St Andrews began the defence of their Somerset County Indoor League title with a 27-shot victory against Isle of Wedmore last Sunday.

For much of the game, there was little between the sides, as Saints’ home rinks were well held and the away fours struggled to adjust to Wedmore’s speedy carpet.

However, a seven by Sam Stocker’s away rink on the 14th of the 21 ends opened up some daylight between the teams. Then the other away four, skipped by Lee Stocker, had a hotshot eight late in the game to settle things.

At home, Phil Villis’s rink, behind for virtually the whole game, scored a five on the penultimate end to win by one, while Darrell Johnston’s four made sure of all 12 points, finishing seven shots clear.

It is worth noting that many bowlers play for years without being on a rink that achieves a hotshot eight – all eight bowls closer than any of their opponents’ woods. Lee Stocker’s hotshot team included Ian Allchorne, who has been playing bowls only since midsummer and indoors only for a few weeks.

Somerset County League: St Andrews 97, Isle of Wedmore 70. Home – D Fairhurst, S Davies, B Forse, P Villis 18-17; A Page, D Bailey, B Reeves, D Johnston 22-15. Away – I Allchorne, R White, S Angove, L Stocker 28-18; J Wright, R Whittaker, C Walker, S Stocker 29-20.

National championships: Men’s Singles second round – D Parker (Bristol) 9, R Withers (St Andrews) 21. Men’s Champion of Champions second round – D Winmill (St Andrews) 21, R Coneybeare (Clevedon) 0. Women’s Singles first round – I Cracknell (Clevedon) 21, R McMillan (St Andrews) 16. Women’s Champion of Champions second round – S Tassell (Nailsea) 21, R McMillan (St Andrews) 20.