27/07/12…..Thame Ladies reach Bowls final – again!

FOR the third year running, Thame Ladies have reached the final of the Top Club competition. On Sunday, July 22, they travelled to Banbury Borough to face the combined teams of Banbury Borough and Bloxham (amusingly nicknamed “banblo”).

In the singles, Caroline Walker started nervously and soon found herself trailing 9 shots to 1 against her similarly named Banbury opponent Carol Walker. At 11 – 3 down she looked beaten, but gradually Caroline got back into the game with some excellent bowling and soon drew level and with a four on end 15 surged 15 – 11 ahead. The Banbury bowler was stuck on 11 shots and Caroline turned the screw to go 19 – 11 up. A slight wobble from Caroline saw Carol Walker get back into the game with a 4 herself, and at 19 – 15 the tension was mounting. However, cool and calm Caroline held on and drew 2 shots on the final end to win 23 – 16.

In the pairs, Jill Brooks and Doreen Penn were rarely in trouble against their Banbury opponents. They completely out-bowled them end after end, and finally won by 9 clear shots at 29 to 20.

The triples of Maire Duncan (who had travelled up from her holiday in Bournemouth especially to play), Marthie du Preez and skip Val Birchley had a much tougher game on their hands. There was never more than 2 shots between the two sides and it went right to the wire. On the final end with Thame just one shot ahead, Maire drew a shot right onto the jack, and this was soon followed by a wood from Marthie which stopped just 2 inches short. They hung on to these two shots to win 20 to 17.

Although the four of Carol Boyland, Margaret Boynton, Ingrid Dale and Maxine Plested battled hard for every shot, they eventually lost by just one shot – a very brave effort.

So – well done ladies – you are on for the hat-trick of top club successes. The final will be played at Oxford City & County on Saturday, August 25th against either Shiplake (who Thame beat in the previous two finals) or Oxford Sports.

SOURCE: Club report by Vic Brooks