Tuesday night saw us reach the halfway stage in our competition. It was another busy week at Hatfield with five matches taking place, the rollup mat in use and some spectators enjoying the competitive atmosphere.
Mat one had our top two teams playing each other. Letchworth Lions Lisa, Alan S and Alan H were playing League leaders Greenwood Peckers Audrey, Brian and Mark. Peckers made a good start with a triple, Lions got going by taking the lead with two doubles. Peckers replied on end four by regaining the lead with a double only to see the lead reverse again with Lions taking their third double for a 6 – 5 lead after five ends. Peckers leveled with a single and Lions crept back in front with a single. Again Peckers took a single and Lions pulled back with a single but this time they took a further single for a 9 – 7 lead after ten ends. End eleven and Peckers dug in and held a double to make it level at nine all in this very tight game. Lions took the lead again with a single and Peckers matched it on end thirteen. Peckers then took the lead with a double on the penultimate end. The last end was hard fought and Lions managed to hold a single but our League Leaders had another win under their belt at 12 – 11.
St Margaret’s Mars team of Brian, Paul and Jeanette were playing Peckers stable mates Greenwood Hawks Barry, Val and Darren on mat two. Hawks started this game with a triple, they followed it with a second triple, a four, a double and a single to be 13 – 0 up after five ends. Mars now moved up a gear and held a double followed by two singles. Hawks came back on end nine for a double for a 15 – 4 lead after nine ends. With the following two ends going for a single apiece the Hawks were maintaining their eleven-shot lead after eleven ends. Hawks then held a further single to which Mars replied for a double. Hawks matched Mars double for a 19 – 7 lead going into the last end. Mars held onto the last end for a single but Hawks had the win at 19 – 8.
Harpenden Eagles Barbara, Deirdre and Beryl played St Margaret’s Mercury’s Rebecca, Stephen and Darren. Mercury started well with a triple and followed that with a second triple. Eagles got started with a single but Mercury replied with a double. Eagles came straight back for a second single. Mercury then started a run of four ends. They took a triple, a double, a single and another triple for a 17 – 2 lead after ten ends. Eagles held end eleven with their third single of the game. Mercury applied some more pressure and took their fifth triple of this game. With the following two ends go for a single apiece Mercury had a good lead of 21 – 4. Eagles then had a small comeback starting with a single and finishing with a triple on the last end reducing Mercury’s win to 21 – 8.
Mat four had Northiam East’s Mike, Jan and Martin playing Fairfield Falcon’s Jill, Neil and Bev. East took control of the mat from the very beginning of this game. After four ends they had already pulled out a 13 – 0 lead which included one five. Falcons got on the scoreboard on end six for a single but East then took a further run of three singles with one end being tied East had a 16 – 1 lead before Falcons came back for their second single of the game on end ten. East attacked again starting with a four and following this with a single, a triple and two further singles they had a comprehensive win at 26 – 2.
Our fifth game of the evening on mat five had Shillington Black’s Bill, Paul and Julia playing Potters Bar Kestrels Gill, Barry and Dave. The first end saw Black start with a five, Kestrels regrouped and held a single on end two. With two bowls sitting on the jack end three was declared a tie. Kestrels then held a triple on end four and had recovered most of Black’s initial five. Black then went on the attack, they held a four and followed this with two triples for a 15 – 4 lead after seven ends. Kestrels pulled back with two singles but this was matched by Blacks holding a double on end ten to retain their eleven-shot lead. They followed this with a second double and it was 19 – 6 after eleven ends. Kestrels reduced their deficit with a double on end twelve. Blacks then held a single but Kestrels attacked again and took a four on end fourteen bringing their score to 12 – 20. The last end and Blacks took a nice draw with the last bowl for a single and the win at 21 – 12.
Another week of five games with mixed fortunes for our competitors. Greenwood Peckers are sitting proudly at the top of our table. With Northiam East, Greenwood Hawks and Shillington Black all climbing one place this week can they be caught in the second half of the season? St Margaret’s Mercury’s win sees them climb two places this week to head the following pack. Next week sees another five games on our last visit to Hatfield before Christmas. Look in next week to see who our Christmas Crackers are and who ends up with the satsuma and a piece of coal !