Defeat for Golfers, despite unassailable lead in bowls league

As we approach the sharp end of the season at Boston Indoor Bowling Club, promotion and relegation issues are becoming clearer in the two divisions of the Evening League and teams are beginning to settle on their final positions.

Golfers are certain to be crowned as winners of the T&B Containers Second Division, having led from the outset and have now built an unassailable gap ahead of the chasing pack.

In spite of that, they were beaten 5-1 last week by Autos, currently in seventh place, in two finely balanced games where the advantage swung marginally one way, then the other, many times.

The final scores were a 14-14 draw on one rink for the skips Jeff Homewood and John Adcock, and a 13-12 victory snatched for Autos by Ivor Roberts.

Hotspurs have moved into second place after playing two matches, one of them postponed from February.

Each match ended 4-2 to Hotspurs.

Against Vikings, they won Mike Nelson’s rink 14-10, having built a good early lead, then keeping control as Vikings came back at them.

John Millership won the other rink 20-17 for Vikings, getting the lead on the seventh end following a closely fought start.

Mike Nelson again skipped the winning Hotspurs rink against Vectors, 26-15, after building an early 10-2 lead, before Vectors narrowed the gap to a single shot, then powering away to win.

Vectors took the second rink 19-14, with Sid Oldfield steadily improving as skip, by starting and finishing well to control the game.

Dynamics were another team to face Vectors last week, winning 6-0, with Margaret Kirk’s rink taking the result convincingly by 25-6.

The 14-12 scoreline on the other rink tells its own story of a closely fought contest, just won by Ken Burr’s rink for Dynamics by virtue of their better finish.

Dynamics are now third in the table, three points behind Hotspurs and two ahead of The Burtons in fourth spot, who have a match in hand over their rivals after their contest with Shipmates had to be postponed.

Amateurs got the better of the Patriarchs’ rink, starting well to lead 10-1, then keeping their nerve as their opponents mounted a fight back.

The final score was 17-14 in favour of Tony Nixon’s team.

U3 took all the points off Phantoms, winning 19-11 on Colin Louth’s rink, in spite of falling 1-8 behind initially, and 22-13 on Jack Carr’s.

The champions in the Orchard Health Group First Division will come from either Invaders or Holland Fen, with Invaders being big favourites to take the title.

Invaders took on bottom team Central and beat them comprehensively 6-0. Central will end a tough season in this division in last place.

Rod West’s rink were utterly dominant from the start, building a 35-0 advantage and finally winning 42-6.

That’s the biggest winning score of the season.

The second rink won 26-11 with Ian Tebbs as skip.

Strollers confirmed their grip on third place from this campaign by beating Breakaways 6-0. Breakaways slipped two places to sixth as a result.

Mick Dodes’ rink won 27-14, but the match was still evenly balanced up to the half-way point when Strollers then forged ahead to claim victory.

Breakaways started better on the other rink, then Andy Warne skipped his Strollers squad to a good 22-11 win.

A40 rose to fourth spot after beating Parthians 6-0. Alan Bachelor’s rink won 18-12 by virtue of their more consistent scoring in the second half of the game.

A40 under Sue Hoyles were always in control on the second rink to win 26-7.

IBC, now in fifth, beat Royal Mail 4-2, winning on Richard Pearson’s rink 28-11, establishing their lead from the start.

Keith Sharp’s rink were in charge for most of their game to run out 21-10 winners for the Mailers.

Nomads and Cosmos, seventh and eighth respectively, met each other, Nomads taking all the points.

Mel Maddison’s rink took an early 13-2 lead, then withstood a Cosmos revival that narrowed the score to 13-11, before finishing well to win 20-12.

Cosmos had the better start on the other rink, but Nomads and skip Derek Smith dominated the second half of the game to post a 15-10 win.