Ladywell just fall short in Bowls Cup Final

Wednesday 17th September saw Ladywell take on Southwark Sports in the final of the Ron Hams Cup at Southwark Park's green. In a bowls match where Ladywell were the underdogs, they gave the Southwark Sports team quite a scare, but unfortunately it was their opponents who narrowly took the title.

Southwark Sports were looking for a league and cup double, having already secured the John Collyer League title. And the two clubs had already played each other twice in the Round Robin stage of the Ron Hams Cup, with Southwark Sports ending as comfortable winners on both occasions, by 16 points and 49 points respectively. So, it was a big ask for the Ladywell team to lift the cup. But on the day, they came very close and gave their opponents a good run for their money.

The final involved a singles, a pairs and a triples match, with the winning team on each rink gaining two points. Then, when all the scores from each rink were added together, the club with the highest overall total gained an additional four points.

The singles match saw Ladywell's newly crowned men's singles champion, Alvin Nelson, playing against an experienced Southwark Sports opponent who had previously reached the semi-finals of the Surrey County Singles. The Southwark Sports player soon stamped his authority on the match, moving into a 7-0 lead after four ends. Alvin registered his first point of the match on the fifth end, but his opponent scored three more on the following two ends to reach double figures with a lead of 10-1. Alvin regained control of the jack with a single shot on the eighth end, but his opponent hit back with a maximum score of four on the following end. By this time, the Southwark Sports player was in complete control and despite Alvin's best efforts, his opponent eased over the line with five more consecutive scoring ends to win comfortably by 21-2.

This left Ladywell's pairs and triples teams with the task of winning by a combined score of 20 points to lift the cup. The pair of Norman Lewis and Skip, Steve Marlow, got off to a solid start in their 18-end match, gaining single shots on the first two ends, before their opponents pulled back to all-square with two shots of their own on the following two ends. This set the pattern for what was proving to be a tight match. Steve and Norman would gain two shots, only for their opponents to hit back and tie the scores again, and at the break after 11 ends, Ladywell had a narrow 7-6 lead. The break seemed to energise the Ladywell pair and they came out firing on all cylinders, gaining three shots on the first end after tea, and winning the next four ends to build a healthy 15-6 lead. And although the Southwark Sports pair gained three shots over the final two ends, Steve and Norman won 15-9, gaining two points in the match and leaving Southwark Sports with an overall lead of 13 points.

On the third rink, the Ladywell triple of Merlin Ramdawar, Howard Smith and Skip, Phil Welch, got off to a strong start, scoring three on the opening, end and gaining another shot on the second, before their opponents registered on the scoreboard with a shot on the fourth end. Ladywell extended their lead to 6-1 over the following two ends, before the teams traded single shots leading up to the break, so at tea, Ladywell were leading by 8-3. Both teams were evenly matched and playing some excellent woods, and although Ladywell had the lead, neither could gain control of the match. With three ends to play and a lead of 12-6, the Ladywell triple still had hopes of gaining the winning margin they needed to take the cup. But the 16th end saw the Southwark Sports triple play their best bowls of the match, as they gained four points to narrow Ladywell's lead on the rink to two points. Ladywell hit back, regaining the jack with a single shot on the penultimate end, and extended their lead once again with a score of three on the final end to earn victory by 16-10.

So, Ladywell had certainly improved on their performances earlier in the season, winning on two of the three rinks. But while they gained some consolation in gaining these victories, the combined scores meant that Southwark Sports won the overall match by 40-33, giving them a 6-4 win, so they took the Ron Hams Cup.

Ladywell Club Captain, Phil Welch said: "We gave it all we had, and with a bit more luck, we might have won the cup. It was nice to be able to register wins on two of the rinks - and at one stage, I think we were only one point behind on the overall scores. So, after losing quite heavily to Southwark Sports in both the Round Robin matches, it was a huge improvement to only lose by seven points overall - and I think it promises a lot for next season."

Well done to all the Ladywell players for putting up such a tremendous fight.