At this stage of the season there are so many bowls matches to be played, ranging from in house competitions to county matches, that it is almost impossible to report on every match.
However, on the 11th July, the men’s section of the club played Sidmouth in the regional final of the Men’s Top Club Team competition. This proved to be a very hard fought game, with good wins in the 4 wood singles and the Triples match. However, the team of four players with four ends to play, were 13-7 down. Any match, and the overall result, can change in a moment, and from somewhere the team consisting of Terry House, Tony Luff, Dave Brown and Ray Luscombe, produced a match winning end of 5 shots, giving the overall win to Ottery by 3 rinks to 2. The team now play an out of area match against a team from The Plymouth area in the quarter finals of this particular competition. We wish them every success. Not to be outdone, the ladies section, playing in an inter-section County match succeeded. On this occasion Sharon Kenny was part of the highest scoring rink, and Gail Hawke on another rink, picked up a “hotshot”, which is another way of saying that all her teams bowls scored. Not a frequent occurrence! Just before this match, Eileen Burston was awarded her County Badge. Congratulations to Eileen. I have lost count of the number of badged players now playing for the club. Not all the matches played, result in wins, as was shown when Bovey Tracey visited Strawberry Lane at the weekend, and although Ottery won on two rinks, one team had a really bad day, and thereby Ottery lost by 58 shots to 65. Also, in the men’s senior fours, our team playing a quarter final match, lost on the last end to Paignton, who have gone on to become finalists. Playing bowls is not all about winning, but the companionship, laughter and sportsmanship shown on the green far surpasses the result. There is almost half a season of matches still to be played, and new players are always welcome to club nights on Fridays at 6.00pm. The quality of coaching that potential players receive is beginning to be seen in the good results that I can report.
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Congratulations go to the Mens Top Club Team who beat Sidmouth 3 - 2 in the Section 3 Final played last night at Sidmouth.
There were good wins in the 4 wood singles and Triples, the key match was the rink. OSM were 13 - 7 down with 4 ends to go. They then picked up a 5 to change the momentum of the game and go onto to the narrowest of wins to ultimately win the fixture overall. Terry House, Tony Luff, Dave Brown and Ray Luscombe are shy, modest men and would prefer to be anonymous ! However they did ask me to tell everyone they were in the winning rink. OSM will now go "out of section" and play a team from the Plymouth area at the start of August in the quarter finals of Devon Top Club competition. Thanks also go the OSMBC travelling supporters who flooded the terraces and supported the team. ALSO, Congratulations go to Eileen Burston who collected her County Badge at Tiverton in an inter section County match yesterday. Well done Eileen! Sharon and Gail joined Eileen in the match. With Sharon on the highest scoring rink whilst Gail skipped on another rink and picked up a HOTSHOT. Not a bad Thursday at all. The longest day of the year has just passed, and at this point in the season bowling matches seem to be coming thick and fast, so when a match is cancelled for whatever reason, it almost feels like a well earned break! The first match in June had to be postponed as the opposition were unable to raise a team, but in the interim, internal club competitions were being played as well as external competitions.
In the Foxlands Trophy the men’s team reached the final which is played on a home and away basis on the same evening. The opposition that Ottery met was a strong team from The Madeira Club, and despite the vocal support from the Ottery members, the men went down by three shots in the overall reckoning. The enforced break may have been the reason that the next away fixture at Chardstock turned into a complete whitewash for the home team - least said, the better! Following that, on Sunday 16th June, it was Presidents Day which was superbly organised by Terry House. This proved to be a wonderful afternoon of fun, laughter, banter and competitive bowls, as the President’s team took on the Chairman’s Team. The result was inconclusive, so with a little bit of mutual miscalculation, it was agreed that a draw was the best result, thereby allowing no-one to have bragging rights for the rest of the season. Following the match, the catering team provided a superb meal of grilled steak or roasted chicken, accompanied by salad. A fitting way to end a great afternoon. Suddenly, the club played three friendly matches in as many days. Firstly Ottery paid a visit to Bovey Tracey where both sides managed to win two rinks but Ottery were the winners by three shots. On this occasion, the top team of Carl Gilleard, Jane Bishop, Peter Parnell and Terry House won by 27 shots to 8, thereby ensuring victory for Ottery. The second match in this trilogy was an away match against Honiton, where two rinks were drawn and Ottery won on the remaining two rinks. The team captained by Terry House (again) started badly and found themselves down after 5 ends by 1 shot to 8. However Brian Salter and Fenella Griggs contributed well to Terry’s expertise, winning by 29 shots to 13. The last match was played on Sunday 23rd June against Crediton, and on an afternoon of sunshine the result was a draw with both teams winning two rinks. Finally, congratulations must be accorded to Gail Hawke who has successfully completed level two coaches award, so now the club has two coaches of this level. As one of our new players mentioned ”I have learnt more in one week at this club, than I have in two to three years at a previous club” Ottery have experienced a reasonably good start to the season, winning more than they have lost. However, following the visit of Hemyock Bowling Club to Strawberry Lane on Saturday 1st June, this record was soon shattered, as the visitors won on three out of four rinks with the remaining rink being drawn. The only way to describe this performance is “A bad day at the office”
However it is not all doom and gloom, as the club is well represented in the preliminary rounds of County Matches, as in both ladies singles and ladies pairs, and men’s triples, club representatives have made it through to the second rounds. The only exception being a ladies singles match, where one Ottery lady was drawn against another! It is such a shame when that happens. In England we do have the reputation of always talking about the weather, and this report is no exception! In common with many other summer sports, the bowling season has been plagued by the dreaded four letter word- Rain! Several matches have had to be postponed, re-arranged or cancelled all together.
However Sidmouth Bowling Club made the short trip to Ottery on Saturday 25th May and a full game was played, much to the annoyance of the weather gods! The final result was a close match between two well matched sides with Ottery just the winners by six shots, with one rink drawn. Gail Hawke was the skip of the top team, assisted by Fenella Griggs, Jane Bishop and Tony Luff. Over the last weekend the clubhouse and the green were opened to anyone who wanted to come along and try the game. On Friday the Ottery St Mary Venture Scouts were welcomed, and the young people seemed to enjoy trying out the game. Then on Sunday 26th, the club held is annual open day, and although the rain tried to disrupt the proceedings, quite a few people enjoyed their first experience of this great game. Eventually the persistent, heavy deluge caused the green to flood, so further action was stopped. Bowling is not a good sport when one has to use the Barnes Wallace method of delivering the ball, namely the bouncing bomb! We received quite a lot of interest from the open day and our chair, Carl Gilleard, will follow up with each of the attendees to try and tempt them back! The rain came down in torrents was an old song sung by many children in Sunday School, and it certainly felt like that at the official start of the bowling season - the opening match had to be cancelled due to a water-logged green.
Eventually the rain subsided to allow the season to commence a week late on Sunday 21st April. It was so good after the winter break to be back on the green, renewing old friendships, allowing laughter to be heard, enjoying the good hearted banter, and finding that muscles that had not been exercised for six months, still existed. The catering team excelled themselves by providing high tea, and George Hutchinson, one of our members, kindly donated prizes to the winning team. The rain had stopped but there was still a cold breeze, necessitating most members to play in their fleeces. The selection of friendly matches started in earnest on Monday 22nd April when the visitors to Strawberry Lane were Severalls Jubilee Bowling Club, who came from Crewkerne. The long winter break did not greatly affect the Ottery players and despite the rain, Ottery ran out winners by 78 shots to 50, with one rink drawn. Obviously the advantage of playing on home turf! The top Ottery team was skippered by Tony Panzeri, and comprised Dot Luff, Carol Keating and Jill Pond. Ottery’s good start to the season continued, when Madeira were beaten away, followed by wins against Tiverton Boro and Phear Park. It is interesting to note that one of our newer members, Steve Bishop, featured in two of these matches and was in the top team on both occasions. Not to be outdone, former chair person Sharon Kenny did precisely the same! Westlecott Bowling club were the next visitors to Strawberry Lane. They are a touring team who have visited the club almost annually since the club started in 1990. It is always a pleasure to invite them to our ground and a suitably warm welcome was given to them. Thereafter a third team seemed to be playing havoc with the fixtures, as the rain created a soaking wet green.Rain stopped play! Finally Budleigh made the short trip to our ground and returned home victorious, winning by 80 shots to 66. The brainchild of Mr Gilleard, a 70's night featuring music and food from that decade (the latter prepared and presented by Viv, Jo and Emma) and some delicious cocktails carefully crafted by Gail and Chris.
Carl and Grant hosted the family fortunes quiz which challenged the participants to think like the 100 people surveyed rather than search for a well considered, logical answer themselves. Some took the opportunity to dress for the occasion, a selection of those are shown below! A magnificent lunch prepared by Gail and Sharon assisted, as ever, by a host of helpers. A wee dram provided by Graham Ward helped to wash down the excellent food! David Roberts son-in-law, Scott, toasted the haggis in Gaelic which may explain why I couldn't understand what he was saying!
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July 2024
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