Early Friendlies
Our competitive season began with four scheduled friendlies – but three were hit by rain.
Our usual opener at Chess Vale had a delayed start due to the approach road being closed for council pothole repairs and the match was interrupted by hail and thunder - but lightning struck twice for us as we followed up last year’s win with an 89-79 victory, although they took 3 rinks to 2.
The overall result across the five rinks remained very close, swinging one way and then the other. Wraysbury's top rink was Brian Vizer, Martin Wilson and Val Lambert who also finished the wettest, being the rink that played the longest in the deluge.
Our home match against Staines was shortened by rain and the visitors won the match 26-14.
The rain fell lightly on and off until it set in for the day causing the match to be curtailed after a total of 26 ends had been played across the three rinks. The result of the shortened match was a win for Staines by 26 shots to 14 and 3 rinks to 0
Then the visit to Stanwell BC was called off due to their waterlogged green
The next game at Ashford’s Fordbridge Park brought a second defeat at 49-39 although it was a fairly close affair, 2 rinks to 1.
This 3 x triples match was completed despite some light rain falling early and the weather gradually improved even to the point of the sun appearing for a short period!
The result was a win for Fordbridge by 49 shots to 39. Two of the rinks were rather close affairs, Fordbridge winning one by 3 shots and Wraysbury winning another by 2 shots. Wraysbury's best rink was Adan Smith, David Harrell and Ian Smith.
Men's KLV League
With the first League match of the 2024 season at Maidenhead Thicket having been postponed due to the continued wet weather, it was a pleasant surprise that the KLV match at home against Desborough ‘A’ took place in hot sunshine on Thursday 9th May.
A match against one of the best teams in the league was always going to be a tough proposition even at home, and so it proved with Desborough A claiming a 62-35 resounding victory, winning on all three rinks and collecting the 10 league points.
Wraysbury kept the score to within 2 shots on two rinks, but fell away at the end with the best rink for Wraysbury losing by 6 shots
The KLV away match played against Desborough B (May 17) was an extremely close contest held in warm weather on a well prepared rink. The result was a win for Wraysbury by 55 shots to 54 shots, and two rinks to one, giving Wraysbury 8 league points to 2 points for Desborough B.
This close result was down to the last but one bowl of the last end of the third rink to finish. The overall score had remained within a couple of shots throughout, but when the last rink to finish started their last end, the scores were level and it was Colin Hood who bowled the perfect wood to turn from being 3 down to one up by just tapping an opponent’s bowl and springing the jack the required 7 inches to a Wraysbury bowl! Any less would not have been good enough, any more and it may have been too much. Wow! Not fair to pick out a top rink so…….
Rink 1, Paul Lester, Len Carlton and Ian Smith won by 18 shots to 17
Rink 2, Brian Holloway, Martin Wilson and Andy Doughton won by 22 shots to 17
Rink 3, Trevor Woodham, Alan Dell and Colin Hood lost by 15 shots to 20.
We then entertained Maidenhead Town A on May 22 and unsurprisingly lost 41 to 69 against one of top teams in Div 1.
It was another damp match with rain falling continuously throughout until just after the match was completed! Maidenhead Town got off to fine start on all three rinks and dominated the matches on rinks 1 and 2, however a fight back by Wraysbury's top rink Paul Lester, Alan Dell and Colin Hood meant a 14-shot tie as the match went into the final end. Wraysbury were 2 shots up as the skips took their turn, however a clean contact with the jack by the Maidenhead player sending the jack off the rink meant a second dead end. The replayed end saw Town winning that by 2 shots giving them victory sometime after everyone else was in dry of the clubhouse.
Next was the rearranged game at Maidenhead Thicket and, in a repeat of last year, we won the match – though this time it was down to our one winning rink with a big-shot margin that did the trick, as against in 2023 when we had the winning two rinks.
The huge 20-shot margin was put in by Paul Lester, Alan Dell & Len Carlton, having led from the third end. Our two losing rinks kept the scores tight, and Trevor Woodham, Howard Brooks & Colin Hood having been
8 shots down made a good comeback over the last three ends to lose by just a single shot. A battling victory to get the 4 bonus points.
The fifth match of the KLV season was another away game on May 31 against Windsor & Eton A who won 61-39, with the home side winning two rinks and one drawn and scoring 9pts to 1pt.
Whilst this was a good win for Windsor & Eton A, after 12 ends it was Wraysbury who were in front overall and on two rinks, only to slump towards the end of the 18 ends.
It was the triple of Paul Lester, Howard Brooks & Colin Hood who led from the 9th end and going 4 shots clear into the last. Unfortunately, the hosts managed to secure 4 shots on the last end to snatch a drawn rink.
June began with Wraysbury Bowls Club venturing to Egham BC on Wednesday 5th June for the away leg of the long-standing annual friendly matches between the two local clubs. The weather proved perfect for bowls and on a well prepared green three triples plus one pair played out 18 ends, stopping for tea and coffee with plates of biscuits on completion of the 9th end.
Wraysbury avenged last year’s defeat at Manorcrofts by clinching all three rinks for a 73-51 victory. Top rink was put in by Bev Laye, Dave Laye & Len Carlton winning by 25 shots to 11.
The KLV league match away at the Royal Household on Friday June 7 resulted in a 65-48 win for Royal Household and by 2 rinks to one. This gave the Household 8 league points to 2 for Wraysbury.
As ever, the club and the park gave us the most pleasant surroundings in which to play a game of bowls, plus the sun shone throughout most of the game. The top rink for Wraysbury was Dave Harrel, Mike McLachlan & Len Carlton who led by 5 shots going into the last end, then proceeded to give us a scare by dropping 4 shots on the last to get over the finishing line by just a single shot. The result, however, saw us drop into the bottom two.
Better for us in the following KLV match at home to Windsor Great Park with an important 51-37 victory. Leading the charge were Fred Parsons, Alan Dell & Andy Doughton, who put in a big margin win but supported ably by our other two rinks who clawed their way back from losing scores to gain a win (Len's team) and a tie (Colin's).
That gave us a valuable 9pts to move up to lower mid-table.
The visit to Bishop Duppas in Shepperton on Tuesday 18th June for a Friendly match was rather affected by the lack of player availability, with some Bishop players making up the numbers for Wraysbury. The result of the match was a win for Bishop Duppas by 66 shots to 36 and 2 rinks to 1. Two rinks were close contests going one each to the two clubs, however the third rink was a resounding win for the hosts giving them the win.
The return match against Maidenhead Thicket was an important one as they are close to us in the table and our team didn't disappoint, gaining 8pts in a 46-36 victory and 2 rinks to 1. The result saw us move up to fourth place in the KLV 1E table.
Sadly, Thicket could only get 6 players to take part in the match, only informing us the day before the match. Thank you to Trevor Woodham, Paul Lester and Alan Dell for standing down. Technically, though, as per the league rules they were awarded a rink win by 15 shots to none! This meant that Wraysbury won 2 rinks to 1, gaining 8 league points to 2 points to Maidenhead Thicket A. Top rink for Wraysbury was Howard Brooks, Colin Hood & Alastair Gibson who extended their lead on Rink 3 throughout the match to win by 18 shots to 11.
Unsurprisingly, the away match against Desborough A (June 28) was a win for the league leaders by 86 shots to 32. Desborough A won all three rinks taking the maximum 10 league points. The table front runners had already beaten us at home earlier in the season and this wider margin defeat didn’t help our shots difference. Two rinks were close affairs for about 10 or so ends, but the home team pulled away to win both rinks by 11 shots. The third rink ended in a rather overwhelming win for Desborough.
In July the match against Desborough’s B team (4/7) went better, with a 68-52 win for Wraysbury, giving us a welcome 8 league points in our quest to retain membership of Division 1 East league. The match started to go in Desborough's favour after 6 ends, but some strong performances on all three rinks saw Wraysbury take the lead and extend it over the full 18 ends.
Our top rink was Martin Wilson, Mike McLachlan & Len Carlton winning 13 ends to gain a 23-7 victory.
The KLV match played away on Friday, July 12, against Maidenhead Town A resulted in a win for the hosts by 67 shots to 26 and by 3 rinks to 0.
This was another tough match for us against the team currently in second place in the league. It was played in warm weather on a well-prepared rink and it was on rink1 where the Wraysbury triple of Paul Lester, Mike McLachlan & Ian Smith remained in contention throughout the match, finally losing by a narrow margin 15-11.
A very pleasant day was had at Flackwell Heath on Sat, July 13, for a Friendly which was arranged in place of the original C&T match. The game was played in a competitive yet convivial manner and was a close affair, with the home team taking the game by just three shots.
We had one winning rink thanks to Fred Parsons, Mike McLachlan & Len Carlton; one rink tied, and the other lost. Despite the green being a bit spongey due to overnight rain, Wraysbury took the early initiative, but with us being six up, three up and drawing after nine ends, a tea break was called.
After this, our rinks seem to lose momentum and Flackwell Heath fought back to draw ahead and finally edged the game 47-44.
On Fri Jul 19 our home return against Windsor & Eton A saw an by 61-30 and 3 rinks to none victory. The match was played in very hot weather requiring lots of water to be consumed by all the players, even so, the players on one rink decided to call an early end to their match after 15 ends as two players were feeling the effects of the high temperature.
Top rink was put in by Trevor Woodham, Colin Hood & Andy Doughton 22-5. The resulting 10 league points maintained Wraysbury's 4th place in Division 1 East with two matches to play.
We then entertained Burnham for a Friendly which replaced the C&T fixture (July 21). It was a comprehensive 74-35 win, taking all three rinks. Best rink came from Adam Smith, Colin Hood & Len Carlton who stormed to a 33-7 victory.
The home KLV match against a strong Royal Household team led to a 49-69 reverse. We did manage one point, thanks to a tied rink from Trevor, Martin & Len.
At the start of August, we wrapped up our KLV League campaign away to Windsor Great Park where we battled well in a 48-38 defeat. We came out on top in one rink thanks to Martin Wilson, Mike McLachlan & Ian Smith who secured a 1 shot win by taking 2 shots on the last end, a very tight match!
The result gave us a valuable 2pts and saw us finish in a creditable fourth place. This was one better than last year, when we finished in 5th spot - and we won two more games than in 2023. Well done the men's squad!
The friendly at home against Fordbridge Park BC (August 14) was a resounding 84-23 win for Wraysbury. The match was played in rather warm and very humid conditions, but dry after a wet morning. The end score was Wraysbury 84 shots, Fordbridge 23 shots, although at times it looked to be a closer affair. After the traditional Wraysbury post match tea of hot sausage rolls, crisps and cakes, plus a raffle, it was agreed that fun was had by all. With Fordbridge winning the early season match on their home ground the result of one match each for 2024 was a satisfactory outcome for both clubs.
The home match against Egham (Aug 21) seemed strange .... with a number of the Egham players also being members of Wraysbury, it was more like Wraysbury & Egham against Egham & Wraysbury!
The match resulted in a win for Wraysbury by 75 shots to 55, and 3-0 rinks. However, two rinks were very close affairs, both going into the last end drawn, 14-14 on rink 2 and 19-19 on rink 3. Skip Andy Doughton secured the win for Wraysbury on rink 3 with the final bowl of the match. On rink 2 Wraysbury were holding two shots with Val Lambert having drawn her opening bowl on the end to with an inch or so, when the Egham skip moved the jack with his second. Unfortunately for Egham this move massively favoured Wraysbury and with skip Alan Dell drawing another, the win for Wraysbury was obtained with an unlikely 6 shots! Over on rink 1 there was no such heroics as Janet Cross, Colin Hood & Len Carlton pulled away to win a high scoring rink by 35-22.
The reverse fixture against Chess Vale saw them redress the home defeat we inflicted at the season opener, with a 47-48 victory - so playing at home for the two teams seems not necessarily to be an advantage!
Wraysbury actually won 2 rinks to 1, with best rink put in by Janet Cross, Mike McLachlan & Ian Smith who held the lead on Rink 2 throughout the match, winning by 20-13. Closest rink was on Rink 1 where Hilary Doughton, Alan Dell & Andy Doughton needed 3 shots to win on the last end and succeeded with their second and third shots only counting by no more than a millimeter each!
In September we began with a win against Heathervale, taking all three rinks for a 84-28 score.
We then entertained Staines and secured a 65-49 victory against our near rivals. We could only manage to win two rinks and our best of the day came from Colin Lambert, Mike McLachlan & Colin the Hood with a card of 35-10.
That was followed by the visit of Shepperton's Bishop Duppas Bowls Club (Thurs Sept 19.) The weather was warm and dry - one of the few days in September when we didn't have rain! The result was a win for Wraysbury on all three rinks by 78 shots to 40. The visitors started the match well and were in front by 6 shots after 8 ends had been played on all rinks ..... until Wraysbury players got into their stride.
The top rink for Wraysbury came from Angela, Derek and Colin who won by 29-12.
For the first time we were pleased to welcome a visit by the Berkshire Masonic Bowling Association and they enjoyed the day as they won a rink but Wraysbury prevailed 63-38. Our best rink was put in by Hilary Doughton, Mike McLachlan & Andy Doughton with a 27-11 result.
Our season was wrapped up to complete a winning September with a 72-43 success against Stanwell BC (Sept 29) and 2 rinks to 1. Colin Lambert, Howard Brooks & Ian Smith took the honours of being top rink, 29-10.