After two postponed matches in the John Collyer League, Ladywell were up for their match against Southwark Park on Wednesday 20th July. And when their opponents arrived for the match with only six players instead of the required nine, it meant that Ladywell gained points without a wood being bowled.
Instead, the two captains agreed to a friendly match on three rinks, with Southwark playing a pair on each rink with four woods each and Ladywell fielding triples on each rink, playing 2, 3 and 3 woods respectively.
Usually, this format gives the team playing as a pair an advantage, as the Skip on each rink has an extra wood. And that's how it turned out, with Southwark Park winning on all three rinks.
On the first rink, Ladywell's team of Alvin Nelson, Marion Edwards and Bernie Jermin went behind on the first end and after five ends, the score was 1-6. But then the Ladywell team got into their stride, picking up a 3 and a 4 over the next three ends. So, at the halfway point, the scores were tied at 9-9. After the break, Ladywell continued their excellent progress, moving into a 12-9 lead. But then the Southwark Park pair staged a comeback, winning five of the last six ends, to eventually win by 20 points to 14.
On the second rink, the Ladywell team of Susan Levene, Terrie Sibley and Des Marrett got off to a slow start and were 5-1 down after four ends. But by the halfway point, they'd staged a mini comeback and were down by 8 points to 6. After the break, the scoring see-sawed between the two teams and twice the Ladywell triple came within one point of the Southwark Park score. But each time, the visitors' pair managed to pull away again, eventually winning 15-12.
In the final match, Ladywell's triple of Richard Moorhouse, Robert Dunn and Phil Welch were trailing from the start and, despite scoring three on the sixth end, by the break at nine ends, they were down 10-4. Ladywell started off better after the break and pulled the score back to 1207, before a disastrous 13th end proved unlucky for the Ladywell team, with Southwark Park gaining all 8 shots. That put them 20-8 ahead, a score that proved too much for the Ladywell team to retrieve, and the final score was 22-11 to the visitors.
It was a very pleasant afternoon's bowls, despite the result. And the outcome was immaterial, as the league points had already been decided in Ladywell's favour.
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