30th July Gloucestershire Two Rink : Home v Cheltenham (Won 36-35)
Phew! For anybody who thinks that bowls is boring they should have watched this game…….
What a cracking win this was, although Cheltenham must be getting used to being beaten by Redland in the 2 rink comp! 💪
It was a close and exciting game all the way through.
At 6 ends we were 3 up, at 10 level pegging, but going into the last 4 , 4 down.
Your match reporter announced “We are still in this provided nobody drops a count” on Josh’s rink this was taken on board and not only not dropping a count we then scored a 6 👏
Now game on!
Meanwhile on Jim’s rink they were steadily going about the business of keeping in front and with Josh’s crew finished we had a 5 shot cushion.
So onto the last end with Redland spectators willing the team on we were only 2 down, but with his last wood the Cheltenham skip played a great shot to kill it and the stress levels were raised again.
On this second attempt our front end just couldn’t get that much wished for “dapper” on the jack and Cheltenham pushed their advantage to hold a 4 and Redland to hold our breath as the skip played his last bowl. But he just couldn’t add to count and the win was in the bag 🥳
Josh, Roger, Larry and Jake 21-20
Jim, Will, Nigel and Andy 15-15
Great result everybody 👏 👍
Onto the League tonight, against Olveston Kestrals and in the NE Away v Olveston Harriers 🤞
29th July Lloyd Trophy Q/F : Away @ Weston Bath (Lost 42-47)
Another disappointing result for us, we seem to have “come off the boil” in the last couple of weeks….
Our problem appears to be getting off to a very slow start and we get behind before we even begin and then ending up chasing the game throughout.
Last night we staged a comeback and only lost by 5, but the fact is we had left ourselves too much to do 😢
Jim with Will, Nigel and Andy 18-12.
Josh with ,Mark, Mike and Jon 10-16.
Roger, with Larry, Keith and Kev 14-19.
Let’s hope we can “reset” and put in some better performances over the next few games.
Good luck to Weston Bath in the Semi Final 👍
Tonight Glos 2 rink v Cheltenham – will be a real test, but by memory we have played Cheltenham 3 times over the past few years and we are 2 – 1 up! 🤞
27th July Clarence Davey : Home V Olveston (Lost 70-91)
After a fraught start to the morning we eventually managed to get out a team….
Imagine Pete Jones receiving a phone call at 6.30am on Sunday morning “Pete we need you to stand in today and by the way could your wife cook the bacon rolls”? and we need you to get another player as well – not a very relaxing start to the day!
But that Redland spirit kicked in and with Pete and Phil stepping up we did get out a team and some bacon rolls!
Winning over 4 rinks against Olveston is a tough ask and so this proved in this match.
Overall it didn’t look good at 7 ends, and with one rink with a big deficit it’s easy to lose heart, we were 18 shots down (not a huge amount over 4 rinks) but with a comeback we were only 8 down after 16. 👏 Unfortunately all 4 rinks let the last ends slip away and our chance was gone 😢
On Jim’s rink with Will, Pete and Andy, not sure what happened here, but we went 16-1 down and a drubbing looked on the cards; but don’t underestimate these guys and a come back was staged (including a 6) to end 21-22 👍
On Josh’s rink with Mike, Mark D and Phil were never far in front or behind and finished 17-20.
On RKJ’s rink with Larry, Jake and Bob we matched early on but a problematic last few ends led to us run out 11-31.
On Keith’s rink with Nigel, Vince and Kev, Keith announced that it was good idea being on the match reporters rink as there was usually a gloss put on the rink he was playing on! No need to gloss this one! A competent performance from all four players led to a 21-18 victory and our only winning rink 🥳
We just weren’t good enough today to prevail against an always strong Olveston outfit, but another 3 cup and 1 league game to play for this week 🏆
My thanks once again to Pete, Phil and particularly Pete’s wife, Biddy, for all their help, without any fuss 👏👏👏
July 25th CCBBA 2-Rink Inter-Club : Away @ Arrow
Liz with Sue, Karen and Colette were in command from the get go, only dropping the occasional 1 – finishing 26-9 after 20 ends.
Wendy with Nina, Carol and Julie traded shots, whoever had the last bowl got the shot, 5-3 after 8 ends. But we got into our stride and pulled away, ending 28-10 after 21 ends.
Semi finals next against Page Park at home date TBA.
24th July B&D : Away @ Page Park (Lost 34-46) – 2pts
We all sat outside the clubhouse, laughing, joking, it was as though we had just won the league not got beaten by the team at the bottom! 😳 🍺
But isn’t that what’s it about ? We play for “enjoyment/fun”? And surely part of it is the interaction between us. It’s easy for it to be all hunky dory when you’re winning but the test is having a strong team spirit if you’ve lost, supporting each other, no recriminations etc. (well maybe a few – we are all only human!) and that spirit was good to see last night 🥳
It seemed that there was a slightly “jaded” air, (mid/late season, slightly over-bowled feel perhaps?) to our play with none of the rinks ever looking as though they were ever going to be dominant and so it proved.
Editor’s Note – Or alternative view – Page Park simply bowled better than us on their home rink?
On Josh’s rink with Calvin, Mike and Jon 9-15
On Will’s rink with Larry, Jake and Kev 11-19
Editor’s Note: Jake went home with the scorecard, hoping to destroy the evidence of the defeat perhaps? – but the truth will always come out! 😂
With these two rinks finished our attention turned to Jim’s rink with Mark, Nigel and Andy who could still get us 2 points and going into the last end 1 up with some exciting changes in the head we scored a single to end 14-12 and secure 2 points 👏
Disappointing, but a busy week of important games coning up and a chance to get back on track 🤞
Sunday, Clarence Davey home v Olveston 🏆 And of course Club Triples this Saturday so good luck to all those playing, the weather looks set fair so should be an enjoyable afternoon. I understand an e-mail concerning the day will be issued by the Competition Committee later today so please look out for it ✉️
24th July NE : Home v Avonvale Dragons (Won 45-42) – 6pts
Following our close win at Yate last week, it was important to keep that momentum going, and an aggregate victory over 3rd placed Avonvale was the perfect way forward.
On Ian’s rink, with Phil, Pete and Vince, we didn’t win that many ends, but a huge 7 on the 10th changed the dynamic of the match. Despite losing 14-18, it was important that we kept it tight in view of what was happening on the other rinks…
On Rick’s rink, with Marek, Dave E and Wendy, we raced to an early commanding lead, 9-2 after 6 and 15-3 after 11, and although Avonvale put up some resistance towards the end, the result, 20-9, was never in doubt, and the points difference was absolutely vital.
On Nick’s rink, with Mike W, Dave S and Keith C, everything was equal, 9-9 after 14, but then the match slipped away with some unlucky bowls going astray! Final score, 11-15, but at least the aggregate was still positive.
It was slightly disappointing to see that we were still 9th in the table, but now there are only 6 points between Page and us. Vince suggested that there were in fact 2 divisions within our league, and I feel that with 4 matches left against the bottom half we should be able to lift ourselves out of the relegation places.
Editor’s Note: Onwards and upwards! 😃 🤞
23rd July Ladies League : Away @ Long Ashton – 2 pts
We needed 1 point from this game to secure our spot at the top of the division.
Gill with Sue Karen and Colette dropped 5s on ends 2 and 3 and never quite recovered , finishing 10-23.
Wendy with Liz, Carol and Nina struggled to get the line and the weight for the first few ends , but kept the score low, 8 all at 10 ends , but picking up a couple of threes put us ahead where we managed to stay finishing 21-10.
We achieved double the number of points we needed.
Kingswood and Hanham B at home next week , who are battling with Long Ashton and Bradley Stoke for second place..
19th July Glos County Cup : Home v GBBs (Won 53-39)
A convincing win against always strong opposition, although I would suggest not so long ago we would have barely rated our chance against this team, nowadays not so much so 👍
Calvin’s and Wills ” pick n ‘mix” selection policy appears to be working, each week a different rink composition and different players – who knows what’s coming out next!
Initially this was a very close game with the scores at 8 ends, 8-8, 8-8 and 10 8, we then turned the screw and winning the next 13 out of 16 ends across the board the win was sealed.
On Roger’s rink with Larry, Jake and Kev with Jake having a particularly great game (his plan seemed to be ,either draw right on the jack or knock one of Kev’s short woods up into the head – which seemed to work well 👏). A slow start initially but with some excellent bowling from both Larry and Rog, the tide turned and only dropping 3 out of the next 13 ends ,finished 22-10.
On Jim’s rink with Will, Nigel and Andy, an early 5 shot deficit was overcome when we gained a 6 on the 5th end, but this momentum just couldn’t be retained and over the remaining ends shots were equally traded in a tight contest and we ran out 16-18.
On Josh’s rink with Calvin, Mike and Mark Dixon (Mark having an excellent game) we were always in front but to give our opponents a chance we gave away a 4 on end 8 to level the scores, but this was quickly put behind us and with the rest of the scores beginning to go in our favour the 4 shot win helped get us over the line. Ended 15-11.
An excellent win and onto the next round against Avonvale at home 🏆
17th July B&D : Home v Willmott Park (Won 43-39) – 10pts
Your normal reporter is back, having “wormed ” his way back into the team – although it has been suggested not for my bowling ability but the fact I serve behind the bar? 🍻
Onto the game, this was how bowls should be, close, well contested and interesting right up to the last 2 woods 👏
Throughout the game the advantage changed hands on a number of occasions with either team looking like they could take none or all of the points – exciting – but even more so when you win!
On RKJs rink with Larry, Jake and Kev, started slowly to go 3-10 down at 10 ends, but again only conceding ones and twos kept us in with a chance, picked up a 2 and then Kev “tactically ” changing the mat length (I still know how to play this game!) we won the next 6 ends and finished 13-11. 👍
On Josh’s rink with Calvin, Mike and Gerry stormed ahead to be 12-4 up at 9 ends and this helping to offset the deficit on Roger’s rink however they were pegged back to 14-15 down with 2 ends to go. We however regrouped and got a shot on each to end 16-15 up and another welcome 2 rink points. 👏
(I was asked to make mention of the excellent game both Mike and Gerry had, but if that was the case and we only won by one you have to ask how did Calvin and Josh bowl?!)
Over on Jim’s rink with Will, Nigel and Andy having been 6-11 behind at 9 ends we then won 6 out of the last eight and going into the last end we had a 3 point cushion and ended 15-13 in front to close out the game for the whole 10 points. 👏
We are now 3rd in the league and things are looking very positive for the rest of the season.
I would like to add that Willmott had a number of new players, who were clearly very useful, played the game with a great attitude and the right spirit and hopefully will enjoy their bowls in the future. 👍
And best wishes to Jordan and his fellow players who are in the Somerset County semi-finals on Sunday, aiming for places at Leamington in the 2 woods, triples and fours 🏆
And best of luck to us tonight in the Gloustershire County Cup v GB Britons