Henley Narrowly Miss Out Cup and League Title

Henley Bowling Club narrowly missed out on winning the Plomer Cup and League titles this season in the last matches of the season last week.

On Wednesday 13 September, Henley played the last Plomer Cup match of their season against Hagbourne at home. This was a mixed five triple Plomer Cup match which Henley needed to win convincingly to maintain their current top-of-the league position. Unfortunately, Henley only won on two rinks going down with a score of 76-82, giving Henley 4 and Hagbourne 8 league points. This left Henley only 10 points clear of Caversham who were to play Shiplake at home on the following Saturday. Kevin Browne with Jo Wilson and Steve Sullivan were 3-3 after six ends then pulled away strongly over the remaining ends to run out impressive winners, finishing as the highest winning rink at 25-9. Colin Ward with Peter Falle and Jeanie Davies were level after three ends but were not able to match a strong opposition. They were 6 shots down by the sixteenth end and could not make up the difference going down 11-20. Peter Borsberry with Brian Duddy and Joan Edwards were 6 shots down after eleven ends and were unable to recover, going down 11-25. Dave Wilson with Romy Painter and Simon Hatcher fought hard throughout the match and were still 4 shots behind on the seventeenth end but couldn’t pull it back in time and lost 13-14. Kevin Currill with Angelika Crisa and Sally Daniells were 8-4 ahead after seven ends and steadily pulled away, leading 15-9 after fifteen ends. They then dropped 4 but still ran out winners at 16-14.

Henley entertained Hurst on Saturday 20 September, in a five mixed triples OTL match, the last fixture of the season. Henley had the chance to win the league if they could take at least 13 points off Hurst, but it was not to be. There were highs and lows on all five rinks with Henley narrowly winning on four of them with an overall score of 90 shots to Hurst’s 84. This only gave Henley 12 points with 2 points going to Hurst leaving Henley in second place to Burghfield with the same number of points but with a lower shot difference.

Colin Ward skipped the highest winning rink with Joan Edwards and Dave Palmer starting strongly with 4 shots and then on the sixth end, a 5. This put them 7 up but by the thirteenth end they had been pegged back to 12-12. They then finished strongly to win 19-14. Dave Wilson with Martin Cranstoun and Angelika Crisa were 8 up after seven ends, pulled back to 2 down after fourteen ends, then picked up a 6 on the fifteenth end to be up 4 shots, finally winning 21-18. Kevin Currill with Jeanie Davies and Peter Watkins led from the start, held the lead throughout and finished on top with the score 19-18. Peter Borsberry with Simon Hatcher and Jo Wilson started slowly and were 7 down after seven ends and still 6 down after twelve. They then found the green to finish strongly but still only won by 1 shot at 16-15. Andy Scott with Kevin Browne and Sally Daniells started slowly, were 8 down by the fourth end but picked up 6 over the next three ends to only be 1 down. By the thirteenth end the scores were level at 12 all but then Henley fell away to go down 15-19.

Meanwhile, Caversham were hosting Shiplake in the last Plomer Cup game of the season and because they won 10 points to Shiplake’s 2 and with an overall score of 102-62, Caversham pipped Henley to top slot with the same number of points as Henley but a better shot difference. Henley congratulates both Burghfield and Caversham on their respective successes and, despite the last minute disappointments, reflect on what has been a great season for Henley.

The last of the Knockout Club Competition finals took place last Thursday (14 September), the 2 Wood Pairs, was played. This competition had been delayed because one pair was Kevin Currill and Dave Wilson, the two finalists of this season’s Men’s Championship, and they had both been in too many finals to play this competition the previous weekend. Their opponents were Steve Sullivan and Peter Menhinick. Peter is in his first year of bowling and although he had previously reached the semi-final of the Novices Competition, Steve and Peter were going to be hard pressed to overcome such formidable opponents. The game played out according to form and despite valiant efforts from Steve and Peter, congratulations go to Kevin & Dave. Kevin must also be congratulated for winning 4 finals in this year’s competitions as well as the Champion of Champions.