The Count, the Crawl and the Close Calls

Carliol League — Courtfield A at Kirkbride

Courtfield A travelled to Kirkbride in the Carliol League, with the early signs suggesting it might actually be a calm night. Naturally, that didn’t last.

Mr Chris, Lawrence and Captain Chaos made the stronger start against Trav Pape’s triple, winning six of the first nine ends to lead 8–3. Kirkbride, however, refused to go away and dragged it back to 10–10 playing the last. With the game on the line, Lawrence drew the shot when it mattered most to get Courtfield moving.

Tom, John B and Carsy were locked in a tight battle with Charlie McDonagh’s triple, where shots were harder to come by than names on the coffee morning rota. Kirkbride led 9–8 after 12 ends, but Courtfield finished the better, taking the final three ends to win 12–9.

By this point, the other two rinks were still slightly behind, helped by Lee and Andy arriving at 18:47 to find everyone else already on the green. Nobody is saying Andy drove slowly to Kirkbride, but apparently the sat nav asked if they wanted to switch to walking mode.

Ste G, Dai and Lee had made a slow start, scoring on only one of the first eight ends and falling 9–5 behind. They then found a much-needed burst, scoring seven shots over the next three ends to get themselves back in front. Davie Neave’s triple came back again to level it at 13–13 with one end to play, but Lee’s second bowl drew within a few inches. Davie had a go at removing it, but with no joy, Courtfield claimed another rink.

Andy, Tayler and Kev had the hardest route of the night against Richard Peart’s triple and spent most of the game chasing. With Courtfield only five ahead on the aggregate, they were five down with two ends left. Holding one, Kev played his last bowl and somehow managed to give the shot away, which went down about as well as expected with the watching crowd.

The last end still had a bit of danger about it. Courtfield’s front end gave themselves a chance, before Richard played a great bowl to put the aggregate under pressure. Kev then redeemed himself by taking it out and lying three, which was enough to close out an excellent 8–2 away win.

Carliol League — Courtfield B v Wetheral

Courtfield B hosted Wetheral and had one of those matches where the scoreboard told one story, but the rinks told several others.

Anne, David T and Gill had a difficult night on rink one, and Gill having to come off injured made a tough task even harder. Wetheral took control and ran out 29–4 winners.

Jean, Aileen W and Evelyn gave Courtfield something to shout about. They led Mike Scott’s triple 10–5 after nine ends, before Wetheral pulled it back to 11–11 after 13. The Courtfield trio responded superbly, picking up a two and then a three to win 16–11. A proper strong finish when it could easily have slipped away.

Corrine, George P and Ste B looked to be in control for most of their game and led 13–9 going into the final end. Unfortunately, bowls did what bowls does, and a dropped four meant the game finished 13–13. A good performance, but definitely one of those handshakes where you are still replaying the last end in your head.

Chris S, Tony J and Dave G were involved in another tight finish. With Wetheral holding shot and game, Dave knew moving the jack was the right idea. He played a great bowl to do exactly that, but then came the usual Courtfield admin issue: nobody seemed entirely sure what the count was. Dave thought Courtfield were lying three, but it turned out to be only one, and the rink finished tied at 14–14.

Courtfield B showed plenty of fight, but Wetheral edged it 6–4.

Carliol League Over 55's — Courtfield v Dalston

The Friday team were at home to Dalston for their first home game of the season, and once again proved they have no interest in doing things the easy way.

John McLaren, Tony Raffles and George Pape gave Courtfield a great start, racing into a 10–1 lead. John still found time to have a moan about the rink, which at least shows his standards remain high even when winning. Dalston pulled a few shots back, but the Courtfield trio had done enough early damage and came through with a solid 19–11 win.

Ian Blenkinsop’s trio went into the match as the only unbeaten rink and looked determined to keep it that way. They started strongly, but Dalston gradually worked their way back into the game and made it far tighter than Courtfield would have liked. With the pressure on, two singles on the final two ends were enough to see them over the line 14–12 and keep the 100% record intact.

Steve Boyd, Mr Chris and Mike Dewhurst were involved in another close contest, with very little between the sides throughout. Unfortunately, dropping two shots on the final end proved costly, and they were edged out 16–15. One shot defeats are never enjoyable, especially when everyone suddenly becomes an expert on the end you should have won.

Chris Slack, David Davidson and Gordon Hastings had a tougher time on the final rink and couldn’t quite get into the game, eventually going down 14–8.

That left the match right on a knife edge, which is apparently how the Friday team prefer it. Courtfield held on for a 6–4 victory, taking the aggregate by just three shots, 56–53.

A good home win in the end, although anyone watching may need to bring a stronger drink than tea next week.

Cumbria Alsop

Several Courtfield bowlers made the trip to Bolton Flat Green to represent Cumbria in the second Alsop game of the season against Lancashire.

Carsy and Kev had a good result, winning their rink against Jason Parkinson’s rink. Mr Chris led for Ryan Brannan’s rink, who were narrowly beaten 19–17 after a close game.

Paul C and Tayler played in Callum Hodgson’s rink and had a tougher afternoon, going down 34–15.

The final score was Cumbria 4, Lancashire 18, with Lancashire taking the aggregate 129–99. The result leaves Cumbria bottom of the table, but with two games still to play, there is still time for things to turn around.

Roland Starkie

There were mixed fortunes for Courtfield in the Roland Starkie.

George Gray, Dai and Mike Dewhurst produced an excellent performance to beat Lawrence Kelly 20–10, booking their place in the last eight. They will now face P. Coulthard from Wigton Park in the next round.

Unfortunately, Kev, Tayler and Andy had a tough afternoon, going down 23–10 to the Kirkbride triple of Allan Stark Jnr, Charlie McDonagh and Dave Edgar.

Stan Bragg

Courtfield faced a big Monday afternoon test in the Stan Bragg, taking on title holders Caldbeck.

Tony J, Tom and President Allan had a nightmare start, falling 17 shots behind without reply, which is never ideal unless the plan was to give Caldbeck a generous head start.

Mr Chris, Mike D and Paul C gave Courtfield something to shout about with a comfortable win, but Ste G, Dai and George G also struggled early, finding themselves 14–1 down.

It proved to be a bad afternoon overall, with Courtfield losing 6–2, but they still hold on to second place in the table with plenty of games still to go. Not the result they wanted, but definitely not the time to panic.

County & Nationals

Jean and Evelyn were unlucky in the County Pairs against M. Kevern from Whitehaven. They led for much of the game and were still right in it at 15–15 after 17 ends, but a single for the Whitehaven duo on the last was enough to pip them at the post.

Unlucky girls — a strong effort and very close to a cracking result.

In the Restricted Singles, Tayler produced a strong performance to beat Tony Jennings 21–

15, booking his place in the last against Richard Peart.

Gill and President Allan were beaten in the Family Pairs by Michael Lawson from Workington, going down 22–12.

Paul C and Carsy played their pairs game early and came away with a good 17–13 win against J. Fletcher from Penrith Friars. A solid result and another Courtfield pair safely through.

A busy week for Courtfield with plenty packed in across the leagues, county games and club competitions. There were good wins, tough defeats, a few last-end frustrations, and just enough confusion to keep things normal.

With more league games and county ties to come, there should be plenty more to report next week.

Stan Bragg League Table and Latest Results