Sidmouth men’s league bowlers caught (at last!) the winning habit from the mixed friendly teams, writes David Fairclough.

The very welcome, highlight of the week, was a win in the Interclub League match against Budleigh Salterton.

Played on four rinks, two at home and two in Budleigh, Sidmouth won three of those four rinks, and with an aggregate score of 87-71. The highest rink margin, of 20-9, was won by the home rink skipped by Tony Broughton, supported by Tony Brown, Bill Sheerman and Bob Daniels. The winning rinks, and the match win earned the club a total of 12 league points.

Luckily, the winning habit has also been retained by the mixed friendly teams.

On Wednesday, we welcomed three mixed rinks from Bridport, and won with an aggregate score of 90-46, a similar result to the 62 shot margin, played over four rinks in Bridport in November.

Whilst we all like winning, the margin of those wins is such to cause a little embarrassment, as Bridport are a club playing the game in the sporting manner appropriate for a friendly game. Sidmouth’s best winning rink, by a shot score of 38-10 was skipped by Zena Johnson, supported by Ray Tallent, Wilf Radburn and Mary Turner.

The second mixed friendly of the week, against Dawlish Club, was a much closer affair. Sidmouth won on two of the three rinks and by an aggregate shot score of 59-48. The largest rink margin, 24-13, was earned by Mike Daw, Anita Mason, Gordon Brown and skip Sheila Lockwood. Grateful thanks are due to Jenny Fricker, for assuming the captaincy responsibilities for this fixture.