Maldon B Division 4
May
Tuesday 13th Home v Lionmede - The 2025 season kicked off for the Maldon B team with a home game v Lionmead. The sun was shining and the mood for victory was strong. On one rink the captain put out a 4 with vast experience with Trevor Matthams skipping backed up by John Blighton at No.3. The rink was completed by a Moyra Underdown at lead and David Sargood at 2. These two proved so effective delivering solid ends from which John and Trevor could only build upon. This combination stopped the opposition from scoring a point until the 7th end and then only bothering the scoreboard twice more during the match. On the other rink the 4 players could not boast of the experience and expertise of Trevor's rink . Despite this they quickly found their form and begun to pull away from the opposition and by the 11th end had a comfortable lead of 21 to 6. Special mention must go to Paul Callow who playing his first league game, played a game which a much more experienced player would be proud of. Helen Philpott, playing lead, and Paul at 2, always had the better of their opposite numbers making Ron Thackray ,at 3, and Simon Ash, skip, jobs much easier.
The final scores were 23-6 for Trevor's rink and 25-11 on Simon's rink resulting in a convincing 48-17 win and all 8 points for Maldon B. Thanks go to Lionmead who's company made our evening enjoyable.
Next game at home against Great Baddow.
Tuesday 20th Home v Gt. Baddow C - Maldon B welcomed a Green Baddow team for our second home match with high hopes of repeating our success from last week.Trevor Matthams had his trusty deputy John Blighton at 3 but a new look front end saw Dave Bruce in an unfamiliar lead position and a debutant, Susie Timkle, start at 2. Despite the new look rink by the half way point Trevor was made to look good by his fellow team mates with a healthy 13-5 lead. This lead was never under threat and although the last 3 ends were lost it was as too little too late for the 4 from Green Baddow. Final score22-12. On the other rink Simon Ash had a more familiar looking rink with just one change seeing Bobby Bruce making her debut at lead. Paul Callow was once again solid at two, leaving Ron Thackray and Simon to try and add to the points the lead two had bowled. This rink was a tighter game and after 10 ends played nothing separated the teams. However, a run of five scoring ends for Maldon put the game to bed with the final score 19-13 in Maldons favour.So another 8-0 win and a healthy aggregate score and another selection headache for Captain Simon for next weeks match, our first away at Stock.
Well done and thanks to Gt Baddow for an enjoyable evening.
Tuesday 27th Away v Stock C - Maldon B travelled to Stock to take on their C team. A wet and windy day had slightly improved to gray and breezy. With a rather heavy green, Trevor Matthams, John Blighton, David and Moyra Underdown took control from the first bowl and didn’t loose the mat until the eighth end. Loosing 3 points over the next 3 ends before restoration of the mat, they restricted their opponents to only a further 3 points over the remaining 8 ends. ‘New boy’, David Underdown was under scrutiny not only from his wife but also team Captain Simon after his whinging over the previous week about his lack of opportunity to show his skill . I am pleased to report that he has created yet another selection headache for Captain Simon. Well played David.
Final score for Trevor’s rink 20-6.
The other rink saw another married combo making a ‘playing couple’ debut. Dave and Bobby Bruce along with Helen Philpott and Simon Ash also had a strong start but by the halfway point all was square at 7-7. However, it definitely was a game of two halves as Simon’s happy crew only relinquished the mat once over the next 9 ends. As the author of this report I have to admit that I had all the rub of the green and Tony ( Stock skip) had none!!). This good luck and the solid support of his rink resulted in a dominant display reflected in the 24-8 win.
So the aggregate score of 44-14 gave Maldon all 8 points and kept our position at top of Div4 . Thanks to the Stock team who played better than the score suggests and yes Simon’s luck may have been mentioned over the beers after the match!!
June
Tuesday 3rd Home v Witham B
Tuesday 10th Home v Chelmsford C
Tuesday 17th Away v Mill Lane
Thursday 19th KO Shield Preliminary Home & Away v Falcon D
Tuesday 24th Away v Southminster
July
Tuesday 1st Away v Lionmede
Thursday 3rd KO Shield 1st Round
Tuesday 8th Away v Gt Baddow C
Tuesday 15th Home v Stock C
Thursday 17th KO Shield 2nd Round
Tuesday 22nd Away v Witham B
Tuesday 29th Away v Chelmsford C
Thursday 31st KO Shield Semi-Final
August
Tuesday 5th Home v Mill Lane
Tuesday 12th Home v Southminster
Saturday 30th KO Finals at Gt Baddow