Mary Smith and Marie Wall played against each other in the first round of the County over-50s competition.

Mary Smith and Marie Wall played against each other in the first round of the County over-50s competition, both having won their prelim rounds. They were evenly-matched and this led to an exciting game at Sidmouth, watched by a group of spectators who enjoyed some excellent bowling in the sunshine. The winner was the first to reach 21 points and, after drawing 15-15 at one stage, Marie finished 21-17 after nearly two hour's play. Final score: 21-17. Marie now goes through to the second round. Well done, both of you.lThe pre-lim for the Grace Mathews Top Club county competition was played at Honiton in fine weather, with a very appreciative group of well-wishers from Sidmouth and Honiton. It was a very interesting competition with singles, 3 wood singles, pairs, triples and fours. Both clubs had some of their best players taking part and, after some very competitive playing, Sidmouth lost by only one shot - a very exciting finish on the singles rink saw Sidmouth's Eileen Stribling just losing on the last end. Bad luck, Eileen, but very well played, ladies!Friendly Games - after a few weeks of cloudy, cold weather it was a pleasure for Sidmouth ladies to play three rinks of triples at Feniton this week, where the sun inspired some very good play at the pretty location. It was a very enjoyable game with Sidmouth losing to Feniton by only two shots 43-45. Best rink: Marie Wall, Jean Green and Eileen Stribling 20-19. Eileen was delighted with this win, as she played at Feniton for many years before moving to Sidmouth.The second game of the week was at Shaldon. After a rainy journey the players, fortified by a good lunch at the local hostelry, had an excellent game in the sunshine with the Sidmouth ladies winning 69-46: Pat Prichard, Marianne Borst, Jill Bishop 29-12; Chris Hamer, Sue Wright, Anne Newman (capt) 20-14; Mary Smith, Christa Turner, Anne Capon 20-20.