Victoria men suffered two defeats in national competitions in the past week.

Victoria men suffered defeats in both the Denny Plate and Over-60’s Double Rink, while the ladies enjoyed a close win in a friendly, but defeat in the Yetton Trophy.

However, the men and ladies combined to win against Woodspring in the mixed league.

The men suffered an agonising two-shot defeat against Clevedon in the Denny Plate, with both Colin Heal and Dave Fairhurst skipping their rinks to three shot wins.

The Over-60s Double Rink against Victoria Street was lost by nine shots, despite the rink of Harrison Whyte, Derek Hurst, Colin Heal and Mike Stocker winning by four.

The ladies were defeated in the first round of the Yetton Trophy by Clevedon with the sole rink win of 15 shots by Chris Sage, Lorraine Richards, Chris Stevens and Margaret Hillman.

A narrow win was achieved against North Petherton in a two-rink friendly with Sue Newman skipping her rink of Brenda Williams, Hannah Frye and Chris Stevens to an excellent eight-shot victory.

The ladies played Taunton Deane in a two-rink friendly going down by 14 shots, but snatched an exciting 20-20 draw on the rink of Brenda Williams, Sue Sockol, Kay Wilson and Rose Cleeves.

Victoria enjoyed a three rink win against Woodspring in the mixed league with the rink of Les Kelly, Bill Nicholls, Chris Stevens and Mike Cooper top scoring with an emphatic 17-shot win to ensure overall victory.

Victoria 71, Clevedon 73: G Richards, P Wyatt, J Newman, M Stocker 15-17; P Coumis, W Nicholls, D Wheatley, M Cooper 17-23; J Revill, C Chudley, D Jones, C Heal 19-16; J Mingo-West, B Pocock, D Sealey, D Fairhurst 20-17.

Victoria 31, Victoria Street 40: H Whyte, D Hurst, C Heal, M Stocker 19-15; J Mingo-West, D Jones, D Wheatley, M Cooper 12-25.

Victoria Ladies 48, Clevedon 77: C Sage L Richards C Stevens M Hillman 21-6; H Frye R Bailey K Wilson S Cooper 10-22; B Williams R Cleeves A Holland M Chudley 10-19; H Chesters B Mangan S Pocock S Newman 7-30.

Victoria Ladies 17, North Petherton 16: B Williams H Frye C Stevens S Newman 12-4; N Whyte R Bailey K Wilson M Chudley 5-12.

Victoria Ladies 26, Taunton Deane 40: H Chesters C Stevens S Pocock S Newman 6-20; B Williams S Sockol K Wilson R Cleeves 20-20.

Victoria 66, Woodspring 43: H Chesters, H Frye, R Cleeves, D Hurst 18-12; B Williams, N Whyte, H Whyte, G Rain 8-9; R Hollier, R Bailey, J Mingo-West, S Cooper 15-14; L Kelly, W Nicholls, C Stevens, M Cooper 25-8.

St Andrews A made life difficult for themselves in the first round of the National Over-60s Double-Rink competition before going through by three shots against Minehead A.

As in the preliminary round, the Saints’ home rink lost, this time by four shots. That rink included Clarence’s outdoor club champion David Stott, in his competitive debut for St Andrews.

Fortunately, as in the previous match, Barrie Forse skipped his away team to victory and their seven-shot margin proved more than enough. Ilminster A will be a tough proposition in the next round.

St Andrews A 32, Minehead A 29 – home: D Stott, B Reeves, G Webber, D Bailey 14-18. Away: K Uglow, R Venn, M Campbell, B Forse 18-11.

The following day, St Andrews extended excellent hospitality to the Somerset County Patrons on their annual visit. However, the home club were ruthless on the green, winning by more than 50 shots.

Captain Ron Gill skipped his rink home by 30, while Don Bailey, with newcomer Nigel Bassett in promising form, finished 21 shots clear. Gordon Wride completed the clean sweep.

St Andrews 87, Somerset County Patrons 32: A Cooper, G Cooper, J Keay, G Wride 20-16; R Smith, W Ainsworth, R Venn, R Gill 34-4; T Hyde, N Bassett, B May, D Bailey 33-12.

A six on the 11th end helped Darrell Johnston’s rink win by 13 to set up a three-shot win over visitors Isle of Wedmore in a two-rink mixed friendly. Johnston’s quartet included new bowler Karen Cromey, in her debut for the club.

St Andrews 38, Isle of Wedmore 36: Judy Forse, Karen Cromey, R Potter, Darrell Johnston 28-15; Sue Carr, Jill Bishop, Sylvia Priory, P Villis 10-21.

Saints’ 15-year-old Imogen Cracknell, who finished a praiseworthy seventh recently in the English Bowls Youth Development Scheme national finals, was selected for an England Under-25 regional trial at Taunton Deane.

Also nationally, Ken Uglow, Ken Curtis, Phil Villis and Barrie Forse won by two shots away to a Bristol quartet in the Over-60 Fours. That set up an all-St Andrews clash in the next round against Malcolm Dorrington, Jim Keay, George Webber and Don Bailey, who had a comfortable victory against a four from Nailsea.

The busy Uglow and Forse edged through in the national pairs, by one on a calliper measure against Frazer Ham and Richard Withers (Clevedon). There was one shot in it also on the adjoining rink, as John Wilkes, Richard Venn and Ron Gill beat a Bristol trio in the national over-50 triples.

Forse, the county indoor singles champion, and clubmate Lee Stocker played in the final trial for the Somerset Liberty Trophy team at Swindon.

Wedmore Ladies won decisively in the second round of the Yetton Plate, on 2+2 basis against Nailsea.

It was two rinks all, each club winning one at home and one away, but Wedmore had a much better shot score overall. At home, Shirley Wederell’s ladies led from the start and never looked back, winning 13 of 18 ends and a shot score of 23-6.

Julie Masters’ team had a harder time, drawing level at end six after a slow start, then it was neck and neck with the lead changing hands. On the final end, Wedmore were just one shot behind, but unluckily for them Nailsea scored four to take the rink.

Away, Marie Trow’s side took the lead early on and by halfway had a nine-shot lead, pushing on to triumph 24-12. Maureen Hordle’s group had a more up and down time, drawing level on end seven, taking the lead on end nine, with the lead continuing to switch and level again two ends from home, but then losing narrowly 16-18. Wedmore won overall by78 shots to 56.

In the County League, the men went down to Clevedon after a strong effort. At home, Steve Heeley’s men looked to be doing well with a 12-shot lead at end 10. After that they only won two ends as Nailsea clawed their way back into the game to win by one shot on the last end.

Colin Moss’ troop also had a close finish. After trailing for most of the match, they fought their way up to a three-point deficit for the last end, but could only score one shot, losing by two.

Away, Eddie Payne’s bunch started well which saw them eight shots ahead as late as end 15. Clevedon scored 11 shots in five ends, winning by one shot despite two from Wedmore on the last end.

Ron Barron’s crew briefly held the lead early on, but nine shots in two ends gave Clevedon a solid platform from the middle of the game and went on to win by three, holding off Wedmore’s five points in the last four ends.

Wedmore’s overall score of 74 shots could have won on another day, but Clevedon’s 81 shots gave them victory.

Wedmore lost much more heavily to Clevedon in the mixed Egham Cup, losing all four rinks and by a cricket score overall. At home, Steve Heeley’s people kept the damage down to 12-17, while Eddie Payne and co went down by 20 shots.

Away, Steve Eastment’s outfit fell down a 8-22 hole and Colin Moss and team-mates ran into a 5-29 brick wall.