It may not feel like it but October has arrived and with it our first winter social .. Tuesday 3rd at 7:30pm will be an evening of skittles and some chat on bowls together with an explanation of county competitions.

Work on the green is imminent with the heavy work planned for this week. Following that will be some tidying up and lighter duties on Saturday 7th so if  you can spare the time please drop in from 10:30am.

Our annual Presentation Dinner is next month so please add your name if you haven’t already done so with payments of £29.50pp to Barry .. bank transfer preferred (account 91701800; sort 40-44-39).

SSA Club events ..

The excellent Ooh Err Band return to the Club on Sat 18 November
Last chance to get cheap tickets at special offer of 4 for price of 3:
https://www.sunburycricket.co.uk/payments/live-music-with-the-ooh-err-band-100708.html

Tue 3 Oct: Man United v Galatasaray CL 8pm TNT
RC Lens v Arsenal CL 8pm TNT

Wed 4 Oct: Newcastle United v PSG CL 8pm TNT
RB Leipzig v Manchester City CL 8pm TNT

Thu 5 Oct: England v New Zealand ICC from 7pm Sky
New Zealand v Uruguay Rugby WC 8pm ITV (if demand)
Liverpool v Union Saint-Gilloise EL 8pm TNT (if demand)

Fri 6 Oct: Surplus Café open from 6:15pm
France v Italy Rugby WC 8pm ITV (if demand)
Birmingham City v West Brom Ch 8pm Sky (if demand)

Sat 7 Oct: Luton Town v Tottenham PL 12:30pm TNT
Wales v Georgia Rugby WC 2pm ITV (if demand)
England v Samoa Rugby WC 4:45pm ITV
Crystal Palace v Nott Forest PL 5:30pm Sky (if demand)
Ireland v Scotland Rugby WC 8pm ITV

Sun 8 Oct: India v Australia ICC from 12-2pm Sky
Japan v Argentina Rugby WC 12 ITV (if demand)
Brighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool PL 2pm Sky
Arsenal v Manchester City PL 4:30pm Sky

We wrapped up the summer programme with a team match at Bishop Duppas on Saturday 23rd. We may have lost 7-3 but it belies a close match right up to the end and an overall shot loss of 70-60. It cemented our 6th place in the SML Mixed League and provides encouragement for next season. Sadly, this will be under new management as our captain Diane has decided to hand on the reins to someone new. Also, Cassie has decided to call time on her work on the committee. They’ve both been part of the fixtures and fittings, certainly since before I joined in 2017 .. many thanks to them both for their sterling work down the years and best wishes on the green. Anyone who fancies joining the committee is encouraged to add their name to the nominations list which is in the clubhouse. Incumbents will be finalised at the AGM.

The green was closed by our greenskeepers today as the worm casts are worse than ever .. attention now turns to work preparing the green for it’s winter hibernation. It’s been decided to get a professional outfit in to do the heavy work to the green but they’ll be a call for help for other key work at some time soon .. so get your holidays in now! We start our programme of winter socials on the first Tuesday of every month .. more details soon.

Tue 3rd Oct 7:30pm – first winter social

Tue 7th Nov 7:30pm – winter social

Tue 14th Nov 7:30pm – AGM

Fri 17th Nov 6:30pm – Presentation Dinner at Fulwell Golf Club

NB: The main club bar is moving to winter opening hours .. closed on Monday evenings and open from 7pm Tues-Thurs; 6pm on Friday.

The men retained the honours on Saturday 16th in the annual Men v Women competition. It was a close affair but not even Alexa could come up with the answers as the men won 3-2 on rinks and 74-68 on overall shots. This completes a hat-trick of wins for the men but I’m sure the women will make it even tougher next season. The day was nicely rounded off with a bbq courtesy of Nikki & Dennis and some fine bonhomie to match the occasion.

Our penultimate team match of the season at Chertsey was called off after the forecast of heavy rain came true on Sunday afternoon. This leaves one last match to play at Bishop Duppas on Saturday 23rd .. please get your name down on the list if you’d like to play.

The season continues with Tuesday’s Club Night on 19th and, hopefully, 26th too!

We shared the honours at this week’s friendly at Teddington. All four rinks were in the balance throughout the afternoon which made for a tense finish for players and spectators alike! In the end we couldn’t be separated, sharing both rinks 2-2 and shots 59-59! The fixtures with Teddington are proving to be a great match-up as the reverse fixture in May ended in a very narrow loss. We look forward to playing them again next season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the SML Mixed League, Fordbridge Park were crowned champions ahead of Hampton by one point. We have one remaining match to play against Bishop Duppas on the 23rd with no honours riding on it .. other than to end the season on a high!

Next weekend on Sat 16th we have the hotly contested Men v Women annual match, followed by family bbq .. the teams will be sorted soon so please sign-up if you haven’t already done so.

As the bowls season comes to an end the Rugby World Cup kicks off and the main club have some promotions this opening weekend.

Some sad news to end on .. we heard recently of the passing of Branka Highgate. She joined us from Hounslow Cons a couple of season’s back and instantly made a positive impact on the club. Not only with her level of play but also in her encouragement and support to everyone she played with. RIP Branka .. you’ll be sorely missed.

We were blessed yet again with fine weather for the finals of our club competitions. The lead-up to the weekend saw some rain and the crows did there best to murder the green, but all came good in the end. We could have done with turning down the dial on Sunday, with both players and spectators suffering in the heat, but we’ll take it over cold and damp any day!

Congratulations to the 12 players who picked up trophies, including three first-time winners Keith, Jenny and Jen. Commiserations to the runners-up who all played their part, especially in reaching a final. It’s perhaps unfair to mention specific games, but … the closest match was in the Mixed 2-woods Pairs which saw a final end shoot-out with John & Alan just nudging out Gary & BobH. The longest match of the weekend saw a relentless Dennis see off Alan in the Mens Handicap over a gruelling 31 ends and nearly 3hrs play. The major honours went to Karen picking up the Women’s Championship for the first time in her second final appearance; for the Men it was Dennis for the 4th time (grrhh!). Keith won through in the competition with the most entries, the particularly competitive Junior Championship.

Thanks for all the markers and general help – it really helps and is appreciated, apologies if not mentioned at the time. Special thanks to Nikki for keeping us all refreshed and for some delicious cakes, courtesy of Andrea too. One last word, the blues beat the reds 9-5 over the weekend .. stickers!

Click here for all the full-size photos .. Finals 2023

Club Night continues at 5:45 for 6pm start this week.

Our Club Competitions come to a crescendo this weekend, the culmination of lots of bowls played over the course of the season. Thanks to all those entering and competing so enthusiastically – there’s been quite a few dramas along the way and a record amount of ends played in some games. There hasn’t been any actual walkovers which is pretty unique.

The makeup of the finals includes some of our more senior players – Cassie, David, TonyH and of course our oldest playing member, Charlie! They are joined by some far newer faces who have won through for the first time – Jenny, Keith, Michelle, Gary and our second youngest member, Jen! The rest is a mixture of now regular finalists from recent or less recent times! Apologies, you’ll probably be fed up of seeing one particular face over the weekend .. I’ve ended up in 6 finals, a repeat of two years ago and which was actually bettered by Karen with an exhausting 7 finals in the same year! Finally, please spare a thought for Jon, who picks up the award for unluckiest semi-finalist .. he finished second in all 5 of them!

We plan on having refreshments available over the course of both days together with lunch .. if partaking, a suggested donation will be worked out. For competitors, and markers, the wearing of whites is encouraged, particularly the top half if you don’t have a club shirt. Each player or team will be assigned red or blue markers to aid with identification for spectators, so please allow time to affix them to your bowls before starting. Thanks for all the offers of marking – we actually have more than is needed, which is fantastic. If anyone still has a trophy from last year please could you drop them off to the clubhouse before or on Saturday .. polished if possible! Lastly, the best of luck to all the finalists and I hope you enjoy the weekend win or lose.

We enjoyed a friendly win at Esher over the weekend .. although the weather was far from friendly at times! After a 15mins stoppage we eventually took the match by 3 rinks to 1.

  

Our Club Competition finals weekend is almost here and I’ll be sending out the schedule once all the semi-finals are completed on Wednesday. As always, I’ll try and accommodate any important engagements on a best endeavours basis so please advise of any issues. There are 14 finals to be played, 10 of which will require markers. I’ve spoken to one or two of you already but if you fancy getting close to the action please do let me know. If you have any queries do get in touch .. I plan to be down at Tuesday’s Club Night.

We had another bumper turnout for this week’s Club Night .. 34! This season must have easily set a new record for attendance and the welcome funds will no doubt help our Treasurer, Barry, to a speedy recovery from his op this week!

In our club competitions, we have a couple more new faces in the finals .. the latest is Jenny in the Women’s Handicap. She has another chance in the Women’s Championship too, although Bindley may have something to say about that. Michelle has also qualified, alongside last year’s winner Pat, in the Women’s Pairs. Michelle’s other half, Jon, must wonder what he has to do to reach a final having lost four of his semi-finals .. he has one last chance in the Junior Championship against Keith. Good luck to both and everyone left playing. Some weather apps are now showing a bright sun for 2nd Sep and cloud for 3rd Sep .. let’s hope the forecasts are right!

Don’t forget to sign-up for the Men v Women match, followed by BBQ afterwards on Sat 16th Sep. After a few years of female domination, the men will be looking for their 3rd win on the bounce! Everyone is invited – friends & family are very welcome.

The last of our club competition quarter-finals was played today so we have a full line-up of semi-finals left to play. I’m happy for matches to be played upto and including Wednesday 30th, leaving a couple of days free to put together a schedule and confirm it before finals on 2nd and 3rd September. The green is fully available over the bank holiday weekend as there is no grass cutting this Friday and we have no team matches at home over the long weekend.

We do already have a few finalists .. following Charlie’s lead, Cassie is the latest of our more senior players to qualify for a couple of finals. Also, I have joined Dennis in the Men’s Championship final .. a repeat of the final from two year’s ago. Good luck to those of you contesting semi-finals over the coming week .. what will be will be!

Mens 2023        Womens 2023         Mixed/Open 2023

With team matches, the last SML game of the season at Bishop Duppas has been postponed to Sun 23rd September. Before that we have a few more team friendlies left to play, the first of which is this Saturday 26th at Esher.

It was a grand day out for Sunbury Bowls at Fordbridge Park on Saturday 19th. Competing in the 3-club day-long Bluewood Shield with hosts and local rivals Hampton, we won by 6 points from last year’s winners Hampton. The teams of Men’s, Women’s & Mixed Pairs and two triples all contributed magnificently to the overall point score with 2 or 3 wins out of 4 over the course of the day. It’s 6 years since Sunbury last tasted success in the competition so acting captain Dennis and the team were quite rightly rather chuffed. Thanks are due to Fordbridge Park for great organisation and hospitality .. and for helping take some vital points off Hampton!