Saturday morning saw the first round of the County Trophy knockout competition for all Devon clubs, writes Carol Smith.

Sidmouth were drawn against Torbay men - a very strong club - and unfortunately were beaten on all four rinks, both home and away.

On Sunday morning it was the Charles Parrott Trophy, which is a one rink home and one away fixture with Sidmouth taking on Plymouth.

Charles Parrott was a Sidmouth bowler for many years and was our club president in 1989.

He was also a county indoor president in 1992/93 and it was he who set up the competition, to help non-badged players attain their county badge. This, of course, all means that non-badged players are allowed to enter.

As for the outcome of the fixture, the Sidmouth men were left devastated for, after a terrific effort, they lost by a single shot!

The home team of Mark Stephens, John Chew, Peter Mison and skip Jim Wherlock won by just two shots and the away team lost by just three shots, which was pretty good for playing away. It all left the final score being 37-36 in favour of Plymouth. Bad luck chaps and better luck next year.

Completing a busy weekend, there was a Sunday afternoon friendly match at home to Tiverton side Mid Devon. Mind you, perhaps it was not all that friendly for, after a closely contested first half that ended at tea with the score across the three rinks being 22-21 in favour of the visitors, things changed, and in dramatic fashion in the second half of the contest.

They say ‘it all changes after tea’ and it certainly did this time - and not in our favour! At the finish Mid Devon won on all three rinks with a total score of 65 shots to 50 in their favour. After the match we shared a drink with them, wished them a Merry Christmas and a safe journey home and they went away very happy.

Not such good results this week, but hopefully the new year will bring more joy.

Last, but certainly not least, a very happy Christmas to everyone.