Confidence on the rise for Melton bowlers in national competition

Although a number of players fielded by Barwell were in the team that beat Melton Stilton Cheeses 8-0 in their first away match, this time Melton provided stronger opposition, with the two teams scoring four points each.

David Pick represented Melton in the singles match. His Barwell opponent was Ryan Lowe, who was selected for the Men’s U25 England squad in 2023.

Pick had his work cut out, with Lowe completely dominating the second half of the 12-end game, winning 25-7 and securing two points.

The Melton fours team faced county, national and international players in the Barwell team, so Laura Hickin, Mick Rawle, Jenny McConnell and Alan Hickin can be proud of their achievement in beating Barwell by 12-7, gaining two points.

Melton established their lead in the second end of the game, scoring five shots, followed by three shots in the third end and, although Barwell fought back, the eight-end format was too short for them to catch up the deficit.

Revenge was sweet for David Pick in the three-wood pairs game, when he and Jenny McConnell faced U25 internationals Ryan Lowe and Ellie Hamblett.

The Melton team scored steadily, picking up one or two shots in seven of the 10 ends, winning by 10 shots to five and adding two points to the team total.

The situation was reversed in the triples game as, although Laura Hickin, Mick Rawle and Alan Hickin scored a four in the fifth end to bring the score to 5-4 to Barwell, their opposition scored steadily for the rest of the game, winning by 12 shots to Melton’s six.

But this was an encouraging result for the Melton team whose next match will be at home against Nottingham Hoods on Wednesday, 17th July.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The new Fox Summer Inter-Club League is now at the halfway point with all the teams having played four matches.

And Melton & District Indoor Bowls Club maintained their 100 per cent record by beating Charnwood at home on Saturday.

Melton won by 65 shots to Charnwood’s 43 shots, gaining 10 out a maximum 12 points and holding on to their position at the top of the league table.

Dave Armstrong, Laura Hickin, Phil Hopkinson and Peter White matched the Charnwood team for two thirds of the game, with the score at 10-10 after 13 ends.

But winning five shots in the 14th end gave them the impetus they needed; Charnwood scored only one shot in the final five ends, with Melton winning by 21 -11.

On rink seven, Kevin Birch, Tricia Harris, David Pick and Pauline Wells, scored five on the first end.

But the Charnwood team fought back and brought the score to 6-5 in their favour by the fifth end.

The rest of the game was nip and tuck, with the lead changing hands throughout the next 11 ends, bringing the score to 16-15 to Charnwood.

Then Charnwood won six shots in the 17th end and, although Melton won the last end, the final score was 22-16 to Charnwood.

Hazel Armstrong, Sue Burgess, Alan Hickin and John Robinson completely dominated the game on rink eight, with the score at 28-4 after 16 ends. Charnwood won the last two ends and the final score was 28-10 to Melton.

Melton’s next match is on Thursday, 18th July, away against Leicester.