Bowlers pair up for West Sussex title bid

West Sussex held their pairs championship and 20 pairs from around the county competed for the title.
Infinity's county pairs winners Robin Armstrong and Chris PageInfinity's county pairs winners Robin Armstrong and Chris Page
Infinity's county pairs winners Robin Armstrong and Chris Page

After the round-robin games the first and second teams from each group proceeded into the main knockout quarter-finals with the third and fourth teams going into the plate competition.

In the main KO quarter-finals The Martlets’ Steve Adsett and Malcolm Rollings beat Lavant’s Peter Winter and Peter Whale 8-5 and Bognor’s Clive and Pam Andrews beat club-mates Jean and Elwyn Morgan 11-4.

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Infinity’s Chris and Steve Jeffery beat Bognor’s Joyce Abel and Stella Singleton 7-5 while Infinity’s Robin Armstrong and Chris Page beat The Martlets’ Monica Enticknap and David Luxford 11-6.

The semi-finals were closely contested with Adsett and Rollings pulling away at the end to beat the Andrews pair 9-4 and Armstrong and Page just coming out on top 11-8 over the two Jefferys.

In the third/fourth place play-off the Andrews took the lead early on and ran out winners 10-4 over the Jefferys while Armstrong and Page were even more dominant with an 11-2 win over Adsett and Rollings to take the title.

In the plate semi-finals, the current pairs title-holders, The Martlets’ Ben Haulkham and Marc Lancaster beat Lavant’s Jackie Lee and Terry Haigh 8-4 while Mannings Heath’s John Henderson and Ken Williams beat Crablands’ Bill Merritt and Jim Saunders 7-6.

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Haulkham and Lancaster won the final 14-2 to add the plate trophy to last year’s championship trophy.

ARUN

The new year didn’t get off to a good start for Arun’s men and mixed teams with three defeats in a week.

A mixed team went to play Worthing IBC and lost on four of the five rinks, with their solitary win managing only a two- shot margin. The final score was 79-113.

Scores: N Waddock, E Lawrence, C Chester, M Campbell (s) lost 11-28; M Bird, R Weidenhoeft, B Sales, M Hilton (s) lost 20-24; B Lawson, G Kendall, D Ford, J Brazier (s) lost 9-10; M Bateman, A Humphries, A Bateman, R Robinson(s) won 21-19; E Keywood, D Wright, J Ayling, J Muffatt (s) lost 18-20.

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Three days later the men travelled to Croydon, losing on five rinks and drawing one, the score 162-94.

Scores: G King, J Elliott, J Muffett, M Hilton (s) lost 14-40; R Pearson, F Biggs, C Chester, M English (s) lost 13-26; L Etherington, A Boucher, T Hayes, T Sayers (s) lost 16-25; N Waddock, P Langridge, A Bateman, M Campbell lost 18-34; J Sparrow, B Sales, M Johnson, L Corne (s) drew 19-19; P Till, D Wright, D Jackson, R Gardner (s) lost 18-3.

The following day Arun’s mixed team entertained Chichester BC. This was a closer affair but Chichester won 119-109.

Scores: I Brooker, B Mumford, J Fox, J Newell lost to D Gray, B Collins, C Spicer, A Janman 18-19; B Fitch, G King, L Hathaway, A Avery lost to L Campling, V Pickering, M Bonnar, B Spicer 20-21; E Fitch, G Kendall, M Bird, D Ford lost to P Green, L Shipp, P White, D Leach 15-16; P Lichfield, N Waddock, M Campbell, M Richards beat L Etherington, G Ball, K Ball, T Sayers 23 -14; P Corkett, T Hayes, R Hobbs, R Corkett lost to P Chivers, J Walters, S Miles, W Adams 22-25; R Lincoln, Hamilton, C Radford, P Miles lost to C Hobbs, G Campling, D Latter, B Thalmets 11-24.

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Arun played host to Norfolk BC and won 131-90. They won four of the six rinks while losing the other two.

Scores: A Murrell, T Finch, J Ayling, C Chester(s) won 24-10; E Keywood, D Jones, G Stevens, N Waddock (s) lost 15-25; J Whetstone, E Jones, A Bateman, K Ball (s) won 26-8; B Lilley, R Smith, B Sanford, R Gardner (s) won 31-11; G Finch, B McGovern, C Preston, T Tack (s) won 22-18; B Williams, M Bateman, R Robinson, P White (s) lost 14-18.

Arun men played two league matches in two days and won both. They are second in division one. First they went to Crawley to play Grattons and came back with a 6.5-1.5 victory after winning four rinks, drawing one and losing one. The overall score was 129-106.

Scores: G Ball, N Waddock, R Corkett, M Hilton (s) won 20-13; B Rebbeck, N Hatfield, P Murphy, G Leaman (s) drew 22-22; L Etherington, M Campbell, K Ball, T Sayers(s) won 20-16; C Gilham, T Cook, R Hobbs, L Corne (s) lost 14-25; D Jackson, P Lighfield, M Bird, E Pidgeon (s) won 29-16; P Hamnett, P Till, G Miller, B Butler (s) won 24-14.

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The following day Arun received a visit from Eastbourne BC and, after a very shaky start, ran out winners – with the lead changing hands with almost every completed end during the last half of the match.

Arun won three rinks, lost two and drew one to give them a 5.5-2.5 points victory by 139-114.

Scores: B Rebbeck, N Hatfield, P Murphy, G Leaman (s) won 38-16; C Gilham, T Cook, E West, P Hannam (s) lost 18-27; D Jackson, P Lichfield, M Bird, E Pidgeon (s) won 27-11; L Etherington, M Campbell, K Ball, T Sayers (s) won 20-19; P Green, N Waddock, R Corkett, M Hilton (s) lost 18-23; P Hamnett, C Spicer, G Miller, B Butler (s) drew 18-18.

CRABLANDS

Having gained promotion and moved to a county-wide division, Crablands Avocets knew they were going to be out of their comfort zone – and losing three key players at the beginning of the season compounded their discomfort. So it was no surprise to suffer a heavy loss to Southbourne Rangers, long established in this division, who took all six points.

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Mat one started well with Avocets’ lead, Elaine Sadler, in form from the start which helped the team take an early lead, 5-2 after four ends.

However, Rangers picked up six shots on the next end and went from strength to strength so by the halfway stage they were 25-6 ahead.

Time for a change of order by Avocets – Celia Foot and Archie Colletta changed over rolls which brought Avocets a few more ends but despite several saving shots from skip Alan Foot, Avocets were well and truly beaten 38-11.

Mat two faired better with Joan Taylor, Peter Latchford, Trevor Plaistow and Denis Caiger level after six ends. Dropping five on the next two ends, Avocets found themselves 10-5 at the halfway point and despite a late surge lost 21-13.

MIDHURST EAGLES

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The Eagles first match of 2019 was a league game against Arundel Mullets, where the Eagles came off second best with one mat taking a heavy loss and the second losing by eight shots. The overall score was 61-24.

Scores: D Morgan, D Berry, C Dixon,T Berry lost 15-23; S Tait, S Trussler, R Softly, C Morgan lost 9-38.

The Eagles’ second game was a Plate KO match against Norfolk Cubs.

The first half of the game went Norfolk’s way. The Eagles were losing on one mat 18-2 after 13 ends but fought back, only to lose 23-12.

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The other Eagles mat were 8-5 down after eight ends but made a great recovery to win 25-13 to secure a win for the Eagles by one shot, 37-36.

Scores: S Tait, R Softly, J Etheridge-Barns, C Morgan lost 12-23; D Morgan, D Berry, C Dixon, T Berry won 25-13.

To make it two wins out of three games, a friendly against Pulborough went the Eagles’ way with a two mats winning and one drawing. It finished 79-32.

Scores: S Tait, D Berry, I Frost, C Morgan drew 19-19; D Morgan, S Trussler, C Dixon, J Etheridge-Barns won 31-6; C Harkness, R Softly, S Trussler, T Berry won 29-7.

SOUTHBOURNE

Southbourne Rangers 33 Upper Beeding 33

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Southbourne Rangers entertained Upper Beeding in a county division-two short mat match. The two sides were very close, with both mats on the penultimate end equal on shots.

On the final end the mat skipped by Antony Bull won by one shot while the other mat skipped by Andy Smith lost by one shot. Both teams took three points.

Scores: Karen Alner, Pete Jasinski, Dave Walters,Andy Smith (s) lost 15-14; Audrey Bull, Alex Horne, Dave Alner, Antony Bull (s) won 19-18.

INFINITY

Infinity entered three teams into the county pairs Competition at Westergate. In the final Robin Armstrong and Chris Page beat Malcolm Rollings and Steve Adsett from The Martlets.