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The county has been informed that Cheshire have withdrawn their “A” team from the 2018/2019 inter county championship. We had an away fixture with Cheshire on Sunday 4th November and a home fixture on Sunday the 18th November. These matches will not now be played but the fixture dates will remain live. The County Captain is investigating the possibility of arranging friendly fixtures for these two dates so all squad members should assume at this stage that county matches will be played on these dates.

The County Squad for the friendly fixture at home against Northamptonshire on the 19th August  is set out below  :   Please note that lunch will be available from the canteen.

SINGLE   1       Mats  2& 3            Richard Payne

SINGLES  2     Mats  1 & 4            Jim Tingle

PAIRS    1         Mats  3 & 2            Pete Forster  and  Richard Rose

PAIRS    2         Mats   4  & 1          Dave Grove  and  Leah Arthurs-Thompson

TRIPLES  1       Mats   1 & 4          Trish Clifford /  Tony Crowley / Keith Mills

TRIPLES  2       Mats    2 & 3          Yvonne Payne / Sandra Felton / Maureen Tingle

FOURS  1          Mats    3 & 2          Robn Holmes / Belinda Gibbs/Gary Markham/ Malcolm Saunders

FOURS  2         Mats     4 & 1          Jenny Gibbs / Carol Arnold / Rob Franklin / Terry Clifford

The squad for the friendly away fixture against Northamptonshire on the 29th July is set out below. The squad will need to bring their own lunch with them on this occasion.

VENUE  –  Daventry Indoor Bowls Club, Browns Road, Daventry, Northants, NN11 4NS   —   START  10.00am

SINGLES  1  –  Mats  1 & 3    –    JIM TINGLE

SINGLES  2  –  Mats  2 & 4    –    RICHARD PAYNE

PAIRS        1  –  Mats  3 & 1    –    SANDRA FELTON  & RICHARD ROSE

PAIRS        2  –  Mats  4 & 2   –    BELINDA GIBBS  &  DAVE GROVE

TRIPLES    1  –  Mats  1 & 3    –     RACHEL SKYE WESSON / CAROL ARNOLD / KEITH MILLS

TRIPLES    2  –  Mats  2 & 4    –    TRISH CLIFFORD / TONY CROWLEY / MAUREEN TINGLE

FOURS       1  –   Mats  3 & 1    –    ROBIN HOLMES / CHRIS ALLEN / GARY MARKHAM / ALAN WALTERS

FOURS       2  –  Mats  4 & 2    –    JENNY GIBBS / ROB FRANKLIN / ANNE HOUGH / TERRY CLIFFORD

RESERVES   –   ANNE ROSE  &  YVONNE PAYNE

Each year the ESMBA holds a Summer Championship ( this year held in Tamworth )  for affiliated short mat bowls clubs in England. The championship also doubles as a qualifying event for the ESMBA / TLH Top Club Championship finals held annually in Torquay, with the next event being held in May 2019. This year one club from Worcestershire competed  –  Churchill and Blakedown Short Mat Bowls Club  –  participating with a team of seven bowlers. These were  –  Terry Clifford  /  Richard Rose  /  Trish Clifford  /  Sandra Felton  /  Dave Grove  /  Garry Markham  and  Malcolm Saunders.

Churchill and Blakedown compete against Woolhope Club from Herefordshire, Old Stratford from Northamptonshire and Magic Circle from the West Midlands. The familiar format  of Singles/Fours  playing first, followed by Pairs/Triples took place resulting in five bowlers being involved in each session.

There was strong opposition, and Churchill and Blakedown in the group stage lost three of their four individual matches against Woolhope –  Richard Rose and Dave Grove, however, had a convincing 13/8 win in their Pairs match. The second club to play Churchill and Blakedown  –  Old Stratford  –   was very strong with Churchill and Blakedown losing their four individual matches. Churchill and Blakedown then went on to play  their third and final group match against Magic Circle from the West Midlands and won three of their individual matches in convincing form. Richard Rose won his Singles match  13/10,  Terry Clifford’s Fours team won 9/4 and Terry’s Triples team won 7/2.

After a very hot but enjoyable day, and in spite of early setbacks, but with an improved performance at the end of the day, Churchill and Blakedown were pleased that they had qualified for the Top Club Finals which will take place in Torquay in May next year.

The ESMBA together with the TLH leisure resort in Torquay hold an annual English Top Club competition. There are two qualifying events held in July and January from which the top 16 clubs are determined to go forward to a finals competition held in Torquay in April/May each year. This year’s event took place over the weekend of 28th/29th April. Churchill and Blakedown short Mat Bowls Club qualified for this event in July last year.

Churchill and Blakedown bowlers participating in this year’s competition – Terry Clifford, Ian Davis, Trish Clifford, Alan Walters, Sandra Felton, Richard Rose, Malcolm Saunders and Dave Grove.

The preliminary stages consisted of four groups of four clubs with Churchill and Blakedown playing two clubs from Northamptonshire and one from Dorset. Although losing their first group Match ( 1 x singles, fours, pairs and triples), they went on to do very well in their matches with the other two clubs to finish second in their group. This meant that they were through to the last eight for the first time since they have played in this competition.. The quarter final knockout match was played against Southampton and with wins in the singles and pairs, but losing in the fours and triples, the match was drawn with the deciding factor being shot difference which did not go in Churchill and Blakedown’s favour. Although out of the competition at this stage the team were well satisfied with their overall performance throughout the tournament.