We move into September very soon and welcome the finals of our club competitons on 5th & 6th. They have progressed nicely over the last three months thanks to everyone arranging their games in good time and the army of willing markers! The exceptionally settled weather over most of the summer also helped although it did get a little too hot at times resulting in a few delays and rehydration breaks.

Thus far, this season has also witnessed an unprecedented number of close finishes, including 11 games won by the margin of a single shot! King of the close finish is Mike having won two and lost one; followed by  Peter and Verena, having experienced both sides of the coin. Last year’s Presidents Cup (75pts) final went to an extra end but was bettered by Chris and Julia who had to play two extra ends to decide the winner!

So, we now look forward to Finals weekend. As always the scheduling has proven rather tricky but most folk who are in multiple finals will hopefully find most of their games distributed over the two days. A few semi-finals have been carried over to the coming week so the full schedule will be posted on Wednesday. We’ll require markers for 9 of the 14 games so please get in touch if you fancy it .. it really is a splendid way to watch a game without the pressure of actually competing! Dennis, Gary, David and Eileen will be acting as umpires over the two days. Spectators will be able to follow the games with the first named player/team (the challenger) is the first-named on the scoresheet and on top of the scoreboard. This should always be the case regardless of who wins the toss, or anything else!

We played our last league game of the season in the South Middlesex League on Saturday against 2nd-placed Ashford. With two wins each over the four rinks it came down to shot count in our favour to end the season with a nice 6-4 win! Our midweek friendly with Teddington also finished in our favour so Sunbury finish the month on a roll .. just as the season comes to an end!

The latest round of Friday Triples saw some close games – wins for teams managed by Alison, Eileen and Simon. The missed game earlier in the season will be played on 18th Sep, leaving three rounds left. The current standings mean one further win (or draw) for Eileen’s team will see them crowned as winners this season!

20pts – Eileen; 14pts – Diane; 12pts – Colin; Simon; 10pts – Alison; 4pts – Nikki

Congratulations to Tracy who won both of her semi-finals in the South Middlesex competitions Women’s Singles and 75pts games this week. She plays her finals at Ashford Bowls Club on Sat 20th. Fingers crossed that Eileen can join her .. she plays her semi-final on Tuesday 10:30am at Bishop Duppas.

As for Alan & Karen – they played their NW Surrey Mixed Pairs final at Ottershaw on Sunday and somehow won!! It seemed to be a popular win against their esteemed opponents from Egham. A big thanks for the support.

Finally just a reminder that we are well and truly into swishing season so please factor this into your preparation to play, alongside setting up the equipment. The sticks are kept above the door of the chalet. It’s a pain but could be treated as a warm up for those arms and shoulders in readiness for bowling on a heavier green!

We’ve reached that time of year when the evenings draw in, the worms do their worst on the green and our club competitions come to a crescendo. After three months of intense competition all the draws are at semi-final stage and with the lineups of some finals already decided. Please could those lucky enough to have won trophies last season, please return them .. and with some degree of polish!

Sunday saw our penultimate South Middlesex League game. Hampton got some degree of revenge over Sunbury’s Bluewood Cup win with an 8-2 win. The last game is against Ashford at home on Saturday. It’s doubtful it will affect our last place standing in the league but it’d be nice to finish on a high! We wrap up our programme of team friendlies with a home game on Thursday followed by three away games in September, which are always ones to enjoy for various reasons.

The latest round of Friday Triples saw wins for teams managed by Alison, Diane and Eileen which leaves gaps between them all with four rounds left to go!

18pts – Eileen; 14pts – Diane; 12pts – Colin; 10pts – Simon; 8pts – Alison; 4pts – Nikki

There is a sign-up sheet in the summerhouse for the annual Men v Women game on 20th September followed by family bbq. All are welcome including friends & family. The game decides the fate of the Mavis Steele trophy, named after Sunbury’s most decorated bowler. She represented England for 40 years, was England Ladies Outdoor champion three times and was awarded an MBE for her services to bowls. We’re lucky that we have an almost 50-50 split between men and women bowlers at Sunbury which is unheard of in most other clubs. Despite the women being rather good bowlers too the men have found a way of finishing on top every year since 2021.

In the remaining external competitions, you may catch Tracy and JenB deciding who progresses to the final of the South Middlesex (SM) Women’s Singles .. they play their semi-final during tonight’s Club Night; Thursday sees Alan, Karen, Martin & Nikki play a semi-final in the SM John Gardner trophy at Ashford; Tracy plays another semi-final on Friday at Fordbridge Park in the SM 75pts; Alan & Karen play their NW Surrey Mixed Pairs final at Ottershaw on Sunday; Tracy goes yet again, this time with Alan in their next round of the Middlesex Mixed Pairs on Bank Holiday Monday at Sunbury; Finally, Eileen plays her SM Women’s Singles semi-final at Bishop Duppas on Tues 1st.

Sunbury retained the Bluewood Cup at Fordbridge Park on Saturday for the third time since 2023 and with a record score of 34pts! Second placed team Hampton finished on 17pts and the hosts came third on 9pts but had the distraction of providing catering, etc on top of missing some key players. As always, the day was managed superbly with some gorgeous weather too!

Team Sunbury visited Bishop Duppas on Sunday to play their latest SML game. There was a super close finish on one rink where the last bowl decided the win in the host’s favour. Another rink went Sunbury’s way but there was less fun on the other two rinks where Sunbury came distant second! The overall result was an 8-2 win for Bishop Duppas, a reversal of the score when they visited us back in July.

This follows a very narrow defeat in another SML game on eclipse day at Ashford where Sunbury lost on overall shot count by 3 for a 6-4 defeat.

Our club competitions will all be at semi final stage in the coming days with a couple of finalists already decided .. good luck to those still going strong! For info, next year’s finals will be held on 4-5th Sept 2027 and a key requirement for entry is to be available on at least one of those days.

The latest round of Friday Triples saw wins for teams captained by Alison, Colin and Eileen leaving the standings as follows ..16pts – Eileen; 12pts – Colin; Diane; 10pts – Simon; 6pts – Alison; 4pts – Nikki

Our new rooms at the corner of the SSA main building are being kitted out but won’t be occupied until next season. The steps down will be worked on and a handrail provided in due course. Your bowls committee are drawing up plans for a list of winter jobs so please see if you can help out to get the grounds and green into better shape for next season. We are still looking for an auditor to help examine our books so please get in touch if you know anyone who could help.

At the last of our all-day club competitions this season, Barry and Roger, together with their playing partners Andrew and Anita, progressed to the final of the Mixed 2-wood Pairs. Over the course of the day, each pair played 4 games of 8 ends with finalists decided by semis. Congratulations also to relative newbies Mike and Susanna who reached the semis playing with last year’s winner Sandy and JenC, respectively. Thanks to all who helped with setup and on the day arrangements. The next big event of the season is the finals of our Club Competitions on 5-6th Sept. We then have the small matter of Men v Women on 20th September!

 

There’s been a couple of team friendlies this week against Wraysbury and Chertsey, both played over 3 triples. We may have lost out against Wraysbury on Wednesday losing on two rinks to one but reversed the score against Chertsey on Sunday but lost on overall shot count by 2 shots. That’s what friendlies are all about!

The latest results in Friday Triples closed the gaps at both the top and bottom of the table.

14pts – Eileen; 12pts – Diane; 10pts – Colin; Simon; 4pts – Nikki; Alison

Club Night continues on Tuesday 6pm (5:45 register) with everyone welcome; Team Sunbury then visit Ashford for an SML game on Wednesday 6pm with the solar eclipse likely to make for an interesting evening!

Most of the county competitions are drawing to a close but we we still have some folk keeping the flag flying for Sunbury .. good luck to all!

JenB plays Tracy in the semi-final of the South Middlesex (SM) Women’s Singles; Eileen could make it an all-Sunbury final after progressing into the other semi final this week.

Tracy is into the semi-finals of the SM 75pts up against Karen’s nemesis from Masonians.

Alan, Karen, Nikki, Martin have progressed into the semi finals of the SM John Gardner trophy (Mixed Fours) to play Bishop Duppas.

Alan & Tracy are in the last-16 of the Middlesex Mixed Pairs in the longest playing of all the county comps!

Alan & Karen have made it to the semi-finals of the North West Surrey (NWS) Mixed Pairs joining all the other semi-finalists who are from Egham .. say no more!

Finally, the SSA will implement the use of digital cards tomorrow (10th). Forms are available at the bar to request a physical card.

We started the final month of the summer with a friendly win at Byfleet on Saturday. The team adjusted well to probably the fastest green we’ve encountered this season, but that’s all part of the fun of an away game! Two of the rinks enjoyed nip and tuck games right to the end with the third rink getting ahead early on and were never caught. Overall the game finished 57-45 shots in Sunbury’s favour.

This followed a midweek loss at Walton which followed a regular pattern of close games with the hosts .. incredibly there were two draws and a loss on another rink by one shot! Unfortunately we received a cancellation from Stanwell for Sunday’s SML game, lacking availability of players and particularly women.

Earlier in the week we said our goodbyes to Richard Moxon, celebrating his life at St Mary’s and afterwards at The Magpie. As is invariably the case, you learn more about folk after they’ve gone and this was especially true of Richard with his rich and varied life. RIP Richard!

The implementation of digital membership cards at the Sunbury Sports Association (SSA) raised a bit of a rumpus this week but please rest assured that the bowls committee have your best interests at heart and dedicate countless hours and days of their time over the season so that we can all enjoy bowling. The new cards are mainly for the SSA to manage the main club and bar and are in use now for testing and will be implemented on 10th August. We are requesting some physical cards, where required, for our members.

In other news this week, Tracy was presented with her Middlesex Colts badge at the latest county friendly game at Cambridge Park. By all accounts Tracy played rather well and helped the team to victory over local rivals Berskshire. Tracy follows in the footsteps of Karen who received her Colts badge last season; and Anita, Cassie and Eileen with their full county badges.

The latest round of Friday Triples saw wins for the teams captained by Colin, Diane and Eileen.

14pts – Eileen; 10pts – Colin; Diane; 8pts – Simon; 4pts – Nikki; 2pts – Alison

Despite a problem with the water tank the greenkeepers continue to keep us all bowling. The combination of sun and water makes for a surprising amount of grass to be cut but the grand effort continues throughout the heatwaves with regular cuts on Monday and Friday and a “best endeavours” cut on Wednesday!

We recorded only our second win of the season in the SML at Strawberry Hill on Sunday. Three of the rinks got off to a good start and kept it that way, despite a last end wobble on one rink where they dropped a 6 when 8 shots ahead! Even the rink that were losing badly pulled their socks up in the second half and made the score more acceptable. After winning on 3 rinks and overall shot count, Sunbury recorded an 8-2 win!

It has to be said this comes off the back of an 9-1 loss at Fordbridge Park the previous Sunday and a midweek friendly loss at Oatlands Park, but let’s take the positives .. we have one more team game on Wednesday (at Walton) before we move into August .. yikes!

The club competitions are progressing nicely so many thanks to you all for making my life relatively easy! With a couple of exceptions all the draws are now at quarter/semi-finals stage. Some of you may have noticed a slight blip in the handicaps awarded to winning players. Despite rumours suggesting your handicap increases as you win through rounds, it’s purely a clerical error on my part as handicaps do not change until next season .. Mike, et al, be warned!

Our last all-day club competition of the season is the Mixed 2-wood Pairs on Saturday 8th August. Please let me know if you can no longer make it or would like to enter.

Playlist – Alan; Andrew; Andy; Anita; Barry; Bindley; Bob; Brian; Charlie; Christine; Colin; DavidP; Don; Eileen; Gary; JenB; JenC; John; Julia; Karen; Kath; Keith; Linda; Martin; Mike; NeilF; Paul; Peter; Roger; Sandy; Simon; Susanna; Tracy; Verena; Viv; Wade

Karen & Eileen put on a brave show in the final of the Middlesex Women’s 2-woods Pairs on Saturday. It was a first ever final for them both, having won through 3 rounds on one exhausting day then a semi-final a week later. Despite losing they came away with a nice vase and £20 cash each and reminded the county that Sunbury is still here!

On a personal level, I’ve concentrated mainly on Mixed Pairs this season. Having won our 1st round of the South Middlesex Mixed Pairs with Eileen we bowed out in the next round by one shot (all my fault!); Tracy and I play a 2nd round Middlesex Mixed Pairs tie on Saturday; in NWS Mixed Pairs the rounds have come quicker and Karen and I battled through two rounds before Saturday’s quarter-final. Luckily Anita was able to step in for Karen and we reached the semi-final to be played in the coming weeks.

Good luck to those of you still going in the other remaining outside competitions, mainly South Middlesex now.

After the latest games in the Friday Triples the teams stand as follows ..

12pts – Eileen; 8pts – Colin; Diane; Simon; 4pts – Nikki; 2pts – Alison

Club Night continues with a 5:45pm report time for a 6pm start. Everyone is welcome and, as  always, just message the members group if you know you’ll be there but are running a bit late.

The building works to the SSA Clubhouse continues apace and is due to be completed by the end of August. Despite this it’s been suggested that we don’t make use of the new rooms this season but start afresh at the start of next season. We’ve managed to muddle through with only a few hiccups along the way.

Lastly, some news from the SSA and Cricket Club .. SSA & Cricket 

We are extending the offer of 4 tickets for the price of 3 for the Beer & Gin Festival on Saturday, 12 September so kindly encourage your members buy their tickets now.

There is a Music Quiz on Thursday (30 July), more league cricket this weekend and some important Junior Cricket Cup games in midweek.

Now the World Cup has finished there is limited Sport on TV, but The Hundred Cricket and the Commonwealth Games will be shown on request.

After an unprecedented amount of change, Saturday’s Presidents Plate proceeded with minimal fuss on the day. Best wishes to those who had to drop out for various reasons, and special thanks to those who acted as floaters, including Alison and Cassie. The competition itself saw some fine bowling with some close games that ultimately determined the two teams who progressed to finals weekend. The team who qualified on the high score of 7pts includes last year’s winner, Verena, playing with relative newbie, Mike, and Sandy. They will take on Don, Martin and Peter, who qualified on the second highest score of 6pts. Commiserations to the other teams who finished close behind on 5pts and 4pts and the rest who didn’t, but nevertheless made the day a success.

The next and last all-day club competition is the Mixed 2-wood Pairs that was rescheduled due to rain (yes, I can’t believe it either!) on 8th August. Further details will be posted nearer the time.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, also on Saturday, a trio of our Sunbury women bowlers were at Ashford trying their best in Middlesex county competitions games. First up was Anita in the Women’s o-55 Singles quarter final. Despite losing she can take some comfort from the fact that she lost to the eventual winner and perenial qualifier for the Leamington national finals. Next up were Karen & Eileen in the Women’s 2-wood Pairs semi-finals. Having battled through three rounds to get into the semis they drew a pair from the northern district, Bounds Green, and won! Ironically, they play the final at Bounds Green next weekend.

Karen and Eileen have competed together for many years, through thick and thin, and are now one step away from county honours. Coincidentally, Anita and Glenda (Jones) were finalists in the same competition back in 2019. Fingers crossed they can bring back the trophy for Sunbury!

The Friday Triples is now a third way through and is all to play for.

10pts – Eileen; 8pts – Colin; 6pts – Diane; Simon; 4pts – Nikki; 2pts – Alison.

We seek only our second win of the season in the SML at Fordbridge Park on Sunday and then host the WI on Monday evening from 6:30pm. Please do drop in if you can to help with the expected large numbers. Roll-up continues on Tuesday evening and then it’s a team friendly on Wednesday at one of the few remaining traditional clubs, Oatlands Park, where a break is taken for tea half way through the game!

Unfortunately Sunbury couldn’t carry through some recent good form into the weekend games. Despite winning more ends then Staines on a couple of rinks we lost 10-nil to Staines in the SML on Saturday. Conceding a 7 on all but one rink is what did it! It was some comfort to hear that Tracy, Colin & JenB got the measure of the Staines captain, et al, the next morning in the 1st round of the South Middx Mixed Triples .. by one shot!

It was a closer affair on Sunday at Ember with the rinks shared 2-2, but overall shot count went in the home team’s favour. Next up for the Sunbury teams is a visit to Fordbridge Park in the SML on Sunday 19th and then a mid-week trip to Oatlands Park for a friendly on 22nd.

We are now pretty much half way through our own club competitions and with all games played on schedule except for one (that’s arranged for this week). Thanks to everyone for being so enthusiastic in getting the games played especially in the heat and as there’s been so many of them this season .. a couple of the competition draws have seen an unprecedented 32 entrants! Thanks also for marking the games – it’s been great to see some new faces helping out.

The next of our day-long club competitions, the Presidents Plate, is fast approaching. We are one short of the magic number 30 so I’ve twisted someone’s arm to enter so if you’d like to play instead please get in touch asap. Please report 10am on Saturday for the draw, with the games commencing at 10:30am.

Please double-check the playlist – Alan; Alison; Andrea; Andrew; Bindley; Bob; Brian; Cassie; Chris; Christine; Colin; DavidC; DavidP; Don; Gary; Geoff; JenB; John; Julia; Kath; Lynda; Martin; Mike; NeilF; Peter; Roger; Sandy; Verena; Viv; Wade.

Whilst some of us have fun playing the Presidents Plate on Saturday, we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for three of our members representing Sunbury in Middlesex county games at Ashford. First up in the morning will see Anita facing Cathy Taylor from Cambridge Park in the quarter-finals of the Middx Women’s o-55 Singles; if successful Anita will then play a semi-final in the afternoon. We also have Karen & Eileen playing their semi-final in the Middx Women’s 2-wood Pairs in the afternoon. Good luck to all three of them.

Lastly, the heatwave may be subsiding but it’s still very dry so please do help out the gardeners by watering the flowerbeds by the car park whenever you can. The hosepipe near the chalet was designed to reach.

We rounded off the week with some better news .. a first win this season in the South Middlesex League (SML)! Sunbury got off to a flying start on one of the rinks and kept the pressure on until the end, despite a few wobbles. We suffered at the start on the other three rinks but turned it around on a couple of them for wins. The other rink drew level with two ends to go but just missed out completing the clean sweep but Sunbury still recorded an overall 8-2 win over league leaders Bishop Duppas. The team received some splendid support from those watching. Next weekend sees two away games – at Staines on Saturday in the SML; followed by a friendly at Ember on Sunday.

The second of our day-long club competitions, the Presidents Plate, is fast approaching on Saturday 18th. We’ve lost some players due to engagements in Middlesex county quarter/semis on that day so we currently have 32 players. It’s a triples competition played over a series of short games with the teams drawn at random with a little seeding to ensure some degree of balanced teams. Please get in touch if you can no longer make it or would like to enter.

Playlist – Alan; Andrea; Andrew; Bindley; Bob; Brian; Charlie; Chris; Christine; Colin; DavidC; DavidP; Don; Frank; Gary; Geoff; JenB; John; Julia; Kath; Linda; Lynda; Martin; Mike; NeilF; Paul; Peter; Roger; Sandy; Verena; Viv; Wade.

Lastly, it looks like Richard’s funeral will be held on 27th July, although that’s to be confirmed. More details will follow.

It’s with much sadness we mourn the untimely death of Richard Moxon, a real gentleman in every sense of the word. He was a fine club bowler, winning the Presidents Plate in 2020 alongside Brian & Roger, followed by the Junior Championship in 2021. But it’s fair to say the winning wasn’t everything, he genuinely enjoyed his bowling, with his demeanour unchanged win or lose! Whether it was a chat in the bar or around the bowls green, Richard managed to connect with everyone he met. I particularly enjoyed hearing of his tales about a recent trip to Japan with his partner Jacqueline and another of his passions, Fulham FC. There was nothing not to like about him, he’ll be truly missed! RIP Richard.