David retains his title at Clarence

DAVID Stott, Clarence’s club champion outdoors, retained his indoor singles title during a successful finals weekend at Bowls England’s 2012 Club of the Year.

His opponent was Roger Burrough, last year’s club captain, and, like Stott, one of the coaches. Stott got away to a 7-0 lead and, though Burrough fought back, his opponent’s consistency proved decisive in a 21-11 victory.

Burrough was involved in the most exciting match of the weekend, the final of the mixed pairs. He and his wife Pauline were up against indoor committee member Jim Keay and Joan Davis, who raced away to 13-0 up after five ends.

At 18-5 halfway through the game, it looked all over. But, from 24-11 behind after 13 ends, the Burroughs battled back and a two on the scheduled final end forced a play-off at 25-25. Keay and Davis held their nerve to win by two on the extra end.

On Sunday, Davis, who had been suffering from a cold all week, picked up her second title. She, Barbara Jones and Mary Hawkins had a terrific battle with Tony Hooper, Marlene Woods and Veronica Jones and it was 13-13 after 13 of the 18 ends.

The Jones team edged one ahead on the next, but Davis skipped her side superbly over the final four ends for victory by 21-14.

David Stott’s singles victory was his second of the weekend. On Saturday morning, he and Mick Edlin, 13-12 down after 13 of the 21 ends, picked up a five and never looked back to become the first winners of the unified singles, by 25-15. Runners-up were Alan Bishop and Jim Keay.

Clarence short-mat section also held their singles final on Sunday. Jo Mannion, who had been in bed for most of the week with a virus, won a high-quality final 22-17 against Pam Hawkins.

The sizeable crowd of spectators who watched the finals enjoyed an excellent lunch on the Sunday, prepared by member Rob Stacey and his lady helpers. Club president Reg Flicker presented the trophies and prizes afterwards.

Apart from matches on Monday and Tuesday this week, finals weekend brought the indoor season at Clarence to a close. The outdoor season for the men’s club begins with Captain’s Day on April 16.

The Club of the Year always welcomes new members and will be holding free open days during the coming months. Anyone interested in joining the club with the best facilities in the South West should contact either of the coaches, David Stott on 01934 625404 or Roger Burrough on 01934 627407.

CAPTION: Indoor finals’ winners at Clarence. From left, club president Reg Flicker, David Stott, Mick Edlin, Jo Mannion, Jim Keay, Joan Davis, Mary Hawkins, Barbara Jones, Roger Burrough.

VICTORIA Bowling Club played their final County League match against Taunton Vivary and were victors by an impressive 16 shots gaining 13 points.

Club captain Mike Manning has every reason to be optimistic for the next winter season. The club has benefited from the integration of new members with some of the more experienced club members.

Victoria Bowling Club also played their final Weston Mixed League game against local rivals St Andrews, winning by just four shots but picking up 13 points.

In the ladies’ triples league, The Larks (C Willetts, E Newport and M Chudley) won their final game against The Sparrows (C Webb, R Bailey and S Newman) giving them overall victory this season.

The Mixed Triples League champions are the Diamonds (Mrs S Newman, S Milliner, M Chudley and Mr J Newman.

The mixed indoor pair’s final is between Mrs A Holland and Mr M Campbell against Mrs S Newman and Mr J Newman. The ladies’ singles final will be between S Newman and VC Willetts. The men’s singles final will see club captain Mike Manning meet John Newman.

With just two weeks remaining until the opening of the outdoor season, the final touches are being applied to the green which, despite the inclement weather of late, looks in excellent condition.

Victoria will be holding open days for bowlers of any ability to try their hand between 10am-noon on April 20, 27 and 28.

WOODSPRING Indoor Bowls Club held its finals weekend with 11 matches being played.

Starting the proceedings was the mixed pairs, Arlene Pilgrim and Sam Hedges against Mandy Sutton and Nick Sell. At 12 ends it was all square at 11-11 only for Arlene and Sam to pull away to win 23-13.

The men’s Non-Winners Cup between Roger Cole and Gordon Sansam turned out to be a close game. Tied at 9-9 on the 11th end, Roger played four ends without reply picking up eight shots and went on to win 22-13.

The Ladies’ Non-Winners saw Nancy Urch play the first of four games over the weekend. Unfortunately she couldn’t get started and being six shots down after four ends never recovered, as Ann Fews went on to win 21-13.

In the men’s pairs, John Howarth and Gordon Russell were up against Tony Barnes and Malcolm Campbell and it turned out to be an excellent game. At 18 ends it was 14-14, only for Tony and Malcolm to pick up six shots on the last two ends to clinch the match 20-16.

The ladies’ triples was contested by Nancy Urch, Trixie Miles and Sue Cooper versus Sylvia Noyes, Rose Cleeves and Rene Bryant. After 10 ends it was 6-8 and at 18 ends 13-13, which meant an extra end had to be played and Rene’s team won 14-13.

The men’s triples had Tony Barnes, Ken Harvey and Malcolm Campbell against George Finnegan, Dave Fairhurst and Derek Hurst. Even though Malcolm’s team were 14-4 up at 10 ends, they didn’t score for the last four ends but still won 19-12.

Sunday competitions started with the ladies’ and men’s championship. For the ladies’, Sue Cooper played Chris Hedges and for the men Sam Hedges played Clive Winser. Sue Cooper romped away and played a superb game, going on to win 21-7.

In the men’s game, Sam Hedges took an early lead and at eight ends was 12-2 up, Clive pulled back some shots, but Sam went on to win 21-6.

The Woodspring Brick was between George Fews and Steve Ash, it was a close game and at 14 ends it was all square at 9-9, before Steve pulled away and after 24 ends won 21-15.

The mixed triples were between Rene Bryant, John Howarth and Gordon Russell playing against Nancy Urch, Derek Cooper and Malcolm Cambell. At nine ends it was neck-and-neck, before Gordon’s team forged ahead to win 20-10.

In the ladies’pairs it was Jane Sansam and Arlene Pilgrim versus Nancy Urch and Sue Cooper. At five ends it was 5-5, before Sue and Nancy took charge and went on to win 30-11.

Thanks go to the organisers Arlene Pilgrim and Mike Reeves.

Woodspring IBC summer bowls start in May. Anyone interested please contact Mandy Sutton on 01934 641634 for more information.

THE final of the Pro Wash Open Triples was contested at St Andrews.

Only one or two shots separated the sides in the first half of the game. Rink one skips Graham Millard for the Jackpots and George Webber for the Goodwoods kept alternating the lead.

The Jackpots skipped by Tony Ware on rink two slowly increased their lead to seven shots, but the Goodwoods skipped by Don Bailey fought back to pick up shots and on the last end, picked up a four to level the rink score.

On rink one, Goodwoods were three shots up and holding one. The Jackpots tried to kill the end but failed resulting in a win for the Goodwoods by four shots.

Photo: A Horsburgh, R Smith, G Webber, D Bailey, P Pattenden, S Davies.

WEDMORE finished the indoor season with a flurry of matches.

In an away triples friendly at St Andrews, Weston, the ladies won both rinks with an overall score of 43-29. Julie Masters’ trio won 23-12 and Marie Trow’s team won 20-17 after a slow start.

Over the season, the ladies played four matches away and two at home, winning three out of the six.

In the County Indoor League second division, the men finished the season by also playing St Andrews, home and away.

Wedmore won one rink away, with a team comprising C Moss (skipper), B Back, J Arthurs, K Pettit. The other three rinks all lost giving an overall score of 78-96. Even a victory would not have gained promotion and Wedmore came third in the league, having won five out of seven matches.

In the last mixed friendly of the season, the Isle travelled to Minehead, gaining a narrow victory by five shots overall. The match was played in a good spirit with all three Wedmore rinks returning a winning score.

Skippers Ray Newell and Dennis Stansfield led teams to a win by only one shot and the third, skippered by Mary Ronald, won by three. This was another good result, bringing a successful mixed friendly season to a close with the teams losing only twice in 15 outings.