Two Victoria teams clinch promotion on the last day

VICTORIA enjoyed an excellent last day of competition in the Somerset County League, with both the A and C teams securing promotion and the B team gaining enough points to avoid relegation.

Victoria A beat Clevedon Prom and with the nine points gained, earned them second place, one point behind Banwell A, who did Victoria a favour by beating close rivals Watchet A.

The winning rink of Brian Pocock, Dave Fairhurst, Tony Bray and Will Harrison with an excellent seven-shot win, ultimately won the game with Mike Stocker’s rink dropping three shots on the final end to draw, but still earning a valuable point and the prize of promotion back to Premier Division 1.

Victoria A 59 (9), Clevedon Prom A 55 (3): B Pocock, D Fairhurst, A Bray, W Harrison 23-16; L Stocker, K Harvey, C Gazzard, M Cooper 18-21; D Beard, J Newman, P Leadbeater, M Stocker 18-18.

Victoria B lost at Burnham, but winning on two rinks skipped by Mike Taylor and Derek Hurst, earnt four points which was enough to avoid relegation, enabling them to continue playing in Division 1 North next year.

Victoria B 59 (4), Burnham A 63 (8): P Lunn, P Fisher, M Manning, M Taylor 19-18; R Austin, K Holland, N Sell, B Stock 16-27; M Campbell, H Gibbs, J Howell, D Hurst 24-18.

Victoria C travelled to Chew Stoke and the sole winning rink of Richard Hollier, Mike Milliner, Allan Shattock and skip George Frost carried the team to victory with eight points enough to secure third position and promotion to Division 2 North.

Victoria C (56 (8), Chew Stoke B 47 (4): J Mingo-West, G Richards, D Williams, D Jones 14-16; R Hollier, M Milliner, A Shattock, G Frost 26-11; M Willetts, T Gatehouse, A Barnes, D Sealey 16-20.

Victoria D lost at Congresbury, earning a single point from the draw on the rink led by Gwynne Jones with club president Beric Saward, Bill Nicholls and Pete Newport.

Although the team won just two matches in the season, they played under exceptional circumstances against other clubs’ B and C teams and can be proud of their performances.

Victoria D 44 (1), Congresbury B 67 (11): L Kelly, C Santosuosso, J Langridge, J Griffiths 11-32; G Jones, B Saward, W Nicholls, P Newport 18-18; A Webb, A Waygood, D Avery, S Evans 15-17.

In the Weston & District Over-60s League, the Saxons lost at Wedmore thus handing the championship to Winscombe. The Saxons lost the match by 17 shots, although winning three rinks skipped by Derek Hurst, Mike Taylor and Mike Stocker.

Victoria Saxons 96 (6), Wedmore 113 (14): R Austin, J Newman, D Hurst 15-14; H Whyte, A Bray, M Taylor 22-12; P Lunn, D Sealey, B Stock 16-18; B Pocock, D Williams, M Stocker 20-11; D Jones, G Frost, E Sage 17-22; A Webb, R Rockett, A Barnes 6-36.

Victoria Vikings completed their games in Division 2 with a loss against Portishead RBL, earning four points with rink wins by skips George Frost and Allan Shattock. The Vikings bounced back to defeat league leaders Burnham by the narrowest margin, with the top rink of skip Allan Shattock with Les Kelly and Pete Newport.

Victoria Vikings 92 (4), Portishead RBL 119 (16): R Hollier, C Chudley, D Jones 11-13; S Thynne, J Mingo-West, G Hodge 14-27; T Gilbert, M Milliner, J Smart 16-22; R Jacobs, J Turton, G Frost 20-12; L Kelly, P Newport, A Shattock 23-14; D Roberts, W Nicholls, G Richards 8-31.

Victoria Vikings 90 (16), Burnham 89 (4): R Hollier, C Chudley, D Jones 18-14; L Kelly, P Newport, A Shattock 17-11; R Jacobs, S Thynne, G Frost 17-13; T Gilbert, M Milliner, J Smart 15-13; C Santosuosso, J Griffiths, G Richards 6-18; A Waygood, J Mingo-West, G Hodge 17-20.

In the only friendly of the week, Victoria played the return game against Minehead at home losing by 12 shots. Victoria enjoyed just two winning rinks skipped by Derek Jones and Paul Leadbeater, who both won by six shots.

Victoria 107, Minehead 119: M Willetts, M Milliner, K Holland, M Stocker 16-24; P Wyatt, C Chudley, A Barnes, A Shattock 12-19; W Nicholls, A Waygood, N. Sell, G Hodge 16-24; C Santasuosso, J Griffiths, D Williams, M Taylor 18-19; L Kelly, G Richards, J Newman, D Jones 22-16; B Pocock, J Smart, K Harvey, P Leadbeater 23-17.

PLAYING away to Mark Moor, St Andrews B needed a win to ensure promotion in the Somerset League.

They came away with the victory and nine points, thanks to a 24-shot win on the rink skipped by club captain Jim Warren.

The A side lost away to Bath A by nine shots, taking just two points from the rink skipped by newly-crowned national two-wood champion Andrew Owens.

St Andrews played two friendly triples matches away to West Backwell, which they won by 35 shots and at home to Bridgwater, where they had a 12-shot win.

St Andrews B 70, Mark Moor 48 (Somerset League): K Parker, J Ling, R Brereton, J Warren 32-8; P Smart, D Wills, R McLeod, G Wride 20-22; K Rodgers, A Cooper, B Green, B May 18-18.

St Andrews A 57, Bath A 66 (Somerset League): K Uglow, M Simpson, R Venn, A Owens 28-19; G Cooper, T Allen, D Bailey B Forse 17-20; M Goddard, R Gill, A Ware D Favis 12-27.

St Andrews 100, West Backwell 65: C Coffin, M Goddard, I Lamb 20-10; P Smart, D Price, D Bailey 23-13; A Cooper, T Allen, R Gill 22-13; K Uglow, J Warren, G Guest 20-14; K Parker, R Smith, D Favis 15-15.

St Andrews 95 Bridgwater 83: M Forse, B Green, B Reeves 16-14; R Smith, T Allen, D Favis 13-11; D Wills, R McLeod, G Wride 20-18; G Sims, R Brereton, D Bailey 11-14; A Cooper, R Gill, J Warren 17-14; K Rogers, J Ling, B May 18-12.

BANWELL just missed out on winning the North Somerset Knockout Cup, but finished the week on a high by leapfrogging Watchet and Victoria to become Premier Two champions.

On North Somerset finals day, Banwell faced Portishead RBL in the Knockout Cup final. Despite being without some of their main players, due to national competitions at Leamington, the game was close throughout.

Going into the last end, on the last rink to finish, Portishead needed one shot to tie the game or at least two to be outright winners. Unfortunately for Banwell, RBL played some great bowls and picked up three shots to win the cup by two.

Special mention must go to the youth rink of Mike Amos, Mike House, Liam Smith and Chris Wilson, who played extremely well and beat an experienced rink 23-8.

Banwell 96, Portishead RBL 98: T Garfield, M Laycock, A Vickery, P Villis 14-26; H Woodards, J Rickerty, G Millard, P Aldus 18-22; M Amos, M House, L Smith, C Wilson 23-8; T Hyde, J Amos, D Towie, H Guckian 17-26; V. McArdell, D Robinson, J Laurent, A Steer 24-16.

At the weekend, Banwell A needed to win at least two rinks and win the match in order to go straight back into Somerset’s top division.

In a close and exciting game, Banwell emerged as champions of Premier League 2 and will be promoted, along with Victoria, so congratulations to them as well.

The game however started of badly as, after five ends, Banwell were some 19 shots adrift, but the fightback began and gradually Watchet’s lead was reduced.

With one end to go the game was level, John Davies and his rink had finished with a one-shot victory and Darrell Johnston and his team won by two shots. Mike Davies and his side were three shots behind, but some accurate bowling ensured three shots were picked up to tie the rink to gain the all important points for promotion and cap a successful season for first time captain Graham Millard.

Banwell A 67 (11), Watchet A 64 (1): G Millard, L Smith, C Wilson, D Johnston 23-21; D Towie, P Aldus, A Steer, J Davies 24-23; B Taylor, V McArdell, P Villis, M Davies 20-20.

CLARENCE men, Clarence ladies and Wessex ladies stage their finals weekend tomorrow (Fri), Saturday and Sunday.

There will be a new champion in the men’s club, with Brian Ballinger and Trevor Pritchard contesting the final. South African-born Pritchard is aiming for a handful of titles.

Because of the ladies’ open tournament at Clarence last week, the club’s Sunday mixed team had the only fixture. They lost at home over 11 rinks to a Cullompton team that included players from several clubs in their area.

Clarence 142, Cullompton & District 217: J Kelloway, J Hicks, Pat Phillips, Veronica Jones 9-29; B Benn, Debbie Welfare, A Bishop, Pauline Burrough 16-27; Lucy Oldham, Carol Marshall, John Hayes (triple) 15-18; Geraldine Hookway, B Cornwall, M Peters, K Marshall 5-23; Pam Fowler, B Deacon, Pam Dunn, J Atkins 21-13; M Thompson, Brenda Hayes, M Scoins, A Kermack 18-25; Irene Hicks, F Al-Hinai, I Phipps, A Gardiner 18-16; Norma Peters, Val Gardiner, A Taylor, M Phillips 16-20; Ros Francombe, L Lewis, Pam Turner, Joan Davis 9-29; J Hawkins, Jill Coles, T Cockcroft, Pam Hawkins 15-17.

ASHCOMBE B came up against Clevedon Prom C in the County League and despite losing on two of the three rinks played, they won by a margin of six shots.

Ashcombe hosted men’s touring team from Blaengwyngi and lost on all four rinks.

In their Over-60s game versus Clevedon, the Crusaders were triumphant. Taking four of the six rinks played and losing by just two on the other rinks, they won by 40 shots.

The Knights were up against their home team the Templars in the Over-60s League. They each won three rinks, but the Knights were the overall winners by just 12 shots. In another league game, the Knights were up against Nailsea, but despite winning three of the six rinks played, they lost by 14 shots.

Ashcombe came off second best in the friendly against Bristol, losing by 18 shots.

Ashcombe B 56, Clevedon Prom C 50: D Underhay, G Sansam, R Tasker, J Creasey 16-20; B Miles, G Tucker, M Parry, K Wheeler 11-19; D Freestone, G Pople, J Marlow, E Hopkins 29-11.

Ashcombe 46, Blaengwyngi 103: L Yeates, K Davies, J Main, L Cox 10-19; J Piper, D Norville, B Noyes, M Badman 9-31; T Pople, R Counsell, T Morgan, E Hooper 13-32; B Golding, J McKenzie, S Hedges, J Hornett 14-21.

Crusaders 124, Clevedon 84: A Wilmot, D Bleasdale, J Whitlow 19-20; S Hedges, T Bass, J Whitton 20-15; R Powell, G Wilkinson, A Yates 25-17; J Hornett, G Finnegan, J Taylor 20-13; G Tottle, A Little, DA Williams 23-11; T Morgan, M Southwood, J Creasey 17-18.

Ashcombe 62, Bristol 80: T Morgan, B Duncan, S Hedges, J Creasey 20-16; G Tucker, S Andrews, M Badman, J Taylor 7-30; D Wynne, M Bass, M Parry, J Main 19-19; M Paterson, D Norville, R Tasker, E Hooper 16-15.

Knights 105, Templars 93: Knights: P Gaulton, M Bass, K Wheeler 13-15; N Coombes, D Norville, E Hopkins 10-20; B Jones, M Parry, J Main 18-14; J Marlow, J Whitlow, L Day 20-14; A Wright, E Roberts, D Carr 14-17; P Kinsey, R Tasker, T Cottrell 30-13.

Templars: M Field, T Pople, R Counsell 13-30; J Piper, S Andrews, E Booth 17-14; G Tucker, B Benstead, G Sansam 14-20; M Macmahon, K Davies, F Bertram 14-18; B Miles, G Pople, L Cox 20-10; C Hughes, B Noyes, M Badman 15-13.

Knights 84, Nailsea 98: M Parry E Hopkins L Day 15-14; A Wright E Roberts I Shannon 21-13; P Gaulton M Bass K Wheeler 12-17; B Jones B Underhay J Main 19-14; G Kinsey R Tasker T Cottrell 9-20; N Coombes D Norville E Hooper 8-20.

WINSCOMBE had another successful week, winning two out of the three games played.

In the Weston & District Over-60s League, Winscombe had a convincing win over Portishead by winning on five rinks and drawing the sixth, gaining 19 points and an unassailable lead at the top of Division 1.

The friendly fixture against Taunton Vivary was another good result with a 90 to 40 shots win over the four rinks.

In the Somerset County League, the C team lost their final game of the season to Burnham in a keenly-fought match, winning only one rink out of the three and losing overall by 10 shots.

Winscombe 120, Portishead 92: J Smith, L Collier, T Ellis 21-15; A Watts, R Lowman, G Neville 19-18; R Kibble, A Uccellini, A Dudley 21-20; R Wootten, J Sprouting, M Adams 23-7; G Lloyd, G Coombe, W Ainsworth 17-13; K Whatling, M Nash, R Birmingham 19-19

Winscombe 90, Taunton Vivary 50: R Wootten, J Smith, W Ainsworth, M Adams 28-13; P Hopes, R Fisher, L Collier, R Lowman 21-9; K Whatling, R Kibble, A Dudley, S Eastment 27-10; B Paul, M Nash, G Coombe, R Birmingham 14-18.

Winscombe C 50, Burnham B 60: S Easterby, D Leach, J Smith, M Nash 20-22; D Beaverstock, T Moody, D Johnson, R Weller 11-23; M Newing, E Kindred, R Kibble, B Paul 19-15.

THERE were celebrations in Wedmore as a home win against Clevedon brought promotion for the Wedmore B team to Division 1 in the Somerset County League North.

Keith Burt, the B team captain, thanked all of the players who, by their efforts during the summer, had brought this great success for the team.

On the same afternoon, the men’s A team playing at home enjoyed a 14-shot win against West Backwell. Eddie Payne and his team had the best win of the day 27 points to 13.

Wedmore 70, West Backwell 56: T Brown, R Thurkettle, R Newell, R Hughes 21-17; D Trow, I Gallop, R Barron, D Nicholls 22-26; S Newdick, P Moxey, D Wederell, E Payne 27-13.

In the Over-60s men’s triples league, Wedmore visited Victoria Saxons, and although each side won three rinks, a storming 36-6 win by Ray Newell and his team overall victory.

Wedmore 113, Victoria Saxons 96: R Hunt, S Fisher, R Hughes 18-16; T Hamblin, G Dodd, I Faulkner 12-22; J Runciman, S Newdick, R Barron 11-20; D Trow, B Cottrell, R Newell 36-6; C Wheller, R Norris, C Panchaud 22-17; T Counsell, B Aston, B Back 14-15.

The ladies’ triples day was held and after a full day’s bowling, the winning team was T Newell, R Aston and E Deverill, here seen receiving their cup from J Bean.

Second were B Clark, A Hughes and J Masters, and in third place were I Rowlett, M Perry and D Gallop.

Wedmore ladies visited Ashcombe for a Wessex League match, losing by just five shots. Shirley Wederell and her team had the only win of the day 24-19.

Wedmore Ladies 54, Ashcombe 59: J Collingwood, J Wheller, J Masters, M Trow 15-24; C Mercer, M Fisher, M Perry, S Wederell 24-19; D Gallop, B Clark, G Harvey, E Deverill 15-16.

Victoria visited Wedmore for a WDL league match and the home side won all three rinks to win by 26 shots. Maureen Hordle and her team had the best win of the day 23-9.

Wedmore Ladies 61, Victoria 35: J Collins, D Gallop, M Trow 22-12; M. Stansfield, L Hamblin, M Hordle 23-9; M Barron, A Hughes, E Deverill 16-14.

Touring side Witney Mills came to Wedmore and after a hard-fought afternoon, the home side managed to win by just three points 133-130.

ASHCOMBE Ladies 59 (8), Isle of Wedmore 54 (2) (Wessex League): M Main, M Tucker, S Hopkins, J McInally 24-15; J Field, B MacGregor, M Tasker, S Weaden 19-24; N Counsell, S Bayntun, J Wilkinson, J Hughes 16-15.

WINSCOMBE ladies played two friendly matches, the first at home against Avonmouth, winning two out of the three rinks and by 50 shots to 46 overall.

This game was added to the calendar after an early season mixed match played against Avonmouth, when both ladies sides felt that they wished to continue the friendship and it is now hoped to make this match a permanent fixture.

The next match was also played at home against Yatton, with the home team losing overall this time by just two shots.

The ladies’ internal triples league – known as the Flower League-concluded last week with The Sweet Peas with Sue Vincent, Carol Hopes and Mavis Adams coming third.

The Fuschias, with Chrissie Bryant and Eve Watts came second and The Sunflowers, consisting of Linda Coombe, Di Sapsford and Sue Caddy winning.

Organiser Margaret Smith was presented with a specially baked cake to thank her for all her hard work and a presentation was made to Carol Hopes, who has continually supplied the ladies throughout the season with her wonderful cakes.

Winscombe Ladies 50, Avonmouth 46: A Griffin, P Heal, S Nash 11-23; S Vincent, M Howell, C Bryant, L Fredersdorff (c) 20-16; D Seaman, C Hopes, T Miles, J Kimmins 19-7.

Winscombe Ladies 47, Yatton 49: C Hopes, L Coombe, L Dyer, L Fredersdorff (c) 21-9; T Miles, L Parfitt, S Caddy, M Adams 15-17; D Seaman, M Sprouting, W Weller, R Keane 11-23.

ST ANDREWS ladies, playing away to Long Ashton in the DRT League, enjoyed another good win, taking all three rinks and maximum points from the match.

Playing a home friendly triple match against Clevedon Prom, they won by six shots, helped by a 11-shot win by the triple skipped by Myra Bailey.

St Andrews Ladies 52, Long Ashton 42 (DRT League): C Venn, W Allen, J Ware, M Bailey 17-16; M Wride, M Frost, A Campbell, M Favis 15-12; B Goddard, S Priory, J Smith, M Pattenden 20-14.

St Andrews Ladies 53, Clevedon Prom 47: M Wride, S Priory, M Pattenden 14-17; K Dobney, A Greenwood, A Campbell 15-17; C Venn, M Frost, M Bailey 24-13.

TIFFANY Ellis of Victoria ladies was a member of the Somerset County team participating in the national finals in the Amy Rose Cup.

Although defeated by just two shots, it has been a remarkable year for Tiffany, who has only just taken up the sport.

Tiffany also partnered Sue Cooper in the pairs competition at Weston Ladies Open event, beating the Clevedon pair of Steph Branfield and Sheila Short 13-9 in the final to lift the trophy.

Sue also reached the final of the singles in the competition, losing a close match to Maureen Edwards of Thornfield.

There was also an outstanding performance in the group stage when Victoria’s Carol Willetts turned the form book upside down, beating three-time champion Margaret Dyer 13-9.

Victoria Ladies 35 (0), Wedmore 61 (10) (Weston & District Triples): M Brooks, C Sage, M Hillman 9-23; D Owen, R Bailey, A Holland 12-22; S Sokol, R Cleeves, C Willetts 14-16.