Louth Bowls: Wasps take sting out of Wasps’ title challenge

Their first game was against third-placed Wasps who were only three points behind the leaders, and it was Wasps who took an early lead.

But a score of seven shots on one end for Kestrels put them five shots ahead and they went on to win a hard-fought game 19-12.

Kestrels’ next game saw them ease to a 25-9 victory over Wishfuls, while their main rivals, Otters, had to battle hard to scrape a 14-13 win against bottom team Meridian.

Wasps lost further ground on the top two when losing out in a tight game against Matelots who won 15-14.

Only four points separate the bottom four teams after Meridian defeated second-bottom Scorpions 11-8 to move within two points of their opponents.

* There were wins for the top two pairs in Division One of the Australian Pairs League.

Malcolm Pearce and Mike Norton eventually eased to a 16-5 victory over Yvonne Cooper and John Clayton to stay two points clear of Derek Blow and Barrie Robinson who in turn beat Linda and Martin Oldfield, 24-4.

Liz Draper and Tony Powell survived a nervy final end to win 9-8 in an excellent game against Gill and Pete Fletcher to move above their opponents on shots difference.

There are new leaders in Division Two as Heather Masters and Roger Orme made up ground with two victories.

They won 18-8 against Bobbi and Keith Mumby-Croft and followed up with a 21-6 victory over Tony Hunter and Joe Yensen.

This allowed them to take top spot from Sue Gurbutt and Jane Scott who were beaten 18-5 by third-placed Richard Tyrell and Peter Neve.