Close match signals start of Scunthorpe indoor bowls season

p>The Scunthorpe Early Evening Bowls League Division One has got off to a good start with the teams of Paul Johnson, Dave Saxby, Phil Barnard, Josey Rayner and Joan Bolton all securing wins in their first matches.

An interesting match was played between Bolton's team and that of Tony Hebblewhite, one that resulted in an extremely close finish after a dramatic twist halfway through.

The Hebblewhite squad set off well, shooting into an early 9-1 shots lead as they won seven out of the first eight ends.

At this point the Bolton team fought back to win four out of the next five ends and they maintained that momentum by going on to eventually take a 14-11 lead.

Although they battled on, the Hebblewhite team only managed one shot on each of the last two ends, losing out by the narrowest of margins 14-13.

In Division Two, the teams of Dave Copley, Graham Teal, Gez Holloway, Tom McDiarmid, Trevor Bryant and Julie Hargraves succeeded in winning their first games.

Fleming's team played against Julie Hargraves' team in an encounter that resulted in another close finish.

Open Pairs

Division One sees the pairings of Adam Rhodes, Steve Redhead and Steve Burton unbeaten after their first matches.

Richard Waltham and partner played against Steve Burton and partner in a game of two halves.

The Burton duo started well and lead 9-1 after the first nine ends of the match, courtesy of some excellent bowling.

Then it was the turn of the Waltham pair to do the same, though they were still beaten 13-9.

In Division Two, the teams of Graham Teal and Josey Rayner won their first games while the teams headed by Tony Nicholson and Frank Pike drew their match.

In the latter of those contests it was the Nicholson duo who started strongly, leading 7-3 and then 10-6 either side of Pike and his partner digging their heels in.

But a 6-2 swing in the final stages ensured a 12-12 draw in what proved an interesting match-up.

Veteran Rinks

The squads of Pat Lowe, Jean Anderson, John Painter, Peter Collins, Ron Kelly and Tony Lingard all had victorious first matches in Division One.

Whiteley's team played a game against the team of Tony Lingard in an encounter that developed into an extremely close match.

The Lingard squad shot out of the starting blocks, leading 5-0 early on before some quality bowling then put them 9-3 in front.

The second half of the match heralded the improvement of the Whiteley squad, who picked up their game to win the next six consecutive ends.

This intriguing battle eventually went right to the wire with a scoreline of 13 shots each with just one end to complete.

Fortunately for the Lingard team, they managed a single shot on the final end to secure the match win in what had been an extremely close game.

In Division Two the teams with first game wins include Arthur Meggett, Keith Dobbs, Eileen Horton, Terry Hardy, John Roope and Neil Berry.

The match between the teams of Peter Gibbon and Neil Berry only managed to complete 14 ends in an intense two-hour session.

It started off fairly evenly balanced, with the early scores 3-3.

With both teams playing some consistent quality bowls the scoreline progressed on to 7-7 and then 8-8 with just four ends left to play.

These final four ends proved to be the deciding factor in this battle, with Gibbon's team scoring one shot and Berry's four to ensure they snook a 13-9 victory.