Through a week of storms, it was with relief that the three scheduled games for the men of Ivybridge Bowls Club were all completed.
On Monday the team travelled to Dean Cross for a County Trophy match against Oreston.
Before the game started, there were concerns among the team members as to the nature of an unidentified object in the sky which transpired to be a long awaited appearance of the sun!
It certainly had a positive effect on the Ivybridge team and having got off to a good start they never looked back, taking the game by an impressive 84 – 59 margin.
There were three winning rinks for the Bridgers with Peter Bray, Ted Gibbons, John Cann and skip Dave Crisp having the stand-out performance, coming out on top 24 – 9.
Albert Collett, Ray Candy, Roland Lugger and skip Peter Newman won 21 - 15 and Dave Taylor, Gordon Freeman and Paul Binyon with skip Grenville Barnett were also victorious by 22 – 18.
The fourth rink of Jack Bilby, Ken Abraham, Larry Ireland and Eric Bennett (skip) were held to a 17 – 17 draw.
It was down to earth with a bump on Tuesday when North Down were the visitors to the Bridge Park green for a rearranged County Trophy game, the original fixture having been cancelled due to the weather.
It was always going to be tough for the Bridgers as their opponents are one of the strongest sides in the area.
Three rinks had close finishes with Peter Bray, Sandy Robertson and John Cann, skipped by Dave Crisp, losing 20 – 23, Dave Bithell, Frank Sanders, Brian Underhill and Stan Parsons (skip) going down 15 – 18 and Jack Bilby, Ken Abraham and Larry Ireland, skipped by Eric Bennett, losing 19 – 21.
Unfortunately the final rink of Dave Taylor, Tony Plant, Roland Lugger and skip Grenville Barnett had a nightmare.
No matter what they did, their opponents had all the answers and it took 15 ends before the home rink gained a shot. Their final score was 5 – 36, giving a match result to the visitors by 98 – 59.
On Saturday, passports at the ready, the team travelled into Cornwall to take on Torpoint.
By the end of the first session the visitors were wishing that G4S had been at the border and had refused them entry...
When the eighth end was completed they were losing by 24 shots. Another eight shots were lost in the next quarter.
There was no let up after the tea break when a further three shots were to go begging, leaving the Ivies with a 35-shot deficit.
It was to be all too little too late for Ivybridge when they finally managed to find a little form and by the end of the game they had reduced the difference to slightly more respectable nineteen shots. This gave Torpoint a 137 – 118 victory.
Surprisingly the rink of Jack Bilby, Frank Sanders, Larry Ireland and skip Eric Bennett actually finished the day 39 – 31 up after losing their first session by 18 – 1.
Also finishing with a positive score were Peter Bray, Roland Lugger and John Cann, skipped by Dave Crisp, who won 30 – 28.
Albert Collett, Arthur Baxendale, Clive Ashby and Peter Newman (skip) lost 23 - 35 and Tony Plant, Sandy Robertson and Paul Binyon with skip Stan Parsons were defeated 26 – 43.