Bowling’s finished on the Chichester greens - club work goes on

Bowling went on later than usual thanks to the fine weather and the excellent state of the green at the season’s end.

By this time, many bowlers had disappeared for indoor bowling and short-mat games and won’t be seen at the club until the spring.

After the last roll-up, a group got together to remove all the mats from the ditches, clean them and cart them into the clubhouse where they were stacked in the rear room.

At the same time all commemorative benches were removed from the green and stored in the club. The floor was protected by plastic sheets and newspapers.

The club clock was taken down and stored in the club for its annual overhaul, which Les Stewart carried out by revarnishing it.

The green was airiated by Mick Page, the groundsman. It was cut to remove long grass and rubbish on the surface and then oversown with grass seed – and after a short period of time the top dressing was applied.

That was 70 per cent sand and 30 per cent loam mix, which took Mick several days as the weather interrupted the work.

The next job was to repaint the seats – this was done by whoever turned up on different days to volunteer.

Although the weather was terrible outside, the workers managed over several weeks to complete the repainting job by November 12, a month before schedule. Tea and biscuits were provided for the workers each morning.

Small jobs still need to be carried out and will be completed by the opening day of the 2015 season in April.

Chichester’s outdoor bowlers visited Worthing Field Place for their annual indoor fixture.

Although winning on only two of the five rinks, they did enough to come away with a 97-83 win.

Scores: T Jennings, S Pickard, A Stewart, T Hardgrove won 20-9; J Walters, T Wiseman R Anscombe, T Sayers lost 18-16; C Hobbs, B Hole, J Pickard, P White won 26-11; N Dearman, B Money, K Ball, S Miles lost 20-16; C Dean, L Etherington, P Doust, B Spicer lost 25-19.

Chichester’s other indoor fixture is against Arun on Sunday, January 4.

COUNTY SCENE

West Sussex’s premier team continued their inter-county championship programme with a visit to Surrey.

They started slowly, sharing the points in the first session and taking three of the eight points in the second session to trail 9-7 at lunch.

They struggled again in the third, winning only one game, but had an excellent final session, winning three and drawing one game for seven out of eight points.

With bonus points in the pairs and the fours the final score was a 20-20 draw with the shots 182-181 to Surrey.

In the pairs The Martlets’ Jim Noton and Infinity’s Chris Page won 19-9 and lost 13-11 while father and son Chris Blackman from The Martlets and Dan Blackman from Infinity won 19-12 and 12-11.

In the triples, The Martlets Malcolm Rollings drew 9-9 and won 12-6 while club-mates Mel Lillywhite and Marc Lancaster lost 17-7 and drew 13-13.

In the fours, Southbourne’s Karen and Dave Alner and Robin Armstrong lost 9-7 and won 14-5 while the Lavant grouping of John Simms, Peter Winter and Peter Whale won 10-4 and 9-3.

ARUN

Arun ladies travelled to Camberley Bowls Club and won by 13 shots.

Scores: P Rampton, M Brand, P Jones and J Tafurelli lost 22-20; E Fitch, V Greenaway, M Bateman and S Judd won 25-15; C Hillier, E Cooke, B Bonnar and J Whitfield won 23-14; K Burnard, J Connors, S Simmonds and C Horsley won 19-13; E Keywood, L Carthew, J Lindley and P Buckland lost 27-17.

Arun ladies and gents played a friendly against a team from Mill Farm, Pagham. It was played in great spirits and Arun won by 39 shots.

Scores: F Hollebone, F Downing, N Waddock and C Horsley won 20-15; B Jones, L Sadler, S Blyth and J Muffett lost 18-17; J Watson. P Davenport, S Judd and PJ White won 27-13; K Burt, M Steel, E West and G Conley won 21-18; I Baker. P Sadlerbrook. K Young and A Hunt drew 17-17; D Anderson, D Yong, S Stocker and A Blyth won 19-18.

Arun ladies played the next round of the national Masons Trophy against Adur and ended up with a 48-33 win.

Scores: D Anderson, B Collins, B Spicer and A Janman won 25-14; C Hobbs, M Phllips, D Latter and C Bowles won 23-19.

Another success for Arun ladies came when they played Palmerston Ladies in the national Yetton Trophy. They won by 25 shots.

Scores: I Brooker, P Terry, S Stocker and G Conley won 27-14; D Anderson, B Collins, B Spicer and A Janman won 24-12; C Hobbs, M Phillips, S Miles and D Latter lost 21-20; E Fitch, J Taffurelli, S Judd and M Richards won 17-16.

Arun go on to play Adur in January.

MIDHURST

Midhurst visited Southbourne Rovers and won on both mats – 48-25 the score – to take six points.

Scores: D Berry, B Fallows, J Etheridge-Barns,T Berry won 27-10; L Mercer, I Frost, S Weeks, R Weeks won 21-15.

In the other league game away to Walberton, Eagles didn’t find it so comfortable. One mat lost quite heavily and the second were not able to make up the difference. The Eagles picked up only two points in a 42-36.

The friendly mat made a great comeback from 12-5 down to win 18-15.

Scores: A Knight, B Fallows, J Etheridge-Barns, T Berry lost 24-11; L Mercer, S Weeks, R Carn, R Weeks won 25-18.

The Eagles visited Ashington, losing on two mats and winning on one but losing by 21 shots overall.

Scores: S Tate, D Burton, J Etheridge-Barns, R Weeks lost 19-14; A Carn, I Frost, A Stevens, R Carn lost 30-11; A Burton, D Berry, B Fallows, T Berry won 16-13.

At home to Pulborough the Eagles fared better by winning on two mats and losing on just one – taking the match by 11 shots.

Scores: S Tate, D Burton, L Stevens, T Berry won 22-21; A Knight, A Burton, B Osbourne, B Fallows won 26-14; L Stevens, D Berry, A Stevens, R Weeks lost 21-19.

CRABLANDS

Crablands Cormorants played Arundel Mullets at home but lost on all three mats.

Scores: Joyce Abel, Marion Hatch, Reg Hatch and Martin Hunt lost 21-15; Jan Obermayer, Rod Shambrook, Peter Latchford and Mollie Back lost 21-17; (friendly): Denise Merritt, Jim Saunders, Don Jonas and Joan Taylor lost 22-16.

Crablands Bitterns hosted Lavant Green and gained all six points.

Scores: Ted Murrell, Iris Brown, Geoff Brown and Lil Tuck won 27-14; Sylvia Gray, Terry Axworthy, Nigel Reynolds and Peter Blackman won 22-12; (friendly) Elaine Sadler, Gwen Coombes, Trevor Wilson and Jan Obermayer won 29-28.

SOUTHBOURNE

Southbourne Rovers lost away to Norfolk Cubs in south-west division two of the West Sussex Winter League.

On one mat Southbourne were winning after 13 ends but Norfolk recovered well to win. On the other mat, Southbourne lost decisively against a tough team.