Dramatic results raise eyebrows in the bowls league

Eastenders are building an impregnable position at the top of the Orchard Health Group Division One table.

They have 29 points now, 15 points clear of second placed A40.

This week they beat Holland Fen 5-1.

One rink won 14-8 by building their lead steadily through the game.

Matt Whyers’ rink were behind for large portions of the match against Jim Gott’s Fenmen, pulling back twice to tie the game 4-4, then 8-8.

The three shots they scored on the final end gave them a draw of 11-11, and earned a point for the team.

Division One’s standout result was the 6-0 victory by bottom-placed Invaders over IBC, who had started the week in third place.

IBC gained an early lead on both rinks but Invaders, under skips Scott Whyers and Ian Tebbs, scored steadily and consistently to win 20-13 and 15-10 respectively.

The mid-table clash between A40 and Strollers saw A40 take the win 6-0 and move three places higher in the table.

The rink of Janet Vinter, Maggie Kisby and Sue Hoyles established a lead and kept it, even as Strollers fought back during the middle ends, to win 13-10. P.Hoyles skipped the other rink to win 17-14.

Royal Mail now top the T&B Containers Division Two table by five clear points after beating Dynamics 6-0 this week.

Both rinks were won with the same score of 13 shots to 8 and were closely fought affairs, but Royal Mail had the better of the final few ends in each case.

The match of the week in this division saw lowly Cosmos defeat Nomads, formerly top of the league, by 6-0.

The rink of Simon Sperring, Mark Boswell and skip Bob Thompson began well and scored on all bar two ends to win 22-4.

The second rink of Julie Coulson, Steve Atkin and Jean Thompson built a 16-2 lead over the first seven ends.

Nomads came back at them to narrow the deficit, but Cosmos were the clear winners at the end by 18-11.

The team have now risen to fourth in the league.

Breakaways and Dynamics were tied on eight points apiece before this week’s clash, which Breakaways won convincingly 6-0, by 30 shots to 17.

They are now third in the table.

Derek Butwright’s rink won convincingly 16-9, despite losing four shots on the last end.

The other rink was closer and the score was 10-8 in favour of Michael Rymer’s Breakaways after the penultimate end, but a four scored on the final end sealed the victory.

The top-of-the-table clash in Cammacks Division Three saw leaders Vectors, take on third-placed Vikings and win 6-0.

Brian Sansam’s rink were always ahead and in control and went on to win 14-10.

Nick Whitmore’s rink was a closer affair.

The match was tied 6-6 after 10 ends, but they had the better run-in to the finish, scoring six shots to one over the final four ends to win 12-7.

Amateurs, in fourth place, against U3, one place below them, looked on paper like it would be a close affair.

As it turned out, U3 romped away to win 49-19 and now sit behind Vectors in second place.

The team of Michael Teasdale, Wendy King and skip Howard Williams had a dream start to lead 11-0 after three ends.

While Amateurs came back at them, it was never enough, and the final margin was 25-10.

Skip Mark Robinson with Peter Thompson and John Robinson on the second rink had an equally emphatic victory, 24-9.

Patriarchs against Phantoms produced a 4-2 result in favour of Patriarchs.

A score of five shots on the fourth end gave Tony Hall’s Patriarchs the lead, which they didn’t relinquish, winning 16-10.

Clive Newell’s Phantoms team on the other rink got away to lead 11-4 after nine ends.

They then held on as Patriarchs rallied, to win 11-9 at the end.