West take Sussex bowling honours ... club mourn president Frank

After a win in their first match they were looking for a good result to put them top.

They started slowly, winning just one game and drawing one in the first session. They improved in the second session with three wins to leave them leading 9-7 at lunch.

In the afternoon the pattern of the morning was repeated with just one win in the third session and both sets of bonus points going to East Sussex.

The final session was a repeat of the second session with three wins and bonus points gained in both disciplines for an overall win 21-19 which leaves then second behind Kent.

In the singles The Martlets’ Mel Lillywhite drew 12-12 and lost 14-11 while club-mate Marc Lancaster lost 17-8 and 13-12. In the pairs Bognor’s Roger Brown with Infinity’s Chris Page lost 18-10 and won 14-9 while The Martlets’ pair of Chris Blackman and Malcolm Rollings won 14-13 and lost 12-10.

In the triples Lavant’s Peter Winter and Peter Whale with Southbourne’s Karen Alner won 15-5 and 13-7 while Lavant’s John Simms lost 12-10 and 13-7.

And in the fours the Southbourne combination of Audrey Bull, Rodney Bull, Dave Alner and Antony Bull won 18-11 and staged a remarkable comeback in their afternoon game to pull up from 9-0 down to win 15-13.

ARUN

Arun ladies travelled to Egham IBC and came away winners by 134-107 shots.

Scores: E Keywood, S Simmonds, S Stocker & J Whetstone lost 23-13; D Hogg, R Wiedenheoft, G Conley & C Bowles won 34-15; J Foster, P Terry, P Jones & J Taffurelli won 20-18; C Hillier, S Hart, W Bury & M Phillips won 23-11; K Burnard, E Cooke, M Bateman, S Judd lost 26-18; E Fitch, P Rampo, C Mayoss & B Jones won 26-14.

In the Vivienne Trophy, the ladies beat Banister Park by 11 shots.

Scores: J Foster, C Mayoss & C Horsley won 19-13; D Green, P Rampton, P Terry lost 16-12; J Boucher, M Bacon & S Jones won 22-21; P Corkett, J Whetstone & B Jones won 25-17.

Egerton Park 145 Arun 106

Arun’s men took just one of 11 county league points from a defeat at Egerton Park on their longest trip of the season.

They didn’t have the greatest of starts, with captain Barry Sanford saying he’d had trouble putting a team together because of first-team member commitments.

Egerton Park romped ahead at the start and by a third of the way through, they were significantly ahead.

Arun slowly ticked away at these points and by the two-thirds stage, the visitors were ahead by ten points.

But despite Arun’s best efforts Egerton pulled back to win the game by 39 shots, winning on five of six rinks.

Scores: B Daly, K Ball, A Anderson, M Bonnar lost 27-24; P Hamnet, A Brown, R Hobbs, T Sayers lost 24-23; R Corkett, S Payne, C Spicer, B Butler won 21-16; D Jackson, V May, P Lillford, P Hannam lost 25-7; K Hellyer, J Fox, F Taylor, B Talmage lost 26-17; C Gilham, M Johnson, R Gardner, L Corne lost 27-14.

WITTERINGS

It is with great sadness that Witterings and District Bowls Club have learned of the death of their president Frank Bray.

Frank became president in 2010, was well known throughout the county and was an active and popular member of the club.

Despite being unwell at times during the past few months, he has attended the club in order to fulfil his role as president – a mark of his dedication

to the members and the club he so strongly supported.

CRABLANDS

After a flying start to the season, Crablands Avocets came plummeting to earth with a crushing defeat at the hands of Bognor Silver, who took all six points.

Avocets knew Silver were going to be their toughest opponents and so it proved.

Strong leadership from Alan Foot on rink one, ably supported by Celia Foot, Harry Stead and Elaine Sadler, gave Bognor a scare when they took the lead on the 11th end at 13-12.

But they were no match for the more experienced Silver team of Mary Fair, Marion Goodland, Peter Matters and Brian Goodland, who were eventual winners 26-17.

On rink two, despite Sylvia Gray displaying her prowess, Avocets were completely overwhelmed by D Fair, S Singleton, B Tyrie and R Greco and it wasn’t until a change around of the team that Peter Latchford, David Harding, Don Jonas and Sylvia Gray scored their first shot on end ten.

Avocets managed to score eight more shots but it was too late for recovery and they lost 39-9.

The friendly mat, made up of Crablands’ Cormorant players Denise Merritt, Marion Hatch, Mollie Back and Reg Hatch, romped home 41-6 against T Unicombe, J Herdman, A Tyrie & F Hollybone.

MIDHURST

The Eagles are having a better run with their friendly games and are reflecting on two very good wins.

The first, over Walberton, saw the Eagles winning on all three mats. Each mat took 13 of the 21 ends for a 76-49 win overall.

Scores: D Morgan, S Trussler R Carn, S Glazebrook won 24-15; S Trussler, A Carn, M Spandley, R Weeks won 21-17; D Clark, D Berry, C Morgan, T Berry won 31-17.

The second game, against Pulborough, favoured the Eagles. On one mat the Eagles lost by one shot after a very close game, but the other two mats walked away with convincing wins, the Eagles taking the match 91-31.

Scores: L Stevens, S Trussler, J Etheridge-Barns, T Berry won 28-6; B Osbourne, S Trussler, M Spandley, R Weeks won 45-6; S Tait, I Frost, B Fallows, S Glazebrook lost 19-18.

SOUTHBOURNE

Southbourne Rangers 54 Arundel Mullets 25

Southbourne Rangers had an excellent home win against Arundel Mullets in county division two of the West Sussex Winter League. Rangers won on both mats and by 29 shots overall to earn a maximum six points.

Scores: Audrey Bull, Karen Alner, Andy Smith & Rodney Bull (s) won 30-13; John Hardy, Dave Walter, Dave Alner & Antony Bull (s) won 24-12.

Southbourne Rangers 43 Horley Hawks 26

Rangers had a splendid home victory against Horley Hawks, also in division two of the Winter League. In a very competitive match, Southbourne won on both mats and by 17 shots overall to earn a maximum six points.

Scores: Audrey Bull, Karen Alner, Andy Smith & Rodney Bull (s) won 22-11; John Hardy, Dave Walter, Robin Armstrong & Dave Alner (s) won 21-15.

FITTLEWORTH

Fittleworth 63 Arundel 58

Scores: Jane Adsett, Marilyn Knight, David Luxford, Bernard Adsett won 22-17; Arthur Ellcome, Tessa Clegg, Monica Enticknap, Gina Barnfield won 19-17; Audrey Hodgson, Lyn White, Marc Wood, Charlie Martin lost 24-22.