The Ottery ladies pair of Sharon Kenny and Gail Hawke, Devon County Ladies Pairs Champions only lost their first round match against Wiltshire by one shot.

Marion Kelsey has also made it through to the finals of The John’s competition and she will be making a similar trip to Leamington shortly. To have three members through to the National finals in one year is a great achievement for the club.

Since my last report, the club has played 5 matches, winning three and losing two, although the match against Honiton was lost by the narrowest of margins. Perhaps the most satisfying win was against Madeira where Ottery was victorious on all five rinks with an overall score of 118 shots to 71.

The top rink consisted of Keith Thorley, Jan Richardson, Tony Bushell and Ryan Seers. Suddenly, a cancellation appeared in our fixture list, so an away day trip was hastily organized on Bank Holiday Monday against The City of Wells Bowling Club.

Ottery has never played a match against this club before, but they really looked after us with a buffet lunch, hoping no doubt, that the food would nullify our playing ability. However, this ploy did not work, as Ottery won by four shots with the top rink being Keith Thorley (again), Andy Padmore, John and Terri Ward, who proved that their coaching directions could be translated into a match winning score.

Ottery will be hoping to welcome this club next year to our green for a return match. The long day was finished off with a meal at a local pub/restaurant on the way home.

|It would not have been possible to list all the names of the players who have played their part in achieving victory in any one match, but perhaps most gratifying to see, is players who have only taken up the game this year, playing their part and proudly wearing The Ottery shirt.

Finally, all the internal club competitions cane to an end over last weekend, which was Finals Weekend. The trophies, suitably engraved, will be presented later this year at the annual dinner.