This week saw Sidmouth in three friendlies, two away and one at home, writes Ron Cook

This week saw Sidmouth in three friendlies, two away and one at home. The Wednesday fixture was played over two sessions at Budleigh Salterton with Sidmouth winning one rink, drawing one and losing by a narrow margin on two! Overall Budleigh won by just three shots. Best rink in the morning session was Paddy Wrench, Derek Mountford, Brian Smith and skip John Mason with an 11-11 draw, tying the match on the last end with a four. Very well done team. In the afternoon session the winning rink was Marie Wall, Ron Denning Eileen Hewett and skip Ron Cook 19-10. Well done team.Saturday's game was at home against Dunkeswell who won by a margin of 46-59. Sidmouth had one winning rink Mike Smith, Ron Denning, Adelina Constable and skip Rosemary Mullin 21-10 having gone behind by just one shot on the fifth end. Sunday was an away game at Dawlish who always put out good teams with County players in action. All three rinks performed very well losing by only seven shots overall. Sidmouth's winning rink after a great comeback from 1-10 down was Pat Hague, Sylvia Cook, Bert Hague and skip David Lever, in the process missing out on a Top Shot badge by one shot - which they were holding until the opposing skip covered one wood with the last bowl to reduce the score to seven.The Internal Knockout matches are approaching the semi-final stages.In the Singles, Robert Cartlidge will play either Brian Barber or John Davies; John Mason will play John White, both on March 18. Hopefully, John White will have recovered from major surgery and we wish him well. Ray Tallent will play John Wall , Bob Seldon will play Bert Hague, both on March 25.In the Pairs competition, Ken Bridgeman and Ron Cook will play John Wall and Bill Dunbar. Maurice Watson and Robert Cartlidge will play John Mason and Tony Brown. Both matches to be played on March 12.In the Mixed Pairs, Diane Cox and John Mason will play Anne Tredget and John Wall. Gillian Cronk and Des Bridgeman will play Jean Brimson and Stuart Hamer. Both matches are on the March 14.Margaret King and Laurence Tobias will play Marie Wall and Ron Cook on April 1. Jackie Godbeer and John Davies are still waiting to see who their opponents will be.l As the outdoor season approaches, it is well to remember the difference in laws between the indoor and outdoor game. Most of the variations are use of wording and interpretation of such. For example in the Outdoor Laws 'should' and 'will' mean the action is compulsory whereas, under the laws for an indoor game, the word 'shall' means the action is compulsory. Probably the most important, and one most often ignored, is foot faulting. Under Indoor Law at the point of delivering the bowl or the jack, one foot should be wholly or partly within the confines of the mat. The foot may be in contact with or above the mat. The law for an outdoor game has a subtle difference. Before delivery a player should be standing with one foot fully on the mat. At the moment of delivery of the jack or bowl, the player should have all or part of one foot on or above the mat. Under both laws, umpires may pick the offender up on this fault and, following a first warning, declare the bowl dead. Ladies' bowlsTHIS has not been a good week for the league teams. The Foxland team was totally outclassed by a strong side from Madeira. The home teams lost by a total of 36 points which was not encouraging news for the away team which played at a later time. Congratulations to the one winning rink who saved the day by scoring six on the last end. Pat Pritchard, Dreda Taylor, Phyl Nobbs and Jill Bishop 27-22.The Lane team fared little better, losing to Torbay in a game which they should have won. All the luck seemed to be against Sidmouth. Congratulations to the one winning rink. Iris Rogers, S Mison, S Graham and Kath Valentine 17-12.Sidmouth performed better in the friendly games. Against Axminster, an very even game ended in a nine shot win for Sidmouth. The best rink was Beryl Sparkes, M Price, S Lewis, Jill Bishop 17-9.Against Dawlish, played away in cold conditions (boiler not working), there was an overall six shot defeat. Best rink was M Watson, J Thomas, S Mison, K Valentine 16-8.