There are two games taking place at Ashford this week. Karen & Alan play in NW Surrey Mixed Pairs on Mon 16th at 5pm and the next round for our Middlesex Women’s Fours is Fri 20th 3pm involving Branka, Lynda, Nikki & Eileen. The weekly NW Surrey Thursday Night League continues with a home match on Thur 19th 6pm.

The next South Middlesex League team match is at Stanwell on Sun 22nd May. Both Sunbury and Stanwell enjoyed success in their opening matches albeit in a different manner .. Sunbury just pipped Hampton, whilst Stanwell recorded a convincing win against Fordbridge Park.

The recent Open Days on 14-15th May were well attended with around 25 folk getting a taste of lawn bowls. It’s fair to say the Saturday crowd were treated to a glorious day for bowls with some very keen folk playing in damp conditions on the Sunday. Overall it was a success and we’ve invited all participants to see for themselves what goes on at Club Night on Tuesday (5:45pm register!). There will be extra help on hand to guide the new bowlers.

The first of our club competitions is fast approaching .. the 2-Woods Mixed Pairs takes place on Sat 28th May. There are currently 16 entrants (see below). If you are not on the list and would like to play please get in touch; if you’re on the list and can’t make it please also get in touch. The deadline is next weekend, 22nd.

Charlie, John, Eileen, Roger, Chris, Brian, Lynda, BobH, Anita, David, Peter, Pat, Alex, Bindley, Karen, AlanP

The women started the season as they mean to go on .. and the men had better watch out in the annual Men v Women at the season close! After registering a success on Wednesday in the Middlesex Women’s Fours, both our Middlesex Women’s Triples teams had very good wins on Friday 13th! Pat, Alison & Anita were up against an experienced team from Bishop Duppas but came out 17-12 winners; then Karen, Nikki & Eileen secured a 16-6 win against Cambridge Park. Both progress to the next round to be played Tues 24th May. Not to be outdone our Mixed Fours team (some men!) opened their account in the NW Surrey Thursday League with a good 18-11 away win at Bishop Duppas.

Just a reminder that the Friday Morning League starts on 10th June (matches played 11am-1pm). Please get your name on the list in the club house or contact Eileen in the coming days if you’d like to play. You won’t be expected to play every Friday as there will probably be 5 in each team with 3 required to play each time.

We enjoyed the best weather thus far at this week’s Tuesday Club Night but it was tarnished by a rather unfortunate incident. One of our valued new members had her purse stolen from the side of the green sometime during play 6-8pm. The man who took it also raided one of the cricket rooms taking cash and clothing. He was subsequently tracked down to a shop at Sunbury Cross where he used a credit card to buy tobacco. He tried later for a second time but the card had been blocked by then.

We are looking into providing a secure area alongside the green but in the meantime please be vigilant and look out for each other, especially during peak times when lots of folk are milling around.

On a brighter note, our Women’s Fours team had a good 17-11 win against Fordbridge Park on Wednesday evening and go into the next round. Congratulations to Branka, Nikki, Karen & Eileen. Also on Wednesday, our team friendly at Walton was played mainly in the wet. The sun made a brief appearance towards the end, which coincided with some of the best scoring by Sunbury! We lost on 3 rinks and won on 1 but it was a good introduction to team bowling for some of our newest members.

We opened our campaign in the South Middlesex League with a narrow win against local rivals Hampton on Sunday 8th. The match was played on a glorious day with the sun shining on Sunbury on the final end as we managed to comeback strongly and pick up some crucial points. The match was tied at two wins each for a 4-4 score, but Sunbury gained the two match points for a 6-4 win by gaining 66 shots to Hampton’s 62.

The previous day we warmed up with a friendly at Strawberry Hill, one of the most picturesque venues in the area. We won on one rink but lost on the other two, but had chances to take glory in the final end of one of the matches. It just goes to show that it sometimes comes down to fine margins (and luck) who wins on the day!

The good news keeps coming as we have our old mower back complete with new cutting blades, roller and clutch cable. Compared to other machines we’ve been using it purrs like a Porsche with great handling to match! There are plans afoot to roller the green at some point to help reduce some of the bumps.

This coming week we have the usual Tuesday Club Night and then some Middlesex competition matches – Women’s Fours on Wed 11th at 5:30pm and Women’s Triples on Fri 13th at 2:30pm and 3:30pm. All are at home. After that we welcome potential new players to the Open Days on Sat 14th and Sun 15th – from 11am-3pm. Please pop on down to lend any support you can – we’re providing some refreshments as well as getting folk to experience bowls.

A new date has been set for the Presidents Plate – it’s now scheduled for Sat 9th July. All original entrants were contacted and this date works best for most. Apologies for the couple who can’t now make it.

The Presidents Plate is played as Triples (teams of 3 randomly selected at start of the day) in a round-robin format. The top two teams at the end of the day go forward to the Finals weekend. There is still time to enter this and other competitions – closing dates will be announced soon.

PS: if anyone has lost a fleece-lined rain jacket after last night’s roll-up please contact Barry – he found it on a bench as the last to leave.

The weather might not have felt like summer at times, but Sunbury enjoyed a bright start to the season with a good 3-1 win against Ember. On a rather drab May Day we recorded good wins on two rinks, a last-end win on another rink and one loss. Next weekend we have a friendly against Strawberry Hill on Saturday, followed on Sunday with our first South Middlesex League game of the season. A stern test is assured against Hampton, the current holders of the Bluewood Shield. Before that we have the Tuesday Club Night roll-up – a good chance to catch-up with fellow members and arrange other roll-ups for what is expected to be a largely dry and warmer week.

Cicely Holmes

The funeral for our long-standing and decorated member is Monday 16th May – 1:40pm at Hanworth (SW Middlesex) Crematorium and afterwards at Warren Lodge Hotel, Church Square, Shepperton.

Friday Morning league

The sign-up sheets for this popular weekly league is in the clubhouse, or please let Eileen know if you want to join. Team captains and squads will be published ahead of time and your captain will be your main point of contact for the matches throughout the season. The first matches are planned to start on Friday 10th June – start time is 11am but please aim to arrive 10:30am to sort out the equipment and yourselves!

Internal Competitions

There’s still time to enter this season’s competitions – the sign-up sheets are available in the clubhouse or you can find them here .. Competitions 2022. When entering Pairs/Triples competitions your partner/team will be allocated to you. We start with the day-long Mixed 2-woods Pairs on Sat 28th May and then proceed with all the others – the draws of which will be available in good time. Unfortunately we may need to move the Presidents Plate from 12th June – all entrants will be contacted separately about this.

Sunbury v Ember

I think our captain has contacted everyone, but just a reminder for all that Sunday’s match is a home fixture. It’s our first team match of the season – a friendly against long-standing rivals Ember. Please aim to arrive in good time to help setup the green and be prepared to start play at 2:30pm.

May heralds the start of team matches and first up is a friendly with Ember on Sunday 1st May at 2:30pm. Unfortunately the Fixture card is wrong and it’s a HOME match. Our captain Di is looking for a few more players so please do get in touch if you fancy playing. She will also be down at Tuesday Club Night from 5:45pm.

Some of you may have heard that Hounslow Cons has folded as a bowls club so the fixtures with them have been scrubbed from the calendar. The full updated list is available on the website .. Calendar 2022

For anyone looking for a set of bowls, Pat spotted some woods (sizes 3,4,5) at Shepperton Recycling Centre today.

WE ARE NOW OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK AS IT IS SUMMER

6pm Opening on weekdays and 12 Noon at weekends.

Wed 20 – Chelsea v Arsenal   7:45pm  Sky

Thurs 21 – Burnley v Southampton   7:45pm  Sky

Fri 22  – Surplus Restaurant Open

              – Big Colts training night U12, U11, U9, U8

Sat 23 – Live Cricket, First XI and 3rd XI at home 12 noon start times

               – Arsenal v Man U   12:45pm    BT

               – Rugby : Harlequins v Leicester   3pm   BT

               – Brentford  v Spurs   5:30pm    Sky

Sun24   – Colts Sunday Moring training for U5-U7 + Surplus Cafe from 10 am

                 – Live Cricket : University T20 games at 12:30pm & 4pm

                 –  Live cricket : Friendly with Club XI v Weybridge Vandals

                 – Chelsea v West Ham  12:45 pm  Sky

                 – Rugby : Saracens v Exeter   3pm   BT

                 – Liverpool v Everton   4:30pm   Sky