Wednesday evening we welcomed our friends from the Fire and Rescue Service who are all drawn from other local clubs.  It was another very hot day so the match was shortened to 14 ends.  The result was two rinks each but the points tally was in their favour 52 - 45.  The green looked excellent and played well, if a little quick, but that was down to the conditions.  

 

Rink 1

Jackie Wright, Paul Jones and Bryan Ogilvie were slow to start being 2 -10 down at 8 ends but then found their form winning the remaining 6 ends to come home winners 12 - 10.

 

Rink 2

John Dunham, Yvonne Twomey and Chris Twomey took time to get going, being 4 - 8 down at 6 ends, but then took 7 of the last 8 ends to be victors 15 - 9,

 

Rink 3

Jill Hart, Claudia Stokes and Tony Bird struggled with 5 ends to their credit but a 3 followed by a 4 on the last two ends added a degree of respectability to the scoreline coming in 12 - 16.

 

Rink 4

 Dave Drinkwater, Richard Lawrence and Mick Wilkins were up against tough opposition and only picked up 6 singles, and dropped two fives, to trail in 6 - 17.

 

Due to their peripatetic nature we only play them once so we look forward to renewing acquaintances next year.  This fixture is always on a Wednesday so clashes with the Millenium League at Central in the afternoon thereby restricting player availability.  As ever many thanks to Jenny Bird for running the bar for us and to "Team Skidmore" for setting up the lounge.

 

It was generous of our visitors to donate their match fees to us.

 

Saturday saw us travel a few miles to our near neighbours Bloxham.  The weather was nice and warm with a little cloud cover, but ideal for bowls.  A very successful afternoon with 4 winning rinks and an overall winning result of 76-40.

 

 

Rink 1  -  Lead  -  Claudia Stokes

               No. 2  -  Dave Drinkwater

               No. 3  -  Mick Wilkins

               Skip    -  Bryan Ogilvie

 

A very close game for the fist 9 ends when the score was 7-7.  The opposition then scored a 3 on the 10th to give them a 3 points lead, however we only allowed them to win 1 of the remaining 8 ends and came away comfortable winners 23-11.

 

 

Rink 2  -  Lead  -  Cliff Hall

               No. 2  -  Chris Shallis

               No. 3  -  Pete Griffin

               Skip    -  Chris Skidmore

 

The only time Chris's rink took their foot off the accelerator was over the last 3 ends when they gave away 6 shots.  However, the game was well and truly won before then and we came away with another comfortable win 18-10.

 

 

Rink  3  -  Lead  -  Howard Buckingham

                No. 2  -  Yvonne Twomey

                No. 3  -  Phil French

                Skip    -  Chris Twomey

 

The mid week Captain's rink was even more frugal, only allowing the opposition to win 5 ends and yet again came away handsomely 15-6.

 

 

Rink 4  -  Lead  -  Kath Buckingham

               No. 2  -  Richard Lawrence

               No. 3  -  Mark Stokes

               Skip    -  Dave Bryant

 

A much closer game as, after 14 ends the score was 11-11, but then Dave's rink turned the screw and took 9 shots over the final 4 ends to come away victorious 20-13.

 

A very enjoyable game, with a very good result, I am sure Bloxham will want to gain some sort of revenge when they come to us on 29 August.

 

On the hottest day of the year so far we entertained Central in a reduced game of four triples as they could only raise a dozen players.  So rather than drop seven players Yvonne kindly agreed to be reserve and thanks are given to Jill Hart, John Dunham and Tony Bird who played a friendly against Jackie Wright, Paul Jones and Mick Wilkins with the latter trio coming out on top 13 - 7.  The match was shortened to 14 ends due to the weather and also the fact that England were due to play Ghana later that evening.  The result was a draw in rinks 2 - 2 but the points won showed a different picture with Adderbury claiming a nine point win 51 - 42.

 

 

 

Rink 1

 

John Timms, Howard Buckingham and Bryan Ogilvie managed six ends but the opposition's better scoring rate saw us come in second 8 - 16.

 

 

 

Rink 2

 

Tina Timms, Dave Bryant and Chris Twomey struggled to say the least with three ends won to limp home 4 - 13.  It was fortunate that their opponents only had one 3 with the rest of their scores being 10 singles.

 

 

 

Rink 3

 

Kath Buckingham, Terri Gold (sounds like a chocolate) and Iain Mobbs were on fine form taking nine ends and with some hefty scoring managed to hand in a superb card showing a 16 point victory 22 - 6.

 

 

 

Rink 4

 

Cliff Hall, Pete Griffin and Chris Skidmore were always in control with nine ends to their credit to show a 10 point win 17 - 7.

 

 

 

Thanks must be extended to "Team Skidmore" AKA Maggie and Chris for setting up the room and snacks and also making seating provision for those members who came up to the Club to see the Football.  As ever a massive thanks to Jenny Bird for looking after the bar for us on a busy evening.  Later on she was joined by Dave Drinkwater, Ted Eley and Phil Gladden to tend to the needs of the England supporters.

 

 

 

We look forward to the return match on Thursday 3rd September when no doubt Central will be looking for revenge.

Saturday saw us entertain Witney Mills on a cloudy but warm afternoon.  Again we used all 6 rinks, as we played 6 triples, with a resounding victory by 119 shots to 83.

 

 

 

Rink 1  -  Lead  -  Kath Buckingham

 

               No. 2  -  Howard Buckingham

 

               Skip    -  Mark Stokes

 

Marks rink shared the ends and in the end the result was a draw, although it looked as though we were heading for a win, with 4 ends to play Mark was leading 14-8, but unfortunately lost the last 4 ends to share the points 14-14.

 

 

 

Rink 2  -  Lead  -  Cliff Hall

 

               No. 2  -  Pete Griffin

 

               Skip    -  Chris Skidmore

 

The '3 Musketeers' were in no mood to lose and only let the opposition win 4 ends and won convincingly 29-9.

 

 

 

Rink 3  -  Lead  -  Jill Hart

 

               No. 2  -  John Standen

 

               Skip    -  Dave Bryant

 

Although Dave's rink won 8 ends they could not score as heavily as the opposition when they won an end and unfortunately went down 12-23.

 

 

 

Rink 4  -  Lead  -  Yvonne Twomey

 

               No. 2  -  Tony Bird

 

               Skip    -  Chris Twomey

 

Chris's rink were always in the lead, even though the scores were tight and after the 11th end there was only 1 point in it, but they won 5 of the remaining 7 ends to come away victorious 21-14.

 

 

 

Rink 5  -  Lead  -  Claudia Stokes

 

               No. 2  -  Chris Shallis

 

               Skip    -  Bryan Ogilvie

 

It looked as though we were heading for defeat as, after 9 ends the Captains rink were 10-3 down, but they scored a 7 on the next end and continued to pile on the pressure to come home victorious 24-14.

 

 

 

Rink  6  -  Lead  -  Terri Gold

 

                No. 2  -  Richard Lawrence

 

                Skip    -  Mick Wilkins

 

This was Mick's first game as Skip, but this did not worry him winning 11 ends and coming home convincing winners 19-9.

 

 

 

Another enjoyable game played in the right spirit in good company.  I am sure they will be keen for revenge in our return fixture at the end of the season, 5 September, and it is hoped the refurbishment of their club house is complete by then, apparently it was due to be finished in April!  A big thank you to Dave for standing down and agreeing to run the bar and of course to Skiddy and Maggie for setting out the club house prior to the game.