Melton's men's team continue title charge, while tour is great success

Men’s Inter-Club League Competition (Bradley Trophy): Saturday 18th February:

Melton & District Indoor Bowls Club (MDIBC) played away against Church Gresley, losing by 110-121 and scoring seven points out of a possible 22.

A slow start by Peter White’s team allowed Church Gresley to get 17 points ahead by the sixth end; two fives against them in the 10th and 11th ends put the game beyond them.

Peter Farrow’s team also had a slow start, with Church Gresley being nine points up after five ends, but Peter’s team managed to close out the opposition in the final five ends to minimise the score difference.

A six in the sixth end followed by a four in the eighth end enabled Mark Williams’ team to establish a solid lead in the first half of the game and, although Church Gresley fought back, Mark’s team held on, winning a further three ends to secure a win overall.

Steady scoring by John Robinson’s team throughout the game enabled them to establish and hold on to their lead.

Ethan Giblett’s team were evenly matched with their opposition for the first six ends, but they then dropped a seven in the seventh end and had to dig in to claw back the difference, levelling the score after two fours and a three.

Meanwhile, Jordan Butcher’s team had established a 10-1 lead by the sixth end. The rest of the game was evenly-contested and Church Gresley never managed to catch up.

Results:

Peter White, Gez Moore and Bob Lemon lost by 11-39.

Peter Farrow, Trevor Main and Steve Sharp lost by 14-17.

Mark Williams, Max Magee and Gary Kilbourne won by 25-16.

John Robinson, Chris Vose and Brian Barwell won by 18-13.

Ethan Giblett, Darren Elsom and Tyler King drew 24-24.

Jordan Butcher, Richard Warrener and Des North won 18-12.

This is only Melton’s second loss this season, so they should hold on to their position at the top of the table. With just two matches to go, they still have everything to play for. Their next match is at home to Carlton on 4th March.

Friendly competition

President’s Tour: 17-20 February:

Forty-one members of MDIBC joined the annual President’s Tour. President Peter Kipling chose to visit the Hereford area, staying at Holme Lacy House Hotel and visiting three bowls clubs: MidGlos IBC on Saturday, Malvern Hills on Sunday and Bromsgrove on the return journey on Monday, with a short visit to the city of Hereford en route on Friday.

The match against MidGlos was enjoyed by all the bowlers, but home advantage made the difference and Melton lost on all but one of the seven rinks, with Mark Warrington’s team winning by 23-12. Mid Glos won overall by 136-87.

The match against Malvern Hills was very hotly contested, with the margin between the teams being very tight for the whole match and the overall lead changing constantly. The noisy participation testified to the excitement of the match.

Melton led for the first six ends, but then a six scored by the opposition on rink five gave Malvern Hills the lead. After that, it could have gone to either team, until the final end, which was thrilling. Melton won on every rink, with Erica Warrington’s team scoring four to secure a draw, Mark Warrington’s team scoring three to win by just one point and Liz Dyer’s team also scoring three, converting a draw into a three-point win.

Dave Pick’s team were the highest scoring rink, winning by 22-9. After being 39-42 down at the half-way point, Melton beat Malvern Hills overall by 106-85, belying the closeness of the rest of the match.

The match against Bromsgrove was also very close, with the overall lead again changing constantly; half-way through the match there was just two points difference in the overall score for the 6 rinks.

This continued until, in the final end, and with just one rink left to finish playing, the score was 101-102 to Melton. Fittingly, it fell to President Peter Kipling to score the winning shot and Melton won by 103-101, with Mick Rawle’s team being the highest scoring rink, winning by 22-8 - another very exciting game.

Under-18 County Double Rinks: Saturday 18th February:

Leicestershire U18 Bowls Team beat Lincolnshire in the County Double Rinks competition by 48 points to 25. This means that they have won their group and will now go forward to play in the semi-finals at the National Championships at Nottingham IBC on Sunday 26th March. The finals will be played on the same day.

Included in the team was Melton’s Isabelle Pymm.