The Ladywell match at Dulwich Park in the John Collyer League on Wednesday 14th June resulted in a well-deserved away victory, with all three triples gaining valuable points.
On a perfect afternoon for bowls, Ladywell were hoping to build on the win against Southwark Park in their previous league match. But for long periods of the match at Dulwich Park, they didn't have it all their own way.
On the first rink, the triple of Marion Edwards, Robert Dunn and Skip, Phil Welch got off to a reasonable start and after three ends, they were 4-2 up. But the home triple came back strongly and by the ninth end, they'd built a healthy 14-6 lead. Despite gaining three shots on the tenth end, the Ladywell team were finding it difficult to close the gap and with two ends to go, they were still trailing by five points, 14-19. But the final two ends saw a remarkable turnaround, as all three Ladywell players found their form. After gaining four shots on the penultimate end, the final end saw them surrounding the jack with their woods and despite the best efforts of the Dulwich Park Skip, Ladywell gained five shots for a 23-19 win.
On the second rink, the Ladywell triple of Alvin Nelson, Ian Bradford and Skip, Richard Moorhouse, got off to a flying start, building a 9-0 lead after four ends, mainly courtesy of gaining six shots on the third end. They steadily built on their lead throughout the match and on the 15th end, gained five shots to take the score to 22-7. Despite a brief rally from the Dulwich Park triple, who gained four shots on the 16th end, Ladywell gained a further five shots on the closing two ends to take a comfortable 27-11 victory.
The match on the third rink was a much closer affair. The Ladywell triple of Sally Bryan, Norman Lewis and Mark Simmons raced into a 4-0 lead after the first two ends, but after losing four shots on the fifth end, they found themselves 6-5 down. It seemed like the Dulwich Park team had hit their stride and they pulled away to a 9-6 lead at the halfway point after nine ends. After the break, they extended their lead to 10-6, before Ladywell gained five shots over the following two ends to take an 11-10 lead. The final six ends saw the lead change hands no fewer than four times, as one team gained the upper hand, only for their opponents to snatch it back again. And with one end to play, it was the Dulwich Park team who held a narrow 14-13 lead. But the Ladywell triple played an excellent final end and when Mark came to play the final wood, they had the two shots they needed for the win. But even then, the drama wasn't over. A miscommunication meant that Mark played a draw shot into the head and in the process moved the jack. This left the Ladywell triple with one definite shot and a measure for the second. Luckily, the measure fell in their favour and they'd gained the narrowest of wins - 15-14.
This meant the final overall score was Dulwich Park 44 - Ladywell 65. And it gave Ladywell a clean sweep on the day, with two league points for each rink win and a further four points for the overall win - a total of ten points to push them up the league.
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