Ladywell v Southwark Park bowls match report

Ladywell continue winning cup run

Ladywell's winning run in the Round Robin section of the Ron Hams Bowls Cup continued on Wednesday 25th June against Southwark Park.

The Ron Hams Cup format involves a singles match with the winner being the first to 21 points, and a pairs and a triples match, both played over 18 ends. The winning club on each rink earns two points and the winning club on combined scores from all three matches receives a further four points. And, having won the away leg against Southwark Park earlier in the month, Ladywell's hopes were high for another victory.

A convincing singles win for Ladywell

In the singles match, played on a tricky rink that was difficult to read, Ladywell's Club Captain, Phil Welch got off to a strong start to take a 6-0 lead after three ends. His Southwark Park opponent registered his first shot on the fourth end, but Phil immediately responded with a maximum four shots on the fifth end, and backed this up with five more shots over the following three ends to take a commanding 15-1 lead. Both players traded shots on the next two ends, and a single shot for the Southwark Park player on the 11th end meant Ladywell had a 16-3 lead. Phil took control once again, scoring two shots on the 12th end and repeating this feat on the 13th end, to move within one point of victory. But his opponent fought strongly to stay in the match, scoring single shots on the following three ends to bring the score to 20-6 in Ladywell's favour. A further two shots to Southwark Park on the 17th end narrowed the gap further, but Phil was able to secure victory with the single shot he needed on the 18th end to win 21-8.

Another good win for Ladywell in the pairs

On the second rink, in the pairs match the Ladywell pair of Norman Lewis and Skip, Steve Marlow got off to a flying start with six shots on the opening end. They followed this up with eight more shots over the following three ends to be 14-0 up after just four ends. Their opponents got on the scoreboard with two shots on the fifth and a further shot on the sixth, to leave the score at 14-3, but Norman and Steve added another shot on the seventh end. And despite Southwark Park gaining three shots over the next two ends, at the halfway mark Ladywell had a comfortable 15-6 lead. The second half of the match saw a spirited fightback by the away team, but for the most part Norman and Steve managed to restrict Southwark Park's scoring to ones and twos. And with single shots of their own, the Ladywell pair retained their lead, despite seeing it reduced. So, with one end to play, the margin was 18-13, and although the Southwark Park pair gained another two shots, Ladywell earned a deserved victory by 18-15.

A strong fightback by Southwark Park in the triples

The triples match saw the Ladywell team of Christian Denearaz, Terrie Sibley and Skip, Howard Smith take an early lead with three shots on the first end. Their opponents responded with three shots of their own over the following two ends, but another score of three for Ladywell on the fourth end saw them ease ahead again. The teams traded single shots over the following two ends before Southwark Park gained five shots on the seventh end to take a two-point lead. Ladywell scored two on the eighth to tie the scores, but two more shots to Southwark Park on the ninth end saw them go into the break with an 11-9 advantage. After tea, Ladywell immediately cut the deficit to one point, but a score of six to Southwark Park on the 11th end saw them gain the upper hand to open up a seven-shot gap. The Ladywell team responded well, gaining four shots over the following three ends to cut the deficit to three points, before Southwark Park pulled away again with three shots on the 15th end. Ladywell responded with one shot of their own, so with two ends to play the score was 20-15 to Southwark Park. And despite the Ladywell team's best efforts, their opponents played excellently over the final two ends to extend their lead and win by 27-15.

This meant that Ladywell gained four points for two wins and Southwark Park gained two points. And the final overall score was 54-50 to Ladywell, who picked up the bonus four points.

So, Ladywell have three matches to play in the Round Robin - at home against Dulwich Park, and home and away against Southwark Sports - with the top two teams in the table going through to the final. And the current Round Robin standings are: