We’ve been a bit remiss on providing match reports for the Indoor season, so here is a catch up of what we’ve been up to.
Wealden – Oct 12th
For our first game of this winter season we were at Wealden who made as very welcome and there was a good atmosphere at this club. Unfortunately one of our players met with some illness before the game but happily was able to find a very able replacement Yenda Smith who had her first game for BBA and had a very good game. BBA got off to a good start and the score was level pegg ing for the first few ends. However before the halftime tea BBA had some good ends and held a narrow lead.
After tea, BBA started to pull away and at one stage held a 20 shot advantage. Nearer the end Wealden did start to close the gap but BBA held on or a very satisfying victory by 77-65. Both teams won on two rinks so in that respect spoils were shared. BBA top rink was Mark Broughton, Yenda Smith and Caroline Stevens who won by 29-8. A fine performance.
Sevenoaks & District BA – Oct 19th
As usual we were warmly welcomed by Sevenoaks but even more than usual this year as the club have withdrawn from their Men’s league so welcome games like ours. We often get a beating at this club so it was good to see BBA holding the score to level for the first few ends. As we approached the halftime tea BBA started to build a lead and things were going very well for us.
This trend continued after tea when BBA stretched its lead to over 20 shots. It was at this point that Sevenoaks started a fightback and with about 5 ends to play on each rink the lead had shrunk to 7 shots and the result of the match was in doubt. Happily BBA stood up to this fightback and in the last few ends were able to pull away again and the final result was a second BBA victory in our winter season by 84-65. Our top rink had a fine win by 27-6 and were the biggest scorers in our win. The winning triple was Marjorie Caldwell, Reg Rowlands and Ray Lane. Congratulations to them.
Sutton IBC – Nov 6th
After the first end Sutton took a lead and the signs were that this might be a difficult afternoon. Happily BBA fought back straight away and it was great to see BBA then take a lead. In our recent visits to Sutton, they have beaten us quite soundly so it was very good to see the BBA lead continue to grow and by around halfway this lead had stretched to around 15 shots. The pattern of the match did not change and BBA continued to pull away. The one rink that Sutton were winning had a change of fortune when BBA picked up a 5 and our two winning rinks managed to maintain their advantage and the final result was a convincing BBA victory by 92-69.
Our top rink won well by 27-6 and was Marjorie Caldwell, Nora Haigh, John Rook and Colin Watson. Well done to them and indeed well done to all the BBA players who helped to make this our third win of the indoor season from our first four matches. A statistic that is the best in living memory. Lets hope we can continue this good form.
Preston IBC – Nov 9th
We had a very warm welcome from Preston Park Bowls Club. They had more players than us and wanted to accommodate all their players so we ended up with 5 rinks of BBA members and 1 triple made up of 5 Preston Park players and 1 of our own.
After the 1st two ends we were 11-1 down, at tea we were 47-40 up ending with a final score of 93-110 down but if we discount the triple with 5 of their players we lost 79-84 a much better tally.
A great game played with a lot of fun and a great meal afterwards.
Adur IBC – Nov 19th
Adur are a very strong south coast team and it is a club where we rarely have any success against them. This year was no different and Adur took an early lead which they showed no sign of relinquishing. At halfway tea Adur had a lead of some 30 shots and in the second half BBA fared no better and the final score was a win for Adur by 122-56. But there was some good news with one winning rink which was clearly our top rink and very well done to Jan Bibby (Adur guest), Yenda Smith and Bob Daintree who won by 15-11. We did have two other triples who had reasonably close games but overall we were beaten by a strong club but still had an enjoyable afternoon.
Horsham District IBA – Nov 26th
For the match at Horsham we had good support and were able to field a team of six rinks. For the first few ends BBA kept up with Horsham and the score was roughly even. Approaching half time tea however Horsham built a small lead and the score was 63-47. The tea break did not help BBA because after tea there were some larger counts going Horsham’s way and BBA were not able to hold them and the final result was a win for Horsham by 138-87 making an overall defeat for BBA by 51 shots. We did however have a winning rink that was skipped by our latest Past President Ian Frisby who was having his first game for us since his operations so it was good to see Ian back. The winning rink was Marjorie Caldwell, John Mason, Robin Colwell and Ian Frisby. We had two other rinks that had keenly contested games but Horsham’s strength on the day showed with three rinks suffering defeats of more than ten shots each. This was however a match that was played in excellent spirit and very enjoyable.
Croydon – Dec 7th
After several dropouts for this game, Croydon lent us two players and we had a game of four rinks. The game got off to a fabulous start for BBA and after two ends we were winning 6-2. Regrettably this was the only time we were leading as Croydon started building big scores against us and it was clear very soon that BBA were not going to have another success. The carpet at Croydon was much faster than most that we come across and the Croydon players who were used to these conditions continued to build their lead with the only good thing to say about the scores being that BBA scores reached double figures on every rink. The final match score being 108-43. Our best losing rink was Gill Azzopardi, a Croydon guest, Ann Bailey and Richard Scrimshaw and well done to them.
Donyngs – Dec 17th
After some awful weather it was a relief to arrive at Donyngs to find the very steep hill into their premises completely clear and everyone arrived successfully. We were warmly welcomed and the game of four rinks got started and BBA got off to a flying start and after 3 ends had moved ahead by 13-4. Scoring continued to go the way of BBA who moved ahead positively to a lead of 32-16. Things seemed to be going the way of BBA but for some reason BBA score stalled and Donyngs fought back and the game became very close being tied at 35-35 then 39-39 and 42-42. For the BBA spectators of me and Tas Alder this became a very good game to be watching. It was at this point however that Donyngs score was stuck on 42 and BBA had winning ends and were able to advance their score to 53. From this point both sides continued to score at a similar rate and BBA finally pulled away for a fine victory by 76-61. This was a very good result and means that so far this winter season BBA have won 4 matches and lost 5 which is the best start to a winter season in recent memory. Within this final result BBA had 3 winning rinks and two had the same highest winning margin of 13. Top rink on number of ends won was adjudged to be Ron Webb, Geoff Bell, Margaret Gordon and Bob Daintree but the rink with the same winning margin should also be recorded and congratulated and that rink was Janet Mills, John Mason, Carole Alder and Graeme Cupit. Well done to you all.