Southwark Park v Ladywell - Ron Hams Bowls Cup match report

Ladywell played their second Round Robin bowls match in the Ron Hams Cup at Southwark Park on Saturday 6th June. And they were hoping to build on their convincing win in their opening match.

The format for the Ron Hams Cup sees a singles, pairs and triples match played simultaneously, with the winning club on each rink gaining two points. Then, when the overall scorers are added together, the club with the most points gains an additional four points.

In extremely wet conditions, Ladywell's representative in the singles match, Adrian Wratten got off to a strong start, gaining four shots on the first two ends without reply. His opponent pulled two shots back over the following two ends, but three consecutive single shots saw Adrian earn a 7-2 lead. Again, his opponent hit back and scored single shots on each of the following four ends, to reduce Ladywell's lead to 7-6. Adrian added to his advantage with a single on the 12th end, but the Southwark Park player gained five shots over the following four ends, to move into an 11-8 lead. Adrian responded with three shots over the following two ends, so the scores were tied at 11-11 after 18 ends. It was turning into a tight match and the two players exchanged shots over the next three ends, with the home player gaining a slight 13-12 advantage. The 22nd end saw what proved to be the decisive move, as Adrian's opponent gained three shots to go 16-12 up. And he added a further single shot on the following end to move within striking distance of the winning score of 21. Adrian gained a single on the 24th end, but his opponent gained a single on the 25th end and two shots on the 26th, before securing the single shot he needed on the next end to win a tight match 21-13 and gain two points for Southwark Park.

The pairs game saw the Ladywell team of Tracy Umney and Skip, Robert Dunn, start the 18-end match strongly, as they moved 8-0 up after five ends. But their opponents struck back on the 6th end, scoring five to put themselves in contention. Tracy and Robert scored singles on the following two ends to move into a 10-5 lead, but on the final end before the tea break the Southwark Park team gained four shots to reduce the deficit to one point. Ladywell extended their lead by two points on the first end after the break, but the home team struck back with a score of four to move into the lead for the first time in the match, by 13-12. And they extended this lead to 15-12 with five ends to play. But Tracy and Robert finished the match as strongly as they'd started, gaining seven shots over the final five ends without reply, to turn the match around and gain a 19-15 victory.

Ladywell's triple of Alvin Nelson, Mike Tietz and Skip, Merlin Ramdawar conceded a single shot on the opening end of their 18-end match, before gaining five shots over the following four ends to earn a 5-1 lead. But the home team hit back, wiping out that lead with a score of four on the 6th end, before moving ahead with a single shot on the next end. It was tit-for-tat at this stage, as Ladywell scored two shots on the 8th end to go 7-6 up. However, the last end before the tea break saw the home team score six shots and take a significant 12-7 advantage. After tea they continued to add to their lead, scoring six shots over the first three ends following the break to go 18-7 up. Ladywell gained a single on the 13th end, but a score of three for the home team extended their lead still further. And despite Ladywell gaining another two shots on the 15th end, the Southwark Park team gained shots on the last three ends, and eventually won 26-10.

The result was that, with one win for Ladywell and two for Southwartk Park, plus an overall score of 62-42 in Southwark Park's favour, Ladywell gained 2 points and Southwark Park gained 8.