Success

The final paragraph of last week’s report noted that the men’s teams were about to play two league games which might decide the respective titles, and were also waiting to hear if we had made the Final of the county Challenge Cup. The last one appears to have been settled just minutes before this report was started, a week later: the county website shows us as being among the six teams in the Final, and subject to official confirmation we can look forward to that event.

Before looking at the other games we should give first place to the ladies, who have had such a disrupted season, with byes or postponements making the results sheets look like a threadbare patchwork quilt. On Wednesday we were at home to Morpeth, and a tight game ensued. Shelagh’s rink was close throughout, falling 11-13 behind after 13 ends, but then scoring the only four of the game to go ahead and remain there (18-14). Linda’s rink also slipped back to 10-11 after 14 ends, but a run of 3,2,1 meant that they too won 10 ends in the game and came out 16-13 ahead. And if Betty’s rink were within one shot for the first twelve ends the thirteenth was very unlucky for Morpeth as we scored a seven to create a buffer that lasted all the way – the ends split equally but a 17-11 win. All three rinks won, then, and the result hauled us well above Morpeth. Both they and Whitley Bay& Monkseaton have games in hand on us, but one of those has them playing one another, so the chances of having both those clubs overtake us are small. However, we shall have to wait to see the results, and nothing is guaranteed.

The same night the men travelled to Crawford Park. Rain was forecast, but at least Whitley Bay was well to the east, so it gave us an extra hour or two of breathing space as we left Hexham in the dry. Crawford Park had beaten us in the fixture on our green, and it was clear from results that they were a very strong team – only a big win would be enough for us to win the league, as they also had a game in hand.

Early signs were promising. Although the green was a little tricky in that bowls pulled up really quickly at the end of their run, with some dramatic late hooks as well, we seemed to adapt well enough and after five ends were 15-12 up overall, with three rinks leading. However, the second “set” of five ends were our undoing, as we lost that segment 12-29, to fall 14 shots behind overall; curiously, all three rinks that had been ahead lost 3-8 in this period of the game, and the other lost 3-5. From here it was uphill, and the general mood got darker to match the incoming clouds. The final result saw two rinks down by seven shots, one by nine, and just one rink (the only one to be losing after five ends) winning, by a clear but still close margin of four. A defeat by 63-82 on shots, and 2-12 on points, left no room for “what ifs”, and we simply have to congratulate Crawford Park. At least the two league points ensured second place in the table and guaranteed promotion, so we shall see them again next season.

The next night we played Haltwhistle Falcons in the (mixed) West Tyne league. We were two points ahead of them at the top of the table, with five points available on the night. The Falcons may represent just half the number of players in their club, but the quality was obvious in the strong squad which appeared. Despite the local importance of the fixture the game was played in really good spirit, noticeable to the spectators. All three of our rinks started well, and after ten (of 18) ends two rinks had pulled away already with sizeable leads (12-3 and 12-4). Each of these two rinks then took turns to increase the lead to unbeatable margins, with Trevor’s going from 12-4 to 17-5 before ending 27-5 up; and Mark’s putting in an astonishing increase from 12-3 to 27-4 in the space of five ends, before easing to a 28-9 win. The third rink, skipped by Keith Sanders, were within one or two shots almost all the way, and were actually ahead 13-12 with three ends to play, but Haltwhistle’s excellent three on the very last end (with a jack in the ditch and a toucher on the edge) meant we went down 14-18.

That result of course means that we are now five points clear with a slightly better shots difference than the Falcons. However, shots would come into it only if we lose our last game 0-5 and they win theirs by that same margin. In effect, we need one drawn rink in our game at Hexham House to make sure of winning the league.

Taking everything into account it was a very satisfying week for the men’s, ladies’, and mixed teams. The biggest sadness is that there is now only one more night of league action – though leaving Whitley Bay at 8.30 pm in near-darkness did make it clear why we can’t continue evening games!

Up for a Challenge

After good wins in the Clegg and the West Tyne in the last week of July, we went into August with two home games in those competitions. The Clegg fixture, against Throckley, could have guaranteed us second place in the division if it had finished 14-0, but perhaps that was asking a bit much despite a couple of recent maximums.

Mark’s rink started quite slowly, just 3-2 up after five ends and 9-4 after ten, but then really racked up some shots to win very easily, 22-6. Keith Woods went from 4-3 to 7-9, then back in front to 14-11 before a four settled the nerves and enabled a 20-14 win. Keith Sanders, meanwhile, was 3-4 down after five ends, and after being within two shots either way at ten and fifteen ends dropped a three on the penultimate end to fall 17-20 behind. Somehow, and with the last bowl, the last end produced a four in our favour for a one-shot win, but the maximum points were already out of reach as Trevor’s rink had lost 17-20 – particularly disappointing after an early 8-2 lead. Overall we had been ahead at each of the milestone points, but not by a lot, and the ultimate 20-shot win was almost entirely due to the 16 shots in our favour on Mark’s rink. A score of 12-2 on the night at least put us back at the top of the table, albeit having played one game more than Crawford Park.

Hexham House Bears were the visitors on Thursday. They had been beaten 5-0 by their Abbey club-mates the previous week but traditionally have been the stronger of the two Hexham House teams, so there was no reason to take them for granted. The weather also couldn’t be relied on, with pessimistic forecasts, but in the event it was a pleasant evening even if the clouds reinforced the idea that the nights are starting to draw in.

For a second night Mark’s rink went from a slow but steady start to total dominance at the end. After ten ends the score was 10-6, but five ends later it was 18-7 and then by the end 25-8. There were 25 home shots for Trevor’s rink also, though with the opposite momentum: a cracking start including a six gave a 12-0 lead after five ends, but from then on the game was much more even, and the winning margin was “just” 14. Keith Sanders, meantime, had a solid 18-8 win, which meant we won all five points, with a very healthy shots balance of 68-27.

On Saturday we managed to produce the eight players needed for the Challenge Cup semi-final round at Gosforth Garden Village. This is a competition in which we have done well over the years, but this year the opposition looked strong. It involves having two rinks of four for each club, with the “A” team playing the “B” teams of the other five clubs present, and vice versa; results are based on the aggregate scores for the two games between each pair of clubs.

As it turned out any defeats turned out to be small, and one or two of our wins were big. Moreover, one win was achieved with the last bowl of the match, sealing a one-shot defeat that was just enough to squeeze through as the other fixture had been a two-shot win! As a result, going into the last game of the day we needed just a win by either of our rinks to finish top of the group, thus qualifying for the final in two weeks’ time. Our “B” team played Haltwhsitle, who had beaten our “A” team in the first game of the day by two shots, but they couldn’t overcome that deficit – all the more sad in that this was Haltwhistle’s only win of the day. The “A” team meanwhile played Health & Security, whose other half had drawn with our “B” rink in the morning. This was very close, so much so that with one last bowl left we were two down in the match but lying two and needing just a slight promotion of a short bowl to edge a three and victory. The bowl made a contact that was just too thin and slid away, so that was another drawn tie – draws are unusual in this format anyway, but to have both legs drawn is even more remarkable. Odder still was that this turned out to have tied with H&S at the top of the table, though they won it having +15 shots on the day compared to our +11.

The Bowls Northumberland website had noted that there would be a place in the final for the best runner-up, and when all results were in it seemed that we had clinched this place, having scored 7 points from a possible 10, and with no one else having reached seven. However, it then became apparent that in another group one club had scored six points when the maximum possible had been reduced to eight because another club had withdrawn, and a debate ensued about how to establish what “best runner-up” should mean. As this is written we are still awaiting a decision, which might be that the whole runner-up idea is scrapped because of a lack of clear criteria – that would be a huge disappointment. Maybe we’re not up for a Challenge after all…

However, next week we play Crawford Park, our only realistic competitors in the race for the top two places in Division 4 of the Clegg league; and then, the next night, we are at home to Haltwhistle Falcons, who are two points behind us at the head of the West Tyne league. Both games will be massively important in deciding who wins each league, and certainly in the latter case could settle the issue on the night. We’ll wait and see – and hope the Challenge Cup decision is made before then.

Still in Contention…

This week we had a scheduled bye in the Clegg league, and as it happens that brings all the teams in the division level on games played (8). Surprisingly, our main rivals at the top of the table, Crawford Park, managed only a 7-7 draw at Rockcliffe, which means that they are now just five points ahead – our match with them in a few weeks’ time may turn out to be a title decider, but of course we first have to win the other (home) games.

There was a home game also in the West Tyne, against Prudhoe Castle. The overall scorecard might show that we drew ahead at a regular rate thoughout the match, but the finer detail makes clear that this was largely because of one rink, which went from 7-5 to 19-5 between the tenth and fifteenth ends. Clearly that had been a tight game for the first half, and the other rinks were never really sure of winning – one of them was tied 13-13 with three ends to go. However, over the last three ends the three Prudhoe rinks managed only two shots, so that we won quite comfortably, with margins of three, five and fifteen shots. Full points kept us two points clear of Haltwhistle Falcons at the top of the table. The Falcons visit Elvaston the night after we go to Crawford Park – that will be a big week!

So much for the league activity. In another West Tyne competition John Lambert played the second leg of the singles final at Haltwhistle on a beautiful sunny evening. John had a three-shot advantage from the first game, but this soon disappeared as George Rogan picked up several early ends. Neither player seemed quite sure which hand to play for much of the game, and each had to put up with promoting the other’s woods at some cost – but John suffered rather more. After 12 of the 18 ends George was leading 18-3, therefore 12 shots ahead overall, and the game seemed to be over. Even when John then scored three singles it meant the lead was nine with only three ends left. But suddenly a two made the calculations more interesting, and a three on end 17 meant that the overall lead was precisely four with one end left.

By this stage George was clearly feeling the pressure, and when John put two bowls close on the last end he took a great gamble and fired. It paid off in that he burned the end, and had to re-play it, but if he had missed it would have seemed really reckless in that he needed only second, third or even fourth bowl to win the match. However, we should congratulate him for managing the direct hit, and for getting so close on the last end that despite John’s best efforts George actually got the shot. In the end it was a five-shot win, and John’s late comeback was just a little too late. It also meant that our club has still never managed to win that singles title, despite some strong candidates over the years.

Maximum Points

There’s not a lot of point in trying to create any doubt or suspense after a heading like that, is there? So let’s just announce that it was a highly successful week, with big wins in both the Clegg and the West Tyne. The scores (14-0 and 5-0) meant a rare double clean-sweep, but even more interesting than the actual results were the performances below the headline figures.

In the Clegg we welcomed another début appearance, with Ed Clarke making a step up to a league team. Mike Pearce and especially Phil Percy had already come into the team in earlier weeks, and it was very encouraging to see Ed blend in and start playing excellent shots from the very start right through to the last end. But with stubborn opponents the rink was behind at all the milestone ends, and after 15 ends the score was 10-17. But once again John Lambert’s use of the mat seemed to disorientate the opposition, and the score after the full 21 ends was 22-18. Winning those last six ends 12-1 was what you might call leaving it late, but stands as another example of our late comebacks this season.

Mark’s rink also had to come from behind, although 6-10 after ten ends wasn’t exactly looking down a barrel. However, what followed blew Westerhope out of the water, with a four, a five and a full-house six included in a great run which ended with the score 26-20. That was a high-scoring rink all round – it’s quite unusual for a team to be beaten with 20 shots on the board. Keith Sanders’s rink was ahead for most of the time, though things got quite tight at around 15 ends, but this was the opposite in terms of generosity with overall shots as the final score was 17-12. Steve’s rink was quite comfortably ahead most of the way, opening a safe gap and winning 23-13. The final result in terms of overall shots was 88-63, but it was nothing like as easy a win as that suggests: we won the first five ends 16-15 and lost the next five by precisely the same score, so that 25-shot margin was all down to the second half of the match. Westerhope had been tough opponents in the away game a couple of weeks ago, and once again gave us a really good run. But having started the night 14 points ahead of them in the league it was really good to get another 14 here.

For the West Tyne match at Alston we were able to put out a very strong team, and it showed in terms of results. One of our rinks was restricted to a single-figure lead for the whole match, but the others increased their leads from the very start, finishing with wins of 25-7 and 39-7. An overall score of 82-28 did wonders for our shots difference in the league, and as it happened other results went our way with all three being won by the lower-placed club. As a consequence we went to the top of the table. All the usual caveats apply, as we do have a couple of tough games to come, but it’s still a nice position to be in at this stage of the season.

As well as the league games this week it’s fair to mention the first leg of the West Tyne singles final, in which John Lambert played George Rogan of Haltwhistle. The three people on the green, plus the three spectators, enjoyed a friendly, skilful game with some great saving bowls and a couple of hands-on-head misses. Each leg is 18 ends, and after that first leg John leads 16-13. The second leg is on Wednesday 21st, at Haltwhistle of course, at 18.00. Best of luck, John: we suspect the crowd will be bigger!

A Second-half Team?

After beating Rockcliffe 12-0 at home a couple of weeks ago we could reasonably look forward with some confidence to the return fixture in the Clegg league. The only real doubt was whether we could field a team, given the rival attraction of England’s semi-final in the evening. The problem was solved by shifting the match (ours, that is, not the less important one at Wembley) to an early start of 17.30. We duly turned up in Whitley Bay under ominous black clouds and a sudden drop in temperature, but the biggest threat to the game wasn’t the weather as much as the fact that the home team were several players short. Amid general confusion we reached the rather absurd situation where two rinks had started, one was about to start with only two home players while the fourth rink had our three players standing around like wallflowers while one solitary home player joined them. After a few minutes’ delay it worked out that we did get three full rinks and one rink where Rockcliffe played with two, taking a penalty reduction in shots for the advantage gained.

The green looked lovely, and had good consistent bends, but it was still rather sluggish, so that it took several ends before we collectively learned how to deal with it. Thankfully there was just one shot on the first two ends as we managed to win only two of the eight ends in question, and with only one rink winning the third end we were soon 5-13 behind. But it was significant that only one rink lost an end on the fourth and fifth ends, so that the score after five was 16-16. The benefits of home advantage early in the match have seldom been clearer.

Once we had got level in this way we never lost the overall lead. Keith Sanders had the misfortune of playing on the rink where the home team had two players, including their most notable player, and Rockcliffe had a couple of runs where our team got stuck, unable to reclaim the jack: even with a third of their score deducted Rockcliffe won the match by seven shots. Meanwhile, Steve’s rink were behind all the way, albeit making a real match of it. In fact, they won 11 of the 21 ends, but unfortunately most of those were singles while the opposition scored three threes. Despite reducing an eight-shot deficit to one with a couple of ends to go, that single shot was still the difference at the end.

Our other two rinks benefited as the sun came out. Keith Woods and Trevor were both behind after six ends, but each took the lead by scoring a four. From then on they drew ahead thanks to several counts, Trevor’s team scoring two fours and two threes, while Keith’s rink not only duplicated those details but threw in a six for (very) good measure. The result was that despite winning just 11 and 12 ends respectively the scores were 26-14 and 30-13, more than enough to guarantee the all-important bonus points in a 10-4 win.

Rockcliffe was another of the clubs we have seen using different mats and jacks for each team, though the effect was rather spoiled by using only white jacks, with obvious scope for confusion. The real inconsistency came when one of their team proffered his hand to shake hands before the match – and then looked a bit hurt when the offer was declined! (It was also the first time we have seen someone wearing a mask throughout the match.) As we reach the end of the period where Covid restrictions are formally ended it will be interesting to see how clubs respond. Your reporter was recently reminded by one of our leads that it’s all very well being dismissive of the separate jack policy when you play skip, as opposed to being at the sharp end of actually holding the jack and mat. Fair enough – but oh, how we long for a return to normality on the green!

There was almost normality at Haltwhistle in the West Tyne – certainly it’s a club where we get the perfect mix of competitiveness and friendship. We played the Eagles in the first round of return fixtures in this year’s schedule – a bit of a sad landmark to be starting the equivalent of the back nine already. The green looked immaculate, and enabled both sides to play some excellent bowls. On our own side there were several notable performances. Choosing just one from each rink, Phil Percy showed again how fast he is learning this game, and was a crucial link at second; Christina played directly opposite the Haltwhistle singles champion of a couple of years ago and on many ends outplayed him; while Ken Hurst was back to his old form after a lay-off, bringing skill and enthusiasm in equal measure to the team.

It’s unusual, and possibly unfair, to single out individuals in this way because these were notable collective performances against a strong team. Brian Elstob led his team in typically understated fashion as they went from 5-2 (five ends) to 12-4 (ten) and then winning the last three ends by a margin of 6-1 to finish 21-11 up. Keith Sanders’ rink did even better, also against strong opposition: from 2-3 (five ends) they went to 11-4, and then went even further ahead to reach 17-6 and finally 21-9. Meanwhile Trevor’s rink were neck and neck throughout thanks to some rather fortuitous outcomes for the home side, until eventually luck deserted them and they gave away a three on the penultimate end to leave us 15-11 up, at which point it was easy to ensure a close result on the last end.

Regular readers may recognise a pattern in another strong finish: 15-5 overall on the last three ends. To come back from Haltwhistle with maximum points, having been ahead overall all the way, is unusual, however much their club may have been weakened by splitting into two squads. The result left us one point behind league leaders the Falcons, and should set up a really good home game against them in a few weeks’ time.

Late Comebacks

Apologies first of all for the lack of a report last week – it’s amazing how a house move can disrupt the schedule, even for the most important things in life! But at least there is more than usual in this week’s report.

The Round-of-16 matches in the Euro football finals saw a couple of late comebacks (Switzerland’s last-minute equaliser against France, and Ukraine’s last-kick winner against Sweden spring to mind). Our teams also kept the best till last in several games this week, but before looking at those we should catch up on the ladies’ game against Morpeth (23 June).

The previous league match had ended in a one-shot defeat after a close encounter, and this one also proved to be tight. Susan’s rink did well to stack up an eleven-shot win as twelve of the 18 ends were decided by singles; but by winning 13 ends and securing almost all the multiple scores our team won 18-7. Shelagh’s rink got off to a slow start but managed to recover from 2-10 to 8-10 over a run of four ends; that was the one purple patch, however, and the final result was 10-16. It was a similar story for Betty, also winning seven ends and with the obvious damage done in losing five ends on the trot to go from 3-3 after five to 3-12 after ten. That basic margin remained, and with a 8-16 score we found we had lost overall by 36-39 on shots. The three rinks were all relatively low-scoring, with similar numbers – total shots on each rink were 24, 25 and 26 – and the number of ends won was equal at 27 per team. But however close it might have been in these statistical terms the sad fact remained that it was a 2-12 defeat on league points.

Later the same day the men welcomed Rockcliffe in the Clegg league, hoping to recover after two defeats. Keith Woods’ result was never in doubt, 15 shots up after 15 ends and easy 27-15 winners; John Lambert was also able to control the game in the final ends, finishing at 25-13, while Mark was not only well-placed after 15 ends (18-10) but finished with an extra flourish to win 31-10. The overall result was clearly settled at this stage, but Keith Sanders’ rink, last to finish, had the chance to make it a clean sweep. Things hadn’t looked promising early on and at the half-way mark it was 4-12. This had come back to 11-14 after fifteen ends and 15-15 with two ends to play. In the twentieth end the shot bowl changed at least four times, but Rockcliffe won it so that, going into the last, it was 15-16. With the skips to play Rockcliffe were lying one, but Keith drew the shot before the Rockcliffe skip, with his last bowl, turned one of ours in to make it two shots to us, so that Keith (to the relief of a sizeable audience!) chose not to bowl his last wood. The 17-16 win made it 14-0 on league points and also made it 100 shots in total for ourselves on the night – scoring a ton is quite a rarity in this league.

There was not much chance of repeating that feat at Westerhope this week, not least because they were top of the league. The green looked to be in lovely condition, but turned out to be astonishingly slow – it was very “pushy”, more remininscent of April than the last day of June. Adjustments of pace were very tricky, and of course home advantage, with knowledge of such conditions, was important.

All the better, then, that we managed to keep heads above water. Trevor’s rink held their own early on, though it was always close, and after eleven ends the score was 8-4. The home team’s use of long ends then took its toll, and the final result was 15-22. Mark repeated the late act of the previous week, moving from 12-8 after fifteen ends to 23-9 after the full 21; and Keith Woods also moved well ahead, from 9-3 after ten ends to 19-4 after fifteen, and maintaining that margin to the end (26-11). Not to be outdone, Keith Sanders managed a reprise of the Rockcliffe finale, slipping from 10-4 to 12-16 after 15 ends, then going into the last end at 19-19. It looked to be a measure until Keith slipped a forehand through an unlikely gap to clinch the shot and another two league points for a 12-2 league win and (pending other results) a brief spell at the top of the table. Two excellent results, anyway.

Sandwiched somewhere between them was a drab, dreich night at Haltwhistle, where it rained throughout last week’s West Tyne match and we came away empty-handed as well as wet. It wasn’t all bad: Mark’s rink lost by only one shot, while Brian Elstob’s trio led 12-7 after 13 ends – but then lost the last five by a margin of 1-12. Keith Sanders had a good enough opening, but going from 6-7 to 6-16 was a crucial run. And – apart from the friendliness of the hosts – that is probably all we should say about a difficult night.

This week’s West Tyne match was at home against Hexham House A(bbey). Trevor’s rink was up against what was clearly the strongest House rink, so it was really not the night for him to turn in a poor performance – even more erratic than the previous night at Westerhope, where at least the green was a mitigating factor. The score here mounted alarmingly in favour of the visitors, reaching 9-26 towards the end. But our other rinks had done much better, and with Mark’s men scoring a seven on one end it turned out that after 15 ends there was only one shot in it overall: 38-37 in our favour. At this point, not only did Keith Sanders and Mark continue their excellent run to finish 23-5 and 20-10 up respectively, but having something to play for seemed to galvanise Trevor’s rink, who won the last three ends, scoring ten shots in the process. Indeed, the last three ends on the three rinks finished 22-2 in our favour, so that we not only won two rinks but also claimed the bonus points with a 60-39 win. It really was a strong finish, and no doubt a major surprise to those spectators who left early. They thought it was all over…

One, two, three…

Last week brought our first league defeat of the season, which in itself was nothing to worry about. The question was, how would we get on this week, with games in all three leagues?

First up were the ladies, at last back in action and playing the traditionally strong Bedlington Dr Pit. There were contrasting outcomes on the first two rinks, as Shelagh’s team went from 1-5 to 11-5 in the space of four ends and then, after letting it slide back to 11-10, won another four on the bounce to make it 20-10 and a final win by 21-13. There was almost a reverse image on Susan’s rink, who got away to a good start to be 7-2 up after six ends, but then became becalmed, winning only two more ends and finishing with a 9-21 scoreline. Meanwhile, despite winning only eight of the 18 ends, Betty’s rink included two counts of five in that haul, and came away with an 18-15 win. And if you have been quickly totting that lot up, you will have seen that we lost the match 48-49 on shots, with a 4-8 score in league points. In fact, that single-shot margin had been noted at the half-way point, with the score 23-22 in Bedlington’s favour. But an even more telling statistic was that after 17 ends we were actually three shots up 48-45, until Bedlington scored four across the three rinks on the last end to steal the points.

The men were in action at Heaton Victoria the same evening. Some years ago a match report on this site pointed out that Heaton Vic were really the team closest to ourselves in overall standard, as matches were always so close – notably including one that was drawn, each club winning one rink with the third, and the overall shots, tied. This time, with four rinks playing in the Clegg, we managed to win two rinks each, but there were several twists in the shots count.

The two rinks in the middle of the park had contrasting fortunes. One was competitive early on, just one shot down after five ends, but losing the next five ends made life hard. Rather like football teams who concede while chasing an equaliser they lost more and more shots as the night went on, and the result was 8-28. On the other we were two shots up after both five and fifteen ends, but a change of mat length unsettled the home team enough to produce six ends on the trot at the end, and a 22-10 win.

With those two rinks finishing first it meant that we were eight shots down over the piece, and it was left to the two Keiths. Keith Sanders’ rink staged a very good late comeback. Having been 7-11 down after ten, and then 10-15 after fifteen, they pulled back to 17-18 at the end, and (as is often the way) had the chance to win the last end. The result still meant we were nine down overall, but Keith Woods’ rink had picked up a good lead in what was at first a low-scoring game, going from 4-7 after ten ends to 10-7 after fifteen. Going into the last end they were 18-10 ahead, so a single shot would get a draw – but Heaton got a close bowl which stayed in place for the rest of the end. In fact, Keith played a beautiful last bowl, doing everything right, but the contact was just not the right one.

The overall result was therefore a two-shot defeat to add to the ladies’ one-shot reverse. What would happen on Thursday in the West Tyne league, away to Hexham House B (or Bears, as we must now say)? Mark’s rink led from the front, recovering from 4-6 to go 14-7 up in the space of five ends, and basically sealing that game off, as the final margin of six shots (19-13) showed. Trevor’s rink were marginally ahead of their opponents, on shots at least, but despite winning six of the first eight ends were still only 6-5 ahead. The score then went to 6-6 and although our team made it 11-6 Hexham House came back strongly to lead 14-11. Yet again we had a little run and going into the last end the score was 14-14. Hexham House seemed to have won it until one of our bowls came in by an unorthodox route (ok, a lucky wick) to sit shot wood with only the skips to play. At this point, Trevor (obviously inspired by Gareth Bale’s missing a penalty for Wales) miscued with an intended blocker and turned a Hexham House bowl in for shot, and the 14-15 defeat meant at least one point dropped.

Keith Sanders, playing his first game against his former club, had a great struggle with Clive Knott. After the first 12 ends were equally shared, we were 7-6 ahead, and the closeness was emphasised by there being a no-shot end. At this point, over the three rinks, we were doing well: after 12 ends the total score was 32-21. With two more singles shared, Keith’s score edged up to 8-7, but at that point there was an implosion, and the last four ends were lost by scores of 2, 2, 4 and 1. So from 8-7 we had gone to 8-16, and what had looked like a comfortable overall win had changed to a loss by three shots – perhaps inevitable given the margins of one and two on Wednesday. It’s perhaps a good job we had no league game on Friday.

A Reality Check

The season had started really well, with both games won in the Clegg league and three out of three in the West Tyne. Something had to go wrong at some point, and on Tuesday it duly did. It’s unclear whether we have ever played Crawford Park in any league competition over the years, though one of their skips said he remembered playing here. Whatever, he and the rest of the team would have gone away with even happier memories, as they won convincingly.

It may have been a convincing win, but in truth three of the rinks were close enough. One of ours won by six shots, after overcoming a difficult start, and one lost by six. So with honours even on those two, our third rink eked out a three-shot win, all the more noteworthy because of featuring a league debut for one of our new bowlers. But such tight margins were rendered irrelevant by a big loss on our last rink, which went down by the best part of 20 shots, for a big defeat on overall shots and a 4-10 score on league points. The fourth rink was definitely less than the sum of its parts on the night, but this sort of thing happens in all team sports, and we’ll just have to write it off to experience.

Things did improve in the West Tyne match against Allen Valley on Thursday, although here the situation was reversed in that we relied on a large score in our favour on one rink. Even here we struggled to create a really dominant position, although by limiting the opposition to one shot on every end that they won the margin after 14 ends was 13-6. Winning the last four ends and scoring 10 shots in the process provided an attractive gloss – just as well, as the other rinks were perilously close. One of them lost 12-17, having never been more than three shots behind for the first 15 ends; while the other won 16-12, having not been more than three ahead in that same time-frame. Our losing rink did indeed have a chance to level things up by taking out the Allen Valley shot bowl on the last end, but the attempt missed by a whisker.

That result gave us another four points out of five on the night, and means we still top the table, with 18 out of 20. To be realistic, we now have two games against the Hexham House teams and one against a Haltwhistle team to complete the first half of the season, so the next few weeks will be really important in seeing how we stand. Or fall.

We don’t normally comment much on friendlies in these reports, but in the absence of ladies’ games – a walk-over this week because Burradon couldn’t raise a team – the friendlies stand out rather more. Of course, they too are reduced in number this year, but the annual fixture against Gosforth West Avenue was as enjoyable as ever, especially on what was described as a snooker table of a green. Five mixed rinks played, and for once we came out well on top in this fixture, with rink wins of 30-14 and 25-7 contributing towards an overall total of 104-64. Let’s just forget that it was a friendly and say we had a big win at Gosforth. In fact, we even won the raffle 2-1, so the week ended very well.

Two More Wins

Apparently there was a difference of ten degrees between Whitley Bay and Hexham the other day, and we had a minor version of that disparity when playing at Throckley on Wednesday. Leaving Hexham in bright, warm sunshine we saw the sea-mist clouds building up as we drove east, and hit the incoming greyness a mile or so from Throckley. Short sleeves didn’t last long. But if the weather was a let-down (to the home side too, as it had been sunny there all day) the plus side was a rejuvenated green at the Throckley club. To be honest, in previous years the green was regarded as one of the roughest in the area, but to their enormous credit the club has spent a lot of time and money putting things right, and the green was in super condition.

Results on the four rinks were very varied. After five ends rinks 1 and 4 were 7-1 up and 1-7 down, respectively, and those margins continued for the rest of the match, with the two rinks finishing 26-9 and 8-26. With those two cancelling one another out, rink 2 underlined the overall closeness: here we were two shots down after five ends, one down after ten, two ahead after 15 ends, and then, having been a few shots down on the last end, Mark managed to winkle out a single to draw the game 15-all. Quite apart from being a draw, this was also the lowest-scoring game.

With each club having won one rink and the other drawn, league points would have been shared evenly, but we would have lost the six bonus points as we were one shot behind overall. However – spoiler alert – the result on rink 3 was to make those points safe for us, as Brian Elstob’s team increased their lead throughout the match, from three shots at five ends to eight at fifteen and then on to twelve with a 24-12 win. The final result was therefore two rinks to one, with one drawn, and a league points win by a margin of 11-3.

Last week we noted how our teams have improved as the game went on, and the same was true here. We were just one shot ahead overall after five ends, and the identical margin after ten; the lead was eight after 15 ends and then eleven at the end of the match. Nothing spectacular, maybe, but a good solid performance all the same, and that might also sum up the West Tyne encounter with Prudhoe Castle the next night.

Once again there was a drawn rink, in a game where the lead fluctuated but never by more than a shot or two. Brian Elstob’s team looked as if they had earned a win, going into the last end two ahead and then being just one shot down until the last bowl of the match, when the Prudhoe skip made it two shots and managed a draw. The other rinks were rather different in the way they progressed. After being six down after three ends Trevor’s rink came back to level things up, such that there was only one shot in it after five and ten ends, and at 15 ends the score was 11-11; but at this point getting two twos meant a lead that was quite easy to defend on the last. Meanwhile, Mark’s rink seemed to have drawn tough opponents on paper, but on the night (which is where it matters!) they went into an early lead and from 5-1 after five ends racked up several big scores to reach 16-4 after ten; even if the shots were shared evenly after this the damage had been done and the result was a 12-point win, 22-10. So it was another big win, 4.5 points out of the possible five, and for the moment we are clear at the top of the table. But to adapt the old football adage, no one ever won the league in June. In other words (cliché alert) we might have been “over the moon, Brian” on Thursday but now we have to take each game as it comes.

A Second-half Team

Last week you might have noticed that our win against Haltwhistle Eagles in the West Tyne League was confirmed very late in the game. In fact, we had been down overall after five ends and also after ten; by the fifteenth end we had come back to 33-30 overall, a score that is worth noting because three ends later the match finished 48-31 in our favour. It was almost as if we were the away team, getting used to the green as the night went on.

That might have been a quirk, but if so the quirkiness reappeared this week. At home to Alston we found ourselves level after five ends, with one rink well ahead, another well behind and the third rink just one shot up. It was still close after ten ends, then after fifteen ends two rinks had opened up a fair margin while the third were still 11-15 down. Somehow, after struggling all night they then managed to get seven shots (4,2,1) over the last three ends to win 18-15. Meanwhile, both of the other rinks won by nine shots, with one of them conceding no shots on the last three ends and the other just three shots. So whereas the Eagles had managed just one shot on the last three ends Alston did score three on one rink, but it underlined the general strong finish. How we carry that forward to the start of games is another puzzle to solve.

The other oddity about the evening was the fact of having calm, mild conditions with players even having to shield their eyes from the setting sun in the closing stages. No one had thought of bringing a hat, as the priority this season has been fleeces and waterproofs! But being out, relaxed, in short sleeves and – in one case – shorts was a reminder of just how pleasant the game can be. Especially on the final ends.

The previous night’s Clegg League game against Astley Park had been similar. The grass at the Seaton Delaval club was a bit long, and a little damp after showers, so it was quite a heavy surface. We might have expected the home team to have an early advantage, and that was how it worked out. After five ends we were behind on every rink, not by huge margins but enough to have a combined total of 8-21 if anyone had been checking other boards. As it was, we each needed to concentrate on our own game, and we gradually found our feet: after ten ends there were two rinks cancelling one another out with a 9-7 score, one rink level and one rink where we trailed by one, so 32-33 was a better situation.

Fast-forward five ends again and not much had changed overall, even if the swings had been quite big on individual rinks. So on Rink 1 we had won all those five ends while Rink 3 dropped only one shot, scoring eight in the process; but in the same period the other two rinks trailed 2-16, and the overall effect was that we were now two shots down, 48-50, with six ends to go.

There was increasing interest in the scoreboards and mental arithmetic methods as the game reached its final stages, and one by one the rinks finished. After the two outside rinks came off with one solid win for each team it was left to the other two to see out the last end with a sizeable audience. The Astley Park skip ensured a win for his rink with a great bowl to earn two more points, but our last rink on the green did really well to earn three shots on the last end. The overall result – which needed double-checking – was a win for ourselves, 69-67. The Clegg scoring system means that that gave a 10-4 win on league points, a huge bonus for those last few ends. It may have been very satisfying, but we’ll hope not to leave it so late next time.