Our roving reporter returns for another season

At the beginning of a season there are so many matches booked into the fixture list, that it is difficult to keep up with the reports. The results could be summed up by saying “Not a bad start to the season” in that we have played six, and won some of them!

The first fixture was an away match with Severalls Bowling club which is based in Crewkerne. At the half way point in the match, when tea is served, the scores were fairly even. There is a saying in bowling circle that says “everything changes after tea!” Well it certainly did, because Ottery could not maintain the score and ended up with a heavy loss
.
Bitton Park from Teignmouth were the first visitors to our home green, but the familiar surroundings did not assist the home team in that Ottery lost by 20 shots. Only one of the home teams which consisted of Jo Hawes, Tony Luff and Mike Kelsey, managed to beat the opposition.

Our third game needed Ottery to make the short trip to Exmouth to play Madeira. Being a derby match, there is always a fierce determination to overcome the opposition, and the team consisting of Eric Richardson, Emma Bradshaw -Smith, Tony Bushell and Steve Bishop discovered their line and length to help Ottery to win by 9 shots.
 
Tiverton Canal, a new club formed by the amalgamation of two clubs, were the next visitors to Strawberry Lane, but they could not beat the resurgent Ottery Team, who won by 88 shots to 54. Charlie Griffin, Caroline Perry Peter Parnell and Tony Panzeri provided the backbone of the win by out scoring their opponents by 24 shots.

Phear Park from Exmouth were Ottery’s next opponents, and this proved to be a very close match with Ottery winning by just one shot. The top team from Ottery consisted of Ron Spedding, Sharon Kenny and Gerard McCarthy, but the highlight of the match was provided by Carol Keating, Brian Hammond and Jill Pond, who, on the last shot of the last game, succeeded in scoring a four which gave the win to the home team.

Finally Grampound Bowling Club made the long trip from Cornwall to round off a busy few days of matches. The winning way deserted Ottery as they lost by 26 shots to the visitors. On this occasion, Graham Ward, Marion Kelsey and Tony Panzeri being the top team.