Louth Bowls Club A team avoid relegation with Sleaford win

The team needed to win on two rinks to secure the four points required to avoid finishing in the bottom two and avoid relegation to Division Two.

As it turned out the team did better than expected.

The two rink wins were achieved and the margin of victory on one rink was enough to secure the match victory on aggregate shots by 113 to 95 and claim the extra eight points which condemned the hosts to a second-bottom finish.

The rink of Simon Reeson, Geoff Ford, Mike Norton and Andy Cave won 31-4, while the rink led by Colin Smith grabbed five shots on the last end to win by one shot.

The other three rinks all did their bit and at one point there was a chance that Louth could win all five rinks, but eventually their losing rinks went down by just five, three and two shots respectively.

* At club level, the Friday Mixed Pairs League title was only decided after the very last bowl had been delivered.

Carol and Colin Smith grabbed a vital shot on the final end to win 14-13 against Wendy White and Tony Willoughby and finish one point ahead of Rachael Stanley and Mike Norton.

Their 20-10 win against Irene Bailey and Tony Saunders ultimately proved in vain.

* The battle between the top two in the Mixed Fours League saw SOS become champions with a comfortable victory over Barracudas who fell three points behind with just one round of matches to play.

Barracudas now need to avoid defeat in their final game to secure the runners-up spot.

* This week is the final season of the Winter League programme and the finals of the club knockout competitions will be played over the coming weekend, starting on Friday at 6.30pm.

The trophy presentations will take place on Sunday evening from 6pm.