A week for draws in indoor bowls league

Drawn matches are quite unusual in bowls.

The first seven weeks of the season of the Evening League at Boston Indoor Bowling Club saw only four drawn games, writes Stephen Boycott. However, last week’s matches alone gave three draws across the two divisions.

The most startling match saw Breakaways and Strollers draw 18-18 on one rink of their Division One clash. Tied 5-5 after five ends, the Strollers’ team of Kathryn Rockall, Keith Swain and Alan Everitt surged ahead to lead 18-5 by end 11. The Breakaways’ trio of Lynn Limb, Anita and Michael Rymer then fought hard to level the match, doing so ultimately with a score of four shots on the last end. On the second rink, Breakaways again came back from an indifferent start, when they were losing 1-12 after the seventh end, to win the contest 29-18.

Shipmates in Division Two salvaged a point from their game with The Burtons by drawing one rink 17-17. Burtons grabbed an early 6-0 lead, before Shipmates gradually chipped away at the advantage, the match becoming a closely fought tussle over the final half-dozen ends. Shipmates drew the match by virtue of their better finishing run. Burtons took the other rink 17-9 and were always in control.

Autos and Golfers also drew one rink, 16-16, Golfers taking the other 19-12. The drawn rink followed a similar pattern to Shipmates and Burtons, with Golfers starting well and Autos coming back at them and finishing better.

Dynamics took all six points off Vectors with two convincing wins, 24-9 and 21-13.

Amateurs played the Patriarchs’ trio of Seamus Rooney, Pam and Mick Rate and were always behind, losing 20-9 at the end. Amateurs still took four points from the clash, though, as Patriarchs can only field one team at present.

Golfers are still clear at the top of Division Two, but Autos, Dynamics and Amateurs are only separated by two points.

U3 had their best outing this season by beating Phantoms 6-0, with winning scores of 22-13 for Colin Louth and 19-16 for Peter Thompson. The win took them above bottom place in the league.

Hotspurs had a dramatic duel with Vikings, taking the match 4-2. Rob Exton, Rob Druce and Neil Owen won their rink for Hotspurs, 19-10, pulling away to seal victory from the 11th end onwards. On the other rink, Vikings under Alan Smith won 21-14. Hotspurs just sneaked the extra points for the aggregate by two shots.

Back in Division One, A40 beat Parthians 6-0 in two competitive games, starting well on both rinks. Sue Hoyles’ winning margin of 17-11 is deceptive, as Parthians came back to lag by only one shot after 11 ends, but then A40 finished the game more strongly. The other rink was tied at 17-17 after the penultimate end, but Jean Cammack’s team managed to win the last end to take the score 19-17.

IBC took four points off Royal Mail by winning Richard Pearson’s rink 18-9 and getting the aggregate score overall. The Mail’s Geoff Taylor’s rink started well, 9-0 up after four ends, but IBC fought back to keep the result in doubt. The Mail settled the game by taking four shots in the final two ends to win 21-17.

Nomads got the better of Cosmos, taking six points with wins of 18-12 and 16-14.

In a top-of-the-table clash, Eastenders beat Holland Fen 25-11 and 21-11, although they only took charge on Matt Whyers’ rink from the 12th end onwards. Invaders moved into second spot in the table, replacing the Fenmen, by beating Central 6-0.

The winning scores were 32-6 and 24-13 as Eastenders remain top by six points.