Oyster Ladies 4 Sevenoaks 12
94 shots to 108

A pleasant drive to Whitstable on a warm sunny Spring day, a winning match, a tasty meal and a safe journey home, what more could us ladies wish for.

With some ladies away on the Knockholt bowling holiday, Captain Lynn struggled to organize a team. Thanks to the rule that allows a maximum of three men to play for the ladies in the event of an emergency, Rob Pothurst and Derrick Sowton nobly stepped in along with very new member Lynne Martin who was brave enough to join us.

Victories came on four of the six rinks with the best effort coming from Georgina Taylor, Brenda Bennett and skip Anne Welch, the latter being on particularly good form. They achieved an emphatic 27-12 win.

Mary Gardiner, Lynn Thomson and Joan Moffat went from 11-5 ahead to lead 23-5 in the space of five ends as they comfortably defeated the Oyster Captain’s rink 23-10.

A perfect last four ends from Rob Pothust, Sally Garvey and Eve Strudwick saw them 9-12 down at 14 ends, followed by counts of 4-1-2-1 to win 17-12.

Lynne Martin, Sharon Funnell and Rosemary Tuck only allowed their opponents to win 5 ends in a match that contained single shot wins on 15 of the 18 ends. Final score 18-5 in favour of Sevenoaks.

Jolly well done Ladies!Brenda

 

Prince Arthur Ladies 10 Sevenoaks 6
102 shots to 89

A good performance from the ladies winning on three of the six rinks and only going down by 13 shots overall.

Captain Lynn had problems raising a team for this game but as rules allow a minimum of three men to play in desperate circumstances, Peter Rose and Russell Hooper nobly stepped in to make up the numbers.

Russell, along with Sally Garvey and skip Ann Munro only allowed their opponents to win 6 of the 18 ends as they strolled to a 25-7 victory. Dot Fuller, Brenda Bennett and Barbara Taylor were close on their heels with their 20-10 success.

The third win came from Cynthia Gaston, Joy-Ann Hemmings and skip Anne Welch, but only just. Our ladies led 13-0 after 7 ends before they went off the boil allowing the opposition to stage a fine revival, levelling 15-15 at 15 ends. The next two ends were shared before Sevenoaks managed to hang on to a single shot on the final end for a 17-16 win.

Brenda

 

Sevenoaks Ladies 10 swale 6

Sevenoaks Ladies 14 Prince Arthur 2
113-80 shots

What an afternoon, winning on 5 of the 6 rinks and by a considerable shots margin.

Sevenoaks held a very narrow 57-51 shots lead overall when the cup of tea arrived at 11 ends. From then on our ladies piled on the pressure, finishing very strongly with a most satisfying 113-80 end result.

Highest winning rink came from Val Porter, Rosemary Tuck and Mel Bridges who only allowed their opponents to win 5 ends as they romped to a 20-7 victory.

A big pat on the back to the other 15 ladies who played and made a valuable contribution to this very special result for Sevenoaks.

Brenda

SEVENOAKS LADIES 4 SWALE 12
82 shots to 118

Two winning rinks out of the six but it could have been three. Veronica Hunt, Joy-Ann Hemmings and skip Rosemary Tuck were 3-9 down after 6 ends and then won seven out of the next nine ends to lead 15-13 going into the final end. Despite Rosemary’s best efforts, she could not prevent Swale picking up 5 shots to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!

Joyce Allen, Barbara Taylor and Joan Moffat had a close battle and scores were level 15-15 after 15 ends. A magnificent finish from the Sevenoaks ladies saw them pick up 8 shots on the last three ends for a hard-earned victory.

Success also for Sally Burton, Diana Purssell and Ann Munro. From 2-4 down after 5 ends, suddenly everything clicked, and they enjoyed a winning streak which took them into an 18-5 lead. Swale were far from finished though as they picked up a count of five shots on the 15th end but their effort petered out as Sevenoaks held on for a 19-12 win.

Brenda

KITL LEAGUE
SEVENOAKS 4 OYSTER 12
91 shots to 105

Apart from one rink which went down 8-19, this was a very evenly balanced game. Heather Taylor, playing her first KTL game, Sally Garvey and Ann Munro cruised through their game, leading 9-0 and 15-3 before the opposition woke up. Oyster won the next three ends but Sevenoaks led 17-10 with one end to play. They then dropped a count of six, fortunately not quite enough to prevent Sevenoaks winning!

Val Porter, Rosemary Tuck and Jane Taylor were behind 10-16 with two ends to play but a brilliant finish saw them pick up a single followed by five shots on the final end for a hard-earned 16-16 draw.

Val Stevens, Brenda Bennett and Captain Lynn Thomson had a ding-dong battle with the Oyster captain and her team. However they picked up two counts of 5 shots at times when all seemed lost and went into the final end trailing 17-18. Stevens played two excellent opening holding bowls, which were not disturbed until the Oyster skip managed to tip one away one, leaving Sevenoaks with one shot and an 18-18 draw.

Sally Burton, Barbara Tayor and Anne Welch held a 14-12 lead after 13 ends but then got stuck on 14 shots for four ends as Oyster took an 18-14 lead with one end remaining. A fine finish saw Sevenoaks pick up three shots, but just not quite enough.

Brenda

15th February Race Night, all fully booked but there are some horse left to buy at £1 each with a chance to win a bottle of wine or box of chocolates.

THE FINAL PIECE OF THE JIGSAW

For the past year a team of 3 Club members – John Roberts, Alan Hogg and Christine Freshwater – have been involved in a project to install solar panels on the Club roof.  To achieve this they have been sourcing grant funding from a number of organisations and are pleased to report that the following awards have been made:

Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) £75,000; Sevenoaks Town Council £25,000; West Kent Rural Grants £20,000; Tarmac £20,000

The total amount required to complete the project is £180,000. The Club will be putting in £25,000 of its own money leaving £15,000 to find. Sport England have offered £7,500 but on condition that the Club Crowdfunds to raise an equivalent amount so that is where members, their families, friends and relatives come in. The Crowdfund campaign was launched on 27 November and by 5 December we had raised £2,360 from 53 supporters – a great outcome but with a way to go – many thanks to members who have already donated.

So why are we doing this and what will the benefits be for members, the Club and the wider Sevenoaks Community? The Club currently spends at least £24k on electricity and that is on a very good deal that Richard negotiated pre Covid. Putting solar panels on the roof will pretty much eradicate this bill and if all goes well we will be able to sell back some power to the grid. This saving in costs will immediately put the Club on a stronger financial footing and will allow us to be open for longer.

Many of you may not be aware that the Club is a valuable Community Asset as it is home to 15 other community organisations who use the Centre. These include mothers’ and toddlers’ music groups, pilates and slimming classes, three bridge clubs and the hockey club. The meeting rooms are used by Sevenoaks Lions, the Literary Festival, Sevenoaks Supper Club and the Seniors District Action Forum and many other organisations and individuals make use of the facilities for their personal events and functions.

Currently, because of financial constraints the Club is only open on average for 50 hours a week. How much more valuable would it be to bowlers, the wider community and working people, if it was open longer? An added bonus of this initiative is the impact on our carbon footprint – we will save 33,000 tons/ 1.26% of SDC’s carbon reduction target.

Work will be starting during December. There should be little disruption to the bowling schedule but there will be workmen around and we will lose a few parking spaces for a couple of months.

So, the final piece of the jigsaw is raising that final £7,500. Please help by circulating the link and encouraging anyone you know to help out. The details are being widely circulated to community groups so hopefully you will see it on Facebook, Instagram etc.

There are some great rewards on offer – if you donate a certain amount you can claim a reward – from coffee and cake through to a voucher from the jewellers at the top of the town – Christmas is coming!

That campaign is underway – if you can offer your support please do so at

https://crowdfunder.co.uk/p/sibc

Thank you.

SEVENOAKS 2 PRINCE ARTHUR 12
88 shots to 104

Diana Purssell, Avril Moss and Joan Moffat dominated their game, winning 22-8. Dot Fuller, Brenda Bennett and Lynn Thomson trailed 14-16 but a strong finish gave them a 20-16 victory.

Full report in next Wickers World.

Brenda