CHAWTON Park’s indoor bowlers completed the first half of the Bramley Bowl league season with an emphatic 91-61 win over Victory IBC from Portsmouth.
Chawton’s away rinks, skipped by Mark Fyfield and Adam White, both made good starts. By ten ends, White’s men had cruised into a lead that would never be challenged and they won 22-13.
The Fyfield rink looked comfortable at 17 ends, holding a seven-shot advantage, but four were dropped over the next three to set up a tense final end.
Fyfield, game down, needed to drive with his last bowl and successfully killed the end. So the end was replayed and Fyfield was again in trouble, game down with his last wood to come.
With no drive available, an inch-perfect draw was required, and inch-perfect it was. Second or third wood would have saved the day, but Fyfield drew the jack to turn seven down into three up and a superb 23-17 win.
Back at Chawton, Dave Atwell’s rink led from almost start to finish and won easily, 26-8.
The Graham Robinson rink led by five at halfway, but a run of five lost ends in the latter stages proved costly and they went down narrowly, 21-23. However, the overall victory extended Chawton’s Bramley Bowl lead to six points.
In national competitions, several Chawton teams battled each other for a place in the next round.
Barry Smith and Dave Turner overcame Charlie Spear and Gary Johnson 17-11 in the men’s pairs, but there was success for Spear in the singles at Riverside where he beat Brian Baxendale 21-4.
In an all-Chawton triples, Robert Hutchinson, Gary Johnson and Graham Robinson defeated Dick Holden, Mark Fyfield and Adam White 24-13.
There was yet another all-Chawton affair in the mixed fours and Mark Fyfield’s rink beat Adam White’s team 15-8.
Lesley Johnson and Margaret Holden were up against Annie Pearce and Margaret Darkin, two tough campaigners from Atherley, in a close-fought ladies’ pairs match. Atherley led through halfway, and although the Chawton pair fought back to take the lead, they fell away over the last few ends, losing 14-19.