Dear ##firstname##
Friendly Match Report – 17th June 2023
TBBC (Home) v Morchard Bishop (4 Mixed Triples)
Weather: Very warm and humid with just an occasional bit of a breeze.
Green: Slightly damp after early morning rain but it played well with a good pace.
Morchard Bishop always provide a good balance of friendly/competitive competition and today was certainly no different.
John Gutteridge’s triple with Kevin Lower and Maggie Drew were looking at a bit of hiding after going 1 – 8 down after five ends but a ‘3’ and then a ‘4’ saved their blushes. Morchard Bishop pulled away again but eleventh end saw Borough pick up ‘5’ which put them ahead for the first time since the first end, 13 – 12. The next few ends were all closely fought but Morchard Bishop again, moved ahead with a ‘3’ on the fourteenth but that was their last score as John’s triple closed the game out well by securing the last four ends to finish, 20 – 16.
Kevin Parkin’s triple with Lesley Finan and Ray Cottrell, enjoyed a positive start, taking the first six ends but their opponents possessed some tenacious bowlers and they then chalked up a useful run of three ends that not only got their first points on the board but it also gave them the lead, 8 – 9. Borough regrouped to win the next four to pile on ‘9’ shots and managed to see out the remainder of the match reasonably comfortably despite dropping a ‘4’, finishing 20 – 15 to the good.
Kevin Finan’s side of Di parkin and Clare Gutteridge, were up against a very strong triple that included (Captain) Brian Poole. The match, itself was a game of three thirds, Borough restricting the visitors to just a single for five ends but Morchard Bishop were seemingly keeping their powder dry as they suddenly made their move, pinning Kevin’s Borough side back to go on a run of six ends without reply which put them into 5 – 10 lead. Kevin managed to briefly halt to tide but two ends later they were still ‘5’ shots adrift, 6 – 13. With ends running out, Borough managed put together a good response closing the gap to just ‘2’ only to see Morchard Bishop extinguish their fightback with a single on the last to secure the win, 11 – 14.
Phil Saunders with Ivor Payne as lead (in the first half) and Pauline Black, had mixed fortunes, having the lions share of the early ends but still finding themselves ‘2’ shots adrift, 8 – 10, mainly due to a dropped a ‘5’ on the fourth end. The second half saw Dug Simmonds come in for Ivor and perhaps it was Dug’s eye catching lime green bowls, shining brightly in the sunshine, that dazzled their opponents because Borough, now, began to dominate the match, securing seven out of nine ends resulting in a comfortable win, 21 – 13.
TBBC = 3 Winning rinks (72 Shots)
Morchard Bishop = 1 Winning Rink (58 Shots)
Yet another enjoyable afternoon on and off the green! Another match completed but we continue to look forward to plenty more to come, including a return match at Morchard Bishop on the 13th August 2023.