Battle for bowls league podium spots

With seven rounds to go in the Evening League at Boston Indoor Bowling Club, Invaders and Holland Fen at the top of Division One and Golfers in Division Two look secure, with those below them fighting it out for a position on the podium.

Top of the Orchard Health Group First Division, Invaders, faced Breakaways, who are in fourth spot, and won 4-2 this week.

The rink of Nathan Dunnington, Sandra Tebbs and Scott Whyers started slowly, taking the lead on the eighth end and eventually running out winners by 20-11.

Breakaways, with skip Neil Harrison, won the second rink 19-13, the nub of the victory being laid with a 15-shot burst from the fifth end to give them a lead they could defend.

Second-placed Holland Fen took all six points from their encounter with Parthians.

Each rink saw a competitive start before the Fenmen took control of the scoring.

Les Feary’s rink, with Ian Clark and Bob Tingey, were dominant to win 35-11.

The other rink was won 19-10 by skip Steve Skelton.

Invaders now have a 10-point cushion over Holland Fen, with Strollers third, a further 25 points behind, and Breakaways another six away.

Fifth-placed A40 beat Royal Mail 4-2 to trail Breakaways by just 1 point. The rink of Janet Vinter, Arnold Bennett and Sue Hoyles scored regularly and heavily to run out 33-7 winners.

Royal Mail with Geoff Taylor skipping won the other rink 25-11, pulling away from the tenth end onwards with a burst of 15 shots to 2.

IBC beat Cosmos 6-0 and now trail A40 by 3 points in sixth spot in the table.

Alex Seaton’s rink were quickly 2-9 down, then took the next twelve ends by 30 shots to 2 and won convincingly 32-17.

Richard Pearson, supported by Steve Shaw and Dave Peacock, won by a single shot, 15-14, after a roller-coaster of a game.

They led early, 10-2, then fell behind 11-14 with two ends to go, before conjuring enough shots to snatch the win.

Nomads in seventh place beat bottom side Central 6-0 with two good performances to post wins of 24-4 for Mel Maddison and 20-9 for Chris Starsmere.

They are 26 points adrift of IBC in the league.

In the T&B Containers Second Division, Golfers took all the points off Shipmates, eight places below them, winning 22-14 and 17-16 on the two rinks.

Shipmates were competitive on both rinks and will be disappointed not to take anything from the match.

David Marshall’s rink was tied at 10-10 when they took control of the game with a flurry of 11 shots over three ends and went on to win 22-14.

Gordon Gallichan’s rink went ahead early, then fell behind by two shots, before finishing better to snatch the victory by one shot.

Dynamics took four points from their match with Vikings and kept hold of second place in the league, with two points from Ken Burr’s rink plus the extras for shot aggregate, achieved by just three shots.

A topsy-turvy start on the winning Dynamics rink saw them 7-9 down at the halfway stage before they took the remaining ends by 11 shots to 2 to run out victors by 18-11.

The other rink went to Vikings and skip Terry Marshall by 15-11 after a closely fought game where their better finish saw them win.

The Burtons still trail Dynamics by one point after beating Phantoms 4-2 this week, with Chris Hill’s rink winning 21-9, having been ahead throughout.

Phantoms took the other rink 18-16 in a close contest. Ahead by five shots, Burtons came back to tie the scores, before skip Graham Taylor produced the better finishing run.

Hotspurs continued their impressive recent form to go one point behind Burtons after beating U3 6-0.

Mike Nelson’s rink had another outstanding game to win 30-8, with another 2 points coming from Mike Long’s 20-16 victory.

Fifth-placed Amateurs are three points behind Hotspurs after beating Vectors 5-1. Mick Greet’s rink won 16-8, while the points were shared on the other rink after a closely fought contest ending 14-14.

The Patriarchs rink of Pam Rate, Seamus Rooney and Mick Rate won convincingly against Autos 27-7 to take two points.

Autos took the other four points and moved above Vikings in the table into sixth place.