Ladywell v Francis Drake friendly bowls match report

Wednesday 10th September saw Ladywell play their final friendly bowls match of the season against local Lewisham rivals Francis Drake at the green in Ladywell Fields. And it proved to be a close contest.

The match involved three triples games played across 18 ends each. And on the first rink, the experienced Ladywell team of Alvin Nelson, Terrie Askew and Skip, Steve Marlow, got off to a tentative start, exchanging shots with their Francis Drake opponents, so after four ends, the scores were tied at 2-2. But the visitors started to eke out an advantage, gaining single shots on each of the following three ends to earn a 5-2 lead. And after the two teams exchanged shots once again on the next two ends, this low-scoring contest went into the break after nine ends showing a 6-3 advantage to the Francis Drake team.

They always say that things change after the break, and so it proved for the Ladywell triple, as they gained two shots on the 10th end and followed this up with scores of one and two shots to turn the game around and move into an 8-6 lead. But this seemed to spark their opponents into life and the Francis Drake team hit back with a score of three shots on the 13th end. They then gained a further five shots over the following three ends to move into a comfortable 14-8 lead with just two ends to play. Ladywell gained a single shot on the penultimate end, but their opponents scored a single of their own on the final end, to run out winners by 15-9.

The second match saw the Ladywell team of Howard Smith, Nova Dobb and Skip, Robert Dunn, build an early 4-1 lead after four ends, only for them to be pegged back by their Francis Drake opponents, so after seven ends the scores were tied at 4-4. Ladywell gained a single shot on the eighth end, only for Francis Drake to score a single of their own on the ninth, so in another tight contest, the teams went into the break tied at 5-5.

On the first end after the break, the Ladywell team earned a two shot lead, only to see it wiped out on the following end. And the twelfth end saw the visitors gain a single shot and take the lead for the first time in the game. But this proved to be a false dawn for them, as the Ladywell team hit back, winning the next four ends, scoring a total of seven shots, to move into a 14-8 lead. And despite the Francis Drake team gaining single shots on the last two ends, Ladywell secured victory by 14-10.

This gave Francis Drake a narrow two-point lead in the overall match before the result from the third rink was added into the mix. On this rink, the Ladywell team of Trevor Martenstyn, Norman Lewis and Ian Bradford conceded a single shot to their Francis Drake opponents on the opening end, before they responded with a shot of their own on the second. Then they hit their stride with a score of four shots on the third end and added another single on the fourth to move into a 6-1 lead. Their opponents pulled one shot back on the fifth end, but Trevor, Norman and Ian pulled away over the following three ends so, despite conceding another single to Francis Drake on the ninth end, Ladywell went into the break with a convincing 12-3 lead.

The match continued to go Ladywell's way after the break, with scores of two and four shots on the tenth and 11th ends respectively, giving them a comfortable 18-3 lead. Their opponents staged a mini fightback, earning a single on the 12th end and following this up with another two shots on the 13th. But Ladywell regained control of the jack on the 14th end with a single, and immediately picked up another four shots on the 15th end to stretch their lead to 23-6 with three ends to play. And despite conceding four shots to Francis Drake over the final three ends, the Ladywell triple secured a convincing 23-10 win.

This final result gave Ladywell the overall victory by 46-35 - and a winning end to the regular season.