Ladywell's triple of Marion Edwards, Des Marrett and Phil Welch had an excellent day at the Francis Chapple Open Triples tournament held at Francis Drake Bowls Club on Sunday 26th June.
The tournament involved triples representing twelve local bowls clubs, playing a round robin tournament, before the two best performing clubs met in the final. Each club played three 40-minute matches before lunch and two matches after lunch to decide the finalists.
The Ladywell triple got off to a flying start against Langley, taking six shots on the first end. This continued throughout their first match and after 40 minutes and six ends, the score was 15-1 to Ladywell.
After a short five-minute break to take on some water in the scorchingly hot conditions, Ladywell continued their good form against Dulwich Park. All three Ladywell players were playing well and by the end of the match, Ladywell had taken a second deserved victory, 12-0.
Their third match against a representative team from the Beckenham, Bromley & District Bowling Association (BB&DBA) proved a tougher proposition and after four ends, the BB&DBA team were 6-0 up. But the Ladywell team played a brilliant final two ends to overhaul their opponents with a 7-6 victory.
This meant that at the lunch break, Ladywell were one of only two teams with a 100% record. And the trend continued after the break, with all three Ladywell players showing their skills, as they cruised to a 14-1 victory against Queensmead that all but guaranteed their place in the final. And despite a 7-0 loss to the home team, Francis Drake in their final round robin match, Ladywell duly qualified for the final with the strongest record.
Their opponents in the final, played over six ends, were Woodcroft. And unfortunately, this proved to be a match too far for the Ladywell team, who didn't get into their stride until the fourth end. By this point they were 6-1 down and they were eventually beaten finalists by 9-3. So, they had to settle for the runners-up trophy. But it was still a very successful day.
Congratulations to Marion, Des and Phil for an excellent performance. And many thanks to both Francis Chapple and the Francis Drake club for hosting a great day of bowls.
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