B&D Division 2: Away Victoria Park 03.08.23
Won 58-36 10 points
!!!!!!Which means we are B&D Division 2 Champions 2023!!!!!!
Job done! Well done!
With 2 games to go we cannot be caught for the top of the table spot.
Thanks everybody and special thanks to Calvin for being my right hand man and all his considered input.
This game didn’t start too well with all rinks behind at 5 ends, I had visions of this being a bad night, but good bowlers eventually prevail (generally!)
On Jim’s rink with Will, Trev and Andy, we were 3-10 down and with the opposition lead having a great game and Andy being out bowled on short jacks (I know it’s unbelievable, at least according to Andy!), but there it is, however the tide turned and the whole rink started to play well and finished 17-13.
Editor’s Note: Jim played a particularly good wood when we were 3-10 down taking out the opposition wood to give us a 4 and momentum for the rest of the game.
On RKJ’s rink with Calvin, Kev and the apprentice “special one”, Mark Powell they played a good steady game and won 18-11
On Josh’s rink with Larry, Jake and Phil struggled on an outside rink til end 5 (3-5 down) then won 10 of the last 12 ends to record a convincing 23-12 win.
No game next week, so the B&D squad can have a relaxing end of the season, however still the Glos 2 rink and Clarence Davy to play for and our full attention now turns to the NE League and trying to retain our position in that League. We also wish Andy and Jim the best of luck at Leamington which means they will not be able to play against Knowle.
Editor’s Note: Well done to Kevin and Calvin for all their hard work this season. Being League Captains is by no means an easy task with sometimes difficult decisions having to be made or at other times the struggle of getting two League teams out on a Thursday night being “challenging”. Well done and thank you gentlemen.
Glos Cup – Section Final v Olveston 02.08.23 at Page Park
Lost 49-45
My feelings about this game are conflicted, on one hand we gave Olveston, who a undoubtedly one of the best clubs in the Bristol section, “a run for their money”, so I’m very pleased with the performance, but on the other hand we were so close to winning, so I am disappointed.
On RKJ’s rink with Calvin, Mike and Kev didn’t start well going 4-13 down, at this point it looked as though the rink was in for a bit of a bad night, however winning 5 ends on the trot got back to 12-13, but the momentum couldn’t be kept up and ended 13-23.
At this point the other rinks still had a total of 5 ends to go.
On Jim’s rink with Will, Trev and Andy always in front and picking up a 6 on end 13 carried on to be 20-10 up at the end, so all square with 3 ends to go on Josh’s rink.
Josh was with Larry, Keith and Phil and at one point we we were 3 up on the game, but conceding the last 3 ends finished 12-16 down. Nevertheless a great effort.
Unfortunately that’s now only 2 out 3 this week but we have an important one tomorrow, where hopefully we can seal our return to League Division One, which has been our number one target this season.
Many thanks to Rick for being on standby and thanks to Page Park for hosting this game as a neutral green.
Finally good luck to Olveston in the Gloucestershire Semi Finals representing the Bristol Section.
County Two Rink v Cheltenham B Home 1st August 2023
Won 44-35
Kevin has asked me to provide this short report so you have the Editor for this one.
The final score of this game does not give full credit to the resilience and fighting spirit of the Cheltenham B rinks.
Early in the game Jim with Will, Trev and Andy luckily picked up a full house 8 to go 17-9 up. (TheCheltenham skip played a running wood with a back position but managed to take out his only wood in the head.). This however spurred the Cheltenham team on and they won the next 7 ends to take the lead!!
On the last end Jim played a great wood to be holding 2 and it looked like it would be a draw on this rink. The Cheltenham Skip (Alex White, Middleton Cup player) however played a tremendous wood to draw the shot and win this rink 20-23. Very well played gentlemen.
Meanwhile on Josh’s rink with Larry, RKJ and Calvin things were nip and tuck throughout the game but with Calvin playing some great opening woods and the rest of this team also bowling very well they managed to win 24-12 securing the overall victory.
NOTE: Two your men in their early teens were leading for Cheltenham, Josh and Louie Hodges (the sons of Stuart Hodges, Middleton Cup Skip). I played against Louie and the fact is that Louie had me on toast on short jacks ultimately winning 11 ends while I won 7. I have been frustrated not to get into the Gloucestershire team this year and with young players like this coming through that task is not getting any easier in future years 🙂
Clarence Davy Cup Monday 31st July2023: Home Severnvale
Won 115-43
The first win of what we hope will be a successful week
This was slightly easier than I was expecting, but I understand that Severnvale were missing a number of players, but would add that they played the whole game in a spirit of good humour and sportsmanship, with no complaining or moaning.
We wish them every success in their efforts to get promotion to Division 1.
Jim’s rink with Larry ,Trev and Andy 34-11
Josh’s rink with Keith, Kevin and Jon 26-6
RKJ rink with Mike, Jake and Vince 25-13
Calvin’s rink with Will, Nick and Phil 20-13
Congrats to all and means we have qualified for the Semi Final which will be against Olveston on Sunday 13th August at 10am at Henleaze – which incidentally is the first day that Jim and Andy are playing Pairs in the National Finals at Leamington……….
Match Report: B&D League Division 2: Redland v Ardagh at Home
Won 72-35: 8 points
It’s a little disappointing to win by such a large margin and only get 8 points, but another win and extra points to add to the “cushion” we have in front of our rivals in Division 2.
On RKJ’s rink with Calvin, Mike Ingham and Mark (the prospective new special one?) and with Roger giving his players a “pep talk” before the game, this didn’t seem to put them off and they stormed ahead and winning 7 ends on the trot finished 26-7 in front.
Editor’s Note: I was asked by one of the members of this team to make special mention of Mike Ingham who apparently had a great game – well played Mike.
On Jim’s rink with Will, Trev and Andy again powered ahead to win 30-11.
With the game clearly won it was just a question of whether we could get the full 10 points and on Josh’s rink with Larry, Kev and Phil Bunker, the “class players” didn’t seem so classy tonight! Picking up a 5 on the first end they started well, but then dropped a 6, ultimately going into the last end one up. After much discussion as to whether we had shot or were 2 down things were too close for comfort. With his first wood however the opposition skip definitely drew the shot and after all woods had been bowled it was down to a measure for second and unfortunately we were shaded by a couple of millimetres to lose 16-17.
However, overall another win, another one ticked off.
With three games left we are close to gaining promotion but this is not the time to stop pushing. It is worth highlighting that for our game with Knowle we will not have Andy or Jim who will be at Leamington, so lets get as many points as possible next week at Victoria Park.
Match Report 26.06.23: Glos Cup, Kingswood & Hanham; Home
Won 57-38
After some debate as to whether the game should go ahead and discussion about if we should reduce the amount of ends played, we actually got through a full game without getting too wet….
Early on we made hard work of this game, 12 down across the board at 7 ends, this is the stage in any game where dropping a couple of counts can rapidly start to put the game out of reach.
On Jim’s rink with Will, Trev and Andy, 9 adrift at end 11 then started the fight back, winning 6 ends on the trot finishing 17 14 ahead – the ability of this rink to come back from a poor start is not to be underestimated!
Editor’s Note: I do realise that it looks like we had a poor start but, as Jim said at the time, we could not believe that we were 11-2 down. We were not playing badly it was just that the opposition were bowling very well. We knew however that we just had to keep grinding it out and hoping that the opposition form fell, which it did in the second half.
On RKJ’s rink with Calvin, Mike Ingham and Phil, we were 2-13 down but winning 7 out of the last 10 ends ended only 4 behind 12-16.
The deficit on 2 rinks throughout the game was however almost counteracted on Josh’s rink with Larry, Kev and Gerry, who were always in front and scoring 21 shots over 6 ends. (This shows what you can do with 4 class players on the rink!). This rink finished 28-8.
Editor’s Note: I think a better description might be, three class players and the current Club Champion? 🙂
Another win, well done.
Next game is the “regional final” or more accurately the county quarter final on Wednesday 2nd August v Olveston at Page Park (neutral green).
Thanks to Bruce for being on afternoon standby, Jon for turning up as “travelling reserve” and Dave for his support on the night.
On now to Ardagh at home tomorrow in the League and our continuing campaign to get back into the First Division. Fingers Crossed.
At home to Henleaze A : 6 points Â
Henleaze A team were 20 points ahead of us last week, so we knew we were going to have a tough time
Karen’s rink with Liz, Carol and Wanda lost 18-13 , but, as they were 12- 1 down at the 12th end their fight back was was tremendous.
Wendy’s rink with Gill, Dot and Nina didn’t trouble the score board for the first 4 ends . We picked up 2 shots on the 5th end and caught up and pulled ahead by end 12 we won 19-13 .
On both rinks a heavier green and a longer jack seemed to be the turning point .
B&D League Division 2, Thursday 20.07.23: Away Severnvale
Won 55-39:Â 6 points
Generally, winning by 16 shots, a team should bag 8 points, but it was not to be, although our points cushion against our nearest league rivals did increase.
On Josh’s rink with Larry, Kev and Gerry, Josh and Larry were celebrating their birthdays. Josh still claiming he’s under 25 (which seems wrong as my belief is that he has been playing for at least 20 years!) and Larry certainly not claiming to be under 25, it was not to be a birthday “party” with the rink losing 12-17.
Meanwhile on Jim’s rink with Will, Trev and “the special one”, they went off like a rocket to be 16-2 and could of eased off but kept up the pressure to win 31-9.
Editor’s Note: Perhaps after his win against Jim in the Club Championship this week the title of “special one” should now go to Mark? 😉
On RKJ’s rink with Calvin, Mike and Mark they were in front until end 9 but started to slip behind, came back and went into the last end all square. With the other rinks having finished and therefore looking on/supporting we were holding one until the opposition skip bowled a great wood to just sneak in for shot, we just couldn’t get the extra 2 points but a great effort.
It was one of those games where if one rink goes a lot in front you can get lulled into a false sense of security and at one point, about half way through, we were only 7 up on the game, but with the big win on Jim’s rink and the other rinks keeping it fairly tight we did actually win.
Another one ticked off, ,another win, still on the right trail but we need to keep pushing on – Home to Ardagh next week.
Editor’s Note: I think following his defeat to Mark in the week Jim came to this game with something to prove and I have to say he had a fantastic game drawing the shot or playing woods out of the head end after end and was the main reason for the big win – well played skip……..
Lloyd Trophy 18.07.23: Away Olveston
LOST (Conceded at 16 ends)
A disappointing result considering Olveston were missing a number of their usual “first team” players. Although a club as strong as Olveston have many excellent players to draft into teams.
Will commented that the game and Redland seemed a “bit flat”, can’t quite put my finger on it, but I know what he means.
Editor’s Note: Will certainly tried his best to add some excitement to his rink bowling a few “heavy’ woods into the head in the style of Steve Ford! 🙂
A lot of players have played a lot of games recently, perhaps it’s hard to “get up” for every game?
Anyway, time to re- group and continue to focus on our, so far, successful B&D and North East League campaigns.
A big thank you to Dave Edwards who turned up as reserve ,and supported us throughout the game.
For record
Josh, Kev, Larry, Gerry 5-21
Rog, Calvin, Mike, Mark 11-18
Jim, will, Trev, Andy 13-17 (dropping a 4 on end 16)
LATE NEWS FLASH!
News has just reached me of a win in the Portishead Ladies Triples today (18th) by Wendy, Gill and Sue Whale (Bristol St Andrew’s). A great win against some tough opposition, very well played.