17th July N.E : Away @ Yate (Won 51-48) – 6pts
This was a crucial win against one of our close rivals in the fight to avoid relegation.
On Vice’s rink, with Dave H, Alan and Dave S, ends were traded pretty evenly and it was 8-9 after 11. We then seemed to have gained the momentum, but Yate clawed back and going into the last it was 14-14. Unfortunately, the last was one of those ends where nothing went to plan, and we lost 14-19.
On Ian’s rink, with Phil, David M (making an impressive NE debut for RGBC) and Pete, although we were slow to start, we soon got back into it, especially with a strong 4 on the 8th. The score was 11-11 after 12, and strangely again 14-14 after 16. On the last it was all very tight until their 3 turned a 1 shot advantage into a 3 shot deficit and we lost 14-17.
Rick’s rink, with Marek, Bob and Wendy, was the last to finish. Again, the first 2 ends went away, but then we steadily built up a strong lead and the result was never really in doubt. However, after what had already happened in the last ends on the other 2 rinks, suddenly the aggregate score became a vital consideration, and with us leading 20-12 after 16 the overall totals were level. But we held our nerve and gaining a 3 on the last gave us the much needed win.
The table is incredibly tight at the bottom with only 8 points separating Page Park in 5th and Redland in 9th. But with matches against several of those in the remainder of the season, our fate is still very much in our own hands! 🤞
16th July Ladies League : Home v Bristol St Andrews – 8pts
With the end of the season in sight , the last game is August 6th , winning this game should secure our place at the top of the division . Although it is arithmetically possible for a draw on points with Kingswood and Hanham , who we play in two weeks time.
Wendy with Liz, Lin and Carol struggled to get going but picking up a 3 on the 4th end and continuing to score ‘til the 9th (11-3) seemed to have got it together, but St Andrews took command and it was 11-10 on the 15th end . Sneaking 1 per end on the last 2 ends, gave us a win 13-10
Gill with Sue, Karen and Kath were not on top form to begin with but a 4 on the 8th end put them ahead where they stayed finishing 16-10
Next week Long Ashton away who are in 3rd place .
11th July County 2-Rink : Away @ Stroud BC – Won 45-18 (Match conceded after 14 ends)
For me at least Stroud BC was an unknown quantity as I had never played there and knew little about them.
Well I have to say that the club. founded in 1937 is in a beautiful location but they have struggled to recruit members and currently stand at less than 20 and as the council currently look after the green but are withdrawing funding that from next year it looks like they may well have to close, which would be a real shame. 😢
Anyway on to the game and in the two rink it really is a case of watching the overall score and playing as a team.
In this case Josh’s rink of Calvin, Mike and Roger started off with an absolute flyer picking up a six on the first end and then really pushed on from there only dropping 4 singles in the following ends and finishing 30-4 after 14 ends when the opposition very sensibly conceded.
This meant that on Jim’s rink with Andy (me), Larry and Will it really was a case of simply trying to make sure the we didn’t drop any counts and after 13 ends we trailed 8-14 but on the 14th end the stuffing really had been knocked out of Stroud and we picked up a 7 to finish the game 15-14 which was very pleasing. 👏
We have historically been successful in this particular competition and our next challenge will be Cheltenham at Home but as I always say you have to play and beat the best to be the best so I am sure that we will all relish the challenge 👏
Finally I can only say what I saw but it looked like Josh had another great game and on our rink Larry continued his enjoyment of the faster greens. 👍
Finally good luck to Josh today in the Middleton Cup 🏆 and to all those players playing the County 2 Wood competition to be held at Cheltenham and Cotswold Bowls Clubs tomorrow 🤞
11th July Ladies League : Away @ Bradley Stoke – 8 pts
With only 4 games left (over 5 weeks ) this was a crucial match to win, as Bradley Stoke were second on the table . Met Office had issued weather warnings and temperatures of 32 degrees C were expected at 6 p.m. We played on rinks 5 and 6 as they do get some shade from about 7 p.m. But the noise from the pub next door prevented any verbal communication on the rinks , quite a few of us found ourselves bopping along to the music too !!
Wendy with Liz, Lin and Nina took a few ends to get going , but took the lead on the 9th end and stayed in command of the game thereafter finishing 21-7
Gill with Sue, Karen and Carol were nip and tuck until the 10th end picking up a 4 then a 3 put them ahead where they stayed ‘til the end finishing 17-15
Thanks to Dave for his support .
10th July B&D : Home v Weston Bath (Won 52-49) – 6pts
Winning on only one rink it becomes a struggle to win the whole game but this was a useful result against a team who are 3rd in the league, so are clearly a strong outfit.
I was impressed with our professional pre game regime, where trial woods were sent up on different coloured markings to establish the best rinks to play on. After much intense discussion a colour was decided on and then our players proceeded to complain through the whole game we were playing on the “wrong marks”! 😃
On Jim’s rink with Will, Keith and Andy it was”one of those ” with no matter what we did just couldn’t get a look in earlier on to go 10 nil down, tried to come back but we were still 15 down with 2 ends to go. This was however a classic example of the league is a team game and no matter if your result is down heartening, keep going to the end…. This rink picked up 5 shots on the last 2 ends and that clearly helped in the overall win. Ended 11-21.
On Roger’s rink with Larry, Nick and Kev we went 5 down after 2 and things didn’t look good, but with Larry, particularly, having a great game we won the next 12 ends (including a 6) and finished a commanding 24-7 in front 👏
With 2 rinks completed our attention turned to Josh’s rink with Calvin, Mike and Gerry, we had enough shots in hand to have won the game, just whether we could get the extra 2 points? This rink came from 5 down to be 15-10 up but on the 15th end it was all square and we just couldn’t get those last 2 ends under our belt to finish 17-21 😔
Slightly disappointing, but a win’s a win! 👍
Next week home v Willmott Park
Best of luck tonight for the Glos 2 rink, away at Stroud, let’s hope our excellent performance in this competition over the last few years can continue tonight 🤞
Editor’s Note: I knew that our green was running the fastest it has all season when on the trial ends a Redland Member turned to me and said “Look at that Andy, Kev is well past the jack and almost in the ditch!” 😂
10th July N.E : Away @ K&H (Lost 42-59) – 2pts
This was yet another tough match against a K & H side that seemed to grow in stature through the evening on all 3 rinks.
On Vince’s rink, with Marek, Alan and Dave S, we raced into a seemingly commanding lead 8-1 after 6. Subsequently, we remained on 8 for a long time while they enjoyed a string of very strong ends, and despite a brief flurry at the end of the match we lost 11-24.
There was a similar story on Ian’s rink, with Nina, Phil and Pete. Again after 6 we were 7-4 up and beginning to establish a little superiority, but then we stayed at 7 for the next 6 ends. We also rallied slightly in the last few ends, and a solid if rather late 4 on the last introduced some respectability to the score, 13-18.
On Rick’s rink, with Dave H, Lin and Wendy, we established a very strong early lead, 10-0 after 3, and were still confidently 16-6 up after 11. This then became 16-13 after 15 and 18-13 after 16. There was then an agonising last end where the 5 shot lead proved crucial as K & H secured a 4, so we finally won a rink, 18-17!
There are still enough fixtures left from which we can take the points we need to stay up this season, but I don’t think it will be plain sailing (or bowling).
3rd July N.E : Home v SLAT (Lost 29-44) – 0pts
This was always going to be a tough match against the team who won the league last year and are leading it this. And so it proved to be.
On Wendy’s rink, with Mike W, Phil and Lin, we didn’t get off to a good start, but after 8 we had levelled at 6-6. However, the next 3 ends determined the match and we couldn’t recover, despite getting 3 off the last 2 ends. 11-18 down.
On Ian’s rink, with Marek, Kev and Pete, it was very well contested, still 8-9 after 14, but conceding a 3 on 16 (there had only been 3 2’s in the previous 15 ends) again took the game away. We salvaged a 1 on the last end to make it 9-13.
On Nick’s rink, with the Daves, H, E, and S, it was very even after 12, but then SLAT took the game away with a 2 and a 3, and then it was difficult to get back into the contest. Final score 9-13.
I thought that this was a tremendous effort against a very strong side, and, at the risk of repeating myself, let’s stay positive. Thanks to everyone!
3rd July B&D : Away @ Olveston (Won 46-44) – 8pts
As we have said before in these reports playing Olveston is always a challenge due to the quality of their players and the number of Middleton Cup players in their squad. So playing Olveston on their home turf is even more of a challenge but I am delighted to report that we rose to the challenge and prevailed on the night, although it was a very, very close run thing. 🤔
On Roger’s rink with Jon, Keith and Mike I they lost 6 of the first 9 ends falling behind 4-9. Dropping a 4 on the 12th end meant the deficit increased to 6-16 but ultimately it is a team game and as Kevin might say it is important not to let an opposition team get too far ahead in terms of the overall score and this rink held the tide and finished 10-19.
On Josh’s rink with Calvin, Larry and Mark P having been 5-2 up after the 7th end then picked up a 5 on end 8 to lead 10-2 but Olveston bounced back almost immediately picking up a 4 on end 10 and another 4 on end 12 to trail 12-10. We then went on to lead 15-10 after end 15 and the two points looked “in the bag” but nothing is ever certain in bowls and on end 16 Olveston picked up a great 5 to tie the score 15-15. I didn’t see the final end as I was playing but the result was a 2 for Redland and a final score of 17-15. 😃
It was at this stage that all eyes turned to Jim’s rink with myself, Nigel and Will. Suffice to say that going into the last end we were leading 17-10 which meant that with the other two rinks finished the overall match score was tied. 🥹 🤞
I played probably to worst end that I played all night with Ted Mangan putting two bowls within a couple of feet jack high and my bowls at least a yard short. Nigel however stepped up to the challenge with his first bowl swallowing the jack and ending a couple of feet from it. Ultimately the whole match then rested on the last bowl of John Smallwood (amazing to think that of all the 816 bowls bowled that evening it came down to the very last wood. John had a very difficult shot with a number of woods short and as his wood came into the head the line looked perfect, which it was, but it just went past Nigel’s wood and we picked up a 2 to win the match 👏
A really great win and very welcome in our Division 1 campaign. I would like also to acknowledge the gracious way in which Olveston members accepted defeat and congratulated us 👍
Calvin has asked me to make specific mention of Roger and Mark P who he said played two great woods to help with this win so well done both 👍
Hopefully we can carry this momentum forward into future games……..
Finally good luck to Josh on Saturday in his Middleton Cup game against Oxfordshire 🏆. If they get to Leamington we might see Josh on the TV (or at least You Tube) think of that! 📺
2nd July Ladies League : Home v Yate (Lost 32-21) – 2pts
Wendy with Lin, Carol and Julie struggled from the start and didn’t quite find it losing 9-22
Lin with Nina Karen and Colette were in front until the 14th end , Yate picked up a couple 9-8 , evened up on the 15th end and dropped on on the 16th end, Liz delivered a brilliant wood on the final end picking up 3 and winning 12 -10