The third day of 2018 saw the Sidmouth men in action against Madeira men in the Over-60s Devon County League competition, writes Carol Smith.

In a pre-Christmas report, I was able to proclaim the team as unbeaten and sitting proudly on top of the table.

Sadly, that unbeaten record is now ended, for they were out bowled by Madeira with the Exmouth side securing a 98-62 overall success – could the defeat be something to do with new year celebrations!

However, it was not a whitewash and the four of Ray Tallent, Wilf Radburn, Norman Brimson and skip Brian Smith were able to bowl their way to a splendid 21-14 victory.

In terms of the overall picture, all is certainly not lost as there remain two games to play and, despite losing top spot, the Sidmouth team are sitting second and still in with a very good chance of taking league honours – no pressure then, fellahs!

In a Saturday friendly against Dunkeswell, the halfway mark – tea time – saw the Dunks well ahead on two rinks with just one Sidmouth rink in a winning position and the match score well poised at 25-all.

However, once again, the second half of the contest saw a superb Sidmouth revival – what was in the tea?, I hear you ask!

Throughout the remainder of the match all three Sidmouth rinks moved into winning situations and when the final wood was delivered the home bowlers had recorded a 73-36 success with the biggest winning margin being the 25-shot success at 32-7 for the rink of David Timms, Carol Timms, John Chew and skip Mick Cox.

Sunday saw another friendly encounter, this one with Feniton. With Feniton being close to Honiton, a number of their outdoor bowlers play during the indoor season at Honiton and it certainly showed in their performance at Sidmouth, with Feniton winning 65-53.

There was one lone success for Sidmouth, and that was by the narrowest of margins – one shot – with the rink of Pam Manning, Dave Lever, Chris Radburn and skip Wilf Radburn, securing a 20-19 win.