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BOSTON AND DISTRICT

INDOOR BOWLS LEAGUE 2005-2006

All the up-to-date news from the Boston and District Indoor Bowls League 2005-2006

Latest reports for the 2005-2006 season at Boston Indoor Bowls Centre

DECEMBER 2005 WEEKLY REPORTS

Week ending December 23:

Miko Coffee (East Midlands) Division One

Top performance in the highest section this week came from Rustics. Lying second from bottom in the table and matched against high-flying Kirton Town, they managed to win the aggregate points by a wide margin.
The Town’s top rink of Jeff Homewood, Jill Smith and Dorothy Hawkesworth, leading 7-0 at four ends, were trailing 13-8 at 13 ends as Rustics’ Don Ebbage, Ron Read and Jim Gott put in a sparkling run of ends. But they say “cream” always rise to the top. And so it did as the Town finished with two counts of three to recover to win 14-13. Meanwhile Rustics’ Ray Reeson, John Craft and captain Keith Stones claimed the aggregate with a win of 18-6.

Meanwhile, the division’s top three all picked up maximum points. Cosmos defeated Invaders with rink wins of 16-9 and 23-8 for skips Les Feary and Abb French. A40 had a difficult game to negotiate against Freelanders but came through with rink wins of 13-7 and 19-6 for Sheila King and Arnold Bennett. And Eastenders defeated third from bottom Stickney with wins of 26-6 and 23-11 for Simon Reeson and Tony Powell.

Fourth placed Holland Fen dropped a point to Jolly Farmers. For the Fenmen, Bazza Wilson, Andy Dawson and Mick Tomlin won 22-7. But Andrew Grant, Adrian Field and Hazel Marshall (trailing 8-3) fought back to have a slight advantage. However, Shirley Moore, Ken Rawlings and Joe Moore took the lead again but needed a last end count of one to force a tie 14-4.

Bottom team Foresters progressed through their match with IBC in dire difficulties. Janet Whyers, Mary Hewinson and Keith Hewinson (10-1 down at four ends) never recovered and lost 16-8 to June Burman, Ruth Wright and Reg Doughty. Richard Toy, Denis Ellis and Alan Bates for IBC were 11-1 ahead at five ends and went on to win 23-7.

Crusaders were pleased with their result against Swineshead. Picking up maximum points and a move up the table. Carol Cliffe, Margaret Chester and Chris Clarke won fairly comfortably 19-7. Jenny Hill, Alan Hill and Denis Clare possibly had the hardest task but they picked up two counts of four and a three on their way to win of 19-14 against Bob Thompson. The slump continues for Swineshead.

Boston Electrical Services Division Two

Here, leaders Stumpers dropped another two points this week. Matched against Woodhall, Pete Myers, Norma Barnes and Bernard Skelton won by a wide margin 33-4. Eliot Dews, Gerry Myers and Denis Robins were always playing catch-up and fell to Doreen Sharp, Alan Eastgate and Eric Ulyatt 14-6.

The Breakaways against Vikings result went according to the form book. Second from top beat second from bottom with plenty to spare. Keith Bailey, John Marshall and Alan Saxton won 22-11 and Eileen Brown, Ivor Brown and Ted Benton had a success of 21-10. Ivan Dilley, Yvonne Busby and Denis Tebbs won 19-10 for the Gang which secured the aggregate points as Rita Epton, Pete Vines and John Allen went down to Patriarchs’ Chris Bristow, Alan Woods and Alan Bristow 21-15.

Royal Mail let a point slip away to Amateurs in the latter stages of the game. Margaret Gardner, Ted Bloodworth and Barry Barton were never behind. And with a cushion of three shots with two ends to play, it gave the opposition the opportunity to close the gap. Anthony Tabor, Sam Leafe and Eric Taylor for Amateurs tied 12-12. Joan Sharp, Barry Harrington and Keith Sharp (12-7 down at 11 ends) finished with flourish as they picked up 12 shots without reply to win 19-12.

Strollers and Shunters shared the rink points but it was the underdogs who picked up the additional points thanks to Jack Taylor, Mathew Smith and Alan Mason picking up a last end count of three to snatch a win for the team by one shot. For Shunters Nancy Mason, Rod West and Norman Weight won 16-11, Strollers’ set of Dave France, Mick Hippisley and Keith Swain replied with a 17-13 scoreline.

Feathers and Norprint also shared the rink points. For Feathers, May Connell, Tony Dawson and Keith Posey won 12-9 having been 8-0 ahead at five ends. Replying for Norprint Pam Vinter, Alan Townsend and Tony Hall had a bit of a purple patch in the early stages that moved them into a lead of 16-2 and they finished winning 18-7 for four points.

Parthians put a six-point cushion between themselves and their opponents when they picked up five points. Mary Cowham, Pauline Atkin and Keith Nix tied 13-13 with the Golfers’ Bill Smith, Peter Dyer and Graham Scarboro. Pete Bedford, Len Collier and Mick Atkin won 19-10 against Norman Ablard.

The Butchers, now back in form picked up all the points from BBC. Eileen May, George Eastgate and John Sellars won 22-6. Ron Bagshaw, Sylvia Bagshaw and Dave Gill some would say struggled as they trailed 5-10 at nine ends, but the picked up 12 shots to four against in the last third of the game to win 17-14.

Benton’s Glazing Division Three

Second placed Crowns, playing a double fixture, had a bit of a disastrous week. First up for them were Central, at the moment third from bottom and maybe expecting a tough encounter. The final scorelines looked pretty comfortable for the Central team. Iris Facey, Tracey Bembridge and Dean Chapman won 17-8 and Frank Bembridge, Marion Epton and Fred Epton succeeded 17-7.

Next up for the Crowns were top of the league Robins and it was another comprehensive defeat. The Robins’ skips John Rickes and Arnold Pape won 18-7 and 20-7. With these results, the Crowns slip down the table.
Central, having defeated high-flying Crowns, then played Abrasives. Dean Chapman skipped his rink to a success of 15-9 and Peter Boxall won with plenty in hand 29-8.

Wrangle moved to second spot when they defeated the Burtons. Brian Simpson, Fleur Simpson and Russ Rousell won the lion's share of the points 21-6. Replying for the Burtons, Olive Fenner, Jim Fenner and Mick Greet secured two points with a win of 15-7 against Brian Barwick, Phil Purkiss and Tony Drury who were 4-7 up and did not score another shot to lose 15-7. The Wrangle team will no doubt be putting in some practice during the festive break.

The Burtons carried on the good work when they picked up further points from the Terriers, Dave Clark, Jean Young and Mick Greet won 23-8 and Roger Young, Hazel Clark and Pete Dodes, against two players, won 24-9.

Traders did well to pick up all the points from Fenhouses. Maurice Harding, Gordon Neal and Norman Stanley won 15-10 and Margaret Harris, Pete Coulson and Sid Coultan had a 14-11 success. Fenhouses thus lost a game they might have expected to win.

The bottom team Shipmates did really well when matched against fourth team Punchbowlers. For the Bowlers, Norman Truepenny, Stuart Van Beirendonck and Barry Julian won 13-10. Replying for the lower team John Burton, Brian Lund and Brian Hunn won 25-9.

Fairways’ Mavis Ablard, Hazel Smith and Heather Scarboro would be disappointed to lose their game against Highflyers' Craig Spencer, Pete Hoyles and Barry Trigg. Leading 11-0 at five ends they found themselves level at 12 ends 13-13 and saw the lead disappear as they went down 17-14. The Flyers’ other set of Joy Troy, Robert Goodale and Alan Watson won comprehensively 22-7.

Denny Plate

The Boston team went into the next round with a good result against Spalding, winning overall by 18 shots. Next up is South Shields on January 7.

Week ending December 16:

Sarah’s international honour

After a weekend of trials sessions at the Oxford and District Indoor Bowls Club Sarah McKay - having done the groundwork as a junior u25 international from 1999 to 2004 - this week learned she had won a place in the England ladies' senior international team. She will be representing England at South Shields against Ireland, Scotland and Wales in April.

Miko Coffee (East Midlands) Division One

Despite some difficulty, Cosmos secured maximum points against Crusaders. Abb French, Chris Hiom — complete with some new and straighter bowls in hand — plus Les Feary won by one shot 11-10 against the Crusaders rink of Gordon Harris, Alan Hill and Denis Clare. George Philips, Colin Palmer and Keith French (trailing 4-0 against Carol Cliffe, Margaret Chester and Chris Clarke) had to find another gear to power home 12-9.

Carlton Road found A40 too hot to handle and failed to take the aggregate points. Pete Clarke, Chris Gill and Geoff Parker, for the Road, picked up two points from Gill Grant, Maggie Kisby and Sheila King. Winning well for the A40 team were Bex Field, Sarah McKay and Mick Asplen who won with plenty to spare 24-11.

Eastenders keep letting the odd points slip away and against Jolly Farmers Iris Reeson, Andrew Limb and Ian Clark had to fight hard to force a tie with Daryl Gardner, Shirley Allen and Dick Allen with an 11-11 result. Meanwhile the Enders' set of Matt Whyers, Bunn Reeson and Paul Flatters gave themselves a cushion right from the start. And Joe Moore, Martin Clarkson and David Allen were always playing catch-up and the Enders finished with a success of 21-11.

Holland Fen had both big guns out and nearly played their strongest six players against lowly Stickney. Andrew Grant, Adrian Field and Mick Tomlin won 23-6 and Andy Dawson, Keith Tointon and Martin Tomlin triumphed 24-11.

Swineshead at the moment are in a mini-crisis. Having started the season well they have failed to pick up any points in their last three outings. Matched against Invaders, skips Robert Dawkes and Bob Thompson fell with replica scorelines of 18-11 to the Invaders' Ian Tebbs and Paul Gurton.

Second from bottom Rustics were unfortunate to be under strength in number in their game against IBC and consequently fell to skips Reg Doughty and Richard White 15-9 and 29-7.

Bottom tam Foresters did well to tie their game with consistent Kirton Town. Mary Hewinson, Gordon Ship and Keith Hewinson picked up a last end count of three to lose 13-12 to Ann Kemp, Charles Hawkesworth and Peter Tracey. Janet Whyers, Lorraine Stevens and John Stevens also picked up a last end count of three to win 10-9 against Jeff Homewood, Sheila Tracey and Dorothy Hawkesworth.

Boston Electrical Services Division Two

After losing the previous week, leaders Stumpers bounced right back. But it was not too convincingly. Matched against third from bottom Patriarchs they had an overall win of 29-23. Margaret Bycroft, Norma Barnes and Ken Bycroft did not take the lead in their game until the 11th end against Sam Moore, Carol Dawson and Shamus Rooney but went on to win 16-13. Gerry Myers, Denis Robins and Bernard Skelton at 12
ends, did not look too comfortable at 10-9. But they finished with a win of 13-10. The leaders are back on course.

The Gang, who had success over the leaders last week, fell to Woodhall on both rinks. The Gang’s skips Ivan Dilley and Denis Tebbs went down 13-11 and 14-10 to Eric Ulyatt and George Salmon.

Norprint, having has a run of success, fell last week. And it was much the same this week. Matched against highflying Breakaways they finish pointless. For Breakaways Keith Bailey, John Marshall and Alan Saxton won fairly convincingly against Ralph Pick 19-10. Eileen Brown, Ivor Brown and Gloria French (who saved the day for the Breakaways left it until the last end played to snatch the points from Tony Hall (14-12). And Breakaways move back to second.

Royal Mail, who last week went down to the Butchers, put things right this week claiming all the points from a BBC side that did not put up too much resistance. Margaret Gardner, Dave Gardner and Keith Thorley won 23-4 and Joan Sharp, Barry Harrinton and Keith Sharp with a 20-9 success.

the Feathers consolidated their mid-table position with a fine success against the Vikings. Beryl Brewster, Tony Dawson and Sheila Dawson won a closely fought game 12-10 and Dick Masters, Keith Posey and Ray Matson succeeded 16-9.

Dare I saw the Butchers are back? Last week they beat a good Royal Mail side. This week Amateurs fell, albeit by the closest of margins. For Amateurs Brenda Wheway, Tony Nixon and Martin Middlebrook won 16-15 against Dave Gill. Replying for the Butchers, Eileen May, Geoff Dawson and Ron Bagshaw were never behind and won 14-11 for four points.

Parthians, without their top man, fell by one shot to Strollers. Would he have made a difference? Mary Cowham, Pete Bedford and Mick Atkin for Parthians were 8-12 down at 11 ends but scored a four and one to win 13-12. Strollers’ Alex Seaton, Bob Pearce and Berwyn Thomas kept their noses in front throughout the game to win 14-12 for four points.

It looked like Shunters let a point drift away in their game with the Golfers. Nancy Mason, Abb Houlden and Alan Mason (14-7 up at eight ends) went into the sidings and lost the next five ends to tie 14-14 against Jerry Gill, Mick Nundy and Norman Ablard. Meanwhile, Jack Taylor, Rod West and Norman Wright ran out worthy winners 18-9 against the Golfers' Peter Dyer for five points.

Benton's Glazing Division Three

The Robins, previously with 15 wins from 16 games, suffered a second loss this week from an unpredictable source. Playing against second from bottom Terriers, they only succeeded in winning two points. The stars for the Terriers team were Bill Mortlock, Fran King and Bill Earth - 11-0 up at seven ends they maintained their momentum to claim the aggregate points 18-8. The Robins' set only scoring on four ends. Neil Lockwood, Terry Hall and Arnold Pape for Robins 10-2 up at eight ends finished winning 18-9. The aggregate points lost by one shot. A setback for the Robins but they are walking the division at the moment.

The bottom team also had a great result this week and also by one shot. Matched against Fairways, they were able to pick up the lion’s share of the points. Starring for Shipmates were John Burton, Brian Lund and Brian Hunn  who produced a winning scorecard of 17-13. Replying for Fairways, Chris Gill, Lorna Locking and Heather Scarboro 11-4 up ran out winners 11-8. It was a good finish from the Shipmates team on both rinks, 11 shots scored without a reply from the Fairways who looked like they were going to win all the points at one stage.

The Central team just cannot put an consistency in their results this season. Matched against Traders they fell on both rinks. Margaret Harris, Maurice Harding and Barrie Hudson won 18-11 and Gordon Wells, Gordon Neal and Sid Coulton secured a 15-12 success. And with it came a move up the table for Traders.

On paper Wrangle could have expected to win all six points from lowly Abrasives. Brian Simpson, Fleur Simpson and Tony Wilson-Carter produced a good win with a 14-6 scoreline. Wrangle's top man along with Margaret Purkiss and Phil Purkiss found it hard going and lost by one shot 12-11 to Abrasives Phil Stubley, Peter Parker and Ray Wagstaff.

The top match was second against third. The Crowns, in second, probably should have won all six points. But they had to be contest with four. For the Crowns, Sandra Copeland, Ron Holland and Albert Crown won in style 20-3. The Crowns’ other set of George Rennison, Lee Mulholland and Graham Mulholland (10-7 up at 12 ends) saw the points drift away as Fenhouses Vera Monger, Rosemary Hoskins and Vic Chester scored six shots without reply to win 13-10.

Punchbowlers picked up their ninth win of the season when they overcame Highflyers. Norman Truepenny, Jean Young and Richard Bell won fairly comfortably 16-9. Maggie Van-Beirendonck, Stuart Van-Beirendonck and Jeff Skelton came from behind to tie 12-12 against the Flyers' Bas Atkin, Eric Lewis and Ivor Roberts.

Shipmates finished the week on a high. Back on the green for their second game of the week against a Burton's team sitting high in the table, they lifted all the points. Having only had two wins from 17 games the win column now reads four. Betty Taylor, Jean Stevens and John Balderson won 22-12 and John Burton, Brian Hunn and Tony Tomlin recorded a 14-9 success.

Week ending December 9:

Miko Coffee (East Midlands) Division One

Leaders Cosmos have extended their lead at the top of the table. They picked up six points against Swineshead as their rivals Eastenders dropped points. Skips for Cossies Les Feary and Keith French winning 15-6 and 14-10.

Last week it was mentioned that Holland Fen simply had to play their “big gun” against the top teams. This week matched against potential champions Eastenders, they did. But he did not capture any points. Doing well for the Fenmen Bazza Wilson, Andrew grant and Hazel Marshall looked like they had the aggregate points in the bag when they led 16-7 against Andrew Limb, Ian Clark and Paul Flatters.

A positional change for the Enders and a take-out shot executed on the last end saw the gap closed down with the Fenmen winning 16-13. The Enders’ set of Matt Whyers, Tony Powell and Simon Reeson, never behind, took the aggregate 16-11.

Carlton Road’s run came to an abrupt halt this week when Freelanders came back to form. Pete Clark, Phil Harris and Alan Coupland won the first end and after that they were playing ‘catch up’ as the Landers’ Bryan Sharp, Geoff Taylor and Stan Lawrence (what a bowler, back after knee surgery) won 16-10. Jeff Powell, John Benton and Geoff Parker fell to Ron Thacker, Des Aelberry and Jeff Nicholson 15-5.

Kirton Town’s rink of Jeff Homewood, Jill Smith and Dorothy Hawkesworth were in tip-top form against IBC winning 15-4. The scoreline should have won the extra points, but replying for IBC Richard Tow, Ruth Wright and Reg Doughty came up with a winning card of 22-3 and the extra points went to IBC that lifted them out of the relegation zone.

The bottom team Foresters, after the good result of last week, found second from bottom Rustics made a sterner stuff. Janet Whyers, Mary Hewinson and Keith Hewinson came up with a win. On the last end they picked up a count of two to secure an 11-9 success. For Rustics Audrey Sivill, Malc Rogers and John Sivill (4-6 down) had a decisive run of winning ends that took them into a lead of 15-6 that gave them the extra points.

Boston Electrical Services Division Two

Top team, the Stumpers hadn't lost a match since the second week of the season. But they came unstuck this week when the second placed team, the Gang came up trumps on both rinks. Rita Epton, Denis Tebbs and John Allen, trailing 12-8 at 12 ends, picked up counts of four, two and one to win 15-12 against Eliot Dews, Gerry Myers and Denis Robins. Yvonne Busby, Ken Rochford and Ivan Dilley playing Stumpers’ top rink of Margaret Bycroft, Norma Barnes and Ken Bycroft led 11-1 at five ends, 15-4 at nine ends and went on to close the game out 19-10.

The Butchers surprised all this week when they came out of a disastrous period to win four of the six points at stake from high flying Royal Mail. And it was nearly all six. Ron Bagshaw, Geoff Dawson and Dave Gill, trailing 13-6, for the Butchers just failed in their quest for points losing 13-12. Eileen May, George Eastgate and John Sellars — 12-4 up at the half-way stage — won 17-11. And could the Butchers be back on track?

Strollers, in fourth spot, played against the Golfers (third from bottom) and were never in contention. The Golfers’ David Locking, Ron Hulley and Norman Ablard won 16-10 and Bill Smith, Mick Nundy and Graham Scarboro were successful 25-9.

Amateurs surprisingly dropped two points to BBC. Doing well for the bottom team, Mike Campion, Jack Howes and Mu Watson came from 8-4 down to win 11-10. Amateurs won the aggregate points when Jonathan West, Albert Batchelor and Phil Sharp produced a massive 25-3 success.

Breakaways maintained their third spot even though they went down to Feathers. Maureen Hunn, Richard Sharp and Derek Hunn won well for Feathers (17-8) that snatched the aggregate by just one shot. Replying for Breakaways, Keith Bailey, Gloria French and Alan Saxton won 17-9.

Parthians pushed their relegation fears onto the back burner this week when they won six points from Shunters. Even though they only won five of the 15 ends played, Diane Bedford, Pete Bedford and Mick Atkin came out on top 17-16. Mary Cowham, Pauline Atkin and Keith Nix were never troubled and won 19-7.

Woodhall may have signed new recruits, but it was “old school” that put in a good performance this week. Doreen Sharp, Alan Eastgate and Eric Ulyatt won 19-8 and Bill Busby, Ruby Salmon and George Salmon were in overdrive and produced a massive success.

Norprint’s run of seven wins on the roll finally came to a halt. Matched against second from bottom Vikings, Pam Vinter, Alan Townsend and Tony Hall tied 16-16. They had been 3-10 down but recovered to go 16-10 up only for Vikings’ Barbara Moor, Ray Loughran and Gordon Gallichan forced a tie. Ellen Hammond (a long time member of the indoor club playing her last game) did not finish on a high along with Margaret Broughton and Chris Avison. They went down 16-8 to Geoff Barnes, Jenny Holmes and Ron Holmes who had a particularly good game.

Benton’s Glazing Division Three

The leaders with just one lost from 14 games played came out well against second team Wrangle and put four more points to their total. The gap at the top looking insurmountable for the chasing pack.Robins’ Neil Lockwood, Terry Hall and Arnold Pape won 18-11. Replying for Wrangle, Brian Barwick, Tony Drury and Russ Rousell were 10-1 up at six ends, 15-5 at 11 ends. And it looked like the leaders were going to lose for the second time. Janet Pape, Eileen Sellars and John Riches claimed five shots without reply and the aggregate and win swung back to the Robins.

Highflyers, matches against bottom of the pack, Shipmates saw all the points going to the former. Joy Tory, Bas Atkin and Alan Watson won 21-4 and Craig Spencer, Peter Hoyles and Barry Trigg had a win of 15-9.

The Terriers, playing a double week, picked up six points from a possible 12. First up were the Burtons. Phyl Rickett, Peter King and Chas Newham won 16-11. Replying for the Burtons for four points were Eileen Smithbone, Roger Young and Mick Greet with a 20-6.

Next up for Terriers were Abrasives. Fran King, Peter King and Chas Newman won 21-6, which was good enough for the aggregate as Philip Stubley, Peter Parker, and Ray Wagstaff replied 21-10 for Abrasives.

The Fenhouses versus Central game was not as close as expected. The Houses won on both rinks with skips Alan Butler and Malc Nichols producing cards of 13-8 and 24-14. Traders, in the lower regions, gave fourth place Crowns a really tough game. Maurice Harding, Ray Robinson and Norman Stanley — in a roller coaster game — tied 20-20 for a point. Five points went to the Crowns on the last end played when Margaret Dixon, Sandra Coupland and Mick Goddard (trailing 12-11) claimed a count of three to win 14-12 and an overall success.

The Fairways produced another good result this week when they defeated third team Punchbowlers. For the Bowlers, Norman Truepenny, Terry Dawson and Richard Bell (14-6 at 11 ends) won 15-12. For the Fairways, Jean Spratt, Anthea Hall and Barbara Slade triumphed 13-8 to snatch the aggregate points from the highly placed team. Traders, having disappointingly lost to the Crowns, bounced back with a vengeance and lifted all the points from Central. Skips Pete Coulson and Norman Stanley won 12-10 and 14-8.

The leaders, back on the green, dropped another two points. Fairways set of Chris Gill, Lorna Locking and Heather Scarboro won 12-9. Winning four points for the leaders, Janet Pape, Eileen Sellars and John Riches succeeded 23-10.

Egham Trophy

Boston’s Egham Trophy team successfully overcame Grantham and now face a tough encounter against Lincoln on January 8. With a number of changes being enforced, the team was able to introduce Tina Reeson for her debut. She did particularly well on the Grantham green. Both rinks won at Grantham and at home one rink went down to Grantham’s John Pask.

Denny Plate

The men’s Denny Plate team, having beaten Alfreton, played local rivals Horncastle and enjoyed more success. This now leads to another match on December 17 against either Spalding or Coventry.

Week ending December 2:

Miko Coffee (East Midlands) Division One

The top two teams successfully protected their positions at the head of the table. However, third placed Holland Fen slipped to defeat against bottom of the league Foresters. Cosmos overcame Stickney with rink win of 25-11 and 13-11. Second placed A40 stopped Swineshead’s run with wins of 15-13 and 24-9.

Holland Fen’s Andy Dawson, Adrian Field and Martin Tomlin won by a margin, which should have been good enough for the aggregate points, but it was not to be. The Foresters’ Janet Whyers, Mary Hewinson and Keith Hewinson were pretty ruthless in their reply against the Fenmen’s Bazza Wilson, Fred Kirk and Hazel Marshall and won 24-6 for four points. The Fenmen are two players short of being a good side probably need to play their other big gun against the better teams if they are going to have a say in the title race.

With the Fenmen’s demise Eastenders were able to grab the third spot. Matched against Invaders, skips Paul Flatters and Simon Reeson won 18-11 and 13-8. Third from bottom Crusaders - playing a double week - saw a smile put back on the captain’s face. First up were Freelanders Gordon Harris, Jenny Hill and Alan Hill, trailing 12-0, re-thought their strategy and moved Jenny to lead (she was superb last week). And they came back to win 18-15. Carol Cliffe, Margaret Chester and Chris Clarke trailed 13-4 and another change was needed in playing position. When it was put into place they fought back to tie 13-13.

For their second game Jolly Farmers were the opposition they made one team change and came off the green with all six points to move out of the relegation area.

Rustics, second from bottom, were matched against in-form Carlton Road. The result went as expected to the in-form team. Pete Clark, John Benton and Alan Coupland was comfortably 25-8. But it was not quite so easy for Chris Gill, Roland Hall and Geoff Parker who had to fight all the way to beat Ray Reeson, John Craft and Keith Stone 14-11.

IBC dropped into a relegation spot as the Jolly Farmers overcame them. For the Farmers, Shirley Moore, Ken Rawlings and Joe Moore won with plenty to spare against Denis Ellis, Ted Bourne and Alan Bates, 19-10. Daryl Gardner, David Allen (back after a brief spell with Eastenders) and Dick Allen were 10-9 down at 11 ends. David then moved to skip the rink and they went on to defeat June Burman, Ruth Wright and Reg Doughty 16-13.

Boston Electrical Services Division Two

The Amateurs team produced the shock result of the week in this section with a maximum points haul against second placed the Gang. Tony Nixon, Albert Batchelor and Phil Sharp won 17-14 and Anthony Tabor, Sam Leafe and Eric Taylor snatched a win on the last end played. The Stumpers have a massive lead at the top but the next four spots have four points separating them.

Meantime, the Butchers are really suffering at the moment. Another stuffing akin to Christmas turkey time, was suffered on both rinks when Shunters took advantage of their poor form as skips Norman Wright and Chris Medcalf won 14-5 and 16-9.

While the Butchers continue to slide from grace, Norprint are on the up. Another six points were secured at the expense of Parthians. Pam Vinter, Alan Townsend and Chris Avison won 19-12 against Keith Nix while Barbara Kenny, Malc Cook and Ralph Pick (8-9 down at eight ends) ran out winners 18-13 against Derek Henderson.

The leaders, Stumpers had a tough game to negotiate against third placed Breakaways, Elliot Dews, Pete Myers and Bernard Skelton won 15-11 and Margaret Bycroft, Norma Barnes and Ken Bycroft forced a tie at 12-12 against Eileen Brown, Ivor Brown and Ted Benton.

Second from bottom Vikings picked up their second win of the season with the closest of margins. Matched against mid-table Feathers, Barbara Moor, Ray Loughran and Gordon Gallichan won 13-7. Replying for Feathers, Dick Masters, Ray Matson and Keith Posey won 13-8.

It was much the same for Feathers playing again the following night when the Golfers also picked up the aggregate points. For the Golfers David Locking, Ron Hulley and Peter Dyer won 18-9 for the Fathers Beryl Brewster, Tony Dawson and Sheila Dawson replied 14-9.

Vikings, having snatched the aggregate against Feathers, could not follow up the good work in their second game of the week. Matched against Woodhall, Janet Loughran, Jenny Holmes and Ron Holmes won two points with a 19-13 success. Alan Eastgate, Ruby Salmon and Eric Ulyatt replied for Woodhall, 24-10.

As expected Strollers were able to overcome BBC. Skips Keith Swain and Bob Bexon won 17-12 and 15-11.
Royal Mail kept their pressure up on the leaders with a good result against Patriarchs. Joan Sharp, Barry Harrington and Keith Sharp won 18-14 and Keith Thorlby, Bill Barton and Barry Barton forced a tie 13-13 against Sam Moore, Lesley Woods and Shamus Rooney.

Benton’s Glazing Division Three

The Abrasives put on a good display this week when they won five of the six points from Fairways, Ivan Stimson, Ann Wys and Charles Russell won 15-9 and Philip Stubley, Peter Parker and Ray Wagstaff pegged things back in the final stages to tie 10-10 with Mavis Ablard, Hazel Smith and Carol Nundy.

Punchbowlers lost the aggregate by the closest of margins to the Crowns. Les Kelly, Terry Dawson and Richard Bell won 15-5. The Crowns' set of Margaret Dixon, Sandra Copeland and skip Mick Goddard replied 18-10 for four points.

Robins, the leaders, won all the points from Highflyers. Brenda Hanson, Chips Davey and Brian Stanhope had a comfortable lead at 10 ends but hung on to win 17-15. Neil Lockwood, Terry Hall and Arnold Pape (7-9 down) finished with a rush to win 15-9.

Second placed Wrangle looked like they had an easy game on their hands against second from bottom Traders. Jill Rousell, Brian Barwick and Harry Dodd gave Maurice Harding, Ray Robinson and Pete Coulson too big a cushion when they trailed 13-4, and they finished losing 16-13. Roy Woodthorpe, Russ Rousell and Tony Wilson-Carter (5-4 up at seven ends) could only score on two more ends and went down 22-7 to the Traders’ Gordon Wells, Cyn Baker and Sid Coultan. It was six very good points for the Traders and a setback for Wrangle.

Wrangle's captain leaves "Mr Versatile" out of the team at her peril as she did against Traders. Playing against the Burtons, he was back in the team and two points were won. Skip Russ Rousell won 16-12. Replying for the Burtons, Eileen Smithbone, Roger Young and Peter Dodes won 15-7, which claimed the extra points. 

Shipmates and Central also shared the rink points but the Central set of Frank Bembridge, Marion Epton and the captain Fred Epton won the extra points with a 17-10 success as Shipmates’ skip John Balderson won by a margin of 14-13.

Terriers versus Fenhouses saw the rink points shared. Eric Pereira, Fran King and Bill Earth won well for the Terriers 21-10 against Alan Butler. Replying for the Houses, Norma Davis, Ben Davis and Vic Chester put in a 20-5 winning scorecard, which ensured them of the aggregate points.

Yetton Trophy

The Boston Yetton Trophy team once again overcame Lincoln even though they had all their players available. The star for the Boston team was Dorothy Hawkesworth playing at Lincoln. Even though losing be seven shots she put in a superb performance and saved her players with some wonderful bowls. As always the winning margin was close just four shots overall, scoreline being 79-75. Next up on January 5 are Horncastle who Boston have never played against in the Yetton competition.