28.05.23: Bowls England Two Rink
Home to Olveston
Lost 19-37( conceded at 16 ends)
When you are up against Olveston everyone has to be on top form, unfortunately this wasn’t the case this morning and I would suggest this was virtually the best team Olveston could field.
On Jim’s rink with Will, Trev and Vince Redland went off extremely well to go 14-5 up at 9 ends while on RKJ’s rink with Kev, Larry and Andy they were 2-11 down, so actually level on the game. Unfortunately Jim’s crew conceded a 5 and on Roger’s rink it seemed impossible for our boys to win an end with the Olveston number 2, Dave Wiggall, having a particularly good game and the match slipped away from us
No shame in losing to 2 Olveston rinks of which 7 out of 8 players have already qualified for the National Championships at Leamington later in the year.
Finally thanks to the two Keith’s and Mike Ingham for their valued support.
Home against Portishead A team (aka Portishead RBL)
A disappointing result this week, up against a very strong team.
Karen’s rink with Liz ,Carol and Wanda struggled all evening and lost 26-4
Wendy’s rink with Gill ,Colette and Nina also struggled all evening losing 19-13
Next week is our week off , we are currently 6th in the table , the three teams below us have already had their rest week , but are more than 8 points behind us , so we should still be in 6th place next week . We will be playing over at G.B.B. on the 7th June who are currently 4th on the table , but have not had their week off yet .
Nil points
Match Report: 25.05.23
B&D League Division 2 v Ardagh (Away)
Won 58 – 46 8 points
Another job done, with another win under our belts.
This was not a fixture I was looking forward to, with Ardagh having some very experienced/good players and their green often being “testing”, but this time there could be no complaints about the green.
Onto the game, as the “Sage of Redland” (Jim Russell says), in bowls you never know what’s going to happen.
(Editor’s Note: Very true but I have to say that I wish we had the “Sage of Omaha”, rather than the “Sage of Redland” – we would all then be very rich 😉 )
On Jim’s rink with Will, Trev (returning from his recent “sojourn” in the North East League) and Vince, being very tight early on they then powered on to win 11 out of 13 ends to finish 25-6.
On RKJ’s rink with Calvin, Larry and Andy it was a different story being 12 behind at 11 ends and Redland overall behind by 9, things were not looking good, but picking up a 5 on end 12 put us back into the game, another 5 on end 15 helped narrow the end deficit to 15-23
On Mike Inghams rink (standing in for Josh) and with Kev ,Nigel and Gerry, started well enough and with Mike being a bit harsh on himself, but actually bowling a few “critical ” woods, stayed in touch and went into the last end 7 down. It was at this time that the “bowling novice” Nigel Rushmer said “Only 7 for the draw” and Kev replied ” Yes Nigel, ok!” (that Nigel doesn’t know anything about this game).
Gerry kicked off with 2 a couple of feet from the jack, Nigel bowled 2 ” selectors woods * , Kev managed to get to within a yard and with the opposition skip bowling his two worst woods of the night Mike followed his last wood down and watched incredulously as Kev counted out 5 shots ,then 6 then 7 then 8** to win 18-17!!!!
Nigel said “There you are kev – simple!” 😉
A very good end to the night.
*Selectors wood – one right on the jack on the last end when everybody watching and it is crucial to do so – Andy please note for future reference.
** 8 Shots in a fours game is also known in bowls as a “Hot Shot” and happens very, very rarely in this game.
In conclusion we might find a place for Josh next week, but in the meanwhile we wish him every success in the White Rose Trophy game on Saturday (White Rose is the inter county national 2 rink under 25 comp). Redland would also like to send their very best wishes for the future to the Ardagh Club in these difficult times.
Home to Victoria Park next week and lets make sure we continue to push on..
Match Report: 18.05.23
B&D League Division 2 v Severn Vale (Home)
Won: 65-40 8 points
Another interesting game with our 4th win on the trot. Things are going in the right direction with our return to Division 1 campaign.
On RKJ’s rink with Calvin, Larry and Andy following their resounding win last week unfortunately the tables were reversed, going a very unexpected 1-18 down, managed to regroup and picking up a 6 finished 12-20 behind.
(Editors Note: (Yes I am back!). I think it is important for full disclosure to say three things. First as Roger quite rightly said at the end of the game with all four players on this rink playing well last week this week none of them played well. Second there was a lot of muttering from both sides about “lines” and “tracking” on the rink but the fact is that the Severn Vale boys found it better than the Redland boys and that is the name of the game on the night. Finally with reference to the 6 it would be wrong to say that Redland gained a 6. It was more a case of the Severn Vale skip, very unluckily, flicking the jack a couple of yards over to a group of Redland bowls with his final bowl when holding 1. All in all the report for this rink should read – must do better next time……. )
On Josh’s rink with Kev, Nigel and Gerry (Nigel and Gerry both having excellent games) went 11-1 up after 4 ends, so the hope was that this rink could keep pushing ahead to counteract the other. The “plan” was almost derailed when on end 5 we were 7 down, but Josh bowled a great wood to get second (as Jim Russell has often said sometimes a skip only has to bowl just one crucial wood in a game to make a huge difference), although Josh did bowl a few more good ones! and this rink ended 27-9 up.
On Jim’s rink, with Will, Mike and Vince and Jim suffering from a bad back, but “dosed up” on various medications from the team doctor, managed to struggle on and whilst dropping a 6 early on managed to win 8 consecutive ends to finish 26-11 winners
Another good win and a very welcome 8 points – we must however continue to push on.
Finally it was nice to see our old friends, Steve Ford, watching on / helping the bar profits and Stuart Mole joining us for an after match pint following his 4th Division game at Arrow (more bar profits!).
LL Match report : Away against Henleaze “A” 17th May
A disappointing result this week, up against a very strong team.
Karen’s rink with Liz ,Carol and Wanda were struggling to get going but picking up a 6 on the 8th end saw them starting a come back , by the 11th end they were only 2 behind (13-15) , but Henleaze knuckled down and we lost 15-24
Wendy’s rink with Gill ,Colette and Nina struggled at the start , in the middle …….and at the end . Losing 22-6
Now 3rd in the League
Next week Portishead at home
Nil points
Match Report: 11.05.23
B&D League Division 2 v Bradley Stoke (Away)
Won 60-34 9 points
An interesting night where once again the game was probably won early on so it was just a question of whether we could squeeze maximum points again?
On RKJ’s rink with Calvin, Larry and the “Special One” back from his travels to Madrid, with it also being Calvin’s Birthday it seemed like a party atmosphere as Redland won 7 ends out of the first 8: went 19-1 up, conceding 5 (perhaps a slight dip in concentration?) but then again powered ahead to win very convincingly 33-9. This really meant that 6 points were “in the bag”. Well done.
With Josh’s crew of Kev, Nigel and Gerry it was, to be frank, a struggle but with Josh bowling some crucial woods to save the day, it was always close but Redland were never in front until end 16, where a welcome 6 was scored to go 16-13 up. Redland then kept the last end tight to win 16-14 and another 2 points in the bag. At the end Kev was heard to say “Sorry Josh, I only bowled 2 good woods all night”, to which Josh’s reply was, “I didn’t think it was that many”- he really is fitting in very well at Redland already!
On to the last 2 points and Jim’s rink with Will, Mike and Vince. There were never more than 1 or 2 shots picked up or conceded for most of the match so it was very close. Picking up a 2 on ends 15 and 16 Redland went into the final end 2 up but with Redland holding 2 shots the opposition skip pulled the jack back to score 2 and it was a draw. Slightly disappointing but from where we were a useful result/point (you never know how those odd points might matter at the end of the season.)
Overall not so convincing this week, but another win and 9 points means 29 points out of a possible 30 gets an A+ for the first three League games in Division 2. We just have to make sure we keep this up throughout the Season and get promoted back to Division 1.
Match Report 10.05.23: Top Club v GB Briton
Lost 2-3
It’s generally a truism that in the Top Club format if you win the two singles comps you will probably win the overall match.
Unfortunately the truism was incorrect this time.
Please excuse the lack of details in this report as I didn’t get the cards for the game.
Starting with the 2 wood things did not look good as Andy went 2-12 down. He however dug in and managed to win the game with a 2 on the last end to finish 15-13.
In the triples were Jim, Kev and Vince (triples was meant to be with Will, but to play triples you need 3 woods – Will please note!) and it’s now clear that in the future Will has become a fully paid up member of the “Always Carry Four Woods” bowls mantra.
The pairs were with Calvin and Larry.
The fours with RKJ, Will (2 woods were enough for this discipline), Mike and Gerry.
Unfortunately all of these games didn’t start very well and it seemed to continue…..
After Andy’s win Josh played his 4 wood singles and progressed to a very good win again Gareth Hall.
Two wins in the bag so ,just another needed, but in the fours and pairs these games were out of reach, although in the triples a fight back led to being only 14-16 down at 16 ends, so the match was back “in play”. Sadly however we couldn’t quite finish it off and ended 14-19 down.
Just to add that with not much help from his front end for much of the game Jim played some brilliant woods to keep us in the game and I know I’m biased. ,but surely he must be one of the best players in the Bristol area?
Over the last few years we seem to have a mixed bag of results against GB’s, but this time it was not to be – all we can do is wish them good luck in future rounds of this competition.
A big thank you to Trev for turning up as reserve, as I’ve said before it takes a lot of pressure off the Captain to know if there are any problems there is somebody on standby.
Anyway back to our main campaign this Season – getting promotion back to Division 1 of the City & County.
LL match report 10th May 2023
Week 3 :- The winning streak continues !
Karen’s rink with Liz ,Carol and Wanda were winning with four ends to go , sadly Yate stepped up their game and the end result was a loss 9 -15
Wendy’s rink with Gill , Nina and Sally held their own and were always in front, finishing 23 shots to 12 .
Henleaze A away next week , let’s hope we can stay on a roll .
2 points for the rink win and 4 points for the overall win so 6 points to us .
this result has put us at the top of the table for division 1 this week , well done Ladies keep up the good work !
Match Report: 04.05.23
B&D League Division 2 v Imperial (Home)
Won 77-23 10 Points
Another good win in our 2023 campaign to gain promotion back to Division 1.
On Jim’s rink with Will, Mike and Vince (standing in for Andy who had the temerity to go to Madrid with his wife for a short break in the bowls season) being 32-0 up at end 14, it looked like Redland history could be in the making (I’ve never seen /heard of a rink winning to nil, but it was not to be as the opponents picked up a 2 on end 15, but we only conceded one end to finish 36-2. A great result.
On Josh’s rink with Kev, Nigel and Gerry the first 2 ends were dropped, but picking up a 6 on end 4, they then went on to finish 28-10.
In reality the overall game (4 points) was won from end 10 and the main interest was whether we could get all 10 points (2 points per rink).
On Roger’s rink with Calvin, Larry and Jon, it was a bit of a struggle early on going 3-10 down, but plugging away won the final 6 ends out of 7 to pip the opponents 13-11. And a very welcome second week of maximum points.
Well done everybody, on to Bradley Stoke next week.
Finally all the best to Andy in his Middleton Cup trial this Saturday, along with something else happening on Saturday we hope Andy is “crowned” as one of the best leads in Gloucestershire! (And based on this week’s results his pace in the B&D League Team is also on the line so no pressure……)