February began with a number of cancellations due to bad weather, which is something we associate more with outdoor bowling but such are the vagaries of the English winter, writes Ron Cook.

February began with a number of cancellations due to bad weather, which is something we associate more with outdoor bowling but such are the vagaries of the English winter, writes Ron Cook!At the end of January the men played the Exeter Over-60s' representative team who proved a little too strong for the home side on the day, winning two rinks out of three by a margin of 67 to 49 shots. The winning Sidmouth team were Mike Smith, Derek Mountford, Brian Smith and skip John Mason, leading from the third end to a 23-17 win.On Sunday, Jan 31, Sidmouth entertained ISCA and won overall 64-49. Sidmouth won on two of the three rinks and the best victory, by a margin of 17 shots, was Pat Hague, David Lever, Rosemary Mullin and skip Trevor Wilkins. It was a particularly good win as, at 10 ends, the home side trailed 10-7 but then went on to win without losing another shot. It just shows that you must never give up in this game!Another visiting team, Honiton, also took the spoils by winning 56-45. Sidmouth did have one winning rink: Betty Farmer, Christa Turner, David Lever and skip Derek Mountford 16-12. A special word of thanks to Brian Smith, who dashed back from a trip to the recycling centre to make up a full rink for this match.In the friendly match against Devon Masonic, all three home rinks had good wins.Betty Farmer, Peter Mison, Ron Denning and skip Sheila Graham 26-9; Freda Humphreys, Mike Savage, Paddy Wrench and skip Ron Graham 24-7;Alfred Andrews, Jill Lewis, John Farmer and skip Eileen Stribling 26-8. A notable achievement in this match was a full house of eight shots, in a single end, to the home side. Each member will be eligible for a Hot Shot badge presented by Bowls International, with a certificate signed by 15-times world champion Tony Allcock MBE. Well done team.In spite of the weather on Saturday, Sidmouth entertained a touring team from West Berkshire, which proved to be a closely-fought game. At 10 ends the overall score was 25-23 in favour of Sidmouth, who hung on to win 54-50. Best winning rink was John Farmer, Bill Turner, Evelyn Clements and skip Dreda Taylor 21-15.l Many thanks to Bert Hague for his weekly missives over the last few years which have been much appreciated by all members. I would hope to fulfil my role as the newly appointed Press Officer to his high standard.