St Andrew lift North Somerset Knockout Cup

A SUPERB display by all five rinks enabled St Andrews to lift the North Somerset Knockout Cup for only the second time in their history.

Against Portishead RBL, a strong Premier Division side, St Andrews maintained a lead throughout the game to win the trophy by 17 shots.

Captain Jim Warren was delighted to receive the cup, in what has been a hugely successful season for the Saints.

St Andrews 105, Portishead RBL 88: M. Goddard, G Sims, R. McLeod, G Guest

21-19; P Aldus, E Day, A McMillan, A Steer 16-17; G Tofte, R Venn, S Davies, B Forse 25-7; A Yeeles, G Cooper, G Webber, A Owens 25-15; R Smith, K Uglow, J Warren (c), D Bailey 18-30.

Although managing to win the game, the Saints struggled against Winscombe, except for the rink skipped by Andrew Owens, in their last County League match of the season.

Winscombe took four points which kept them in North 1, while St Andrews, as champions, move into Premier Two.

St Andrews A 60, Winscombe A 54 (County League): K Uglow, R Venn, S Davies, B Forse 12-23; P Aldus, A McMillan, T Steer, D Bailey 17-23; M Goddard, G Tofte, G Webber, A Owens 31-8.

St Andrews B 75, Wrington 44 (County League): R Brereton, P Smart, T Day, D Favis 16-15; K Parker, J Ling, A Horsburgh, J Warren (c) 31-14; K Rodgers, M Blight, G Burgess, G Wride 28-15.

Andrew Owens and Steve Davies were beaten on an extra-end of their county pairs final held at Victoria Bowling Club. Barrie Forse managed a one shot win in his two-wood final against Louis Rideout from Illminster.

St Andrews will be holding open evenings on their indoor rinks on three consecutive Fridays between 5.30-8.30pm for anyone who wishes to try their hand at indoor bowling.

The evenings start on September 13 and free coaching and equipment is provided. All ages welcome.

CLARENCE Golds sprung one of the shocks of the season when they visited and beat promotion-chasing Clevedon in Division Two of the Weston & District Over-60s League.

The Golds, Clarence’s second team in the league, are bottom of the table, but they triumphed by 12 shots, winning on four rinks.

Dick Jackman’s trio finished seven shots ahead, while John Hayes skipped his team to victory by two, Brian Hanks by three and John Edwards by nine.

Clevedon 90 (4), Clarence Golds 102 (16): J Hawkins, B Cheffers, D Jackman 18-11; C Tippett, J Hicks, John Hayes 22-20; L Smith, A Taylor, B Hanks 19-16; B Difford, M Scoins, B Duffy 10-16; J Stewart, M Peters, R Higgins 14-17; J Kellaway, M Skyrme, J Edwards 19-10.

Clarence’s Sunday mixed team took on visitors Cullompton over eight rinks and two triples and did well to beat them by 18 shots.

Adrian Gardiner, captain for the day Tony Mannion, Audrey Harris, Pam Hawkins, Dick Jackman and Brian Ballinger were the winning skips for Clarence.

Clarence 170, Cullompton 152: Irene Hicks, Lucy Oldham, Dilys Forsyth, Adrian Gardiner 16-15; T Hooper, Jan Weston, Pat Phillips, T Mannion 21-6; Ann Ward, A Taylor, M Peters, Audrey Harris 19-12; Pam Fowler, B Difford, I Phipps, D Jackman 23-14; Marlene Woods, Val Gardiner, J Hicks, Veronica Jones 8-19; Miriam Moore, D Weston, T Ward, Pam Hawkins 29-10; Rita Hinde, Pam Turner, Pam Dunn, Pat Bidmead 10-26; J Hawkins, Elaine Stott, Norma Peters, M Phillips 11-20; Ann Ballinger, T Cockcroft, D Stott 15-17; J Kellaway, Jo Mannion, B Ballinger 18-13.

Clarence stage their finals weekend on Saturday and Sunday, together with the finals of Clarence Ladies and Wessex Ladies.

Competitions committee members Mick Edlin and Martyn Adams will both be bidding for three titles, one of them, in the two-wood pairs, together. David Stott will be attempting to retain the club championship when he faces Harry Sparks in the last final of the weekend.

Full line-up for Clarence men’s finals weekend - two-wood triples league: Paul Tubb, Tony Hooper, John Hayes, Brian Difford v Richard Crawford, Brendan Duffy, Mike Skyrme, Roy Kellaway; Paxton Challenge: Ivan Phipps v Don Towie; Under-70 singles: Barrie Underwood v Mick Edlin; four-wood pairs: David Stott/John Hayes or Grant Aldridge/Chris Tippett v Roger Burrough/Alan Kermack; first-time singles: Barrie Underwood or Dick Jackman v Tony Mannion; singles league: Doug Grier v Martyn Adams; club triples: Dave Thomson, Les Lakey, Len Lewis or Trevor Ward, Harry Sparks, John Atkins v Richard Crawford, Mike Skyrme, Terry Cockcroft or Jim Keay, Brendan Duffy, Doug Grier.

Two-wood singles: John Edwards v Mick Edlin; club fours: Brian Ballinger, Dick Jackman, Maurice Phillips, John Norris v Grant Aldridge, Chris Tippett, John Atkins, Brian Difford; over-70 singles: Adrian Gardiner v Mike Scoins; two-wood pairs: Martyn Adams/Mick Edlin v David Stott/Richard Crawford.

Mixed pairs: Mick and Carol Edlin v Trevor and Sarie Pritchard; handicap singles: Martyn Adams v Grant Aldridge; special challenge - senior select v class of 2013: Bob Cornwall, John Stewart, Bert Cheffers, Dick Jackman (total age 364) v Nigel Martin, Alan Newland, Jim Birt, Derek Weston; club championship: David Stott v Harry Sparks.

ASHCOMBE members have hosted two mixed touring teams, one from Crediton and the other from Milton Keynes.

In the Over-60s League, the Knights took on Nailsea and only managed to win on two rinks and draw on a third, gaining five points. The friendly game against Bristol saw Ashcombe win by 30 shots.

In the NSL Division 1, Ashcombe played Nailsea and only won one rink by a shot, losing the game by 15 shots. Also in Division 2, Ashcombe B were up against Banwell B and lost on all rinks and losing by nine shots.

Ashcombe Knights 108, Nailsea 117 (Over-60s): G Kinsey, B Jones, M Bass 29-20; J Price, I Baker, J Main 14-17; R Counsell, A Cracknell, E Hopkins 6-25; R Cole, J Whitlow, T Bass 28-18; G Wilkinson, K Hallett, M Parry 14-14; N Coombes, E Roberts, B Caddick 17-23.

Ashcombe 97, Bristol 67 (friendly): G Tucker, S Andrews, I Baker, J Main 20-25; B Golding, M Paterson, T Morgan, T Cottrell 31-13; D Underhay, D Freestone, G Tottle, G Wilkinson 29-9; K Halton, M Badman, S Hedges, R Tasker 17-20.

Ashcombe 54, Nailsea 60 (NSL): N Coombes, T Morgan, E Hooper, J Whitlow 20-25; R Powell, G Fews, S Hedges, J Whitton 19-18; A Wilmot, B Caddick, G Wilkinson, DA Williams 15-26.

Ashcombe B 51, Banwell B 60 (NSL): B Benstead, L Cox, T Cottrell, A Freke 14-20; M West, I Baker, M Parry, J Main 21-23; M Paterson, G Sansam, R Tasker, P Gaulton 16-17.

VICTORIA finished their Somerset County League matches in style with the A, B and D teams winning their final games.

The A team travelled to North Petherton and won by 14 shots and if only they had picked up a few points in their first four games they may have been close to achieving promotion. As it was from a situation of near relegation they finished the season in fourth position.

The B team finished their season undefeated with a win at Burnham B winning on two of the three rinks and despite conceding eight shots over the last three ends, achieved the victory by three shots with Mike Taylor skipping his rink of Nick Sell, Phil Fisher and Ken Curtis to a match winning 15 shot advantage.

The D team, after a succession of defeats, beat Winscombe C to record their fourth win of the season.

In a close game, Winscombe gained the upper hand in the middle part of the match and were leading by eight shots, but over the last four ends, Victoria went ahead and despite the last rink dropping three shots on the last end, still won by two shots with the rink of Ernie Longworth, Tony Webb, John Kerr and Dave Avery winning by a healthy nine shots and with the 10 points gained, moved them off the bottom of the table to finish 10th.

The C team were the only casualty in the Somerset League who, with an outside chance of promotion, fell at the last hurdle when they were out-bowled by a strong Portishead team.

Victoria A 65 (12), North Petherton A 51 (0): H Gibbs, C Gazzard, M Cooper 20-15; P Wyatt, J. Newman, A Bray, M Stocker 29-22; D Beard, D. Fairhurst, K Harvey, W Harrison 16-14.

Victoria B 63 (10), Burnham B 60 (2): H Whyte, A Uccellini, M Manning, B Stock 15-28; N Sell, P Fisher, K Curtis, M Taylor 28-13; M Campbell, M Fletcher, J Howell, D Hurst 20-19.

Victoria C 34 (0), Portishead 64 (12): R Jacobs, W Nicholls, A Barnes, D Jones 11-18; T Gilbert, J Codrington, S Evans, D Sealey 14-21; R Hollier, M Milliner, T Gatehouse, G Frost 9-25.

Victoria D 60 (10), Winscombe C 58 (2): L Stocker, L Kelly, A Waygood, R Sleep 11-26; K Leahy, J Turton, R Sparkes, J Griffiths 25-17; E Longworth, A Webb, J Kerr, D Avery 24-15.

In the Weston & District Over-60s League, Victoria Saxons beat Isle of Wedmore despite dropping 12 shots over the last five ends, hanging on to win by five shots and collecting 14 points as they try to close the gap between themselves and Ashcombe Crusaders in the race for the title.

Top rink for the Saxons was lead by John Smart with Tony Bray and skipped by club captain Mike Manning

Victoria 101 (14), Isle of Wedmore 96 (6): P Lunn, A Uccellini, M Stocker 20-16; M Campbell, D Sealey, D Hurst 16-13; G Rain, A Barnes, K Harvey 13-19; H Whyte, K Curtis, B Stock 15-19; J Smart, A Bray, M Manning 26-10; T Gatehouse, J Newman, K Holland 11-19.

Victoria hosted Somerset Executive and were well beaten, winning just one rink skipped by Mike Stocker and supported by Mike Milliner, Tony Uccellini and John Newman.

In the other friendly of the week against Minehead, Victoria only lost one of the six rinks with a top performance again by Mike Stocker, who skipped his rink of Bill Nicholls, Brian Johnson and John Newman to a fine 10-shot victory.

Victoria 86, Somerset Executive 131: M Milliner, A Uccellini, J Newman, M Stocker 22-10; M Willetts, T Gatehouse, D Avery, M Taylor 14-21; T Gilbert, G Jones, B Saward, S Evans 8-37; H Whyte, P Newport, K Holland, D Jones 18-18; A Shattock, E Sage, G. Frost, K Harvey 15-20; W Nicholls, J Mingo-West, C Chudley, M Manning 11-25.

Victoria 121, Minehead 89: W Nicholls, B Johnson, J Newman, M Stocker 23-13; J Codrington, A Shattock, K Harvey, M Manning 18-18; L Kelly, A Waygood, K Holland, P Leadbeater 19-23; M Milliner, C Chudley, E Sage, G Frost 17-16; T Gilbert, J Smart, G Hodge, D Jones 25-19; J Griffiths, P Wyatt, R Rockett, M Taylor 19-14.

Victoria’s club competition finals will be staged over the weekend of September 14/15 with the finalists now known and interestingly highlighting the strength of the member, there could be new names on all five singles boards.

However, there are some previous winners competing, Colin Gazzard in the championship, Mike Cooper looking for a successive double in the two-wood singles and Paul Leadbeater aiming for a hat-trick in the handicap.

There is a full programme of gent’s and ladies’ finals on the Saturday and Sunday and visitors are welcome to attend.

ONE of Banwell’s newest members, Andy Dale, won the club’s internal umbrella competition.

He just managed to retain his lead over seasoned campaigners John Amos and Trevor Garfield to clinch the coveted trophy in his first season.

Club captain and secretary Chris Wilson won the county final of the Somerset Honorary Secretaries competition during county finals day held at Victoria Bowls Club.

Chris took an early lead but was pegged back to 10-10 and from then on it was nip and tuck through to the end. On the 26th end, Chris’s opponent was holding two shots for the match, but Chris drew in his last bowl which then required the umpire to measure the woods.

Chris had the second shot so the match went into the 27th end at 20 shots each, and despite the best efforts of Viv Nicholls (Yeovil) he could not remove Chris’s shot bowl which meant Banwell’s youngest captain and secretary did not have to play his last bowl.

Banwell won their last two home friendly games of the season against Clevedon and Wedmore to ensure that they had a 100 per cent home record, a fantastic achievement for all the 46 different club members who played in these friendly games.

Banwell 89, Clevedon 64: Jan Davies, K Paige, T Hyde, John Davies 26-11; M Garfield, J Barron, T Garfield, B Taylor 20-24; V Mcardell, J Keith, M Millard, C Wilson 21-10; D Walker, M Olley, G Millard, J Laurent 22-19.

Banwell 92, Wedmore 83: H Woodards, B Lewis, J Rickerty, C Wilson; T Hyde, G Hollier, M Amos, B Taylor; D Walker, J Keith, M Laycock, J Laurent; V Mcardell, M Olley, T Byrnes, G Millard.

Although Banwell A picked up a couple of points at Turnbull Cup finalists Clevedon to give themselves a chance of survival, Yeovil’s third home win in succession meant relegation to Premier Two.

Banwell A 51 (2), Clevedon A 61 (10): T Hyde, L Smith, P Owen, J Davies 15-25; T Garfield, J Rickerty, C Wilson, P Owen 21-15; V Mcardell, G Millard, P Villis, B Taylor 15-21.

Banwell B however finished strongly with maximum points at Ashcombe B, to finish in a respectable fifth place.

Banwell B 60 (12), Ashcombe B 51 (0): T Thompson, A Dale, M Laycock, K Burgess; D Robinson, F Cairns, S Kedward, J Laurent; T Burnett, J Keith, H Woodards, A Vickery.

THE ladies’ triples day at Isle of Wedmore was well supported as always and after some close battles the winners were Barbara Disbrey, Pam Beard and Maureen Hordle.

The cup was presented by Monica Green, who had been invited to make the presentation by captain Jean Wheller. Monica had missed most of this season through ill health and had been greatly missed by the members.

In the Over-60s triples, the Wedmore men played away against Victoria Saxons, each side winning three rinks, but Wedmore losing overall by just five shots. Tony Brown and his team had the best win of the day 19-11

Wedmore 96, Victoria 101: V Matthews, R Norris, C Panchaud 19-15; A Birch, C Wheller, T Brown 19-11; J Clark, I Gallop, J Arthurs 19-13; D Trow, M Green, B Aston 16-20; K Davey, J Runciman, K Pettit 10-26; T Simpson, D Collins, D Stansfield 13-16.

Portishead visited Wedmore for the last B team match of the season and Wedmore ended in style with a 77-48 win, with Keith Burt and his team scoring a magnificent 41-11 victory

Wedmore 77, Portishead 48: B Aston, S Fisher, J Arthurs, C Moss 15-22; V Matthews, T Hamblin, D Collins, K Burt 41-11; K Davey, B Andrews, D Trow, D Stansfield 21-15.

A men’s friendly match at Banwell was hard fought with Wedmore losing 86-92. Clive Panchaud’s team had the best win of the day with a decisive 35-16 victory.

Wedmore ladies visited Ashcombe for a Wessex Ladies League and lost by just one shot - an expensive loss as they scored just two points to Ashcombe’s eight.

Wedmore Ladies 52, Ashcombe 53: D Gallop, J Collingwood, J Wheller, M Trow 17-18; T Newell, B Clark, M Perry, G Harvey 18-13; M Hordle, B Disbrey, P Beard, M Ronald 17-22.

Fosseway came to Wedmore for a mixed friendly match which the home team won decisively with a 94-65 final score.

WINSCOMBE’S teams were looking for some points in the final week of the season in the County League.

Winscombe A were up against League Division 1 North champions St Andrews A and it was a close game. The two rinks skipped by Mike Adams and Tommy Ellis won to give Winscombe the four points they needed to avoid relegation.

With better support for Reg Birmingham on the third rink, Winscombe could have gone one better and secured a win, in the end St Andrews won by six shots overall.

Winscombe B were also at home against Bristol B. It had not been a good season for the team, who were already relegated to Division 2. However, they finished off the season in fine form winning on two rinks and by two shots to claim 10 points and the game.

Winscombe C were at Victoria D and were looking for a win to overtake Victoria at the foot of Division 3. George Hills’s rink including Rob Sapsford, Terry Moody and David Owen won well by 15 shots, but this was not quite enough to overturn the deficits on the other two rinks and they lost by two shots overall.

In other games during the week, Winscombe lost by two shots to the Oxford Tourists, but shared the rinks three-all and in the Weston Over-60s Triples League, Winscombe had another good win against Portishead RBL to claim another 16 points.

In a mixed friendly at Severn Vale, Winscombe also won by a decisive 23 shots thanks to good wins on five of the six rinks.

Winscombe 122, Oxford Town & Gown Tourists 124 (mixed friendly): M Sprouting, K Headford, L Whatling, M Dorrington 20-16; C Hopes, L Coombe, G Coombe, M Nash 19-25; W Weller, S Lowis, W Ainsworth, K Whatling (c) 22-19; D Rush, R Weller, J Rush, A Watts 12-21; R Sapsford, T Darkin, E Watts, R Lacy 26-19; D Seaman, J Sprouting, P Hopes, P Fredersdorff 23-24.

Winscombe 115 (16), Portishead RBL 96 (4) (Weston Over-60s Triples League): J Sprouting (c), R Wootten, M Adams 17-16; K Whatling, M Nash, P Fredersdorff 19-14; R Kibble, G Neville, W Ainsworth 13-18; R Lowman, G Coombe, R Birmingham 23-8; P Hopes, L Collier, T Ellis, 14-26; G Lloyd, A Watts, A Dudley 29-14.

Winscombe 119, Severn Vale 96 (mixed friendly):C Hopes, D Owen, G Hill, J Sprouting 16-12; M Sprouting, P Burns, P Hopes, G Coombe 26-14; M Smith, T Moody, S Lowman, A Dudley 18-16; D Johnson, D Rush, J Rush , R Lowman 19-17; R Fisher, R Knight, T Miles (c), L Collier 24-16; L Coombe, G Matthews, J Smith, B Paul 16-21.

Winscombe A 54 (4), St Andrews A 60 (8) (County League): R Wootten, L Collier, R Lacy, T Ellis 23-12 ; R Lowman, R Feltham, A Dudley, M Adams 23-17; S Easterby, K Whatling (c), W Ainsworth, R Birmingham 8-31.

Winscombe B 59 (10), Bristol B 57 (2) (County League): G Coombe, N Hansford, M Nash, P Fredersdorff 20-14; G Lloyd, D Johnson, J Sprouting, A Watts 23-14; R Kibble, P Hopes, A Pye, G Neville 16-29.

Winscombe C 58 (2)v, Victoria D 60 (8)(County League): G Matthews, E Kindred, R Knight, B Paul 15-24; D Beaverstock, R Fisher, J Smith, M Hunt (c) 17-25; R Sapsford, T Moody, D Owen, G Hill 26-11.

Winscombe floodlight tournament results: Banwell A 21, Ashcombe A 16; RBL Poppies 18, Wells A 9; Wells C 12, Winscombe C 25; Wrington C 17, Winscombe D 18; Congresbury A 19, Winscombe J 14; Ashcombe B 12, Congresbury C 17; Nailsea B 31, Clevedon Prom B 7; Wedmore A 14, West Backwell A 21; RBL Legion 26, Wrington B 13; Winscombe G 7, Wells B 26; Congresbury H 23, Burnham A 13; Nailsea A 17, West Backwell A 10; Clarence Park A 10, RBL Poppies 19; Winscombe J 9, Banwell A 32; St Andrews A 22, Ashcombe B 13; Wells A 9, Winscombe D 19; Victoria b 21, Wells C 12; Congresbury D 31, Winscombe A 9.

THE ladies of St Andrews shared the honours with their opponents, with one win and one defeat.

They won their Doreen Ralph Trophy fixture at Long Ashton, but lost in a friendly triples game at home to Clevedon Promenade.

St Andrews Ladies 61, Long Ashton 46 (Doreen Ralph Trophy): P Uglow, M Frost, M Bailey, A Campbell 24-14; B Goddard, I Tofte, J Ware, M Favis 22-11; M Wride, S Glenville, S Priory, M Pattenden 15-21.

St Andrews Ladies 47, Clevedon Promenade 58: S Sinclair, B Goddard, M Bailey 16-17; I Tofte, A Greenwood, E Blight 16-14; K Dobney, D Johnston, S Glenville 15-27.

The ladies and the men joined forces to play a friendly game against an entertaining team from Oxford Town & Gown. The visitors won the match but, in truth, the result didn’t really matter because everyone enjoyed the game so much.

St Andrews 107, Oxford Town & Gown 121: A Lay, Mrs D Johnston, A Ware, Mrs I Tofte 23-16; K Uglow, R Lee, Mrs S Priory, R Warren 15-23; Mrs B Goddard, A MacNab, G Tofte, G Wride 12-25; Mrs M Wride, T Allen, R Gill, B May 22-15; M Goddard, J Ling, A Horsburgh, G Webber 28-15; R Brereton, Mrs A Greenwood, G Burgess, Mrs S Glenville 7-27.

WINSCOMBE adies only game of the week was a friendly played away at Yatton.

Winscombe lost 46-55, with Mavis Adams skipping the only winning rink to a 19-17 shots victory.

Winscombe Ladies 46, Yatton 55: M Smith, L Parfitt, T Miles (c), M Adams 19-17; C Hopes, L Dyer, J Kimmins, S Lowman 13-18; T Darkin, M Sprouting, S Nash, R Keane 14-20.

WOODSPRING Indoor Bowling Club in Milton Road, Weston, is offering free coaching starting on September 28.

The sessions are on Wednesdays (noon-2pm) and Saturdays (8-10am). There is Somerset BA trainers to assist new developers or for people who need to brush up. All you need is the enthusiasm to play.

For further information, please contact George Finnegan on 01934 517739.