9-4 lead at 9 ends against a S Rhodes trio and increased their advantage in the second half to win 18-11.

Hazel Goodman, Jane Henfrey and skip Pippa Mace held a slim 6-5 lead after 9 ends but 8 shots in two ends mid way through second period secured a 16-11 victory against the visitors skipped by L Lindey.

Pam Ponting, Pauline Smith and skip Donna Kerr led a E Summers trio 9-3 at 9 ends and maintained their form in the second period for a comfortable 19-9 win.

Lillington Ladies also won their Friendly at home to Bilton, 3 x triples. The overall score was a draw 45 all, but unusually all three rinks drew too.

Pat Daly, Grace Gallacher and skip Pat Gagg trailed a M Kinder rink 4-6 at 9 ends but the home side drew level at the 14 th end which was repeated at the 16th and 18th end to share the score 13 all.

Margaret Stephens, Helen Ellicott and skip Pippa Mace trailed a Joan Hollis trio 5-8 at 9 ends but then ensued a series of see-saw ends to finish 16 all.

Margaret Rutherford, June Sibbick and skip Val Joyce held a slim 6-5 lead at 9 ends against a Elaine Creswell trio from Bilton but the visitors then kept their nose in front until very last end which Lillington won to draw level 13 all.

ROYAL LEAMINGTON SPA

There were mixed fortunes for Royal Leamington Spa’s men’s and ladies teams last week, when both made the short trip to play away at Stoke in Coventry. At the weekend, playing a 5-triples match, the outcome of the men’s game went down to the wire. Whilst Spa’s trio of Tony Cowley, Michael Edwards and Malcolm Wickens found the green much to their liking, picking up scores of 6 and 4 shots on their way to a halfway 16-2 lead, at that stage, there was nothing to separate the teams on the other 4 rinks. However, in the second half of the game, Stoke gradually made home advantage pay. Wickens and co eventually completed a 24-8 victory, but losses for Greville Reader (13-14), Dave Wigman (9-15) and Dave Turner (13-21) left Spa just 1 shot ahead with only Dick Williams’ game left in progress. Trailing 13-15 with 2 ends still to play, a 17th end single for Spa left the game balanced on a knife-edge, with the scores all-square. An exciting final end saw Williams pick up a double to complete a 16-15 win and secure overall victory for Spa, by 75 shots to 73.

Spa’s ladies couldn’t repeat the exploits of their male counterparts in their midweek 3-triples game. Skipping Jane Wigman and Bonny Claridge, a late flourish saw Sheena Harris recover from 6-13 down to finish with a 14-13 win. Unfortunately, the situation was reversed on the other two rinks. A great start saw Spa’s Chris Weare 9-2 ahead approaching the halfway point, but a run of 8 ends without scoring saw them finish with an 11-13 loss. On the final rink, Captain Enid Reece was all-square at 7-7 at the halfway point and despite a score of 4 shots on the penultimate end, a strong second half run from Stoke saw them take a 16-12 win, to condemn Spa ladies to a 37-42 loss.