Cup Holders March On, Ladies Stay in Touch and County Finals Fever Builds

Wednesday Afternoon Ladies

Courtfield travelled to Linton this week to face the combined Subscription/Linton team, looking to keep themselves firmly in contention at the top end of the table.

On rink three, Joanne, Leslie and Aileen M faced the Subscription triple of Jenny Sallis, Anne Brown and Susie Balfour. Courtfield led 4–2 after six ends, but the next four ends proved costly as the home triple moved ahead 10–4. Subscription kept the pressure on from there, with Courtfield eventually losing out 12–8.

On rink four, Julie, Aileen W and Evelyn produced the standout performance of the afternoon against the Linton triple skipped by K Wilson. They were in excellent form, racing into a 14–1 lead after 12 ends. Although they dropped four shots on the 14th end, the result was never in doubt as they secured a superb 16–6 victory, guaranteeing the aggregate for Courtfield.

On rink five, Anne, Corrine and Gill faced the combined triple and made a strong start, leading 6–1 after five ends. From there, the match swung back and forth, with the sides level at 8–8 after 11 ends. A final score of 12–12 was a fair reflection of a closely contested rink.

The result gave Courtfield a valuable 5–3 win, keeping the ladies right in contention.

Thursday Evening – Carliol League

The A team travelled to Stanwix on Thursday evening and returned with an excellent 8–2 victory, keeping themselves right in the hunt near the top of the table.

That is about as much detail as we can safely give, because Chaos did promise to send the cards over. Unfortunately, this is Chaos we are talking about, so the cards are presumably either still in his bag, on his kitchen table, or being treated as classified information.

Meanwhile, the B team hosted Subscription B in the battle of the B teams. Sadly, it was Subscription B who took the bragging rights, with Courtfield B going down 8–2.

With Steve and Jean currently off jet-setting, and no cards making their way to report headquarters, the reporter has once again been left trying to piece together a bowls match using guesswork, smoke signals and blind faith.

So, in summary: great win for the A team, tough night for the B team, and the search for the missing scorecards continues.

Friday Afternoon – Over-55s A Team

Courtfield A returned to winning ways on Friday afternoon after defeat at Brampton last time out, and they did it in style with a 10–0 victory.

Ian Blenkinsop, Alan Dobson and newcomer Glen Robson were never in any real danger, with Glen slipping seamlessly into the team on debut. They ran out convincing 30–8 winners, helped along by counts of seven and six. On this showing, Glen looks like a very useful acquisition.

George Gray, Chris Slack and Dai Davidson started like a runaway train, racing into a 12–0 lead after four ends. They stayed in control from there and finished with a strong 22–12 win.

Brian Lightfoot, Mr Chris and Mike D were involved in a lower-scoring contest, but they kept things steady and secured a solid 14–7 victory.

The final triple of Tony Raffles, David Graham and John McLaren almost came a cropper. Leading 9–6 after 12 ends, they dropped a four to trail 10–9 with two ends to play. Thankfully, they held their nerve, scored two singles and edged home 11–10, completing the clean sweep.

Courtfield entertain high-flying Subscription at home this week.

Saturday – Ladies Top Club

Courtfield ladies made a strong start to their Top Club campaign on Saturday, producing a convincing first-round victory over Wetheral.

From early on, all three disciplines were heading in Courtfield’s favour, with the pairs, triples and rinks each building commanding leads.

Anne and Gill set the tone in the pairs against Irene and Yvonne, racing into a 12–0 lead after just five ends. Wetheral did threaten a comeback, closing the gap to 15–11 by the 15th end, but Courtfield responded in exactly the right way. Counts of three, one and five over the next three ends put the game beyond doubt, with Anne and Gill finishing strongly to win 24–11.

Julie, Aileen W and Evelyn also took control in the triples against H Jefferson’s trio. After a steady opening, Courtfield led 11–6 after nine ends before completely taking charge of the game. Wetheral were kept scoreless for seven consecutive ends as the Courtfield triple moved into a dominant 20–6 lead. They saw the game out comfortably, winning 22–7.

There was another impressive performance in the rinks, where Joanne, Leslie, Corrine and Aileen M faced Judith Clifford’s rink. Courtfield flew out of the blocks and were 16–4 ahead after 10 ends. Although the middle section of the game was more evenly shared, the result was never seriously in doubt, and they completed a solid 22–9 victory.

It was an excellent team performance across the green, with every player contributing to a dominant win.

Courtfield now move on to a home tie against Workington in the next round.

Stan Bragg – Jack Fisher Cup Round Two

Only two weeks after Wigton had beaten Courtfield in the league, the Jack Fisher Cup holders had the chance for revenge as they travelled to Wigton in round two.

Ste G, Dai and George G looked to be cruising after building a 13–3 lead after 10 ends. What followed was not quite in the plan, as Wigton scored 10 shots over the next four ends to drag themselves right back into it. Thankfully, Courtfield steadied things on the last end, picking up a single to edge home 14–13.

Tony J, Ian P and Ian B had a much tougher start against John Bell’s triple, finding themselves 13–0 down after six ends. By the 12th end, Wigton still led 16–6, but Courtfield refused to let the rink get away from them. They finished strongly, scoring eight shots over the closing ends, including a superb five on the last, to narrow the defeat to 16–14.

George, Tom K and President Dawes produced the key performance of the tie. They built an excellent 17–4 lead after 10 ends and, although Wigton reduced the gap late on, Courtfield stayed in control and secured a 19–11 win.

That gave Courtfield a 47–40 overall victory, keeping their Jack Fisher Cup defence alive and booking their place at Finals Day.

The round-two results were:

Wigton 40–47 Courtfield

Aspatria 35–52 Maryport

Silloth 41–33 Kirkbride

Dalston 34–33 Caldbeck

Courtfield now face Dalston in the semi-final.

County Competitions

There was plenty of Courtfield interest across the county competitions this week, with semi-finals, finals places and a few near misses along the way.

Young Tayler’s excellent run in the restricted singles came to an end at the semi-final stage, going down 21–17 against C Wilson. It was still a great effort in his first outing in the competition, and he can take plenty from the run.

In the ladies pairs, Gill and Aileen W were unlucky against Aspatria’s Ann Creighton, losing out 18–12.

Paul and Julie were also beaten in the mixed pairs, going down 16–8 against David Forster of Workington.

There was better news for Kev’s fab four, who marched into the semi-finals of the senior fours after beating Malcolm Smitham’s Workington four. They now face Ian Blenkinsop’s Whitehaven rink for a place in the final.

The original fab four of Mr Chris, John B, Chaos and Carsy played their semi-final, although the promised live scoring failed to materialise after a very late night watching England. Hopefully, normal service will resume next Monday for the pairs semi-final.

Thankfully, the lack of live updates did not affect the bowls, as the Courtfield four produced another big performance, beating Stuart Bowman’s Aspatria rink to book their place in the final. They will now face James Fuge’s four, also from Aspatria.

Aspatria also achieved a remarkable feat, with all four singles semi-finalists coming from the same club.

Until next week, when we do it all again — hopefully with the scorecards, the live scoring and the reporter’s sanity all still intact.