Victoria (Street) Bowls Club

The Somerset County Indoor Bowling Association has come up with an ingenious new way of picking its all to frail Liberty Trophy team. Clubs no longer have to just nominate players, but they have to also list County and National achievements and also the players compatibility (the club would like to know will "good" and "bad" suffice and if so will they give a trial to a "baddie"?). No doubt future potential trialists will have to list their criminal convictions and blood alcohol level before a trial is awarded. It is thought that if such stringent policies were introduced over half of the Street team would be excluded for consideration.

There was a misprint in last weeks paper where it stated that Rob Probert was playing with Alan Woods in the National Mixed Pairs. Rob's partner was in fact Ann Woods. Questions have been asked during the week, such as "If Rob is playing with Alan in the mixed pairs, who's been wearing the skirt?". I will let you draw your own conclusions to that question with an image that is worth a thousand words.

Further apologies from last weeks report. The player who is competing with Mike Francis in the National Pairs is Mike Woods and in future would like to be referred to as "Mike" and not "Partner".

The Ladies take centre stage this week with news that they comfortably overcame Fosseway Ladies in the Somerset County Two Rink. The home rink of Ann Woods, Beryl Shepherd, Jean Garlick and Shirley Nicholls always looked in control and eventually ended up easy winners. The story away from home was much the same, with Barbara Porter, Muriel Carter, Pauline Allan and Rose Wigley wrapping up a fine win for the club with some convincing bowling.

The ladies now face the hard task of Taunton Vivary Ladies in the next round. Taunton Vivary will be looking towards the experience and skill of International Skip Jill Young as they face a Victoria side full of ever growing confidence.

Woodtappers

If I said there was a large room full of sick people, a bunch of men and women dressed in white shirts with pens in top pockets and a group of people filling in result sheets, where do you think you would be? If you t hought that you were on the set of popular American hospital drama ER, then you would be wrong. Instead, you would have actually been at the Victoria (Street) Indoor Bowling Club annual Christmas holiday centrepiece, the Woodtappers competition. The competition took place on 28 December 1999 with the first of two sessions starting promptly at 9.30am. However, the second session was left to wait 20 minutes while the Club President and Ladies Captain (Don Withers and Shirley Nicholls) made a hurried ar rival from the comfort of their warm bed (not the same bed, it should be noted) and their cosy toes slippers. Bed is exactly where half the entrants should have been, with Beryl "cough it up, it could be a watch" Shepherd, Chris "just off for a quick visit" Frost and Arthur "I' ve lost loads of weight " Laws just a handful of the afflicted.A large amount of alcohol was consumed during the day to try and kill the said viruses; however, this did have an adverse affect on some performances (for the sake of th e reporters health, the individuals/teams that the finger could be pointed at have been deliberately left out). Saying this, it was noticed that Robert Probert even turned down a pint of Guinness (that\rquote s one for the diary) so that he could be relatively sober for his last game! However, this tactic did backfire. Each team played four matches, with the top team from both sessions meeting in the final that same evening. The eventual winners were Pete Grant, Chris Frost, Pete Shire and Norman Clarke who be at Rose Wigley, Queenie Buckley, Pauline Allen and Grace Day in a closely contested final. With a large raffle and reasonably priced filled rolls, home-made hot sausage rolls and mince pies the day was a financial success and managed to raise nearly £200 towards a "Bradshaw Buggy" . The committee would like to thank Arthur Laws, Beryl and Alan Shepherd for a well-organised day and also Tony Whitehead, of Whitehead Bowls, Bridgwater for the sponsorship of the competition.

Click on thumbnail to see full sized photograph.

John Sharp Memorial

The John Sharp Memorial Trophy took place on Sunday 31October 1999. The competition was run, as last year, under yard-stick rules, whereas all bowls within a yard of the jack count. This again produced some close high scoring matches, with maximum counts being picked up on more than one occasion. The eventual winners were Nola Clarke, Yvonne Groom, Norman Clarke and Chris Frost who beat Tony Harmon, Beryl Shepherd, Arthur Laws and Len Rumley in a closely fought final. The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants and the committee would like to thank Mike Francis, Sue Ogborne, Mike and Ann Woods for running the competition.

Forthcoming Events

Dates for your diary:

12th April 2000 - Ladies AGM

6th May 2000 - Annual General Meeting

21st April 2000 - Presentation Evening.

Match Reports (Latest Matches First)

Wessex Life Preview

Captain Kevin Hannam knows that a victory over Yeovil on 6th February would put Victoria (Street) firmly in the driving seat in the title race. Fosseway, Stour Vale and Donyatt remain in contention for the title, but the feeling inside the Victoria Club is that Yeovil are the biggest threat to their League crown. Victoria already have a 30 point advantage, having played one match more than Yeovil and a good victory could open up a near fifty-point advantage.

''We know how difficult it is to beat Yeovil, but if we beat them we will be in a great position,'' he said. ''It's always a crucial game because of the positions of the two clubs in the league over the last three or four years and this game is no different."

Versus BCL (Wessex League)

Victoria (Street) set themselves up for a very happy Christmas as they grabbed their third straight maximum points win in just over two months. The obituaries for BCLs title challenge are being prepared before Christmas after Streets increasingly battle-hardened side came of age in a tempestuous encounter. The match started off in typical Street farcical fashion as Ken Easterling (hereafter referred to as Grommit) turned up wearing the wrong trousers. Fortunately, attending reserve Dave Pompey was able to lend Grommit his white trousers. Unfortunately for Grommit, these trousers happened to be about six inches short in the leg, prompting a barrage of verbal abuse and innuendoes from the rest of the Street team. The rib pulling continued for the length of the match and even overflowed into packed bar area after the game. Grommit will never live this down.... This was a close fought game, with only a few shots in it right until th e end. Both home rinks started off slowly but both manage to claw ahead by 17 shots to 15 after 18 ends. This brought Kevin Hannams rink to life with them picking up 8 shots over the final three ends. A succession of saving shots by Martin Mills of BCL kept the other rink tight, but Street won the match with a Gordon Hawthorn shot, that stayed for the entire duration of the last end. Away from home, the result was just as good with both rinks picking up the necessary points for Streets pre-Christmas ban dwagon to roll on. Lee Russells rink picked themselves up from the disappointment of the result against Midglos to win by one shot and Chris Frosts forever-reliable rink managed another comfortable victory. The Street side sits comfortably at the top of the Wessex League and now has a month off before their next Match.

Versus Midglos (Denny Plate)

Midglos marched triumphantly into the fourth round of this years Denny Plate, but only after being given a rigorous examination by Wessex League minnows Victoria (Street). The local side competed tremendously for most of the game but the difference between top-flight bowls and that of our local leagues was underlined by two moments of magic at Fairford. \line \par Victoria (Street) had arrived in Fairford determined not to give their quality opponents an inch, and right from th e start both rinks proved difficult to break down. The home rinks were equally resolute with Kevin Hannam, complete with branch, Ray Gadd, Tony Harmon and Ken Easterling having a low scoring close match. Duncan Wells rink of Gordon Hawthorn , Darren Shepherd and Clive Edwards also kept it close, but always threatened to pull away. At ten ends Victoria (Street) were two shots up, by fifteen ends were four down and had got back to within three shots after eighteen ends. But with the result of the match hanging in the balance, the Midglos home rink, skipped by Eddie Kavanagh (pairs partner of former World Champion Tony Alcock) picked up a six on the twentieth end leaving Victoria (Street) a mountain to climb with only a couple ends remainin g. The last few ends of the unresolved matches were tight, but suddenly the local side had a glimmer of hope. Chris Frost's rink was holding 5 shots on the last end with only one wood to go. Sorry to say, the Midglos skip drew the shot, which eventually turned out to be the key point in the match. This left Duncan Wells'rink, which had been finishing strongly, with one end to play, and needing to pick up the four shots to tie and five to win. This was always going to be difficult, as the highest score they had picked up all morning was a three, but they gave it their best shot. Straight from the start the head went against Victoria (Street) with the Midglos number two getting an invaluable front toucher. Darren Shepherd was asked to kill the end, but with what seemed the perfect strike took the shot bowl clean out of the head leaving Victoria (Street) an almost impossible task of picking up the four shots required. Subsequent attempts by Clive Edwards and Duncan Wells to kill the end were fruitless a n d the rink eventually dropped two shots. But forget the scoreline. For long periods the Street club showed enough fight and skill, to suggest that the nightmare of last season when they failed to qualify for the knockout stage of the Wessex League is be h ind them. And with Duncans rink winning and with one more away win for Chris Frost (again ably supported by Pete Grant, Norman Clarke and Paul Dinsdale) to add to this seasons tally, and a draw for captain Kevin Hannam it was another highly encouraging t eam performance. Lee Russells rink of Pete Shire, Brendan Curry and Robert Probert must not go unmentioned as they all played well but came up against the skip from hell.

Versus Clevedon (County Two Rink)

The good run of results w as turned up on its head last weekend, when Victoria (Street) faced Clevedon in the Somerset County Two Rink. The home rink of Gordon Hawthorn, Tony Harmon, Kevin Hannam and Duncan Wells put in a spirited display to beat a strong Clevedon rink 21-18. Un fortunately the away rink, skipped by Lee 'Colin Mcrae' Russell, went down heavily (7-33). Although the reporter was unable to watch the away game, no doubt the Street rink will have plenty of the usual excuses "Probert overslept again and was tight all game" , "Lee had a hangover and his firing was all over the place" , "Gaddy wouldn't stop talking about his onions" etc etc etc.

Versus Ilminster (Wessex League)

The mens team continued their impressive early season form with a resounding win, collecting all 16 points, over Ilminster in the Wessex League. Kevin Hannams rink finally came up with the big win that had been eluding them over the past month. Kevin\rquote s foursome enjoyed a fun filled game, which even saw the forever-jovial Ken Easterling have a chuckle when he put a bowl in the side ditch. Duncan Wells\rquote rink, on the other hand, decided to have a tight game fo r a change and, after picking up 2 shots on the last end, won by one shot. Away from home, Chris Frost continued his great run of results with another emphatic victory, and with Lee Russell picking up 11 shots over the last three ends it finished up bein g yet another stirring display from Mid Somerset team.

Versus Donyatt (Wessex League)

The Mens team has enjoyed considerable success, in two separate competitions, over the past fortnight. In the Sun Life Wessex League, Victoria started this seasons campaign with a superb 48 shot win over hot pre-season favourites Donyatt. With four winning rinks, Victoria picked up all of the 16 points on offer against a side that contained many Somerset County Liberty Trophy Players. Robert Probert was quick to point this fact out to Donyatt and Somerset Team Manager, John Wiseman.

Versus Fosseway (Denny Plate)

In the Denny Plate, Victoria ran out comfortable winners over Fosseway. This was mainly thanks to high scoring winning rinks of Chris Frost at Fosseway and Duncan Wells at home. Duncan\rquote s wi n was made even more impressive due to a last minute tactical decision made by Captain Kevin Hannam, which mysteriously saw Duncans rink selected to play on Rink One. After this tactical masterstroke of Keegan like proportions and with his Shearer like approach towards captaincy perhaps Kevin should be in charge of the Somerset Team.

Match Results

Wessex League

Victoria (Street) 84 (16 Pts) BCL 58 (0 Pts)

Victoria (Street) 106 (16 Pts) Donyatt 58 (0 Pts)

Victoria (Street) 118 (16 Pts) Ilminster 57 (0 Pts)

Denny Plate

Victoria (Street) 74 Midglos 80

Victoria (Street) 103 Fosseway 62

County Two Rink

Victoria (Street) 28 Clevedon 51

Ladies Matches

Victoria (Street) Ladies 87 Taunton Deane Ladies 75

Wessex League Table

Sorry, To be added when available. But I can tell you that Street are top!!! With a maximum 48 points from the first 3 games played.

Team

Played

Won

Lost

Draw

Points

Victoria(Street)

Yeovil

Ilminster

Stour Vale

Donyatt

Fosseway

BCL

Fixture List

Wessex League

23rd January 2000 - Bridgwater - Cancelled - Bridgwater have withdrawn from the league (We think).

6th February 2000 - Yeovil

27th February 2000 - Stour Vale

12th March 2000 - Fosseway