Ladywell went into their final Round Robin match in the Beckenham, Bromley & District Bowling Association's (BB&DBA) Friday Night Triples League on 9th August against local Lewisham rivals, Francis Drake, knowing a win could take them through to the semi-finals, depending on other results.
In the Friday Night Triples League, two matches are played over 18 ends at the same time - one at home and one away. The winning club in each match gets two points, with another two points to the club that wins on overall scores.
The match at Ladywell saw the home triple of Ian Bradford, Slawek Rutkowski and Skip, Phil Welch, get off to a strong start, scoring three on the first end. But they soon fell behind, as their opponents from Francis Drake gained five on the third end to take a 6-3 lead. And by the sixth end, the away team had a 9-5 lead. But then the Ladywell triple scored five shots of their own on the seventh end. Both teams were playing some excellent bowls and the margin stayed close until the 11th and 12th ends, when Ladywell gained a total of five shots to gain the upper hand, 16-11. But their opponents fought back on the next end, gaining another five shots to make it all square at 16-16. With a single shot on the following end, Francis Drake took the lead, but Ladywell hit back, gaining a shot of their own on the 15th end. So, with three ends to play, the scores were level once again. And the home team gained the upper hand on the 16th end, gaining four crucial shots, only to see their lead disappear on the penultimate end, with Francis Drake gaining five shots to take a one-point lead into the final end. But Ladywell fought back yet again, gaining a single shot, to end this seesaw of a match 22-22, with both clubs gaining one point.
This meant the match at Francis Drake was crucial to Ladywell's hopes of a semi-final place. The Ladywell triple of Merlin Ramdawar, Steve Marlow and Skip, Richard Moorhouse, exchanged shots with their Francis Drake opponents over the first four ends, gaining a narrow 4-3 advantage. But then Ladywell pulled away, gaining five shots over the following two ends for a 9-3 lead. The Francis Drake team rallied, gaining four shots and cutting Ladywell's lead to 9-7 after eight ends. This was when the Ladywell team really got into their stride, playing some excellent shots and denying the home team any scores over the following nine ends. This fantastic run included two scores of four shots and a three. And by the final end, Ladywell had built a healthy 26-7 lead. So, while the home team gained a consolation shot on the final end, Ladywell won 26-8.
This meant in the overall match, Ladywell gained five points and Francis Drake gained one. So, it was an anxious wait for Ladywell to learn what had happened in the other matches in their group to see if they or Bromley had qualified for the semi-finals.
Eventually, it was confirmed that the group leaders, Orpington, had beaten Bromley 4-2, meaning that Ladywell were semi-finalists, where they play HSBC Bowling Club at HSBC on Friday August 23rd at 5.30pm.
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