After the first five ends, with the score on 4-2 to Alf, Pat stepped onto the green (as Terry’s visual aide), seeing him to a 7-4 lead and, after eleven of the fourteen ends, the score was tied at 8 apiece. Terry edged forward in the twelfth, but Alf came back with a three in the penultimate end, to take a 2 point lead. At the last, Terry’s first two woods were nearest the Jack, only for Alf to put in a fine last effort, to hold shot. Terry came back with a superb drawing shot to clinch the end, but the one point was not enough to force extra ends, as he fell one short, losing 11-10. This was a truly great match.

  In the semi-finals, Terry beat fellow RBBG bowler, 11-4, and in his 2nd round clash he defeated Mick (an England international bowler) by 13 points to 6. (More slideshow pictures and downloadable prints)

  Four members of RBBG were entered in this year’s Gravesham Cup Tournament and of them, three made it to the semi-finals.

  Ian Aviolet had a relatively straightforward victory in the first round, beating opponent, Sue, by 13-4.

  In the second round, however, he had a much tougher assignment. The match started badly for Aviolet, with John taking an early lead, putting him 8-2 up, but a supreme effort, by the RBBG player, turned the tables and his opposite number failed to add to his score. Ian triumphed, with a score of 12-8, making it through to the semi-finals. I

  n his semi-final tie, with Terry Fisher, Ian lost to the more experienced club-mate by 11-4.

  Hans Farley had a comfortable first round win over Jim, from Enfield, by 12 points to 1. In Round two, Cliff, from Bexley, was a much tougher challenge, with the RBBG man eventually overcoming his opponent by 9-4.

  In the semi-finals, Farley met up with Alf Llewellyn, of Bexley, and despite staying in touch for the first six ends, he could not keep up with the guile and accuracy of Llewellyn’s bowling. Some pin-point draw shots, especially on the backhand, took the game away and with two ends to go the Rochester novice wrecked his chances with a desperate driving attempt that led to Llewellyn easing into the final by 11-6.

  In a match which shifted from end to end, RBBG’s David Norton’s first round match saw him pitted against Ron. At no stage during this tug-of-war was it clear who might win and, by the end of the 11th end, the score was 8-8. Sadly, in the final end, Norton succumbed to lose by 11 points to 8. From here, he went into the Plate competition (in which he had claimed the honours in last year’s tournament), but on this occasion he was knocked out by 9-5.