Henley did the double on Reading

Henley Bowling Club played their second away game in a run of four consecutive away matches at Reading last Wednesday. Having won the corresponding home game the previous weekend, Henley hoped to gain another win and ‘do the double’ in a five mixed triples OTL match played over 18 ends. And so it proved, with some excellent team and individual performances, Henley won on four rinks, lost on 1 and, with an overall score of 90-72, collected 12 valuable points to Reading’s 2. Joint top winning rinks were skip Martin Taylor, with lead Angelika Crisa and number two Nigel Bridges and skip Steve Cooper, with lead Glynis Holland and number two Norman Daniells. Taylor’s team took a little time to adjust to Reading’s fast green and trailed 1-4 after three ends. They then adjusted well to lead 7-5 after eight ends and with the help of a 5 on the penultimate end, ran out comfortable winners 20-12. The same was true for Cooper’s team as they trailed 0-2, but then had a purple patch where they leapt to a 16-5 lead after thirteen ends and saw the match out nicely to win 18-10. Simon Hatcher, with Romy Painter and Keith Lawrence however, found the green’s pace straight away and led 11-6 after ten ends. Excellent bowling from the Reading team saw them stage a great fightback however to lead 12-16 after sixteen ends. Henley then replied with two excellent last ends to pick up a 3 and 4 and snatch a 19-16 victory. Paul Scrivens, with Ken Rumens and Sally Daniells played one of the closest games of the season. Against a strong opposition, the game swung one way then the other with never more than 2 shots between the teams and, after the ninth end, Henley were up by one point 10-9. Disaster struck on the next end when they gave away 4 to trail 10-13. However, Henley refused to let their heads drop and, with some remarkable bowling over the final six ends when they only lost one end, they sneaked the match by the narrowest of margins 17-16. Kevin Browne, with Andrea Tate and Peter Borsberry also took their time to find the speed of the green and trailed 3-5 after five ends. They then adjusted well to jump into a 13-10 lead after twelve ends but then they dropped 5 shots on the fifteenth end to trail 13-17. Despite winning two of the remaining three ends, they lost 16-18. This will go down as Henley’s best league performance of the season so far and, with a string of good results recently, has seen them up in third spot in the league.  This clearly shows the rapid improvement in all the newer bowlers that Henley have brought through the ranks and having lost our first 5 matches of the season in this league, is of great credit to everyone involved.

On Saturday (22 August), Henley travelled to nearby Watlington for a Plomer Cup 5 mixed triples match played over 18 ends. This was an important game for Henley who were sitting at the top of the league with a nice gap to the rest of the chasing pack. With some tricky away fixtures coming up, this game might well determine their final position. Henley performed impressively on the day and won on three rinks, lost on one and drew on one with an overall score of 80-98 in Watlington’s favour but Henley gained 7 points and Watlington 5. Henley’s highest winning rink was skip Steve Cooper, with lead Glynis Holland and number two Peter Borsberry. Although each team won nine ends, Henley were picking up 2s, 3s and even a 5 compared to the more modest gains from their opponents. They were always leading and won 20-15. Simon Hatcher, with Karen Wakeling and Pete Falle had a most unusual start to their match. The opposing lead bowler trailed the jack to within a yard of the ditch or in it with his first wood on each of the first four ends! This left Henley floundering and 0-7 behind but they didn’t panic and, after some great team bowling, drew level 9-9 after eleven ends. A lucky wick from Hatcher on end fourteen resulted in a fortunate 4 shots and so they held on well to win by 18-14. Right behind were Peter Menhinick, with Andrea Tate and Norman Daniells. Moments of magic were followed by less impressive bowling so, despite winning seven of the first ten ends, the scores were level 10-10 after dropping two 3s and a 4. From then on, skip Menhinick steered the team on a more stable course and to an 18-15 victory. It’s fair to say the match Paul Scrivens was skipping with Nigel Bridges and Joan Edwards was a game of two halves. After nine ends, Henley were extremely comfortable and excellent team bowling saw them 16-2 ahead. However, they spluttered to drop a 5 and then a 3 to give their opponents some hope and following four more ends where 2 shots each end were conceded, they were just hanging on to a 19-18 lead with one end to play. Watlington sensed the kill and a most unlikely victory and piled on the pressure but, relatively new and inexperienced skip, Scrivens held his nerve and reduced Watlington’s score to the 1 to finish with a draw at 19-19. Hylton Jenkins, with David Burdon and Sally Daniells had an afternoon to forget. Playing against very strong opposition and with no luck, they picked up only four ends and went down 5-35. Henley were pleased with the 7 points gained and look forward to welcoming Watlington on Thursday evening 27th August for the return fixture.

Henley travelled to top of the OTL table Burghfield on Sunday for a five mixed triples match. After a slow start to the season, Henley’s recent results have been excellent and it was hoped that they would give their opponents a tough contest. However, this did not prove to be correct and Henley lost the match by 4 rinks to 1 with an overall shot score of 64-101 and only 2 OTL points to Henley with 12 to Burghfield. Henley’s only winning rink was skip Paul Scrivens, with lead Romy Painter and number two Sally Daniells. They got off to a flying start, leading 7-0 after three ends and this proved crucial. Although they were pegged back to 10-8 by the ninth end, they were never caught and ended up winning 17-14. Simon Hatcher, with Chris Swann and Joan Edwards had a great tussle. In a very close game with both teams sneaking ahead at different stages, the scores were tied 10-10 after ten ends and 14-14 after fourteen ends. Whoever finished the stronger would take the spoils and although both teams won two more ends each, crucially Burghfield scored a 3 on the final end to sneak the win 17-18. Steve Cooper, with Karen Wakeling and Peter Borsberry also had a cracking start leading 7-4 after six ends. Then the home team settled and found the green and proceeded to only lose one more end of the last twelve to win convincingly 9-18. Kevin Browne, with Angelika Crisa and Norman Daniells, facing strong opposition needed a fast start but the reality was the polar opposite and they trailed 1-19 after eleven ends. A mini revival followed with them picking up a 5 and a 4 in the last few ends but there was no way back and they were sunk 11-24. Terry Hearmon, with Melinda Swann and Phil Smilie were also facing a strong triple and were under the cosh throughout the game. Trailing 1-11 after six ends, the writing was on the wall and things didn’t improve as a 5 and a 6 were dropped later resulting in a 10-27 loss. So, maybe a reality check for Henley, who had climbed up the league to hold 3rd place before this fixture and probably the result which will see Burghfield league champions again this year.