Successful Christmas tournament at bowls club

Strollers rink of Mick Hippisley, Alan Everitt and Mick Dodes that won 20-16 against Holland Fen

Boston Indoor Bowls Club reopened after the festive period with the annual Christmas Open Drawn Triples Competition.

Seventy-two bowlers took part, split into twenty-four rinks of three, each playing three games on the day. Lots of good bowling meant it was a close-run thing to be the overall winners and coming out on top were Judith Blissett, Ann Quickfall and skip Alex Tomlin, with three good wins of 10-2, 10-3 and 11-2, leading to a score of 31 points and a shot aggregate of +27.

Just behind in second place with 29 points was Richard Keeling, bowling with Valerie Allam and Peter Hoyles, who started the day with a 6-6 draw before two good wins of 13-0 and 10-3.

Third place went to the rink of Charlotte Tomlin, Jo Sharp and Dave Allen who won all their games, but with quite narrow margins, 9-3, 8-4 and 10-3, for 27 points.

Winners of the Christmas Tournament, Ann Quickfall, Judith Blissett and Alex Tomlin

The Evening League resumed after the New Year celebrations with round 16. In the Orchard Health Group First Division, Strollers continued their pre-Christmas run of form with an outstanding result to beat Holland Fen 6-0, their best performance of the season, bar none.

Mick Dodes, with Mick Hippisley and Alan Everitt, quickly built an 11-1 advantage before Holland Fen caught them to tie the game at 14-14, then they had the better finish to win 20-16. Paul Flatters skipped the other rink, with Nigel Kenworthy and Keith Swain, to win 16-13 after grabbing the lead on the seventh end.

Leaders Invaders lost 2 points on the night to Golfers, Ian Drury’s rink controlling the game from the off to win 18-16. On the other rink, Scott Whyers built a 14-1 lead at the start and eventually ran out 20-14 winners.

Another team faring well after the festive period was Breakaways who moved up two places to fifth, their highest position of the season, after beating A40 6-0. Mike Rymer’s rink dominated from the start to win 20-8, while Mark Brown had a close game, eventually winning 17-15.

IBC’s return to form saw them beating Hotspurs 6-0 to stay in third place, Dave Gill’s rink winning 26-9 and Steve Skelton’s 22-9.

Two more 6-0 wins, for Parthians over Nomads and Royal Mail against Dynamics, saw both teams move up the table to eighth and ninth respectively. For Parthians, Keith Nix won 25-11 and Ron Moore 11-10 in a low-scoring game. Royal Mail’s rinks won 21-12 for Ian Smith and 21-17 for Keith Sharp.

The key match in Cammacks Division Two saw a top of the table clash between Optimists and Burtons, Optimists winning 6-0 in two closely contested games. Andrew Reeson’s rink was 14-1 up, then held on to win 16-14 as Burtons rallied. Burtons had a 12-5 advantage on the other rink, but Liam Reeson managed the game to win it 20-13.

There were also 6-0 wins for Desperados against Vikings and Central over Woodpeckers, while Vectors beat Shipmates 4-2.