Henley’s Wakeling and Gibson gain novice competition wins

HENLEY ran out comfortable 68-37 winners in a four mixed triples friendly at MAIDENHEAD THICKET on Wednesday of last week in a match played over 15 ends because of poor light.

Ian Gibson, with Chris Swann and Angelika Crisa, were the highest winning rink. They started strongly and were leading 11-2 at the halfway stage and finished 19-5 winners.

Peter Menhinick, with Nigel Bridges and Melinda Swann, were evenly matched 6-6 after six ends but then scored 15 over the remaining ends to win 21-12. Joan Edwards, with Hylton Jenkins and Keith Lawrance, started slowly and were trailing 8-3 after nine ends but then finished strongly to win 14-10.

Kevin Browne, with John Munnelly and Karen Wakeling, were evenly matched, trailing 7-6 after 11 ends, dropped a three to be four down then rallied with a two, five and one to win 14-10.

On Saturday HENLEY played its annual novices competition, a four bowls game open to all members who have never won a singles competition at any club.

This year six men and four ladies competed for their respective trophies.

The men played in a round-robin competition of five games each of six ends per game while the ladies played a round-robin of three games each of 10 ends per game.

In the ladies’ section, Karen Wakeling won all her matches and she faced Andrea Tate in the final.

Wakeling was a slow starter but took the lead on the fourth end and then scored a four on the sixth end to put Tate under pressure. However, Wakeling triumphed on the final ends to secure the title.

In the men’s pool Ian Gibson won all five games and faced Nigel Bridges in the final.

Bridges struggled to get going in the final and by the time he was finding his line and length, Gibson had already established a good lead to secure the title. Henley chairperson Sally Daniells presented medals to both winners and runners-up.

HENLEY went down to a 78-68 home four mixed triples friendly defeat against AMERSHAM on Sunday in a match that saw both sides win two rinks each.

Ramsay Adams, with Angelika Crisa and Hylton Jenkins, started strongly, not conceding a point until the seventh end. By the 14th end, Amersham had rallied so Henley were 13-12 but they responded well to finish with a 16-14 win.

John Munnelly, with Dave Burdon and Ian Gibson, made a slow start, trailing 11-2 by the seventh end. They fought back to lead 16-14 by the 14th end only to see Amersham level matters at 18-18 going into the final end. Henley conceded four shots on the last end to slip to a 22-18 defeat.

Peter Menhinick, with Karen Wakeling and Keith Lawrance, struggled for momentum but were only two shots behind at 11-9 after 12 ends. Amersham then pressed on strongly, helped by an eight on the final end, for Henley to lose 29-10.

Joan Edwards, with Ian Ayres and Martin Cranstoun, scored consistently throughout, taking control with a five on the fifth end and never looked back, winning 19-13. Last weekend SHIPLAKE held its in-house drawn fours competition, with 24 bowlers in six teams competing.

The team of Wendy Cross, Ali Uygur, Callum Potter and Jeff Harris won through to the five end final. They were in front come the last end and indeed were holding shot when opposing skip Tony Reid took up his wood to deliver the last bowl of the competition. Tony drew the shot giving him and his team mates, Sandra Gough, Sue Reid and Stuart Earl the narrowest of wins.

On Sunday SHIPLAKE lost out 99-61 in their Oddfellows Triples League clash at READING.

Shiplake’s only winning triple in the five played was that of Jean Buckett, David Bullock and Janet Townley who triumphed 15-10.