Wednesday once again saw the staging of the much anticipated ladies-versus-gentlemen match at Sidmouth, writes Carol Smith.

The contest is played over two sessions with the result being determined by the overall aggregate score.

Remembering we ladies beat the men in the October match, we knew they would be out to get us!

In the morning session, the ladies started very well, and, after 10 ends, held a 29-17 lead.

Unfortunately, the men caught up and, at the 18th and final end, the ladies were down by eight shots.

Could it perhaps have had anything to do, I wonder, with us loaning them some of our ladies as they were a little short on men?

It probably was a mistake, as the best rink on the morning session was our very own Mary Smith teaming up with Mike Daw, Derek Mountford and skip, and also husband of Mary, Brian Smith, who won 21-17.

The afternoon session proved much better for the ladies, winning overall by a margin of five shots. Alas, for us ladies, it still meant that overall success, this time, went to the gentlemen to the tune of a three shot success.

Anyway, well done to the men, and thank you for our drinks and great banter in the bar after the match.

The best afternoon team was that of Sandra Wheeler, Janice Quinn, Ann Capon and skip Jill Bishop, who won 15-11.