Two teams played a friendly short mat bowls match at Wickford Bowls Club on Tuesday. After 18 ends it was a very close finish with one mat drawing at 18 each and our other mat losing by three shots. A lovely afternoon's bowling followed by a very nice tea. We want to thank Wickford for their hospitality and look forward to a rematch at home.
A good time was had by all yesterday when 12 members entered the annual short mat bowls pairs competition. Teams of two players were picked at random in the morning and each team played each of the other teams. Each game was restricted to seven ends, and most were a very close run. The final two games were watched with great interest because, right up to the end, anyone could win. At the end of the day four teams ended up with four points and two teams with seven points each, which just proves how evenly matched the teams were. The final decision for 1st and 2nd place, who all got a cash prize, was based on shot difference. So it was that Peter K and Derek won with a shot difference of 13 and Rita and Mary came second with a shot different of -1.
After the excitement of the short mat bowls, we adjourned to The Orange Tree for a meal and some celebratory drinks. A vote of thanks was given to Peter K and Sylvia K for organising the day, recognising the work involved. One of the many things we talked about over the meal was the possibility of having a second annual pairs competition this year (making it not wan annual event at all), as we were aware that there were a few players who wanted to play but who were unable to join us because of prior commitments. Watch this space as they say. Want to play international Short Mat Bowls? You are invited to do just that by the SMPT who organise professionally run Short Mat events all over Europe. Their events are open to anyone to enter from any club/county/nation. They have had over 14 different nations represented in their 4 year history, and hope to improve on this and get more nations playing our great sport. They have matches arranged in various locations this year and entry is now open for some of them including the UK Open. Even if you are not up for participating yourself, it is great to know that our sport is helping forge friendships and rivalries across borders.
We had a very enjoyable match today between our Gold team and Blue team. On mat one both skips were a little hung over and a great amount of laughter was heard from them. Blues won on that mat 21-10. On mat two after 8 ends the score was 5-2 to the blues, but after that low scoring start, the blues took control of the match and eventually won 21 -3. It is true to say that the gold team did not shine and were a little blue at the end of the evening.
After the match we had a very nice tea provided by four of the players, and a big thank you goes to them for that. On Thursday we took delivery of a new double roller for our mats. We have two new mats on order and it was felt that the old ones had become very stretched on the edges in large part because of the way they were put on the old roller, so a new roller would help to keep new mats in better condition.
We were given a demonstration on how to use it and, as long as we follow those instructions, we think the roller should be easy to use. Our old roller was given to Harold Hill Bowls Club who hope to start playing short mat bowls once they have had an extension built. The 2014/15 South East Essex Short Mat Bowls League season ended last week, and both the Atte Bower Blue team and the Atte Bower Gold team retained their positions in division 2 and division 3 respectively.
The Blue team were third in division 2 with 42 points out of a possible 70. They finished behind East Tilbury and Warren Hares who each had 47 points and who will each be promoted to division 1 next season. The Gold team were fourth in division 3 with 34 points. The undisputed winners were Stonyhill Herons with 58 points with Willow Park Whites coming second with 39 points, and both of these teams will join Atte Bower Blue team in division 2 next season. Congratulations and thanks to all of our players for turning out to represent our club and for helping to host and cater for our home matches. Today we had our annual battle of the sexes in a Guys v Girls match. There were nine men in their squad whilst the ladies had ten and so we played 15 ends on three mats with 3 to a team using 3 woods each. (Three ladies played only 10 ends each so we all had a game.)
In the early stages of the match the ladies and men were neck and neck - possibly because on the first two ends we only counted one wood. It soon became clear that the luck (and possibly skill) was not evenly shared when the men pulled ahead on all three mats. Whilst the ladies did very well, the final scores did not reflect that and the men won convincingly all round. The match was followed by a superb buffet tea provided by the players themselves. A trophy was awarded to the guys in the form of a knitted mascot, however it was felt it was best kept at the hall and will be played for next in the Gold v Blue team match in May. Great fun was had by all twelve members who went to Gunton Hall last week, to compete in a friendly competition against eight other clubs, mostly from Essex. The competition has run for a few years but this was the first time Atte Bower had been invited. We entered two teams in the fours competition, one of ladies and one of men. Teams were split into two groups, and the winners of each group played in a final to decide who got the trophy. The competition was an opportunity for us to catch up with people we knew from other clubs but also to enjoy facilities and entertainment at Gunton Hall together. Our teams both did well but but didn't get through to the final, which was won by Newington from North Kent, the only non-Essex team in the competition. Our quiz nights are known for their fun and friendly banter rather than their display of the teams intellect and our quiz on Saturday 11th April was no exception. Although the quiz was won by a table from the Atte Bower Cycling Club, our members did well and won many of the raffle prizes including the ticket raffle for a bottle of gin. (Thanks to Sylvia and Peter Knight for providing the prizes).
Sylvia Snelling did a great job with the questions and managed to keep us in control, even when she asked which US state featured on a Bottle of Jack Daniels and one table boasted to us all that they had one on their table so had got at least one question right!! The club made a profit of over £200 that will go a small way towards the purchase of new mats. |