NEARLY A CLEAN SWEEP FOR RBBG, AT BETTESHANGER

  The sun shone on us, for our late March trip to play Betteshanger. We met up at the seafront café, near the Walmer lifeboat and some of the group ventured along the front for a stroll. Wrapped up, of course, but it was a fair day for March and really pleasant.

  One or two cars had the odd problem en route – Hans and Ev will need a new windscreen – but Captain Pat and her troops had a cup of tea waiting and their usual warm welcome and we were on the green reasonably punctually for a relaxed and wholly enjoyable afternoon’s bowling.

  Rink 4 saw a very good match between Elsie, Eric and Pat for Betteshanger and Bella, Lynne and Albert for RBBG. We might even have shaded it but the contest between skips Carl and Brian was pretty uneven. In Brian’s defence he bowled more woods this afternoon than his combined total for the winter, but with all the practice in the world he could only dream of the control and consistency displayed by Carl. Time and time again he sent in his woods to take shot from us or build the home score. We were fortunate to get away with a 16-5 thumping but it was great fun!

  On rink 1, David, Doreen, Marian and Hans took on Betteshanger’s Bernard, Stella, Janice and Jan.The match got under way with eager anticipation from the RBBG team, and after three ends, our enthusiasm seemed justified with Marian’s winning pair drawing us level with the hosts, 2-2.

  From this point on, however, it was a struggle to limit the home side’s score. Whenever David, Doreen or Marian managed to capture shot wood, it was countered by a superb follow-up by one of Betteshanger’s first three bowlers, or the superbly ever-accurate Jan, skipping. On the eighth end, Marian was holding one shot, but Hans’ second wood came in to nudge it out of pole position. In another instance, David had taken the jack, trailing it to within a foot of the end ditch – only for Janice to come in with two excellent shots to hold two. Hans did his best, clipping the Jack, but his ditched wood was just outside the count. Yest again, Marian held shot wood, Hans came in with his second wood which pushed the jack on – but fortunately, this time, the advantage went to the visitors, as the jack came to rest nearest to one of Doreen’s woods.

  Inevitably, It was something of a drubbing, with the home team winning by 15-3. However, their skip, Jan, complimented our bowlers for the quality of their bowling, throughout the match, despite the score. Well played, both teams, on a very enjoyable afternoon. We learned that it is, perhaps, a good idea to practise playing some roll-up games, with two woods, rather than three.

  The final score, on rink two, does not reflect the tight game that was played over the first nine ends. The score, at that point, being five to RBBG and six to Bettshanger, with each end rarely seeing more than one point being gained by either side. Ends 11 and 12, however, were our undoing, as we lost three in end 11 and four in 12.

  By end 13, RBBG were seven points adrift. A brave attempt, by Ian, got us two back, but Chris gave away the advantage, by handing Bettshanger another shot when we were holding two.

  We scared Hilary’s team (including George, Eve and Alan), though, with a final score of 14 – 11. Well done to our team of Penny, Trudy/Bill, Chris and Ian.

  After the match we had a FANTASTIC tea. (So plentiful that most of us took home a doggy bag for our supper too). Captain Pat presented us with the proceeds of the raffle, to boot, which we really appreciate. (And that is where we came into our own, carrying off many of the raffle prizes!) Maybe not the best thank you to then lead the company into a noisy sing song but that’s what we did and everyone survived! A lovely day and an invitation for next year. Perfect.