Bowls: Latest from St Andrews, Victoria, Clarence, Wessex

Saints A owed their nine-shot success at local rivals Banwell A to the rink skipped by Si Angove, who won by a resounding 22 shots as they earned eight league points.

The B team are second in their division, having won both matches so far, the latest by five at Congresbury B.

The winning skips were Adrian Cooper and Ken Curtis, the latter having scored 10 in the last four ends from three down.

On Sunday, the over-60 mixed double-rink team trekked across Somerset to Frome for the Tony Allcock Trophy against Frome Selwood and sixes scored by both visiting rinks early on proved decisive as they won by seven.

The men’s Top Club match at Bristol was ruined by persistent rain, with Saints’ only winners being Darrell Johnston’s rink as the game was abandoned with the home team 4-1 up.

In the Weston Over-60s League, Saints battled hard on a very heavy green at Portishead RBL, but came away with only four points from a seven-shot defeat. Darrell Johnston and Gordon Wride were the successful skips.

Tim Wyatt stood in for the injured Richard Withers as Sam Stocker’s partner in the all-St Andrews national men’s pairs clash with Jack and Si Angove. The sub did well as he and Stocker finished one-shot winners.

The promising Stocker also skipped Barrie Forse, Darrell Johnston and Si Angove to a notable victory at Taunton, who fielded three Middleton Cup players in the national fours.

St Andrews are holding an open day for prospective new members this Sunday from 10am-3pm with equipment provided at the club’s Thirlmere Road green. Players will just need to wear flat-ish shoes and there is a large car park.

Results, Somerset Men’s League North Div 1, Banwell A 50 (4) St Andrews A 59 (8): K Uglow, C Howard, D Hurst, D Johnston 15-20; J Keay, P Angove, D Bailey, S Angove 29-7; T Wyatt, D Favis, A McMillan, B Forse 15-23.
North Div 2, Congresbury B 61 (2) St Andrews B 66 (10): M Goddard, M Dew, R Brereton, A Cooper 23-18; L Fisher, C Andrews, G Cooper, A Ware 18-23; C Curtis, R Potter, A Dawes, K Curtis 25-20.
Weston & District Over-60s League Div 1, Portishead RBL 94 (16) St Andrews 87 (4): A Cooper, D Hurst, D Johnston 21-18; A Frost, D Favis, D Bailey 8-22; R Venn, C Howard, B Forse 15-16; D Reynolds, R Potter, G Wride 19-6; N Bassett, A Dawes, A Ware 12-16; M Goddard, G Cooper, B Reeves 12-16.
Bowls England Top Club, Bristol A 4 St Andrews 1 (abandoned, rain; result stands): two-wood singles: K Uglow 6-18; four-wood singles: B Forse 9-21; pairs: S Angove/S Stocker 12-13; triples: J Keay, P Angove, J Angove 12-23; fours: T Wyatt, B Reeves, G Wride, D Johnston 15-9.
Bowls England Tony Allcock Trophy, Frome Selwood B 30 St Andrews 37: Judy Forse, Sue Sinclair, D Bailey, D Johnston 21-13; Debbie Baker, Jackie Pitman, G Wride, B Forse 16-17.
Men’s pairs: J & S Angove (St Andrews) 15 T Wyatt/S Stocker (St Andrews) 16.
Men’s fours: D Winmill, S Smart, J Solle, T Hemburrow (Taunton) 16 B Forse, D Johnston, S Angove, S Stocker (St Andrews) 21.

Victoria beat Bristol by a convincing 49-11 martin in the National Double Rink last Wednesday.

The first rink had Sloman leading, Harrison at two, Fairhurst at three and Nutt as skip and they bowled very impressively to post a superb 27-6 victory as all players played their part with Fairhurst particularly on song.

The experienced Gazzard led by example on the other rink, with Cooper at two, Davies at three and Heal the skip to run out 22-5 victors.

Victoria Saxons maintained their winning start in the over-60 league with a 123-78 victory over Clevedon Prom.

On a breezy day they acclimatised to the conditions and the green well, winning four of the six rinks.

The biggest margin was a 32-6 triumph by Coumis, Pocock and Owen, closely followed by Rockett, Mannings and Gibbs (23-7). Bromet, Whyte and Jackson won 22-11 as Carpenter, Holland and Wheatley triumphed 25-15.

There were mixed fortunes for the three Victoria sides in the Somerset League as the C team entertained Chew Stoke but, despite Stallard, Cleeves, Hubbard and Frost having a good 23-10 win, lost 56-55.

The B team had a clean sweep for a 68-49 win, thanks to N Robbins, Nicholls, Pocock and Holland (33-20), Whyte, Carmine, Manning and Burgess (18-13) and Kelly, Bromet, Milliner, and Newman (17-16).

The A team recorded a home win over Isle of Wedmore, after Sloman, Fairhurst, Davies and Heal won by a 33-7 margin, backed up by Coumis, Wheatley, Gazzard and Cooper (21-15).

They just missed out on maximum points as Carpenter, Owen, Jackson and Harrison drew 18-18 as it ended 72-40.

Victoria Saxons welcomed neighbours Ashcombe Crusaders, but fell to a 97-85 defeat.

Don Wheatley, Hugh Gibbs and Derek Hubbard combined well for a 24-11 win, but all the other rinks went to Martin West’s Crusaders.

The C team won 58-44 at Isle of Wedmore as Derek Jones' rink, despite trailing 13-5 after eight ends, fought back superbly to run out 24-19 winners, with new bowler Eric George again very impressive.

The next rink had another new bowler, Tony Hines, leading and won 18-13, with Hubbard, Hollier and Frost contributing, as Hodge, Rain, Cleeves and Ferrari triumphed 16-12.

The A team visited leaders Yeovil and rink four, led by Harrison and ably supported by Carpenter, Milliner and Owen, took an early 8-1 lead to boost team morale.

The Cooper, Gazzard, Wheatley and Coumis quartet were a few shots down on rink six, but as the match reached its climax they got on top and won 22-12.

The star performance was on rink five, as Sloman, Gibbs, Davies and outstanding skip Nutt won 18-13. Harrison's team completed a truly excellent win with a 27-17 triumph.

*Victoria Ladies visited Keynsham in the Mendip League, with all three rinks very even by the 10th end.

Margaret Kelly, Brenda Williams and skip Sue Sokol claimed a 19-18 win, but Fiona Payne, Maureen Slavin and skip Kay Wilson saw their rivals score four on the last three ends for a 16-13 victory.

Sue Newman, Nancy Whyte and skip Hannah Frye were two down at the 15th end and eventually lost by five.

*Clarence Golds took a shock win over the Blues in the regional over-60 KO Cup, losing on only one rink.

The Blues only winning rink came from Barry Benn, Mike Fry and skip Gerald Barlow who were behind all the way until the 11th end, then had a seven-end winning streak to win by two.

Comeback of the day went to Rob Skudder, Bob Chandler and skip Derek Weston who were 8-2 down after six ends and took the next eight ends without reply for a four-shot lead.

Golds dropped a four on the next to bring the scores level, but the next two ends proved decisive as they took four shots and the match.

In the county pairs, Christine Hooper and Carol Edlin got off to a flyer against a duo from Victoria to go 12-4 up by the midway mark.

Victoria had a bit of a revival and by the 12th end were only one behind, but the Clarence Ladies held it together and took the match 16-13.

In the North Somerset Triples League Clarence had a convincing win over Ashcombe with two rink wins and one draw.

Sue Sweet, Ronnie Jones and skip Pam Hawkins were two up with three to play, but a disastrous 16th and 17th ends saw them drop five, before they regrouped to pull out a three to earn a hard-earned draw.

The club hold their open day on Sunday as part of the Big Bowls Weekend, with visitors welcome for a free trial.

Results, Clarence Blues 77 Clarence Golds 93: T Derrick, D Arnold, P Williams 21-13; R Packer, G Andrews, I Phipps 22-20; R Ferdinando, M Harryman, G Leigh 17-17; J Clark, M Fry, A Cord 12-14; R Skudder, B Chandler, D Weston 16-13.
Clarence Ladies 61 Ashcombe 41: C Marshall, J Coles, C Edlin 23-11; J Field, L Leigh, M Davison 20-12; S Sweet, R Jones, P Hawkins 18-18.

*Wessex lost 51-38 to West Backwell in the Wessex District League by two rinks to one, as they managed roughly half of their opponent's score on two rinks.

Barbara Jones' team played really well and scored steadily to lead 17-5 on the 11th end, but West Backwell fought back to cut the gap to four and claimed contrasting wins by one and 11 shots on the other rinks.

Result, Wessex 38 West Backwell 51: P Turner, D Welfare, B. Jones, 19-11; V Edwards, E Wade, M Hawkins, 9-10; C Peart, E Williams, P Taylor, 10-21.