Big win for Pavilion Bears narrows gap on Bulls at the top of league

Having lost their unbeaten record at Tarring Priory last month, the Bears were determined to close the gap on Pavilion Bulls at the top of Division One.

They did so by taking eight of the 10 points on offer in stormy weather and are now only seven behind the Bulls with a game in hand. That match is at home to Chichester on Friday, followed two days later by the Bulls v Bears fixture.

Top rink against East Preston went to Kevin Yeo, Russ Doherty, Jeremy Simpson and skip Richard Maton, who won 35-10. They scored the only six of the entire match and dropped just six of the 21 ends, building a 25-2 lead over the first 12.

Dave Richardson, Nour Dissem, Jonathan Smith and Jamie Dunk dropped three shots on the first end but scored four on the second. They never trailed after that, although two fours in three ends by East Preston closed the gap to 19-15 with five to play. Pavilion won four of those to register a 26-16 win.

Andy Peters, David Thomas, Colin Davey and Simon Davey took an early lead before losing it on the seventh. With six ends to play the score was 13-13 but a strong finish by Pavilion made the result 22-13.

Tommy Walker, Arthur White, Francis Fahey and John Frew scored a five on the first. Their opponents took the next four ends to level the game and there was little in it until the 19th, when East Preston scored a five to lead by six. Pavilion were unable to come back from that, eventually losing 22-18.

A classic game of two halves on Wednesday, July 3 ended with Pavilion defeating Lindfield in a quarter-final tie of the Sussex County Bowls fours championship.

Alan Vidler skipped Francis Fahey, Tim Baldwin and Warwick Davis on Pavilion's B green against Ian Watson, Adam Harding, Paul Sandford and skip Keith Holman.

The hosts were on the rocks after nine of the 18 ends, trailing by 16 shots to six and having conceded two fives.

While not quite as dramatic as England's last-gasp rally against Slovakia in the Euros, the response from Pavilion's four was pretty impressive. They took seven of the remaining nine ends and finally overhauled Lindfield for the first time with a four on the 17th.

The visitors could manage only a single on the last end, leaving Pavilion to celebrate a memorable 19-18 victory.

In the semi-final on Wednesday, also being staged at Pavilion, Francis Fahey's four will face Ben Fairhall's four from Hove & Kingsway. The winners of that tie will travel to Eastbourne for the county final on Sunday, July 21.

A second quarter-final saw Jonathan Smith's four lose to Trevor Logan's rink from White Rock by four shots.

Pavilion ladies won their match against Horsham in the Sussex double rink championship by a single shot on Thursday, July 4.

Horsham dominated the early exchanges of both games in extremely blustery weather. Pavilion's home four of Julie Woods, Lynn Down, Ann Button and skip Jackie Pearson lost the first three ends but the three shots they scored on the ninth meant Horsham were only a shot clear.

The visitors then won five ends in a row to build a 17-6. Remarkably, Pavilion responded with a seven, a three and a single to tie the match on the 17th. Horsham took the last end with a single to end the fightback and win 18-17.

Pat Edmonds, Kathy Byrnes, Sue Gubbins and skip Gill Harrisson endured an even tougher start in their game at Horsham, trailing 14-0 after only five ends. Undaunted, Pavilion replied with a pair of twos followed by a six on the 10th end to cut the deficit.

They finally overhauled Debbie Jarvis's rink with two to play and won 20-18 after the last two ends were shared. Pavilion won the match 37-36 on aggregate and will play Crablands on July 11 in the next round.

Another excellent result for Pavilion ladies, winning on both rinks in their home fixture against Norfolk on Tuesday, July 2, lifted them to second place in the GS&M League.

Two victories and a draw in their three matches have given Pavilion 15 points, only five behind Norfolk, who have played five.

The aggregate score was 43 shots to 25, helping the ladies to a second consecutive six-point haul.Julie Woods, Kathy Byrnes, Ann Button and skip Jacky Pearson started strongly in their game against Pat Taylor's rink, taking six of the first seven ends to build a 13-1 advantage.

Norfolk cut the difference to five shots after 13 ends before Pavilion ended that rally by scoring a five on the next end. They dropped only two more shots in registering a 26-12 success.

Pat Edmonds, Lynn Down, Gill Harrisson and skip Sue Gubbins won the first five ends of their game against Carol Raggett's rink but lost the next four to trail 10-8 at halfway.

A three restored Pavilion's lead and they dropped only three shots in the second half, with a two on the final end securing a 17-13 victory.

Ann Button, the team captain, was delighted with another maximum score, though she knows plenty of tough challenges lie ahead when Pavilion play on their rivals' greens.

In a friendly fours game played simultaneously with the league fixture, Linda Carter, Brigitte Addison, Rosemary Lewer and skip June Lewis were pipped at the post. The lead changed four times before Diane Abbott's rink scored four on the 17th end and a single on the last to win 18-16.

Pavilion belatedly kick-started their campaign to retain the Stracey Shield by beating Worthing on all four rinks and by 118 shots to 58 on aggregate, earning the maximum 10 points.

Having been heavily defeated in four of their previous five matches, Phil Carter's team were not exactly brimming with confidence before the game on Wednesday, July 3. They started on 14 points, compared with their opponents' 28, and had a shots deficit of 59.

That all counted for nothing as Pavilion's bowlers hit top form, none more so than Barry Ledger's quartet of Barry Wood, Phil Carter and Bryan Bodicoat. They did lose the first end and the final two but did almost nothing wrong in between. A four on the third put them ahead, while a five on the ninth made the score 16-2. They eventually won 32-13.

That earned them top rink, pipping Richard Krupa's four of Pat Edmonds, Alan Fryar and Mike Spinks, who won 31-16. They took 10 of the first 11 ends in amassing an 18-shot lead. Worthing scored a six on the 16th and a four on the 21st to add a little respectability to the scoreline, though by then the hosts were home and hosed.

David Berry skipped Alan Crowter, Ralf Kuhr and Ian Down to a 32-19 win against Mick O'Mahoney's rink. The high-scoring encounter included two sixes by Pavilion, who led from start to finish despite conceding a five and a four to their determined opponents.

Ken Chapman's rink of Colin Johnson, Kathy Byrnes and Peter Tomley took 15 of the 21 ends against Ted Poole's rink, including 11 of the first 14. They scored 10 singles and a handful of two and threes in their 23-10 win.

The overall margin of victory gave Pavilion a positive points difference for the first time this season, albeit only one. They make the short journey to Marine Gardens for their next Stracey fixture on Wednesday.