Triples day in the sun, plus match report, 5th June

Triples Competition 2026

The weather was fine, the green looked in perfect condition, and a gentle breeze promised for a good bowling day. Ten teams played four games of an hour each over the course of the day, with the top two progressing to the final later in the afternoon.

The competition was quite close for eight of the ten teams in the early rounds but by the time the last game started at 2.15pm there were four teams left in contention for a place in the final. Most of the games were played with good humour and banter amongst the teams and yet sadly, there will always be one or two players who aren’t happy with their lot.

The team of Doreen Dickenson, Angela Merchant and H Guckian qualified with four wins out of four, whilst there was a tie by two other teams with six points each. The calculator was then used for shot difference which, again, was +11 each and so it went to a count back on

ends won on the day. The outcome was that the team of Shawn White, Brian Davis and Kim Wright contested the final and were clear winners with a 13-4 shot victory over ten ends.

Following the presentation of the trophy by President Barry, a BBQ-style pulled pork meal was served to those who stayed on by friends of Bob, the proceeds of which all went to the club funds. The bar also returned a decent profit so, all in all, not a bad day for club funds.

Finally, thanks must go to Jim Purvis and Mike Turnbull for arriving early to help me set up the rinks for the day, to Wendy for the teas and biscuits during the day and last but by no means least to Bob and Janis for once again keeping the drinks flowing behind the bar during the day.

Hilary Guckian

Ask Allan

This week's subject is positioning on the green. Allan says;

I would like to discuss with you the position of players in relation to the rink of play. And also the neighbouring rink.

It is essential that the players respect each other and certainly respect their opponents. In the first section, the law states at the mat end of the rink, players must stand a metre behind the mat, except of course the player bowling. Players at the jack end not in possession of the rink must stand behind the jack and away from the head. If the jack is in the ditch, stand on the surrounds of the rink or well clear of the head if it's not possible to stand on the surrounds.

As soon as the bowl is delivered, the player in control of play must retire to the position already mentioned behind the mat /jack and away from the head. Law 13 will apply if any player transgresses this rule - we will come to law 13 later.

No player will go onto the neighbouring rink whilst play is in progress, nor walk along the rink (when it is not in use) when an opponent is about to bowl. If the rink is an outside rink, you must not walk up the rink between the boundary of the rink and the edge of the side ditch, if an opponent is about to bowl. Law 13 comes into use if you don't adhere to the rule.

Law 13; possession of the rink

The team whose player is about to bowl is deemed to have possession of the rink; when the bowl comes to a stop, the possession of the rink is transferred to the other side. You mustn't deliver your bowl until your opponent's comes to rest, and possession of the rink is passed to your side. If a player bowls his bowl before his opponent has stopped, or if players in possession of the rink are interfered with, annoyed or distracted by their opponents, law 13 applies.

The first time it happens, the player will receive a warning in the presence of his skip and the coach will be told (I would substitute Captain for coach). If the offence reoccurs, the Captain must declare the last bowl played by offending team or player declared dead. If the bowl has disturbed the head, the opposing skip will have three options:

1. replace the head

2. leave the head unaltered

3. declare the end dead

Next time, I will cover touchers, marking and movement. 

I would like some feed back on how helpful or otherwise the Ask Allan items are, so please talk to me about it when you see me at the club.

Also, please let me know if you would like any other topics covered.     

Allan Shattock

Coach

PS....

Did you receive an email this week, confirming that you have signed up to play in ladies vs men (29th June) and/or rinks day (9th August), but you didn't request to play online? This is because you signed up on this season's renewal form to play these matches. Because the request is now online, you will receive an email confirming that you are selected to play, and a reminder the day before.

If you can't play, please click the cancel button on the email and cross out your name from the list on the noticeboard next time you are in the clubhouse.

Thanks!

This week's match report

Over 55s, away at Victoria 28/05/26

After the disappointment of last week at Ashcombe, we came back in determined fashion and recorded our highest points score of the season.

The star rink of the week was, not for the first time, that of John Wright and his merry men, winning by a clear 15 shots and only losing 4 ends well done or try harder next time. Dave William's rink needs a mention; looking at his score card, I noticed after 7 ends he was 10-1 up. However, after 14 ends he was 10 - 18 shots down, dropping 17 shots in 7 ends. Fortunately, the whole of his side stuck to their task by not giving up won the game by 20 shots to 18 - a marvellous result.

The scores at Victoria were Banwell 120 shots ,Victoria Vikings 96. Points awarded are Banwell 17, Victoria 3, made up by 8 for the win, 9 points for winning on 4 rinks and drawing on one rink.

It was a very satisfactory afternoon so well done to all who played. We would like to see more members to put their names down to play not only in the Over 55's, but in all the fixtures. John Wright works hard to arrange these fixtures on our the club members behalf so let's do the right thing by him by putting your name down for these matches.

Allan Shattock

Captain of the Day

Umbrella, 01/06/2026

The weather was looking dodgy all afternoon; by 6pm it was raining heavily and consistently. Although we did not cancel the match in advance, most people sensibly opted to stay at home.

Alex and Kerry - our newest members - arrived and had a short, soggy rollup, but we did not have enough players to call it an umbrella night. So no-one loses a week towards their score and we will add an extra week at the end!

Click here to see the results so far on the website, or scroll along to the Umbrella tab on the Spaces app.

Kim Wright