It was a disappointing result for Ladywell in their John Colyer League match against Temple on Saturday 14th August. A win would have taken Ladywell above their opponents to second in the league and there was even the chance of going top if they'd managed to secure all ten points. But on a glorious warm afternoon, which was perfect for bowls, it was Temple who came out on top, winning on two of the three rinks.
The winning triple for Ladywell were Norman Lewis, Marion Edwards and Phil Welch who won a closely fought contest. The Temple team started strongest and after three ends they were leading 6-0. But scores on the next two ends brought Ladywell back into the contest and at the break Temple had a narrow 9-7 lead. It was after the break when the Ladywell triple started to gain the upper hand, although the match remained tight. After 14 ends, the scores were tied at 10-10. The teams exchanged single shots over the following two ends, which meant with two ends to go, there was nothing between them at 11-11. But at the 17th end, the Ladywell triple gained two shots to take the lead for the first time in the match and go 13-11 up with one end to play. Despite the best efforts of the Temple Skip on the final end, Ladywell held onto their lead and eventually ran out winners by 14-11.
On the second rink, the Ladywell triple of Bernie Jermin, Kim Simmons and Mark Simmons just lost out in another tight match. Both teams started strongly, exchanging shots until Temple gained the upper hand with five shots in two ends to go 6-2 ahead. But the Ladywell triple fought back and at the break after nine ends, they had a four shot lead by 10-6. But the break saw a change in fortunes and the Temple triple had a successful run of six scoring ends without reply, giving them a 14-10 lead with three ends to play. Ladywell were able to pull one shot back on the 16th end, but Temple immediately extended their lead with two shots on the penultimate end, leaving Ladywell with a five shot deficit. So, despite agreat effort that saw them gain four shots on the final end, they fell to a narrow 16-15 loss.
The final match saw the Ladywell triple of Susan Levene, Richard Moorhouse and Robert Dunn start strongly in a match that also looked like it would be tight. The teams exchanged shots early on and after six ends, Ladywell were leading 6-3. But a strong run by the Temple triple - and particularly good play by their Skip - saw the Ladywell team gain just two more points in the following twelve ends, with Temple running out deserved winners by 25-8.
This meant that overall Temple won by 52-37 - a scoreline that didn't really reflect how close the matches had been for a large part of the afternoon. So Temple now join Southwark Sports as joint league leaders with Ladywell remaining in third place.
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