Category: Match Reports

SIXPENNY HANDLEY 6 SALISBURY 2
Shots: SIXPENNY HANDLEY 58 SALISBURY 51

Wor Barrow nestles gently on Handley Down just before we turn right off the A354/B3081 roundabout, heading towards the bowls club on the far side of the village. Wor Barrow was excavated by Augustus Pitt Rivers who holds a connection to both clubs. He not only inherited a vast chunk of the nearby area but the riches he discovered in Wessex are also on display in the Salisbury Museum. To gain the spoils tonight one team would certainly have to dig deep.

Geo-Fizz isn’t needed here as Handley’s “home turf” has no humps or bumps being artificial and the only trench we might go into tonight was around the rinks as we adjusted from the grass we know.

Ann, Paul and Roy initially found the head tight and the Jack buried but then their bowls carefully brushed through narrow channels to reveal treasure in 12 of the last 14 ends for a tremendous 27-9 win.

Mark (in his first game), Sandra and John found finds sparse in the middle of their game and try as they might their quarry earned Handley a valuable 14-23 success.

Heather, myself and Ken were down in a hole very quickly and while those few sherds of luck eluded us, in truth Handley thoroughly out played us and they were good value for their 10-26 triumph, well done Patsy, Ron and Paul.

Visiting Handley is always an amicable place to play and the company didn’t disappoint. Congratulations go to our cordial hosts for a well-deserved victory and we wish Paul and his Handley team good fortune for their upcoming matches.

Just down the road at Tollard Royal, Pitt Rivers must have had many busy shovels and trowels to create The Larmer Tree pleasure Gardens. Now it is a place that hosts weddings and a large annual festival for a variety of performers.

Tonight our performers fell a bit short overall but looking on the bright side it was only by 7 shots and we still top the league, so we hope for much better luck next Time, Team.

Malc.

Game 4 – Wilts Four Rink vs Marlborough

On 18 May we travelled to Marlborough for our fourth game of this season’s campaign. What started off as an overcast evening shortly changed to an evening of heavy rain. However, credit to Marlborough’s green which played extremely well considering the conditions.

At the halfway stage there were mixed fortunes across the rinks – Captain Tom’s rink led 20-3, Nick’s rink led 7-5, Chris’ rink trailed 5-8 and Perry’s rink trailed 4-10. With the rain coming down harder than ever, each rink needed to rally to make sure we got across the line and followed up on the previous week’s result.

Captain Tom’s rink continued in their fine form running out 32-6 winners, Nick’s rink continued in good form as well running out 19-10 winners. Chris’ rink found themselves 13-15 down into the last end and with the rain coming down and light fading they delivered with a double to tie the rink 15-15. The last rink off was Perry’s and from great play from the Marlborough four, and some unfortunate results for the Salisbury quartet, we ended up losing the rink 9-22.

Overall a great 11-3 win to build on our start this season.

Game 5 – Wilts Four Rink vs Spencer Moulton

Next Salisbury hosted an in-form Spencer Moulton team inspired with confidence from their recent run of form. At five ends nothing really separated the teams with Captain Tom’s rink tied at 3-3, Perry’s rink tied at 5-5, Jamie’s rink tied at 3-3 and only Nick’s rink held a slim winning margin 6-3.

At the halfway stage Salisbury had slipped to a narrow 28-33 deficit. Salisbury rallied and used the home advantage to pick up a number of shots over the closing ends of the game. Nick’s rink ran out 29-12 winners, Perry’s rink ran out 18-14 winners, Jamie’s rink lost 11-18 to Captain Russell. Last off the green was Captain Tom who entered the final end 13-13 against the in-form Adam Bolwell. Despite a couple of valiant efforts with Tom’s final two bowls, Adam retained the single shot and ran out 14-13 winners. Final score 10-4 to Salisbury.

National Two Fours vs Pewsey Vale (first round)

On a lovely Thursday evening Salisbury hosted Pewsey Vale in the first round of the men’s national two fours. At 5 ends Captain Tom trailed 0-10 following a number of doubles from Vince’s Pewsey four. The other rink skipped by Nick had better fortune tieing 3-3 at 5 ends.

Knowing that something had to change Captain Tom’s rink rallied and by 13 ends were only trailing 10-11. At the same stage Nick’s rink trailed 7-8. With only two shots in the game, it was still anybody’s game.

Despite a number of decent ends by Tom’s rink they ended up losing 15-16 to Vince. With Nick’s rink still on the green and trailing 10-13 on the board it left a big mountain to climb. Following a great runner Nick found himself holding 2 with his last bowl to come; with no easy way of making the four the only option was to play a perfect runner to lift a Salisbury bowl a yard and run on as well. A fantastic effort that just halved the bowl instead of getting it square left Nick with the double and a loss of 12-13.

We wish Pewsey Vale all the best in the next round.

County Tourist Trophy vs Warminster (first round)

On Sunday 29 May Salisbury met Warminster in the first round of the county double rink. With one rink at Salisbury and one rink at Warminster, home advantage was crucial.

The home rink skipped by veteran Bob Armstrong started slowly, but continued a fine run of form to maintain a small winning margin. Bob’s rink ran out 20-17 winners at home.

The away rink was very much a different story with past-captain Jamie skipping the four. Taking a healthy early lead 11-0 after 8 ends, this fine form continued throughout the match and they sealed a 27-11 win away from home.

A great result for the boys and they march on to the second round against Devizes later this month.

Game 6 – Wilts Four Rink vs Westlecot

This week we travelled to Swindon to face Westlecot in our sixth game in the four rink. We knew it was going to be a tough game with Westlecot leading the premier league with no losses to their name.

Straight away we knew it was going to be a tough game, and could see why Westlecot were unbeaten. At 5 ends Captain Tom’s rink held a narrow 3-2 lead, Nick’s rink held a 5-2 lead whereas Chris’ rink trailed 1-7 and Perry’s rink trailed 3-6.

The match continued in this fashion with Westlecot upping the ante and at the halfway stage Chris trailed 2-10, Perry trailed 5-9, Captain Tom trailed 5-9 and Nick trailed 8-9.

Even over the closing ends it looked like it could be a 0-14 defeat for the Salisbury team. However, from some great bowling on a number of rinks the wind shifted to Salisbury’s sail.

First off was Chris’ rink who having been 2-10 at the halfway stage rallied over the last few ends and closed the gap to 12-16 at the end of the match. First two points to Westlecot. Next off was Perry’s rink who was tied at 15-15 into the last end. Perry’s last bowl was a corker, turning out the Westlecot shot bowl for 3 shots to win the rink 18-15 and secure Salisbury’s first two points of the match.

Next off was Nick’s rink and with two ends to go the Salisbury four trailed 13-17. However, from some great bowling throughout the rink Nick’s rink picked up a 5 and a 3 over the final two ends to win the rink 21-17 and secure another two points for Salisbury. This left Captain Tom’s rink to finish. Following a bad runner from Tom on the 17th end (and dropping a resulting 5 shots) the rink entered the last end trailing 13-19 and the overall score 64-67 in Westlecot’s favour. As the skips went to bowl Salisbury held one shot, Tom’s first bowl was a front toucher to secure a double. However, Westlecot’s skip Mikey played a lovely weighted bowl to flick the jack to the side and two shots to Westlecot. With a shot to nothing Tom had to fire at a pack to remove both bowls and leave Salisbury with the needed treble. Unfortunately a half bowl result didn’t achieve the target and Westlecot held onto the two shots.

Final result 64-69 and a 4-10 defeat. Lots of positives to take from the game and we march onto the next match with heads held high.

Tom

SALISBURY 6 ALDERBURY 2
SHOTS: SALISBURY 55 ALDERBURY 33

On the eve of the Queen’s Trooping the Colour we were back on ceremony hosting Alderbury. Our visitors were looking for a changing of the guard following their defeat to us in the cup last week, we of course were hoping to be jubilant again.

Romney, Lorna and Roy didn’t hold their horses. They stole a march initially which they maintained crowning it by a 26-6 win.

Close inspection of Roger, Pauline and Ed’s rink saw a very tight match and ranks as one of the closest. With no one about to wave the flag it went to the final end, Alderbury edging it by 15-14.

In a cracking rink where both teams seemed to be keeping their powder dry until Jane, Mick and Anthony mounted a strong challenge calling on some extra artillery to fire a 15-12 victory.

We salute Mike and his team from Alderbury for a wonderfully engaging and extremely friendly evening of bowls enjoyed by all, including the spectators. Celebrations went our way 6-2 on points with everyone playing their part, thanks team.

From bowls thoughts now inevitably turn to the country really letting their hair down, some with strands of red, white and blue in their locks. Don’t worry about any wind because as we say in these parts, I am sure there will be plenty willing to put a “Platinum”!

Happy 70th Ma’am

Malc

Eventually we got there, after so many chops and changes – big thank you to all who accommodated the ins and outs and reversals of the team selection.

We were al there in plenty of time and managed to get started early and avoided having to have our photos taken; the weather was kind in that it did not rain but the wind was a tad nippy and biting by 8/9 ends. The green at Wilton was playing better than I have known and looked great – still got the roll down to the river, which caught out a few!

Before we had the Celebration match we had a spider to raise fund for VIBE, so not a completely free afternoon – Romney won that.

On to the match itself – apart from James being physically abused for asking Ros Corke when she’d learnt to draw – a sublime wood to win the end on another rink all went well. James and John Heenan securing good wins by the same margin realist in differing offers of to decide who was the best rink.

Wilton wanted to declare it a draw, but try as I might I could not manage to do that; Salisbury won on shots (85-74) and rinks (3-2); however, Wilton thrashed us on the one that mattered – the RAFFLE (8-4)

Onwards to the next friendly vs Moordown.

Neil

Quarter-final (aggregate score)

SALISBURY GOLD 46 ALDERBURY 37

Our home rink: Jackie, Amr and Geoff’s result 17-23

Our away rink: Ann, Ray and John’s result 29-14

Tonight Salisbury Gold made history by becoming the first Salisbury team to take part in the brand new mixed triples Harold Ford Cup.

We start with a win, well done everyone.

Watch out for our other team Salisbury Blue playing their quarter final June 22nd.

The Harold Ford Cup has been 4 years in the making thanks to the pandemic, A cup competition was created to fill in some gaps left by Cranborne leaving and Tisbury struggling to maintain a membership.

In simple terms it is a Herbie Turner style knock out named in honour of long time Westbrook treasurer and raffle rattler Harold Ford. Harold was a stalwart of the Westbrook with the driest sense of humour that everyone warmed to very quickly.

Malc

SALISBURY 8 AMESBURY 2
Shots: SALISBURY 80 AMESBURY 55

Internationally May 17th celebrates many things, one of which is “Cherry Cobbler Day”, who knew? Locally however we welcomed Amesbury to SBC, a fixture that always whisks up all the ingredients you need for a tasty match. Proof of the pudding would bake up on the green.

Harold, Pauline and Alan got up to temperature quickly and as the game went on turned up the heat even more for a fantastic 30-11 win.

Barbara, Mick and Jim really did have the right mixture of line and length and after a great start were never going to fold, rolling out very worthy 22-9 victors.

Jane, Mick and Ken were under the grill from the early ends and just couldn’t get that dash of something to change the recipe to trouble Amesbury’s triple losing 6-24.

Ann, Howard and Anthony didn’t “knead” any luck as their game was nicely well done, each bowl measured to take a 22-11 helping, a very crisp performance.

Cherry Cobbler normally has cherries beneath a biscuit or crumb type covering but after this showing we can rightly indulge and put a Cherry on the top!

Ali and her team from Amesbury got us to eke out every ounce to forge ahead and despite the early showers everyone engaged in a very friendly game.

Thanks again to our bowlers for a third convincing win in a row, it has been a dream start to the season and table topping feels incredible.

Oh! I forgot to mention that today also commemorates “Pinot Grigio Day”

Now it would be rude not to observe tradition wouldn’t it, so “Cheers everyone”.

Malc

On Friday 13 May we hosted Chippenham Town in the postponed league match of the Wiltshire Four Rink. With Chippenham having beaten Spencer Moulton in the week by a narrow margin, all cards were on the table for this game.

We took full advantage of the home field rushing into an early lead at 5 ends – Captain Tom’s rink leading 7-2, Bob Armstrong (replacement skip as Nick could not play) leading 5-3, Perry leading 11-1 and Chris trailing narrowly 4-5. We knew we had to keep the momentum up and by the halfway stage we were 22 shots up across the four rinks despite Bob now trailing 5-10. A big shout to Perry who on the third end elected for a runner at two bowls about three feet apart and executed it to perfection collecting a big six shots at the early stage.

The match continued in this fashion and despite a few big counts from both teams over the final flurry of ends, we held out to secure the match. The big question was how many points would we get.

First off was Perry’s rink, truly exhibiting the sense of speed bowls finishing five ends ahead of Chris and Bob. Perry’s rink finished 23-14 and the first two points of the night. Next off was Captain Tom’s rink securing a healthy 20-10 win and a further two points. This left Chris and Bob a few ends to play each.

Next off was Chris’ rink. A crucial final end as Chris went to the mat holding a precarious one and a 17-14 lead on the board. However, with four Chippenham bowls just behind the jack he knew any movement could cost them the rink. After much deliberation and discussion Chris elected to draw the swinging hand to sit our bowl down behind the jack and stop the trail. He played it perfectly leaving the Chippenham skip Steve Heseltine no possibility of securing the four shots. Chris held onto the one and took a further two points with a 18-14 lead.

Last off was Bob’s rink. Over the final few ends they have been scrapping for single shots to get them back in contention, but the experienced Chippenham Town skip Neil Connor was having none of it. Luckily with a big four in the closing stages it left Bob’s rink trailing 13-14 as they entered their final end. A great bowl early doors on the end saw Salisbury holding a single as the skips went to bowl. However, the jack position was very hard to get to and neither skip could add or attack the head leaving Salisbury with a well-earned single and a tied rink 14-14.

A great result for the team as we march onto the next game away against Marlborough on 18 May.

Tom

Match 1: Avon BC, Away

We started off our league season with an away trip to Avon BC in Melksham on Wednesday 27 April. A tough first game irrespective of venue, but playing them at their place made for even harder going especially with lack of green time and match practice.

At 5 ends the match was fairly one-sided with the hosts taking full advantage of their home green; Captain Tom’s rink trailed 3-5, Chris Weekes’ rink trailed 1-8, Nick Revell’s rink trailed 1-8 with the only glimmer of hope being new recruit Perry Martin’s rink leading 11-0.

By the halfway mark Perry had increased his lead to 22-1, Tom was 8-10 behind, Chris had recovered to 8-9 down and Nick was 4-13 behind. Not much in it overall.

The game continued in this fashion with neither team giving up slack. As we approached the end of the match Perry had finished 29-8 winners at 18 ends and Chris had dropped off the pace through from good bowling from Avon to lose 13-20.

Nick and Tom were on their final end with Nick trailing 13-19 and Tom trailing 14-20. So overall thanks to Perry’s rinks great performance we found ourselves two shots up on the game.

Tom was first to finish and had gone to the mat holding a very important single. His opposite number, a very in-form Connor Rabey called a spectacular shot – running through a gap one bowl wide to clip our shot wood out and leave Avon with a double. Connor played a fantastic bowl and even managed to hit our bowl square meaning he stayed in the head for three shots.

As Tom looked up at the Great Wall he faced, he picked a line and tried to promote some of Salisbury’s bowls; unfortunately despite a good couple of efforts Avon clung onto the three shots leaving Avon one up on the game with Nick to finish.

Nick’s last end end was a tough one to play into – with some hard lines and no one really being able to find center rink all evening, it left Nick with a jack in the ditch to get a double and win the match. After release it looked good but about four yards out the bowl deviated and missed a bowl wide with Avon collecting another single.

Despite a 69-71 overall loss we only managed to pick up two points and not the start of the season we envisaged! Onwards and upwards…

Match 2: Chippenham Town BC, Home

The match was scheduled for Wednesday 4 May, unfortunately due to a number of illnesses in the Chippenham side it was agreed to postpone the match until Friday 13 May – match report to follow.

Match 3: Holt BC, Away

The next match in the campaign was an away trip to Holt on Wednesday 11 May. As a club Holt have to be admired, not just from their bowling strength and ability, but also their attitude, commitment to the game and the club and the comradery they display. We do enjoy our matches against each other and the hospitality Holt shows to visiting teams is second to none.

Holt had started the league very strongly with a 14-0 win over Chippenham Town (at Chippenham) and a 12-2 win over Marlborough (at Holt) so we knew we had a tough game on our hands.

As expected Holt started off strongly with Perry’s rink trailing 5-6, Nick’s rink trailing 3-7, Chris’ rink trailing 0-5 and Captain Tom’s rink leading by a small margin 6-3.

By the halfway mark the match had swung in our favour with Perry tied 8-8, Nick trailing 7-9, Tom leading 8-6 and Chris leading 12-6. Still tight overall and with such a good side against us we knew we had to push on.

The game progressed with neither side gaining or losing and as we approached the last end Perry led 19-18, Nick was tied with Captain Wayne 15-15, Tom led 16-10 and Chris led 21-12. As the overall position looked to be in our favour, we needed to push on and maximise the points with three rinks still able to lose, every point mattered.

Perry’s rink was first off securing a single on the last to take the match 20-18 seeing us pick up the first two points. Chris’ rink was next off dropping a single to win 21-13 and collect a further two points.

Nick’s rink was next off. Nick went to the mat one down on the head and played a great first bowl with timing weight to lift the shot wood onto the jack and move the jack to our bowl in the head. Wayne’s and Nick’s next bowls were short leaving Captain Wayne facing the final delivery one down and the rink down. As cool as a cucumber Wayne played the big swinging hand and drew six inches off the jack for shot wood and taking the rink 16-15. A great bowl and it was commented how well Wayne had played all evening.

Last rink off was Captain Tom who found himself four down going to bowl. Electing to bin the white first bowl down a tricky hand, his bowl rose and missed the target leaving his opposite skip Tony Keating a chance to add. Tony rested on the back of a bowl as a measure for five. Looking at the rink score Tom realised dropping a six would see him tie the rink so elected to draw to save. Upon release the line looked good and weight felt great, Tom’s number three Fraser dropped to his haunches to call it in but at the last minute the bowl just clipped a short wood and rested for fifth bowl; a clear road would have guaranteed shot wood. Tony switched hands to try and promote a bowl and run in for the six but just held wide. Down to a measure and a four was awarded to Holt leaving Tom a narrow 16-14 win and the final two points.

A great result after a disappointing start and we look forward to welcoming Chippenham Town to Devonshire Road on Friday.

Tom

WILTON 0 SALISBURY 8
Shots: WILTON 27 SALISBURY 73

Like Salisbury, Wilton also celebrates 110 years of bowling this year. Sited close to the world famous Wilton carpet factory it’s no surprise that this has been an ideal place for a roll up. Did Speedy Gonzales do his works experience at the factory back in the day prior to a successful career in cartoons with Sylvester the Cat? Perhaps that’s where he got his catchphrase, “Arriba, Arriba, Underlay, Underlay”!

Moving swiftly on looking at a sample of the match, a swatch perhaps!

Ann, Ray and Ed were one down after 7 but started to weave their way to the Jack picking up the thread to pull away by 20-11.

Jackie, Paul and Geoff won by the same score 20-11 getting to grips with the green to stretch ahead, laying down a comfortable win.

Sandra, Colin and John ensured this would be wall to wall stuff and kept piling on the pressure bagging a wonderful 33-5 result.

Well done everyone for achieving one of our best results here in recent years, Wilton bowled well but tonight we were really on a roll. Congratulations to Ann, John and Ray in their first matches for us. This performance will stay in the mind for some time and one the team can be extremely proud of.

We thank Pat and her team for their hospitality on a pleasant, if a little cold evening at Wilton.

Malc