Lindfield Bowling Club

Lindfield win Home Counties Triples

Lindfield's irrepressible trio of Adam Harding, Ian Watson and Keith Holman represented Sussex in the Home Counties Triples, held at Bexhill BC. In the morning they played Surrey in the semi-final and won after 17 ends. In the final they played Berkshire and won 20-8 after only 16 ends, to become this year's Home Counties Triples champions. Congratulations to all three of you, from everyone at LBC!

Aussie pairs results

Ten teams have just taken part in the George and Elsie Aussie Pairs competition (named after George and Elsie Long). The winners after five hard-fought rounds were the "Dipstix" with 40.5 points (Peter Gacsall, Martin Pelosi, Roger Green and Paul Sandford). Second with 37 points were the "Chefs" (Colin Sayers, Stella Sayers, Mick Lewry and Jamie Oliver). Third with 33.5 points were "The National Hit Squad" (Carol Watson, Jennie Sandford, Dave Walker and Steve Minter).

They have bravely played in the rain, wind and cold but have had a great time! The most important thing is that £95 was raised for St Peters and St James Hospice - a charity that Elsie always supported. Thanks must go to the players for taking part, the food providers, the drink providers and the players who helped put out the equipment each night. I have spoken to George this morning and he is thrilled that we raised so much for Elsie's charity. He sends a big thank you to all.

Lindfield win Border League Plate

There was a final trophy victory for Lindfield: a team comprising Peter Gacsall, Roger Willmott, Alan Gardiner and Terry Hughes won the Border League Plate, held at Newdigate, against seven other teams from Surrey and Sussex. They won six games and just drew one, the last against the home side, to score 13 points with Newdigate B scoring 10 in second place and Downsman 7 in third.

In virtually the last friendly matches of the season Lindfield beat Hollingbury winning all four rinks, 81-64. In a foreshortened game, wind and rain intervened, Rottingdean won 30-32 despite Lindfield winning three of the five rinks; the ladies beat Mackie 57-31; Newick Ladies beat Lindfield 34-48. There was a good victory against Adastra, 105-84; and another versus Crouch by three rinks to one and 69-57.

The team for Sunday's John Ellmer Cup against Buxted has been selected:
Singles: Peter Gacsall
Pair: Roger Willmott & Roger Green
Triple: Arthur Mortenson, Peter Elford, Terry Hughes
Four: David Walker, Martin Pelosi, Geoff Nelson, David Glossop
Double four:
John Bartlett, Mike Streeter, Frank Morris, Alan Gardiner.
Ian Wilson, Cyril Woolgar, Ron Langridge, Alan Eastwood.

News round-up

The final of the 2 Wood Drawn Triples took place on Sunday morning, and it was an excellent game with over a dozen spectators, completed just before the rain set in at 12:30. Ian Wilson was remarkably consistent at lead and provided a solid foundation which was built on by Carolyn Worth, and skip Peter Elford converted several heads to keep his team's noses in front. For the opposition David Walker had a useful game at lead, Shirley Nelson found excellent lines throughout at 2, and Cyril Woolgar bowled some telling woods at crucial times, however Cyril's trio were always slightly behind on shots, and the eventual 22-16 scoreline doesn't quite reflect how close the game was.
Many thanks again to Geoff Nelson for umpiring, Ron Langridge for conducting the trophy presentation after the match, and to John Bartlett and his team for arranging the green.

As the season draws to a close there was more success for Lindfield players in external events. The redoubtable Ian Watson & Keith Holman were runners-up in the National Men's Senior Pairs competition, losing to a pair from Buckinghamshire in the final at Leamington. Ian and Keith had won 10 games in a row to reach the final.

Jennie Sandford, Carol Watson and Sue Willmott won the Sussex County 2 wood Benevolent Triples. The semi-finals were played in the morning, at Horsham, when they beat Preston. It was 14-14 going into last end. The Preston lead drew 2 round the jack, Watson broke up the head with a running wood, the Preston skip took out Watson's wood then Willmott drew shot to win a tense match.

In friendlies Lindfield, in a new fixture for the club, beat The Drive 61-51: Peter Gacsall's rink won 19-11; Wilf Atkins's by 13-12; Richard Harding drew 14-14; Carol Watson won 15-14.
Lindfield ladies lost 40-50 to Steyning: Joan Hampton won 15-13; Carolyn Worth lost 11-19; Stephanie Teddenham lost 14-18.
Against Peacehaven it was all square in ends and shots 81-81: Terry Hughes dropped 4 on the last end to go down 17-21; Peter Colbourne lacked support, 10-32; Richard Harding won 24-16; Jennie Sandford 30-12.
In the trip to Woodingdean the home side won 67-77: David Glossop's was the only winning rink, having led 24-3 allowed Ken Ross back to 26-19; Wilf Atkins's rink led until the last end to draw, 15-15; Terry Hughes lost 10-23; Chris Reynolds was drawing 12-12 but eventually lost 16-20. Away at Rottingdean the ladies lost 55-65.
Hollingbury Park came but lost 81-54: Alan Eastwood's rink had a fine win 20-5; Terry Hughes, 22-15; Carol Watson 19-15; David Glossop took a single on the last end to win 20-19.

Colbourne and Sandford win singles crowns

The second part of Lindfield's Finals Weekend produced some fantastically close-fought games of bowls. In the Ladies' Two Wood singles Jennie Sandford drew an inch-perfect bowl to beat Carol Watson 15-14, while husband Paul Sandford bowled impressively to win the Butfoy 100 Up singles 105-65 against Bill Colbourne.

Dorothy Keogh gave a fine display of draw bowling to win the Ladies' Backbone singles 21-8 against Stella Sayers, and David Glossop was again the runner-up, this time in the mixed Aussie Pairs, as he and Carolyn Worth struggled to put eventual winners Arthur Mortenson and Ron Langridge under any sustained pressure.

Colin Stevens enjoyed his first final, showing a good range of shots to beat Bill Colbourne 21-14 in the Men's Backbone, but in the sun-drenched afternoon session most eyes were on the Men's and Ladies' Championship finals. Peter Colbourne took on five-time winner Adam Harding in a wonderfully engrossing game that saw Peter take an early 7-2 lead, then Adam steadily chipped away at the deficit, levelling the scores at 15-15. Both players had the misfortune to turn heads round to their opponent's advantage on a rink with some challenging lines, but with Adam 19-17 ahead Peter picked up two consecutive 3's to claim his second club championship title, 21-19.

The ladies' championship final was the third game of the weekend between Jennie Sandford and Carol Watson, and again Jennie just managed to prevail, both ladies playing superbly well and the shot changing hands regularly, Jennie hung on to win 21-19. This was the second time in 3 years that the Competition Secretaries have emerged as club champions! This was a classic Finals Weekend and showed the club at its very best, with a small army of helpers and many appreciative spectators. Special thanks go to Ian Watson for arranging the rinks, Ron Langridge for presenting the trophies, Willy Bollschweiler for providing many mouth-watering cakes, Clive Smith for manning the bar, Christine Colbourne for many tireless hours in the kitchen, and Geoff Nelson for his excellent services as umpire for the whole weekend.

Finals Weekend: Update

Today saw an excellent first half to Finals Weekend, with the club bathed in warm sunshine for the entire day, and an appreciative crowd of spectators witnessed some fine bowling. Last-minute substitute Phil Thorpe played steadily and claimed a first club comp title with partner Roger Willmott, Keith Holman played superbly to win the Men's Handicap, while the ladies' triples went down to an umpire's measure, Dorothy Keogh's team just winning by a single shot.

Men's Pairs:
Ian Wilson & David Glossop 16, Phil Thorpe & Roger Willmott 25.
Ladies Pairs:
Carolyn Worth & Margaret Atkins 14, Janet Hawkins & Carol Watson 23.
Men's Handicap Singles:
Peter Colbourne 11, Keith Holman 21.
Men's Veterans Singles:
Terry Hughes 7, Bill Colbourne 21.
Ladies 100 Up:
Carol Watson 89, Jennie Sandford 101.
Men's Two Wood:
Martin Pelosi 18, Peter Colbourne 21.
Betty McMillan Triples:
Norma Smith, Margaret Atkins & Stephanie Tuddenham 10: Lesley Dooge, Shirley Nelson & Dorothy Keogh 11.

Finals Weekend: Sunday 27th and Monday 28th August

The running order for Sunday 27th August is as follows:

Watson & Holman through to National Semi-Finals

Good news from the National finals at Leamington, as Ian Watson & Keith Holman have made it through to the semi-finals of the over-55 pairs. The Lindfield duo defeated Bedfordshire this morning 26-13, then had a much closer game against a pair from Yorkshire, just winning 24-21. They play a pair from Surrey in the morning, with the final tomorrow afternoon if they get through.
UPDATE - Ian and Keith lost to Buckinghamshire in the final, 23-16, they were always behind but got back to within 3 shots of their opponents, only to see them pick up another score and move ahead. The game was concluded with one end left to play.

Lindfield win County Triples, 2 Wood

Good news from Popes Mead as Adam Harding, Ian Watson and Keith Holman successfully defended their County Triples title, beating Worthing Pavilion's Rob Taylor, Alex Paine and Mark Strong 23-11. The game was closer than the score suggests, with most ends closely fought, the shot changing hands regularly, but the Lindfield trio bowled consistently well to always be in control of the game. There was one dodgy moment when Alex Paine sprang the jack backwards and to the corner of the green, and Worthing Pavilion collected 5 shots as Holman couldn't quite cut down the damage, but apart from that the Worthing trio's scoring opportunities were always limited.

In the County Two Wood final Martin Pelosi celebrated his first year at Lindfield by claiming the title for a second time, winning fairly comfortably against Martin Leach of Hove & Kingsway. The players shook hands with 3 ends left to play as it had become mathematically impossible for Leach to win, as he was more than 6 shots behind.

Ian Watson and Keith Holman have also qualified for the last 32 of the National Senior Pairs. They played five games altogether beating West Hoathly, Peacehaven, a team from Lindfield, then Newick and White Rock. Having reached the zone final they played a pair from Burges Hill and now will represent Sussex in the Nationals at Leamingon. Interestingly all their games were away fixtures!

In the Border League Lindfield maintained their place at the head of the table with a 10-0 defeat of Dorking 79-27. In a new friendly fixture four Lindfield triples beat The Drive 61-51. Peter Gacsall's three won 19-11. The other games were much more closely fought: Wilf Atkins won the last few ends 7-4 to win 13-12; having led 10-5 Richard Harding drew 14-14; having been down 8-10 Carol Watson won 15-14.

Watson and Holman through to Leamington

Ian Watson and Keith Holman won the zone final of the Senior Pairs against a pair from Burgess Hill 24-17. They now go to Leamington later this month to compete in the National Finals, and also in the Triples with Adam Harding.

In the Mid Sussex League, by beating Felbridge 10-0 for the second time, Lindfield ought to have staved off relegation. Two fours late on helped Chris Reynolds to 23-18; although the lead changed often a five took Roger Green to 19-12; Tom Palmer scored steadily to win 19-10.

Having, relatively recently, won the Border League top division for 12 out of 13 years, last year Lindfield suffered the ignominy of relegation. Last Thursday, with two weeks to go, they confirmed their return to the top flight with a 10-0 victory against Horsham Park. They are now on 64 points with Redhill second on 60 points with 2 games to play.
Adam Harding's rink won 15-11 having been in arrears for most of the game but scored 5 shots on the last 2 ends. Another close match was on Geoff Nelson's rink where they also ended up 15-11 winners. Terry Hughes's rink however had few difficulties coming out winners by 26-6, including a 6 and a 5. So an overall score of 56-28.

At Redhill Lindfield achieved a whitewash, 81-46, in a triples game: Wilf Atkins was 0-7 but then won ten of the next eleven ends to win 21-11; Richard Harding hung on in a close match, 17-16; Adam Harding was dominant winning 18-8; as was Peter Gacsall, 25-11.

News round-up

Sue Willmott, Carol Watson and Jennie Sandford played in the County Two Wood Triples. They had to play in a preliminary round then three more matches of 15 ends each, plus two trial ends and an extra end, i.e. 69 ends of bowls in a single day. They beat Henfield, Horsham, Hurstpierpoint and Haywards Heath and are now through to semi-finals.

Lindfield have tried a new format for the first time: a match involving four rinks each from three local village clubs, Lindfield, West Hoathly and Newick. The inaugural match was played at Lindfield with Lindfield scoring 112 shots; West Hoathly 80 and Newick 63. It was much enjoyed so next year's event will be at West Hoathly.

In a keenly fought fixture at Brighton, although the rinks were shared, Lindfield prevailed by 49-42. Shirley Foxwell's triple beat Howard Funnell's 11-9; Cyril Woolgar lost to Brian Wooley 8-16; Clive Smith, relatively new to skipping, lost a very close game 10-11; Janice Woolgar, skipping for the first time, overcame Peter Fowle, a much experienced skip, 20-6 - congratulations to her team.

National Mixed Fours update

In the area semi-final of the National Mixed Fours against Ringmer, Lindfield: Carol Watson, Sue Willmott, Ian Watson and Keith Holman, won 25-17. They were 8-0 down after the first two ends then 14-8 down, they fought back to get even and gained 4 shots on the 16th end taking the lead and keeping it. They will meet four from Worthing Pavilion in the area final.

The Lindfield ladies won another County Double Rink beating West Hoathly, both at home and away. They are now in the zone final which will be played at Saffrons, Eastbourne.

Martin Pelosi beat Phil Soper of Uckfield 18-15 in the County Two Wood to take him into the final.

In friendly matches the Sussex Vice-Patrons had a very good last few ends to beat Lindfield 109-116. Lindfield's Richard Harding led Dave Dawson 18-5 but ended 20-20; and Chris Reynolds led the redoubtable Des Foord 15-5 only to lose 15-17.
Things went better against Henfield with an 86-61 victory. In a new fixture Brighton came and beat Lindfield 68-77. Richard Harding, up 20-8 after sixteen ends dropped nine shots in four ends to win by just 21-17; David Glossop led early on but David Nealer clawed his way back to 16-15 whence the two Davids shared eight shots in the final two ends to finish 20-19 to Lindfield.

Lindfield reach County finals

Carol Watson and Sue Willmott are through to the final of the ladies' County Pairs, beating four separate pairs to get to the semi-final and then winning their semi-final at Preston beating S Brown & S Norman from Sidley Martlets: It was a very close game at 11- 10 on the 16th end; then in the 17th Willmott managed to take Sidley Martlets's shot wood out cleanly to give the Lindfield pair a 6, making it 17 -10. The result was 20-14 to Lindfield who will play in the Final at Haywards Heath on the 29th/30th July.

In the County Double Rink, Lindfield Ladies played three rounds beating teams from White Rock, Hampden Park, and then beating Crouch 58-29.

Sue Willmott's run in the Champion of Champions faltered in the 5th round against Amy Truran of St Francis, 21-18.

At Popes Mead on Monday Lindfield's reigning men's County Triples champions - Adam Harding, Ian Watson and Keith Holman - were again successful, winning their semi-final against Dave Woosnam's Mackie trio 21-5. They now face a re-run of last year's final against Mark Strong's Worthing Pavilion team, at Popes Mead on 6th August.

There was more good news as Martin Pelosi extended his good run in the County Two Wood Singles (which he previously won in 2014), beating M Keane of Southbourne 16-5 in the quarter-final, then prevailing in a much tighter game against Uckfield's Phil Soper, 18-15. Martin now plays M Leach of Hove & Kingsway in the final at Popes Mead on 6th August.

In friendlies Horsham ladies pipped Lindfield 53-56. The following day Lindfield ladies did the pipping against Burgess Hill, 60-64.
Mixed teams: more pipping taking Motcombe Gardens 90-86; and a rather more handsome win over Crowborough Wolfe, 85-64, in which Richard Harding scored 9 in the last two ends to lose to Sue Clark by just 20-22; Shirley Foxwell went down to Ivan Atkinson by just one, 16-17; Peter Gacsall allowed Peter Flint only three ends, 27-8; and Wilf Atkins, having given Lynn Kipps a 0-9 start came back to win 22-17.

Lindfield men represent England in British Isles Championships

In Belfast, representing England in the Senior Fours of the British Isles Championships, Lindfield's Keith Holman, Tom Palmer, Roger Green and Ian Watson played Jersey in the rain and really cold conditions (the heating was on in changing rooms!).
They were behind most of the match but clawed their way back to win it on the last two ends.
Although scheduled to play Ireland the next day, they were asked to play again with less than an hour's break. Ireland, who had not played and were on their own club green, took full advantage and then went on to win the championship.

Mixed fortunes for Lindfield teams

There was a good win in the Tom Francis mixed double rink with Graeme Geddie's away team going down 13-23 but the magnificent home team, skipped by Sue Willmott, winning 27-12.

In the Border League Cup, Chris Reynolds's home team won by one shot. Going into the last end Terry Hughes's men were up one overall and were down just one when the opposing skip, Graham Duvergier, drew a second so an extra end had to be played which was won by Horsham. In friendly matches Lindfield, rather uncharacteristically, lost to Felbridge away 59-96; to Eastbourne Parade 48-63; and to Felbridge at home 61-87. Some socks need to be pulled up.

Triples through to county q/finals

First the good news: two Lindfield triples won through to the area final. Adam Harding, Ian Watson & Keith Holman beat Roy Gibbs's Brighton triple 23-6; Martin Pelosi, Peter Gacsall & Roger Green beat Dave Beard's West Hoathly triple 20-9. The bad news: only one will go through because they will play each other next.
Tom Palmer beat Robert May of Newick 23-13 in the county singles to reach the quarter-finals, as did Martin Pelosi, beating Preston's Trevor Vive 17-8 in the two wood. Lindfield's (men's) double fours beat Preston's team 49-26 to make the area final.
In friendly matches: at home Lindfield beat Godstone 73-33; in away matches there were, very gratifyingly, good wins: against Isle of Thorns - in which Dorothy Keogh's mixed rink came from 8-16 to win 20-17, 68-59; Mackie, 86-49; and the most closely fought, Adastra, 95-94.

International Success for Sussex Village

Brilliant International Success for Sussex Village!
Four lady members of Lindfield Bowling Club were half of the squad (four men, four women) that won the Tony Alcock Trophy National Double Mixed Fours at Leamington Spa in 2016. As a result of that win they represented England in the Ladies Senior Fours at the British Isles Championships held at Llandidrod Wells in Wales. They are (left to right): Margaret Atkins, Sue Willmott, Carol Watson and Shirley Foxwell.

Their first game, played on Friday 16th June against Wales, they won 19-17. In their next game, a semi-final against Ireland, they won 17-11. After a short break, it was the final against Jersey, all of whom were international players. England, that is, Lindfield, won 20-18 having been 18-7 up after 14 ends. They entered the last end up 20-16. The last few ends were very intense.

This is a marvellous achievement for a village bowling club; a great experience for the Lindfield ladies, playing against international players and being part of the winning team representing their country.

Ladies make progress as men struggle in counties

It was not such a good evening for the Lindfield's men in the county pairs this week. Peter Gacsall & Adam Harding were out-skipped by Ringmer's Broadway & Bannister, 23-15; Thanks to a five on the penultimate end Uckfield's Phil Soper and Guy Thornley beat Ian Watson and Keith Holman 22-18; with a late surge Uckfield's Patrick Urben and Adrian Wainwright overcame Roger Willmott & Terry Hughes 29-18. Steve Noyes & Peter Colbourne had a tough game against Simon Wilkinson and Arthur Knapp at Woodingdean, 9-12 down at 15 ends, twice Knapp drew the shot when 4 down, and the Lindfield pair lost 9-21.

Lindfield Ladies got through to the last round in the Triples beating Gildredge Park 22- 7; then had a close game against Crouch winning 17-16; next they played Hellingly and despite not being on form Lindfield won 16-5. The team was: Jennie Sandford, Carol Watson & Sue Willmott.
In the Pairs Willmott & Watson had a walkover in the first round; next they played a strong pair from Polegrove in a close game: on the 20th end the score was 16-15 to Lindfield but they were down 2 shots. Willmott fired with the last wood making a dead end so they played another. Again were down by 2 shots, Willmott fired again with her last wood and took the Jack back to their own woods winning 18-15.

In friendlies there was a very close game at Adastra, Lindfield winning 3 out of the 6 triples but just winning 95-94 overall. At West Hoathly it was 2-2 in rinks but Lindfield came out ahead 94-88: there were resurgences: Geoff Nelson led 19-6 at tea to end 27-19; Jennie Sandford led 13-6 at tea to lose 16-24; Peter Gacsall was 5-9 at tea to win 28-17; Carol Watson trailed 6-9 to win 23-18.

County pairs make progress

Lindfield had a good Thursday evening in the men's county pairs, with all four pairs winning their matches: Terry Hughes and Roger Willmott beat the Woodingdean pair 21-19; at home Keith Holman and Ian Watson, winners in 2016, beat Maurice Awcock's pair from Newick, 31-11; Peter Colbourne and Stephen Noyes beat John Bowes & David Lindsay from Isle of Thorns in a close match 21-17; Adam Harding & Peter Gacsall were behind all the way until they picked up ten shots in the last three ends to win 21-18.

In the National Double Fours, against West Hoathly, all looked good for Lindfield when Keith Holman's rink won 21-16 with Tom Palmer's rink just 14-15 down. Unfortunately Tom's rink then dropped seven on the next two ends to lose 16-23.
In the friendly at Crouch, although close at teatime, Lindfield won three rinks and shared one, 95-75: Chris Reynolds won 27-15; Peter Gacsall was down to Derek Budd all the way but won the last three ends to square the game 23-23; Alan Gardiner was down most of the way, got to 18-18 on the last end and secured the win by using a shoulder (Crouch called it a wick) to win 19-18; David Glossop won 26-19.

Bletchingly came and secured a rare win against Lindfield by 60-62: David Glossop won 17-12; Terry Hughes drew 17-17; Peter Gacsall lost 14-16; Wilf Atkins lost 12-17. At Haywards Heath, always a closely contested game, Lindfield were just three ahead so the final margin was a surprise, 93-64: David Glossop, down 4-17 at tea against Julie Fairbairn won 29-18; Carol Watson moved from 9-9 to beat Terry Gasson 25-13; Ken Eldred always led David Jones, 25-15; Shirley Foxwell was always behind Mike Rymer, 14-18.

County and match updates

Lindfield Ladies had an excellent start in the County 4s. A team of J Sanford, M Atkins, C Watson & S Willmott beat a team from East Grinstead 28-11 and had another good win against Ringmer 25-11 but playing Uckfield in the third round was harder. 5 shots were dropped in the first 2 ends they were always chasing the game and lost 17- 22. In the county triples the same team, without M Atkins, has won the first game against Gildredge Park 22-7 with Gildredge conceding on the 17th end.

In the first round of the Border League Cup Lindfield's men, one rink home and one away, overcame strong Horley teams winning both legs. Away, Terry Hughes's men took some time to come to terms with a very fast green but then turned in a good team effort to win 17-11. At home David Glossop was in charge where, in a tight game, the lead changed several times but when Lindfield took the lead late on they managed to stay ahead and win 14-11.

In the trip to Hollingbury Park Lindfield players struggled with a slow and somewhat lumpy green so were disappointed to lose 68-77: Dorothy Keogh won 17-14; Adam Harding lost 14-25; Peter Colbourne was down 6-17 at tea so had a good comeback to end just 18-21; the evergreen Geoff Nelson won 19-17. Bletchingly arrived late and short so borrowed two of Lindfield's players and had the temerity to win 60-62.

National Double Fours progress

Lindfield's men won the first round of the National Double Fours in a close-run battle with Preston, by just 4 shots. After 14 ends it was 27-25 in favour of Lindfield. The Preston four rallied and had two good counts on their last two ends to win by 2 shots. At this point Tom Palmer's Lindfield quartet were two ends slower, and their score put Lindfield 5 shots to the good. There followed a strange end which, after 12 woods, had the jack completely surrounded but nothing within a yard of it.  Preston had 3 or 4 in the count but Andy Smalldridge, the Preston skip, fell short. Palmer picked up 2 shots which more or less secured victory with an end to go. Preston's best chance was to kill the end but Smalldridge's second firing shot missed by a narrow margin.

In friendly matches Lindfield continue successfully. Isle of Thorns ladies came and won one rink: for Lindfield Stella Wellum's rink won 21-18; Stephanie Tuddenham lost a close game 16-19; Janet Hawkins made the difference, 28-19. A mixed team beat Redhill on all triples: Geoff Nelson 25-12; Peter Colbourne 17-15; David Glossop 22-16; Ken Eldred 22-15. Against Saltdean there was a similar pattern on all rinks: Lindfield race ahead then Saltdean peg them back: Chris Reynolds, led 10-0 to win 22-13; Alan Gardiner 9-2 then 23-14; Richard Harding 11-0 then 26-12; Wilf Atkins 7-2 then 17-26.

Ladies beat Hailsham in Top Club

Lindfield ladies (pictured at today's outing to Ladies' Day at Plumpton Races) played County Top Club at Hailsham. Jennie Sandford played singles giving a 21 -17 win to start. Carol Watson and Margaret Atkins playing the pairs got a 4 on the 16th end bringing them up to 13 -11, and they finished winning 16- 15. In the triples Janet Hawkins, Dorothy Keogh, and Shirley Foxwell were 12-12 on end 13 but then won every end winning 21-12. In the fours Shirley Nelson, Carolyn Worth, Joan Corless and Sue Willmott struggled on the green and after 7 ends were 0-11 but they brought the mat up and changed the length of the Jack and lost by just 2 shots 19 - 21 giving Lindfield a win of three games to one and 77-65 in shots.

Ladies National over 55 fours played at Eastbourne: Margaret Atkins, Shirley Foxwell, Carol Watson and Sue Willmott played a team from Polgrove and lost 14-19.
Joan Hampton won her County Secretaries singles against B Bird from Isle of Thorns 21-11.
Carolyn Worth lost a County singles match against Hazel Burr from Uckfield 11-21.
Sue Willmott won her Champion of Champions game against P Stanyer from Lewes 21-12.
In friendly matches against St. Francis Lindfield won 105-92: David Glossop, 14-17; Ken Eldred 19-14; Alan Eastwood, 27-10; Chris Reynolds, 14-20; Alan Gardiner, having trailed 5-12 won 22-15; Peter Gacsall, 10-16.

Another good win was secured against Mackie, 109-73: Terry Hughes, 14-19; David Glossop, 29-11; Roger Green, having led 15-8 hung on for 16-15; Chris Reynolds, 13-19; Wilf Atkins, having led 31-1 with five ends to go won 37-9.
This was followed by a successful foray to Peacehaven & Telscombe, 103-68: Terry Hughes, 25-18; Adam Harding, 25-21; Alan Gardiner, 31-12; Peter Colbourne 22-17.
Preston were also successfully overcome, 80-68 despite losing 2.5 rinks to 1.5: Shirley Foxwell had led 12-10 went down 14-17; David Glossop, after leading 20-15 drew 20-20; Peter Gacsall led throughout, 29-10; Richard Harding was ahead 16-9 lost 17-21.

Lindfield off to a flying start

Mike Streeter's and Norma Smith's tenures as club captains have got off to a rip-roaring start. Despite the quite alien nature of the green at Handcross, and the fact that the green turned white with hail for about five minutes, Lindfield secured a good win in a close game, 87-80.
When we travelled to Godstone, another good win was engineered, 65-55, Carol Watson's rink had a topsy-turvy game trailing by 2-13 but winning 20-15.

The next match, against Hurstpierpoint, was also away. Despite winning three rinks to two Lindfield lost on shots 82-93. The next three matches were all at home and all were won.
Crowborough Wolfe's Ladies gave a good close match: Dorothy Keogh led 6-2 but lost her way going down 11-27; Carol Watson had a good win, 27-10; and Sue Willmott was down 2-10 but won the second half to close the game 18-14.

Seaford came with two rinks of ladies and three men's triples. The ladies won in the last two ends to take the game 32-28: Shirley Foxwell, taking the last four ends 7-0 won 18-13; Carol Watson held on for 14-15; the men were fairly dominant, 68-42, winning all rinks, Peter Colbourne, 20-16; Terry Hughes, 23-14 and Adam Harding, 25-12.
Balcombe came but Lindfield were too strong, 72-49, taking three of the four triples: David Glossop, 25-15; Ken Eldred, 18-15; Peter Gacsall, 19-5; Shirley Foxwell lost a close game 10-14.

Meanwhile the men's Top Club team for the game against West Hoathly on Tues 16th May has been selected:
2 Wood: Tom Palmer
4 Wood: Keith Holman
Pair: Martin Pelosi & Adam Harding
Triple: Roger Willmott, Ian Watson, Roger Green
Four: David Glossop, Terry Hughes, Peter Gacsall, Chris Reynolds.

Chilly start to the new season

Yesterday's wintry weather heralded the first fixture of the 2017 season, and our intrepid team of four rinks set off to Handcross for a friendly match that was played in single-figure temperatures, with a brisk breeze, occasional rain, and at one point a covering of hail.

The match was very close overall, with Lindfield just prevailing 87-80. There were wins for David Glossop (26-12), Peter Gacsall (24-21) and Alan Eastwood (21-19), while Chris Reynolds's rink fared less well. The weekend promises similarly challenging conditions, firstly for the annual Men's Captain vs Ladies Captain game on Saturday, which will see 7 rinks per side, and then for the away game at Godstone on Sunday.
The men's club competitions have been drawn and will appear on the noticeboard in the next few days, and the mixed club competitions will be drawn next week.

New LBC website goes live

After nine years, the faithful old version of the website has been retired, and replaced with this new version, which is optimised to work on mobile phones and tablets, and also integrates with BowlsManager, so the selection committees will now be able to select the teams on BowlsManager and publish them straight onto this website.

Don't forget that the new season starts in 3 weeks time on Saturday 15th April, with the usual coffee morning, and the green will be open from 10am onwards. There is a working party on Saturday 8th April at 09:30, to get the club ready and do some spring cleaning.