Ladywell bowlers compete in knockout bowls competitions

The bowls season is in full swing and Ladywell's bowlers have been competing in the Beckenham, Bromley & District Bowling Association's knockout competitions over the past few weeks with mixed success.

In the pairs competition, the Ladywell pair of Norman Lewis and Skip, Phil Welch, began their campaign on Monday June 15th with a first round match at home to a pair from Beckenham & Stanhope bowls club. They started off slowly, with their opponents moving into a 3-1 lead after three ends. But Norman and Phil hit back, scoring five shots over the next three ends to take a 6-3 lead. Again, their opponents responded, gaining five shots over the following two ends to move into an 8-6 lead. It was turning into a tight match, with first one team and then the other gaining the upper hand. And the Ladywell pair pulled back two shots on the 9th end to tie the scores at 8-all at the halfway mark. But after the break, the home team came out stronger, gaining six shots over the following three ends to move 14-6 ahead. Their opponents gained two shots on the 13th end, but Norman and Phil pushed home their advantage, with another five shots over the next three ends to extend their lead to 19-10. The Beckenham & Stanhope pair responded with two shots on the penultimate end, but Ladywell sealed their victory with two more shots on the final end to win 21-12.

This put them into the second round, with another home tie on Sunday 28th June, this time against a pair from Langley bowls club. It was the Ladywell pair who came out of the blocks quickest, scoring five shots over the first three ends, before their opponents hit back with two shots on the fourth end and another on the fifth to reduce the deficit. Norman and Phil extended their lead on the sixth end with another two shots, but their opponents were getting into their stride and scored singles on the following three ends, so they were only one behind at the halfway point. They continued this form into the second half of the match, scoring four, two and one over the following three ends to move into a comfortable 13-7 lead. Norman and Phil reduced the deficit to 13-9 over the following two ends, before their opponents gained a single to take a 14-9 lead with three ends to play. The Ladywell pair were still in the match and playing well, and scores of two and a single meant they went into the final end just 14-12 behind. And they were holding the two shots they needed to take the match into an extra end, when the Langley Skip, with the last wood of the match, took the shot, meaning that Norman and Phil lost a very close game by 15-12.

So Ladywell are out of this season's Pairs competition.

In the Triples competition, the first round saw the Ladywell triple of Merlin Ramdawar, Norman Lewis and Robert Dunn face a tough match away at Queens Mead bowling club. Playing in very hot conditions on Monday 22nd July, after conceding a shot to their opponents on the opening end, they scored three on the second end to take the lead. But their opponents hit back strongly, scoring nine shbots over the following three ends to move into a 10-3 lead. Ladywell responded with a score of three on the sixth end, before Queens Mead gained a single on the seventh. Then Ladywell hit back again, gaining four shots over the next three ends, to close the scores to 11-10 in the home team's favour. Queens Mead extended their lead with a single on the 11th end, but Ladywell then enjoyed a good run of form, scoring over the following four ends and picking up eight shots to move 18-12 ahead with three ends to play. The home team responded strongly and started eating into that lead, with singles on both the 16th and 17th ends, leaving them four shots behind with one end to play. And Ladywell were able to restrict them to just two shots on the final end, to take the victory by 18-16.

With other first round matches still to play, Ladywell need to wait to see who their opponents will be in the next round.