This week didn’t start off too well and, unfortunately, got worse for some as the week went on, writes Carol Smith.

It was not just the bowling either, for the weather also got worse with the ‘Beast from the East’ returning with a vengeance!

In terms of the bowls, there was a Wednesday morning ladies’ friendly at Axminster which produced wins on one rink and defeats on two.

However, the two rinks combined, lost by only by a few shots, and, with the rink of Jackie Godbeer, Janice Quinn and skip Shirley Rose winning their match 18-15, the overall defeat was a narrow one at 53 shots to 47.

Thursday was a different story altogether!

The club played the penultimate game in this season’s Foxlands (Devon Interclub) competition.

The tie was against a team of very strong players – and our great friends too – from Honiton.

Before I give details, I would say that although we had one team through to the national area finals, Honiton have three and they will be playing in the Fours, the Over-50s Triples and the Over-60s Pairs.

The Honiton pairs, I might add, won, and are now on their way to Nottingham for the final rounds.

Needless to say, although we put up a good fight, we lost on three rinks and drew on the fourth, which saw us secure just one of the 10 points that were available.

The team that drew was the one of Jean Brimson, Paddy Chew, Eileen Hewett and skip Carol Smith.

Here’s hoping for something better in the final game – or we will be writing about relegation!

There was also Thursday action for our men, who travelled to Plymouth to play their area final of the National Over-60s rink against Cornish opposition.

Sadly, there’s not good news to report either from this contest for our men went down.

However, they did so well to get as far as they did and it’s a case of many congratulations to the four, Bill Sheerman, John Mason , Ken Wheeler and skip Chris Nappin, for their season-long efforts.

There was Saturday morning action for the men when they played the final match in their County Interclub League with a meeting against Isca Bowls Club from Exeter.

The away teams for Sidmouth did very well with one ending all square and the other winning by eight shots at 23-15.

That winning rink comprised Bill Sheerman, Allan Davis, Mark Stephens, and skip Ken Wheeler.

There was equally good news from the home element of the match with one rink won and one lost.

The successful rink was the one of Andrew Lowe, Wilf Radburn, John Chew and skip Brian Smith, who won 25-17.

Overall, it meant a Sidmouth match success by one shot at 71-70 – a great way to finish their campaign and they did so sitting in a mid-table position.

Sunday should have seen a friendly against our friends – and neighbours – from Ottery.

However, this was cancelled due to the snow which, at the time the match should have been taking place, was lying at a depth of six inches!