Monday the 30th July saw the annual return of the Cliff Stratton Memorial Cup from 2pm. 8 drawn triples took part, raising money for Pulborough bowls club and McMillan, the chosen charity for the event. 4 sessions of 4 ends were played, with George Lewis, Malcolm Gray and Hugh Hubbard winning all 4 of their sessions by a sizable margin to far out-bowl their opponents with a shot difference of +21! Second place went to John Brown, Ivan Salmon and Jane Gray with +5 shots and Len Adsett, Steve Adsett and John Walsh came third with +4.The presentation of the Cliff Stratton Cup, was made by Son, Adey Stratton, who represents the proud bowling history of the Stratton family at Pulborough bowls club.
A busy week followed, with 2 Brookes Motor League games, the heats for the club drawn pairs competitions and a friendly away against Steyning BC on Sunday 5th Aug. The first to try out the improved, faster green at Pulborough were RAFA on Weds evening. 2 triples played a game of 2 halves, with Paul Day and team having a stronger first half, holding their own until half way, when they got stuck on 7 shots, whilst the RAFA side pulled out a lead to finish 21/12 ahead. The team of skip John Brown, with Jane Gray as lead and Len Adsett as 2, proved a strong combination, pulling back a deficit of -13 shots on end 11 to win by 10 shots! A 6 on the 13th end may have helped! The final result was a win for Pulborough by 1 shot and 4 valuable league points to help their climb back up the BML Division 1 table.
The second league game against Chichester was always going to be a tough ask, with several places dividing the two teams in the league table, but Pulborough were determined to make them work for every point and came tantalisingly close to a second win, with just 3 shots separating the 2 teams on end 18! Paul Day, Julie Day and Mick Ayling spent most of their game 1 step behind the Chichester triple, until a 5 on end 17 brought them back into contention, only to drop a 5 on the last end to finish 6 shots adrift! Skip John Brown, again with Jane Gray as lead and Len Adsett as 2, fought hard to stay in contention and pull out a small lead, but a win by 3 shots wasn’t quite enough for overall victory, so Chichester claimed 4 points to Pulborough’s 2. A hawl of 6 points in the BML will certainly help Pulborough’s challenge in the league table for 2018!
The heats of the club drawn pairs competition took place in scorching temperatures on Saturday the 4th from midday. 8 pairs took part in the first quarter-finals over 15 ends, with the winners progressing to the semi-finals later in the afternoon. Steve Adsett and Mick Ayling played against Julie Day and Jeff Davy, keeping within 2 or 3 shots for most of the game, before a grandstand finish saw Jeff draw the deciding shot on the final end to steal victory! Paul Day and Hugh Hubbard kept their noses infront from end 6 against Jane Gray and George Lewis, but a late comeback saw 2 shots take the later to within a shot of a draw! Paul and Hugh, Julie and Jeff now progress to the club finals on the 8th/9th Sept.
5 triples played against Steyning BC on Sunday afternoon. With both warm temperatures and a very warm welcome, play got underway at 2pm. The first 8 ends were a friendly affair with the scores tied at halfway, but whatever went in the tea had the desired effect and 3 of the 5 Pulborough triples lost their way, resulting in a 92/71 win for the home side and 2 rink wins for Pulborough. Top rink for Pulborough went to skip Malcolm Gray, with Sylvia Smith as lead and Jane Gray as 2, with 14 winning ends out of 18 and a 18/5 scoreline!
Pulborough next play at home to Goring in the WSBL on Weds, away at Storrington in the BML on Thurs, at home to Witterings on Sat 11th at 2pm and the Penny Rhoder Cup at home on Sunday 12th from 2pm, spectators always welcome!
