Top of the Table, Three Semi-Finals and One Friday to Forget

Wednesday Afternoon Ladies

With temperatures soaring, Bowls England and the local league administrator advised clubs either to rearrange their fixtures or reduce the number of ends played. The decision was made to go ahead with the match, with each rink reduced to 10 ends.

On rink two, Julie, Aileen W and Evelyn drew the short straw against the experienced triple skipped by Kath Baxter. Courtfield managed to score on only two ends as the visitors took the rink 14–4.

Jean, Leslie and Aileen M made a superb start on rink three against Anne Dalziel’s triple, racing into a 9–0 lead after four ends. They continued their strong form throughout the shortened game and secured an excellent 12–6 victory.

On rink four, Anne, Corrine and Gill faced Penny Peile’s triple. Courtfield picked up five shots on the second end, before their opponents fought back to level the score at 8–8 after seven. The home trio then finished in style, scoring two, four and two over the final three ends to win 16–8.

The two rink victories secured a 6–2 win for Courtfield, moving the ladies to the top of the Cumbria Ladies Bowls League.

Next week, Courtfield travel to Linton to face the combined Subscription/Linton team.

Thursday Night – Carliol League

With the A team having no fixture, all attention turned to the B team as they travelled to West End.

Chris S, Dave G and Gill always appeared to have the upper hand, although Paul Marr’s triple refused to let them pull clear. Each time Courtfield built a lead, the home side battled back to within a single shot. A valuable three on the 14th end finally gave Courtfield some breathing space, and they held on to win 16–13.

Julie, Mike D and President Dawes took control of their game from the third end, when they picked up a four. From there, they never looked back and cruised to an impressive 19–7 victory.

Debutant Russell, alongside Lesley and Ste B, made a strong start and led 7–2. Unfortunately, a disastrous spell from the seventh end saw them concede 11 shots across the next four ends, allowing Les Metcalfe’s triple to move six shots ahead. Courtfield battled back well, but the recovery fell just short as they went down 15–13.

Tony R, George P and John M were involved in a high-scoring contest. A two and a one on the final two ends earned Courtfield a 17–17 draw and secured the overall result.

The 7–3 victory moves the B team away from the foot of the table and up to seventh place.

Friday Afternoon – Carliol League Over-55s

Courtfield faced Brampton on Friday afternoon (19th June) and, after eight ends, looked to be in complete control with a 10–0 lead. Unfortunately, the closing stages told a very different story as Brampton fought their way back into the match.

John McLaren, Tony Raffles and debutant Brian Lightfoot produced the standout performance of the afternoon. They dropped only three ends and secured an excellent 18–5 victory.

Ian B and the two Alan Ds were unable to add to their score over the final four ends, while Steve B, David G and Mike D suffered the same fate as Brampton turned both rinks around.

George G, Chris S and Dai D managed to secure a draw, although they too failed to score over the final four ends.

Having been so far ahead at the halfway stage, Courtfield were left to wonder how the match had managed to slip away.

Alsop Cup

Six Courtfield players were part of the Cumbria side at Silloth, where the county secured a much-needed 20–2 victory, winning by 131 shots to 104.

The result moves Cumbria onto 32 points with one game remaining. It would still take a miracle for them to lift the Alsop Cup, but they will be determined to finish the campaign strongly when they travel to Durham on July 18th.

We wish the whole Cumbria team the very best of luck.

Stan Bragg – Jack Fisher Cup

The rearranged Jack Fisher Cup tie saw Courtfield record an impressive 59–32 victory at Brampton.

The holders now travel to Wigton as they continue the defence of their title.

Monday Afternoon – Stan Bragg League

Courtfield were hoping to bounce back after last week’s defeat when they faced Linton, and did exactly that with a clean sweep.

Tony J, Ian P and Ian B faced Alan Love’s triple and were behind at the halfway stage. They then took control, scoring 14 shots between the eighth and 13th ends to turn the game around and win 18–12.

Dave G, Dai and George G were never behind against John Henderson’s triple and completed a solid 16–10 victory.

Mr Chris, Mike D and Chaos had a much closer contest, but held their nerve to win by a single shot and secure all eight points for Courtfield.

The result keeps Courtfield firmly in the hunt for the title.

County Competitions

Captain Chaos’s run in the county singles came to an end against D Pattinson of Aspatria, going down 21–9.

There was better news in the restricted singles, where young Tayler continued his excellent run with victory over J Grisedale of Aspatria. The win takes him through to the semi-final, where he will face C Wilson of Harris Park.

Monday Evening – County Pairs Quarter-Finals

Dalston hosted the county pairs quarter-finals on Monday evening, with Captain Chaos, Paul C, and Carsy flying the Courtfield flag.

The two Workington pairs played their tie at their own green, where David Forster defeated Frank Tinnion 20–11.

Mel Sallis faced the difficult task of taking on England’s Kev Harrison and skip Stu Irwin. The Subscription duo gave it everything, but went down 22–8.

Paul and Carsy started brightly against Bluey and Mark Irwin, holding five shots on the opening end before Mark drew in for third.

Their good form continued when Carsy, one down in the head, trailed the jack perfectly to score three and put Courtfield in control. By the halfway stage, they had built a commanding 16–5 lead.

Aspatria were given some hope on the 12th end when Mark, one down, turned out the shot bowl to collect four. Bluey then shortened the mat and was holding three himself as the comeback began to gather pace, but Carsy played a runner to reduce the damage to one.

On the next end, Mark looked to have done enough with a superb draw, only for Carsy to follow him down and produce the perfect reply. George Gray, watching from the sidelines, called it the shot of the day.

Courtfield were now on the brink of victory and finally sealed their place in the semi-final on the 16th end, winning 22–10.

The final tie saw last year’s runners-up, Matthew Hodgson and Steven Cook, face Ian Gallagher and John Baird.

From the second end, the crowd knew they were in for a quality game. Workington were holding one when Gally told John to turn it out and rest on another bowl. John did exactly as he was told and converted the head into a five.

The standard remained high throughout, with the Subscription pair leading 10–9 at the halfway stage.

The one-shot lead remained until Matthew edged the jack with his final bowl to level the match at 14–14. On the next end, he again trailed the jack to score one and give his pair the lead.

On the final end, Steven rested his first bowl against the jack and the Workington pair looked favourites. Gally then produced a world-class second bowl to make shot.

Subscription were later lying three when Matthew played another excellent shot to put Workington back in control. John responded with a runner, removing the Workington bowl and leaving Subscription holding three.

Matthew’s final bowl ran through the gap, handing the tie to Subscription.

They will now face Paul and Carsy in the semi-final on 13th July.

That makes three Courtfield semi-final appearances so far: the restricted singles, the fours and the pairs.

It brings back memories of 2014, when Courtfield won all three competitions at Finals Day. Fingers crossed history can repeat itself.

Hopefully, the semi-finals will have live scoring available on our website for anyone who cannot make it.