Year: 2023

Downton Dragons v Wimborne Charlie

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Match Report 22nd July 2023

First I would like to thank Ann Galpin for stepping in at the last moment to replace Dawn Jones who was feeling unwell.

Rink 4 – Lynda , Cathy and Charles had a convincing win with 20 shots to 8 shots.

Rink 3 – Colin, Ann and Steve struggled with the long jacks put up by the opposition and lost by 12 shots to 15 shots. However we won the match overall and maintained our third place position in the league.

Next week we are away at Bournemouth Bowls Club.

Steve Allen – Downton Dragons Captain

Downton Dragons v Swanage Puffins

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Match Report 5th August 2023 Today’s match at Swanage has been cancelled due to bad weather on the coast. As we were unable to agree a date for a return match we therefore agreed to share the points. Our next match is at home against the Swanage Seagulls in Saturday 12 August at 10am. Steve Allen Downton Dragons Captain
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Bustards v Lyndhurst

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Despite the horrendous weather forecast & heavy rain just an hour before the due start of the match, the Lyndhurst captain was still very keen to play. When I saw how strong their team was, I understood why! Fortunately, the forecast thunder storms never materialised & we managed to play all 18 ends, at least half of which were played in glorious sunshine. Despite the rain, the green played really well. Thank you to the green keeping team for all their hard work.
Rink 1 – Ivan, Muriel & Cathy just got pipped at the post & lost 13-15, having played a tremendous match against a very strong trio.
Rink 2 – Tony, Alan & Geoff, just had one of those days & lost 9-31.
Overall score Bustards 22 v 46 Lyndhurst.
We are still comfortably in third place, but I think finishing in the top two is now beyond our reach, even with a win in next weeks away match against top of the table Swanage Dolphins.
Ivan Buss – 5th August 2023.

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Bustards v Poole Park

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The Poole Park team arrived in soggy Downton, fresh from their surprise victory over top of the league Swanage yesterday.
After a quick shower before the start, it stopped raining for the minimum 12 ends required to call a result & although it did then start to rain, we did manage to finish all 18 before it started to pour it down.
We were leading on both rinks after 12 ends & managed to keep that form going, to win both rinks. Despite the weather making the going good to soft, the green still played really well.
Rink 1 – Paul, Muriel & Cathy won 26-14 (19-7 after 12). A strong start 10 of 3 ends & a strong finish 7 of the last 3 ends, helped the cause, as does winning 11 ends.
Rink 2 – Rosemary, Alan & Ivan won 17-9 (10-7 after 12). Although this was a fairly low scoring match, our team won 13 ends & after losing the first end, were never behind again.
Overall score Bustards 43 v 23 Poole.
We are now only 5 points behind second placed Lyndhurst, so a good victory over them in next weeks home match, could see us move up a place. The following week we are away to Swanage & a convincing win over them, could see us go top!
Ivan Buss – 30th July 2023.

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New Forest Men- A Respectable Third

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Downton v New Milton A,27th July 2023 Downton Men faced NM needing a result with a four point difference in their favour.This being the final NEW FOREST LEAGUE match with NewMilton in third and Downton fourth. The bonus match points were never in doubt due to the Triple of Alan Waters, Simon Stacey and Lewis Ambler creating an almighty cushion 18-0 after eight ends. We then wanted another winning Rink. Nick Purkis, Paul Fox and Paul Tanner, were up with the opposition most of the way, but just lost out over the last few ends 13-17. Geoff Warr, Neil Gillespie and Charles Burrows, did well to claw back from 3-13 to finally end 15-17 in NM’s favour. Fortunately the steady trio of Colin Morris, Steve Allen and John James held firm all the way to give us the other winning triple 18-12. Downton finished third in the League, and to celebrate the match, Lewis has written a Limerick ditty:
On the green we aimed for a score, ‘gainst New Milton we’d give all we bore. With precision we’d throw all our bowls in a row, for a triumph that left them in awe!
Alan W.

S&D Downton v Andover Lions, [results)

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Downton v Andover Lions 24/7
How do we keep doing this? Our home match against one of the stronger League sides, again ended with Downton losing by one shot on the last end. Paul Tanners triple were holding the two needed to win, when the oppositions skip sneaked one to take the final end. A great effort by the lads, Lewis, Colin and Dibbie Emm won their Rink by 6,. John James’ triple lost by seven, with Paul Tanner, David Fretwell and Dave Galpin by two. So unlucky again.
Regards, Alan 25/7/23

New Forest League, Downton v Ringwood

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This, the penultimate match of the season, transpired into a game of some importance. In the League table, Ringwood lie fifth to Downton’s 4th, with a two point gap. The game was played at Ringwood, and you could hear the muffled chatter of the Ringwood players enthusing with a must win attitude as they are not confident of overtaking us with points from their last match on the carpet at Braeside the following week.
The fast speed of the Green took some getting use to, especially with the characteristic runs and swings the surface has at this time of the season. A pattern was set from the off with Colin Morris, Steve Allen and John James coping very well, as did Paul Bromage, Nick Purkis and Paul Tanner. The others floundered a bit, although the Waters triple did pull back some much needed shots at the end. Three rinks finished ahead of Colin’s triple, who went into the last end knowing two shots would take the match. There was a good deal of advice from the sidelines as Colin had the last shot to play holding one shot, but with Ringwood a very close second. Does he take the shot or try for the extra shot to win the match.? He returns to the mat to play his wood, which was wide of the mark. Match drawn at 73 shots each, and points shared.
Alan W. 22/7/23

Bournemouth Broncos v Bustards

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22nd July 2023. Match Result.
The Bustards team travelled to Mayrick Park, hoping the weather forecast would be wrong & we would be able to play at least the required minimum 12 ends. Fortunately, after 30 minutes of rain, the clouds kept away just long enough for us to complete the match in full. This was good news for us, as Cathy’s rink was losing 10-14 at this stage.
Rink 1 – Paul, Ivan & Cathy won 21-15, after finding their form from end 11 onwards.
Rink 2 – Rosemary, Alan & Geoff won 29-6. A commanding performance right from the off, winning 13 ends, which included a 6 & four 3’s.
Overall match result – Bustards 50 v 21 Broncos. We now sit comfortably in third position in the league.

Next weeks match is the rearranged home match against Poole Park, which is being played on Sunday, with an 11am start.  The bar will be open from midday and all spectators are welcome.

Men’s Captain Report for June/July

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New Forest. We are in 4th place, but with only two games to play there is only a slight chance of climbing up the table to 3rd. Four wins and a draw with five loses. Just two weeks to go makes the NF season quite short. One highlight was actually winning two triples out of 4 at Braeside, always a challenge on their surface.

Salisbury and District: Played 9 matches in this league, so just over halfway through the fixtures. As usual, so not unexpectedly, we are propping up the League table, although not without success. A very good win against Amesbury and an excellent victory over Alderbury where our up and coming skips, John James and Lewis Ambler, both won their rink.

In a lot of the games rinks have come close to winning overall, but the opposition always have that edge. The Herbie Turner knockout cup was conceded as we could not find twelve players. Again I think the league should give thought to allowing ladies to compliment the sides for this and also the league.

Bournemouth and District. The Bustards have just past halfway and are third. It would be a really big ask for them to improve on that position, but, with 6 games to play, stranger things have happened. The Dragons are 4th and have seven games to play, so are quite capable of runners up or winning this league.

Competitions of all sorts have been, or are still ongoing. Some notable successes, one being the victory over a very good rinks side at Ringwood in the New Forest fours. Still a couple of us in the plate competitions. As I have said before, the men have been remarkable in their support of all the League games.

Alan Waters, 18/7/23.