West Sussex bowlers miss out on national final

Chris Page was in action for the county premier team / Picture by Kate Shemilt

After an excellent win in their quarter-final, West Sussex were looking to reach the final for the first time but could not find their form of the previous game.

In the first session they won one and drew one game, then won two in the second session to trail 9-7 at lunch.

Needing to step up their performance in the afternoon they could manage only one win in each of the remaining sessions and ended up with a 27-13 defeat.

Despite this they were pleased with the season overall, having been unbeaten up to this final match.

In the singles Infinity’s Chris Page won 16-10 and 16-11 while club-mate Jack Rollings lost 15-14 and 16-10. In the pairs The Martlets’ Chris Blackman and Bognor’s Brian Mills drew 13-13 and lost 16-14.

In the triples Lavant’s Jackie Lee won 12-11 and lost 17-10 while the Southbourne combination of Karen and Dave Alner and Antony Bull lost 12-9 and won 12-11.

In the fours Southbourne’s Audrey Bull with Lavant’s Peter Winter and Peter Whale lost 11-4 and 11-8 and Infinity’s Denise Kirby with Southbourne’s Robin Armstrong won 8-6 and lost 12-9.

ARUN

Arun 96 Worthing Pavilion 127

Arun’s County League status is in limbo after they lost their penultimate game at Worthing Pavilion IBC.

They struggled against Worthing on a very sluggish mat, and after ten ends Arun were well behind and losing on all rinks.

But Arun dug in and managed to pull back a little and win on two rinks saving two points.

Arun, in their defence, are missing a few of their best players and have struggled to put really strong teams out when they needed to all season.

Arun may go down to the second division next year but could stay up courtesy of King Alfred IBC not playing in the County League next year.

Their fate will be known in the next few weeks, but Arun IBC are sixth in the league with 48.7 points.

Scores: L Etherington, P Green, M Edgecock, T Sayers won 18-16; C Gilham, M Campbell, R Hobbs, E Pidgeon lost 22-14; D Jackson, R Corkett, T Dade, A Anderson lost 26-10; B Rebbeck, P Philips, L Hall, G Leaman won 16-15; P Hamnett, V May, T Arnold, B Butler lost 20-18; B Forey, T Cook, N Waddock, R Gardner lost 22-10.

* Arun Indoor Bowls Club are looking for the next generation of young bowlers. If you are a teacher or a scout or guide leader in charge of youngsters who may be interested, please contact Vic May on email at [email protected]

CRABLANDS

Nyetimber Lions v Crablands Avocets

Avocets tamed the Lions by taking all six points in their encounter at Nyetimber.

On both mats Avocets started slowly but had gained substantial leads by the halfway point.

Avocets’ Sylvia Gray, Celia Foot, Elaine Sadler and Alan Foot were leading 9-3 and Don Jonas, Joan Taylor, Terry Axworthy & Bill Merriitt led 14-2.

Avocets grew in confidence and Lions’ Frank Williams, Lynton Griffiths, Cyril Searle and Arthur Guppy on rink one and Pat Mussell, Steve Thompson, Tony Mussell and Shirley Syrett on rink two could do nothing about it eventually going down 25-9 and 34-8 respectively.

It was a complete reversal of fortunes on the friendly mat with Nyetimber taking a 32-12 victory over Crablands’ Denise Merritt, Keith Palin, Brian Berry and Mollie Back.

LAVANT.

Lavant 63 Nyetimber Lions 58

Lavant hosted Nytimber Lions in a friendly, beating the visitors by five shots.

Mat one were just pipped 21-19 by Nyetimber, while on mat two Lavant took the win 25-14 – but on mat three Nyetimber proved the stronger team and won 23-19.

Norfolk Lions 46 Lavant Red 36

Lavant played away to Norfolk Lions, who took four points from the encounter.

Mat one had Lavant taking the two points by winning 25-18, but Norfolk took the remaining four points by winning 28-11.

Horley Hawks 47 Lavant Red 44

Horley just squeezed past visitors Lavant by taking the honours on mat two with a score of 25-18, while on mat one Horley, with a hard-fought last eight ends, couldn’t quite recover from Lavant’s early lead and lost 26-22.

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