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A good week ahead

This week’s team friendlies were cancelled due to the visitors in one case and a washout in the other. Fortunately the SML game with Hampton went ahead on Sunday with plenty of sun on show. The rinks were shared 2-2 but Hampton gained more shots due to some rather loose final ends by the home team and took the match 6-4. This means Hampton look untouchable at the top of the table whilst Sunbury maintain  6th place, just ahead of Bishop Duppas. This should make for an interesting couple of remaining games as both are against Bishop Duppas .. Sunbury have never finished above them in recent history!

Let’s hope the weather forecast comes true and we’re blessed with yet another dry and sunny weekend for Club Competitions finals. The playing schedule will be published very soon and, as always, the aim is to have an even spread of games over the two days and especially for those lucky enough to be in more than one final. Nathan was the fourth first-timer to make it into finals this week, and reflects the growing strength in depth of the club and augurs well for next season. For the 4th year in a row we have a husband and wife both competing in the Men’s and Women’s Championship finals .. this time it’s the turn of Keith and Jenny. When it comes to competing against each other there’s been a few husband vs wife finals down the years and this time it’s the turn of Karen v AlanP in the Open Handicap.

After this weekend we’re into September with a couple of team friendlies and then the big one .. Men v Women on Saturday 14th 2:30pm. Since it’s inception the women won it three straight years but then the men have done the same over the last three years, so it’s all to play for! There will be a BBQ following the match from around 6pm .. everyone is welcome including family & friends. The sign-up sheets for both are in the clubhouse.

Finally, good luck to Nikki & Dennis who play in the South Middlesex Mixed Pairs semi-final on Tuesday evening at neutral ground Bishop Duppas. They won through two rounds to reach the semi-final and there’s no pressure as they’ll be the underdogs going up against an Ashford pair containing this season’s Middlesex county Men’s Singles champion.

Finals in a fortnight

The culmination of the season’s Club Competitions is now less than a fortnight away on Saturday 31st Aug and Sunday 1st Sep. The finals will be split evenly over the two days so seven games on each day starting from 11am. The Men’s and Women’s championship finals will be held on the Sunday afternoon.

We will need a few markers for the weekend, so please get in touch if you can help .. it guarantees a close-up view of the action!

If anyone has trophies from last year please could you return them to the clubhouse.

Good luck to those of you competing in semi-finals this week (and in some cases, next week), please remember to book a rink to avoid any ad-hoc green cuttings.

Competitions 2024

Before that we have a run of four team games at home – two friendlies, followed by a couple of SML matches; as well as the regular Tuesday Club Nights and ad-hoc roll-ups.

Tue 20th 6pm – Club Night

Wed 21st 2:30pm – Sunbury v Cambridge Park (friendly)

Sat 24th 2:30pm – Sunbury v Esher (friendly)

Sun 25th 2:30pm – Sunbury v Hampton (SML)

Tue 27th 6pm – Club Night

Thur 29th 2:30pm – Sunbury v Bishop Duppas (SML)

Finally, the idea of having a box containing all the items required for each rink has generally been well received. Some of them now contain a measure and chalk .. if used, please ensure you don’t walk off with them!

Winners again!

Sunbury followed up last year’s success at the Bluewood Cup by retaining the trophy on Saturday. After a series of 7-end games played across Men’s, Women’s & Mixed Pairs as well as two Mixed Triples, Sunbury ended the day on 26pts, with Hampton on 20pts and hosts Fordbridge Park on 14pts. Every team contributed magnificently with at least 2 wins, with last year’s top team of Karen & Eileen winning all their four games .. yet again! Thanks to all the supporters and reserve players and the hosts for a superb day.

The last round of Friday Triples saw wins for teams managed by Alison, Eileen and Nikki. This confirms the runners-up spot for Alison’s team who came strong again in the end after setting the pace early on. Eileen and Karen share 3rd spot with AlanP ahead of last year’s winning captain Diane. The season played out well with only one wet Friday this time .. during Wimbledon! Congratulations again to the winning team of Cassie, John, TonyH, Tracy, Viv and captain Nikki, and to our chief organiser, Eileen.

1st – Nikki (16 pts)

2nd – Alison (12)

3rd – Eileen (10); Karen (10)

5th – AlanP (8)

6th – Diane (4)

Sandy makes it three!

In the Club Competitions this week it’s congratulations to Sandy as another first-time finalist, qualifying in the Women’s Pairs with Eileen. She joins Andrea and Viv in the finals at the end of the month with chances for a couple more first-timers to join them. Competitions 2024

Last weekend’s team friendly with Chertsey saw a refreshing change with the opposition fielding two youngsters, 11 and 13 yrs old. By all accounts they contributed well to their team winning on two rinks to Sunbury’s one.

Who thought outdoor bowls was a night-time activity .. the midweek SML match with Ashford had a very murky finish, in the dark on a couple of rinks! Sunbury actually completed the double over Ashford although only just, sharing the rinks but winning by 3 shots overall for a 6-4 win.

Friday Triples concludes this week and then Sunbury defends the Bluewood Cup on Saturday at Fordbridge Park, no doubt against a very hungry Hampton team.

The SSA is looking for more bar staff. Anyone 18yrs+ will be considered with some weekend work involved and training provided. Please contact Emily on barmanager@sunburysports.org or Dave Smith on dave54.smith@yahoo.com.

Anita is a Middlesex champ!

Congratulations to Anita on becoming Middlesex Women’s Unbadged Singles champion. Her final was played at Cambridge Park on Saturday and unlike in her previous rounds it didn’t go down to the wire, winning 21-16. It caps off a great week for Anita fresh on the heels of her son’s wedding.

The green watering system has been fine tuned by the greenkeepers  .. perfect timing as the temperature is due to crank up over the weekend and into next week!

The women are leading the way in the Club Competitions with three finalists now decided in the women’s draws. Top billing and many congratulations goes to Viv, winning through to her first final in the Women’s 2-woods! In the 4-woods, this year’s Womens champion will be contested between one of our newest and youngest playing members (?) JenB and last year’s losing finalist Jenny.

All draws are pretty much on schedule and I’m quite relaxed for semi-finals to be completed a week after the 18th deadline, if required. Competitions 2024

In the penultimate round of Friday Triples there were wins for teams captained by AlanP, Alison & Karen. This decides the top honours and wooden spoon placings, but all is to play for in the middle in next week’s final round of games.

Nikki (14 pts); Alison (10); Karen (10); Eileen (8); AlanP (8); Diane (4)

Double delight

It was a good weekend of bowls for Sunbury. On Saturday we visited Byfleet for a return friendly and after sharing the rinks 2-2 we won overall by a rather close 5 shots. We nipped the home fixture back in June by an even closer margin of 2 shots, so you could say the clubs are pretty evenly matched. On Sunday it was the turn of an SML game hosting bottom side Stanwell. At half time Sunbury had comfortable leads on two rinks and it was all to play for on the other two. The day ended with wins on 3 rinks and on overall shots to cement an 8-2 win, putting some daylight between us and bottom placed Stanwell.

A good Friday for Nikki

There was a close finish in the latest round of Friday Triples. The league leaders captained by Nikki played 2nd placed team captained by Eileen, and with two ends remaining it was 14-14 and anyone’s game. A fine finish by Viv, TonyH and Tracy saw them through and take the title for Nikki and the rest of the team, Cassie and John. In the others games there were wins for teams captained by Alison and Karen.

Nikki (14 pts); Alison (8); Eileen (8); Karen (8); AlanP (6); Diane (4)

Particular congratulations to Nikki for her second win in three years, and TonyH for being a member of the winning team two years’ running.

In our Club Competitions, JenB becomes our first finalist in the Women’s Championship but, boy, did she have to dig deep .. coming back from a long way down against the unfortunate Tracy. All the draws are up to date here .. Competitions 2024

A badge for Anita

Congratulations and well done to Anita who received her Middlesex county badge this week, playing in a winning team match against Berkshire. Fingers crossed for one last push in her final of the Middlesex Women’s Unbadged Singles on Saturday 10th at Cambridge Park.

The Sunbury team got back to winning ways on Wednesday in the latest friendly against Walton .. recording wins on all 4 rinks, albeit some closer than others! This completes the first double of the season after we beat them narrowly in May, on a similarly hot day.

Next up is another round of games in the Friday Triples league and then team games on both Saturday and Sunday.

Blank at Strawberry Hill

As we’ve already seen in the Olympics it can often be fine margins between winning and losing and so it proved in two recent SML team matches. We got the luck against Fordbridge Park the previous weekend with an 8-2 win when it could easily have been the reverse. In the latest match at Strawberry Hill on Sunday we were within touching distance of gaining wins on two rinks, but alas it wasn’t to be and we recorded a 10-0 loss. This leaves the team one place off bottom, courtesy of Stanwell, which adds an edge to the next SML match on Sunday 4th August .. against Stanwell! Before that we entertain Walton in a return friendly on Wednesday 31st July and travel to Byfleet for a friendly on Saturday 3rd August. Please keep checking the team sheets in the clubhouse for sign-up and team selection.

Last week’s Friday Triples saw wins for teams captained by AlanP, Eileen and Nikki. This leaves Nikki’s team in a healthy position with 3 rounds to go.

Nikki (12 pts); Eileen (8); AlanP (6); Alison (6); Karen (6); Diane (4)

As some of you may have seen we’ve had some foxes on and around the green over the past week, leaving unwanted deposits and holes in the green. The green keeping team are exploring ideas to deter them but please do continue to keep the area as clean and tidy as possible.

Friendly at Oatlands

We ventured across the river again for the latest team friendly on Wednesday at Oatlands Park. It’s a fixture where the hosts maintain a taste for past traditions and although the match was limited to 3 triples on the day, Sunbury came away with a respectable 52-43 loss. We continue on our travels this weekend with an SML game at Strawberry Hill on Sunday 28th. Following that, we play our first team match at Sunbury in a while with a friendly against Walton on Wednesday 31st. The sign-up sheets for some of the early August team games are in the clubhouse so please take a look when next there.

This season’s Club Competitions are hotting up with most now at the quarter-final or semi-final stage. The radar has been focused on those who may end up in multiple finals as we’d rather avoid the 5, 6 and even 7 finals that we’ve had in the recent past! Having said that, if it happens we’ll applaud it and manage it as best we can. There’ll be a new name on the Women’s Championship trophy as past winners Anita, Eileen, Karen and Lynda have all now been knocked out. Also in the Men’s Championship there is only one past winner left in the draw and he’s nervously hoping the same fate doesn’t befall him! Many thanks to the folk who dare to go away during bowls season and have managed their games accordingly and the best of luck to all those who are due to play competition games over the coming weeks. All the draws should be up to date and available online and on the paper sheets in the clubhouse so please get in touch with any updates .. Competitions 2024