Melton won their away match against Church Gresley on Saturday by 61-40 shots and 10-2 points. This was their penultimate match of the season and they are now 18 points ahead of their nearest rival Charnwood, who have a match in hand. Kevin Clarke, Mike Northing, Jenny McConnell and Keith Abbott forged ahead with a three, a four and a six to be 13-1 up by the fourth end. For the next 11 ends, the two teams took turns in scoring, bringing the score to 19-12 to Melton after 15 ends. Scoring five shots in the 16th end sealed Gresley’s fate, and Melton won by 26-13. On rink five, Tyler King, Trish Harris, Peter White and John Robinson allowed their opposition few opportunities to score - just once in each five-end period up to the 15th end, at which point Melton were leading 23-4. Peter White and John Robinson in particular put down some superb bowls, including scoring a four and a five in the 14th and 15th ends and the final score was 26-7 to Melton. Peter Kipling, Laura Hickin, Alan Hickin and David Pick faced a strong quartet from Gresley, including Mark and Shirley O’Connell, who were Men’s and Ladies’ Club Singles finalists in 2023/24, and lead Ellie Ramsell, County U-18 Pairs champion. Gresley started strongly, scoring fours in the second and third ends, but Melton held on to be just 11-7 down at the halfway point. Gresley then took over for the rest of the game, allowing Melton to score only once more in the 12th end and slowly increasing their score to win 20-9. Melton have one more match and one bye in this league. Their next match will be away against Charnwood on Saturday, 21st September and this could well be the match which determines who tops the league. The club was sorry to report the death last week of Darren Elsom, captain of the Men’s Inter- club League team, who had led Melton to their third successive victory in the Bradley Trophy last season. Melton bowlers wore black ribbons in his memory.
