Unlike the away match, where we lost both rinks to half of their first team, today we faired much better against their normal side. The rooks had done their best to make a mess of the green, which after some light rain played very, very slow & bumpy.
Rink 3 – Tony, Rod & Geoff W24-8. Winning 10 out of the first 12 ends with two 3’s & a 4, we lead 18-2 after 12 ends & this one was never in doubt. 3 more ends were won on the home stretch, leading to a convincing 24-8 win. Well done guys, a brilliant performance.
Rink 4 – Muriel, Ivan & Lewis L12-25. Good job the other rink played so well, as this team were soundly thrashed. To be honest, we were lucky to win the 7 ends we did win! Scoring 5 shots over the last 3 ends helped make the score somewhat respectable (double figures) & helped us to win the match overall, but losing a 5 on end 8 & a pathetic 6 on end 14 to trail 7-22, was really embarrassing. We need to regroup & play much better than that next week.
Match score Bustards 36 v 33 Kingfishers, thanks to the boys on Rink 3. Bustards 4 points, Kingfishers 2 points. We remain second in the league, now 11 points ahead of the Kingfishers after today’s win, but 8 behind the Dolphins who also have a game in hand.
Next Saturday we are away to Bournemouth Broncos, who are bottom of league, but are good fun to play against & their ground is very picturesque.
Ivan Buss 20th July 2024.

This proved to be a very challenging morning. Both teams found the rinks to be inconsistent & hard to read, which resulted in a very close match.
Rink 5 – Tony, Rod & Geoff L15-16. Nip & tuck all match with each team winning 9 ends. We were behind until the 12th end when we led 12-10. Trailing 13-15 after an 3 on end 15, we rallied to 15-15 with one end to play. Lying 2, their skip played a brilliant last shot of the match, to take 1 shot & the win. Another great effort from our team, who were very unlucky not to take the win.
Rink 4 – Muriel, Ivan & Lewis W20-18. I decided to change the positions in the team around & after 4 ends we were winning 6-0. After end 5, the wheels came off, losing 3, 6 & 3 on the next 3 ends to be trailing 14-6. A 4 on end 9, closed the gap & we took the lead back 16-15 on end 14. A 3 on end 17 gave us a three shot cushion & we hung on to win 20-18. A really tough match & a very well deserved hard fought victory.
Match score Bustards 35 v 34 Panthers. Bustards 4 points, Dolphins 2 points. We remain second in the league.
Next Saturday we are at home to Knyveton Kingfishers. It’s a 10am start & the bar is open from midday. All spectators are very welcome.
Ivan Buss 13th July 2024.

Last weeks match against Swanage Seagulls was cancelled, due to our ground being flooded.

Under the comp rules, we have to mutually agree a date to play the match within 15 days. The Seagulls would not agree to any of the dates I offered, so the match was deemed to be a tie, 1 point each.
That meant we remained in second 8 points ahead of the Seagulls, but are now 12.5 points behind the Dolphins, who won 5.5 to 0.5.
Ivan Buss 13th July 2024.

The 2nd placed Bustards made the long trip to take on unbeaten league leaders Swanage Dolphins.
Another beautiful day to play bowls, on a very fast, but bumpy green. Like us, they have the local rooks to thank for this!
Rink 4 – Tony, Rod & Geoff W26-7. Another great effort from the team, who on this occasion hit form right from the off. The boys only lost 4 ends & won 12 of the last 14. A 6 on end 5, 2×3 & 3×2 did the damage. A brilliant match winning performance. Very well done.
Rink 3 – Lewis, Muriel & Ivan L15-16. 10-0 after 5 ends, then we only took 1 shot over the next 6 ends, but only losing 1 short per end. A 3 on end 12 put us 14-5 up, cruising to victory. Then the wheels came off, culminating in a dismal 18th end, where we all lost the plot, lost 5 shots & lost the match! Very disappointing.
Match score Bustards 41 v 23 Dolphins. Bustards 4 points, Dolphins 2 points. At the half way point in the season, we remain in second place, but are now only 8 points behind the Dolphins. This is really annoying, as the gap should only be 4! On the plus side, that was the Bustards 6th win in a row, the Dolphins first defeat on the season & we closed the shot deficit by 22 shots (although we are still 76 shots adrift). If Knyveton Kingfishers default on one more match, they will be chucked out of the league & their record deleted. That would do us a big favour, as we lost 24-42 to them, whilst they forfeited their match with the Dolphins who would lose 6 points & 10 shots!
Next Saturday we are at home to Swanage Seagulls with an unchanged side. It’s a 10am start & the bar is open from midday. All spectators are very welcome.
Ivan Buss 29th June 2024.

I’d been warned that we have a ‘rook’ problem, so I turned up early to administer some TLC to the green. What a mess! However, after a good swish, both rinks looked ok & actually played really well.
Unbelievably, Bournemouth Beavers/Broncos could only field one team this weekend & they decided to send a strong team to play us, instead of travelling to runaway leaders Swanage Dolphins. Sadly for them, that proved to be a bad decision.
Rink 4 – Tony, Rod & Geoff W22-12. It took a few ends for the team to get going, but once they did, there was no stopping them. It was quite close until the 12th end, then we won 5 ends in a row scoring 10 shots & taking a commanding 22-10 lead. 12 ends won. Another excellent team performance.
Rink 3 – Lewis, Muriel & Ivan W18-12. It was 8-7 after 11 ends, then we scored a big 5. On the 16th end, we turned 1 down in to 3 up, which sealed the deal. Probably this teams best performance of the season.
Match score Bustards 40 v 24 Beavers. All 6 points to the Bustards for the 5th successive match. We are now comfortably in 2nd place in the league, behind runaway leaders Swanage Dolphins, who we visit next Saturday.
The team for this showdown remains unchanged.
Ivan Buss 15th June 2024.

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How lucky were we with the weather! A little bit of rain at the start & end of the match, in between it was dry & sunny, and blowing a gale! The green was very wet & sadly, it played very inconsistently.
Rink 4 – Tony, Paul & Geoff W29-7. After 7 ends we were trailing 3-6. Next time I looked at the scoreboard it was 11-6, after a superb 8! We won 8 ends in a row, 12 in all, in what was a comprehensive win. A brilliant performance.
Rink 2 – Lewis, Muriel & Ivan W19-10. We took the lead on end 3 & never looked back. Another good solid performance by all of the team. Well done.
Match score Bustards 48 v 17 Leopards. All 6 points to the Bustards. With four straight six point wins, we have consolidated second place in the league, behind runaway leaders Swanage Dolphins.
Next week we are at home to mid table Bournemouth Beavers. The match starts at 10am & the bar is open from midday, so why not come along & support the team
Ivan Buss 15th June 2024.

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Another beautiful day for bowls on the best green we’ve played on this season. Fast & true, it was a pleasure to play on.
Rink 3 – Tony, Rod & Geoff W17-15. 7-14 down after 11 ends, this one looking like it was slipping away. Then we managed to win 6 ends in a row to lead 17-14 & despite losing the last end won 17-15. Thanks to Rod for guesting & well done gentleman on an excellent comeback victory.
Rink 2 – Lewis, Muriel & Ivan W19-9. We were never behind in this match, but it was too close to call until the 17th end, when we collectively played a brilliant end & scored 6 shots. Another excellent team performance.
Match score Bustards 36 v 24 Gulls. All 6 points to the Bustards. With three straight six point wins, we are now second in the league behind runaway leaders Swanage Dolphins.
Next week we have our third away game in a row, when we travel to Highcliffe Leopards, who are currently ninth.
Ivan Buss 8th June 2024.

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