The highlights of this last week, were two County Matches with South Hams Indoor Bowling Club of Kingsbridge.

The highlights of this last week, were two County Matches with South Hams Indoor Bowling Club of Kingsbridge.In the first County Trophy over-60s match on Wednesday, South Hams proved too strong on the day winning 88 to 76 overall. Rinks playing for Sidmouth were: Robert Cartlidge, Tony Brown, Peter Clements and skip John Mason 17-30; Bill Smith, Peter Mison, Trevor A- Pritchard and skip Norman Brimson 20-23; Ken Bridgeman, John Wrench, John Wall and skip Trevor Wilkins 16-22. Ray Tallent, David Lever, Ron Cook and skip Bob Selsdon were the winning rink 23-13. Well done team.On Friday two rinks from each club played in the county Charles Parrott Shield competition and Sidmouth turned the tables on South Hams, winning on both rinks, to progress to the semi-finals in March against Torquay United. Scores were: Robert Cartlidge, Jim Wrench, Bert Hague, skip Ron Cook 22-10;Ray Tallent, Brian Smith, Trevor A-Pritchard and skip Stuart Hamer 22 -16. A great effort by both teams.Saturday saw the club back in action against Axminster in a rearranged Inter Club match. Sidmouth won comfortably by a margin of 91-74 shots.Rinks were: Ken Bridgeman, Jim Wrench, John Wall and skip Trevor Wilkins with the best win of 30-16. Well done team.Ray Tallent, David Lever, Ron Cook and skip Bill Boddy scraped through 24-23; Bill Smith, John Davies, Stuart Hamer and skip Norman Brimson 21- 14; Robert Cartlidge, Peter Mison, Trevor A-Pritchard and skip John Mason 16-21.The only friendly match of the week was played away at Exonia, which proved a bridge too far for Sidmouth on the day, losing 27-85. The current position with the internal Umbrella, played as a mixed drawn competition and attracting on occasions 72 players, is David Brand in first place with 48 points, while Marion Watson and Paddy Wrench share second place on 47 points. This is a perfect competition on a Monday for the club's new bowlers who can meet many members to enjoy a relaxed and friendly game.The semi-finals of the Sidmouth League Cup will be played on March 27, Exonia v Sidmouth Red and Madeira v Honiton.John Greenaway has recently been appointed Health and Safety Officer for the club. I am sure all members will support John in his new role, which as we know can be very difficult with constantly changing regulations.Having had cancellations due to bad weather, the ladies were pleased to play away at Exonia. But the opposition could not raise a full team, changing fours to triples and 'borrowing' two Sid players. In compensation they provided cake for tea! Well done to Sidmouth for enthusiasm and winning on all three rinks. The Lane team played against Exonia with mixed results, gaining four points out of a possible 10; overall the team is still up amongst the league leaders. B Farmer, J Green, C Turner, A Newman 16-8; A Tredget, M Watson, S Heywood, S Burnand 11-29; G Cronk, M Bristow, P Harvie, J Fricker 18-25; I Rogers, S Mison, S Graham, K Valentine 22-12.The Foxlands team, having been promoted, have found life difficult in division one. Against a very strong Honiton team they all played exceptionally well but even so only managed to just scrape a win on one rink. One four, after leading all the way against good opposition, managed to drop 20 shots on the last six ends!