Ladywell's bowlers have been involved in a number of competitions run by the Beckenham, Bromley & District Bowling Association (BB&DBA) over the past 10 days.
Friday 7th July v Eltham
The action started with a home and away match against Eltham in the BB&DBA Friday Night Triples League. This involves two triples - one at home, and one away - playing matches at the same time, with two points for a match win and a further two points for the overall winners, based on the aggregate score over the two games. Run on a Round Robin basis, the league involves two divisions of five clubs each, with the top two teams in each league qualifying for the semi-finals.
In a tight game at Eltham, Ladywell's away triple of Norman Lewis, Des Marrett and Phil Welch started well and after eight ends, they'd built an 8-1 lead. But the home team then got into their stride, reducing the deficit to one point over the following three ends. Ladywell pulled away again, only for the Eltham triple to peg them back and take a 12-11 lead. But by the 16th end, Ladywell had turned this around yet again, to take a 14-12 lead. But the match turned on the penultimate end when, with the Ladywell team holding three shots, the Eltham Skip's final wood took the jack back to give the home side a score of six. So, the Ladywell team were facing a four-shot deficit going into the final end, which they couldn't overturn, eventually going down by 20-14.
In the match at Ladywell, the home triple of Bernie Jermin, Richard Moorhouse and Mark Simmons never really got into their stride, eventually losing out by 23-11, which meant Ladywell lost the overall match by a score of 43-25 and Eltham took maximum points.
Ladywell's next match in this competition is on Friday 28th July against HSBC Bowling Club.
Wednesday 12th July - Triples Knockout v Queensmead
The next match for Ladywell's bowlers was in the BB&BDA Triples knockout competition, away at Queensmead bowling club. After a dead end on the opening end, the Ladywell team of Howard Smith, Marion Edwards and Skip, Phil Welch got off to a good start, going into a 3-0 lead after three ends. But the home team came back strongly and by the sixth end, they'd taken a 6-3 lead. Then the Ladywell team hit their form, winning five consecutive ends to turn the tie around again and take a 9-6 lead. In a tight game, the Queensmead team came back once again, reducing the deficit to 9-8, before the two sides swapped shots, so going into the final three ends, Ladywell had a narrow 10-9 lead.
It was on the 16th end that the Ladywell team made the decisive move, gaining four shots to take a 14-9 lead with two ends to play. A further two on the penultimate end gave them a healthy cushion and despite Queensmead gaining three shots on the final end, Ladywell secured a 16-12 victory. This means they now face an away trip in the quarter-finals on Wednesday 25th July at Orpington Excelsior Bowling Club.
Friday 14th July - Fours Knockout v Bromley Town
The BB&DBA Fours Knockout competition saw a Ladywell team visit Bromley Town Bowling Club on a wet and windy Friday evening. The conditions were so poor that the two Skips agreed to a shortened match of 16 ends. This turned out to be a wise move, because the conditions deteriorated as the evening wore on.
Despite gaining a shot on the first end, the Ladywell team of Mark Simmons, Norman Lewis, Des Marrett and Skip, Phil Welch, were soon trailing as both teams struggled with the conditions. By the sixth end, the home team had gained a 6-2 lead. Then Ladywell rallied strongly and by the tenth end, they'd gained a narrow 8-7 lead. But as the conditions worsened, it was the home team who adapted better and a run of four winning ends gave them a 14-8 lead with two ends to play - a lead they extended on the final end, to win 16-9.
Tuesday 18th July - Pairs Knockout v Orpington
The last Ladywell team to compete in a BB&DBA competition was the pair of Norman Lewis and Phil Welch, who played their delayed match on Tuesday 18th July. In the 21-end match, Ladywell lost two shots on the first end, but Norman and Phil soon got into their stride and after six ends, they held a 9-4 lead. Despite giving away a shot on the seventh end, the Ladywell pair continued to build on their advantage, with a run of five winning ends, to take control of the match, 19-4 after 12 ends. Despite losing six shots on the following two ends, Norman and Phil pulled away once again, to secure a comfortable 26-10 lead after 18 ends, when their Orpington opponents conceded the match. This means Ladywell now face an away match against either Langley or Bellingham Bowling Club in the quarter-finals.
So, congratulations to Ladywell's Triples and Pairs, who are into the quarter-finals of their respective competitions, and we'll be hoping for a better performance next time out in the Friday Night League.
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