Maldon B Division 4
May
Tuesday 14th Home v Lionmede.
Our first game of the 2024 season saw a strong Maldon team take on Lionmede. Simon and Ron took on the skipping duties and were ably supported with last year’s stalwarts of Helen and Moira at lead, David Sargood and Bobby Bruce at 2 and Big Trevor and David Bruce playing at 3. It didn’t look good after the first 3 ends as Maldon hadn’t bothered the scoreboard. Ron’s rink woke up scoring 3 on the forth end and Simon’s rink took another end before registering a single point. Although Ron’s rink only went on to win another 8 ends they scored heavily each time taking 6 on the eleventh end and cruised to a comfortable 22:12 win.
The story on Simon’s rink looked to be following suit with Helen ,Bobby and Trevor making Simon look good. On the last end we were 6 up, however, the bowling gods decided to have a laugh with us and despite the holding bowl being over 3 feet from the Jack each of us proceeded to have our worst end of the game and dropped 6!! 17 all. If Helen wasn’t so well brought up we may have heard some profanity!! Overall a successful, if frustrating evenings Bowling with Maldon taking 7 of the 8 points available ( that single point b****r).
Well done to Bobby who played really well in her first game as a Maldon B player and thanks to all for a positive start to the season. I wish all the squad well and especially Ron who is taking the Captain duties while Simon swans off back to Oz to welcome a new grandchild.
See you in July.
Simon
Tuesday 21st Away v Gt. Baddow C - Gt Baddow C had cancelled this match.
Tuesday 28th Home v Boreham - with Captain Simon now being on holiday the reports for the 'B' team are going to be much shorter. Maldon 'B' had a win overall with rink 2 losing 12 - 14 to Boreham but rink 3 had a good total of 19 - 12. Maldon therefore had 31 shots to 26 and obtained a total of 6 points.
June
Tuesday 4th Away v South Woodham A - despite a few of our members having played at South Woodham during the winter months unfortunately it was not a good result for Maldon B team. Both teams had to accept a defeat with a total score of 73-13. Let us hope for a better score next week.
Tuesday 11th Home v Ingatestone B - another cold evening with an interesting game as it was very much up and down on both rinks. However, Maldon B team managed to pull off a win by 1 shot. The team on rink 3 had to pull back from a loss of 6 shots on one end but fortunately managed to pull back and had a score of 18 all on the last end and then gained three shots on the last end. Rink 4, although being very close throughout the game lost 2 shots on the last end. Points scored 6 to Maldon and 2 to Ingatestone B. A very enjoyable evening.
Tuesday 18th Away v Mill Lane - we almost had an evening without rain which made a great change. It was a game of 'nick and tuck' with Maldon winning on both rinks sometimes during the match and then Mill Lane pulling back. The final score however was 25 - 19 on Ron Thackray's rink and 19 - 21 on Trevor Mattham's giving Maldon a total of 6 points and Mill Lane 2. Very enjoyable evening and it was the first League match for Lesley Sargood.
Thursday 20th KO Shield Preliminary - no game
Tuesday 25th Away v Tiptree Jobserve B - the rink under Skipper Trevor Matthams started off really well with a big lead but unfortunately Tiptree then made a return. Ron's rink were up and down and level pegging for sometime but Maldon then managed to go ahead. The final score was 43 shots for both teams resulting in 4 points each.
July
Tuesday 2nd Away v Lionmede - Not a good night for Maldon B team who were short of their normal league players. Both rinks lost 27 - 16 and 35 - 13 therefore Lionmede gained the 8 points.
Thursday 4th KO Shield 1st Round - Maldon lost this match.
Tuesday 9th Home v Gt Baddow C - Maldon won on one rink with a score of 21 - 20 shots and lost on the second rink 20 -23. Maldon therefore only obtained 2 points.
Tuesday 16th Away v Boreham - not one of the best evenings weather wise and also results wise. One Maldon rink started off well keeping up with the Boreham score but unfortunately at the end of the evening the total score for Maldon was 22 shots compared to Boreham's 46. Therefore Maldon did not receive any points.
Thursday 18th KO Shield 2nd Round
Tuesday 23rd Home v South Woodham A - Simon has returned and his report is as follows:
Maldon B fielded a relatively inexperienced team this evening with their usual stalwarts and calm heads either unavailable or injured. However, as usual we took to the green full of enthusiasm and hope. Ron Thackeray was easily the happiest player to take up his position on the mat as he had been relived of the captaincy he never really wanted when Simon Ash left him to it to travel to Australia to meet his new Grandson back in May!
Dave Bruce lead his team ; Helen Philpott, Dan Green and David Sargood, and were instantly up by a 25% as SWF had a player short. However, this advantage was soon whittled away and by end 13 the valiant 4 were looking at a 17 point deficit. Dave kept his team smiling and they racked up 9 unanswered points over the next 3 ends and felt that the tables were turning. This turned out to be a false dawn, they didn't bother the scoreboard again until the last end by which time it was too little too late.
On the next rink a smiling Ron Thackeray playing at 3 ,new boy Dereck Benson at lead with Bobby Bruce at 2 and despite the last knockings of jet lag Simon Ash ( that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!) took the responsibility of skipping. It was all a rather tight first 10 ends with the scoreboard recording a 1 point lead to Maldon, 8-7. Simon then lead a mini break and by the 16th end we had moved to 15-8 lead. Helen, SWF skip, was moaning about the green but was quickly dismissed by Simon who to shut her up bought her a drink ( that always works I have found!! ). Helen's moaning stopped when her team scored 12 unanswered points over the next 5 ends, ( I could have saved the price of a drink!!) Simon, Ron, Bobby and Derick grasped defeat from the jaws of victory and despite playing better bowls, we had loads of luck it was just all bad! ( I'm the author so that's how I saw it and so record it!) we went down by 5. Final score 31-40.25 (after % adjustment)
Well-done to SWF and to my valiant B team players. A lovely atmosphere on the green and in the bar afterwards. We wish SWF luck in the remaining two games as they are in the pot for promotion.
Tuesday 30th Away v Ingatestone - Match Report from team Captain, Simon Ash:
The 8 intrepid Maldon B players made their way down the A 12 to Ingatestone to try and repeat the home game success earlier in the season.
Dave Bruce, David Sargood, Matt Baker and last minute replacement Peter Pask took some time to get into the scoreboard. However, on the 6th end they took four points and they thought it was the start of the comeback. This proved to be a false dawn and by the 17th end the scoreboard was in a rather disappointing negative to the tune of 28-9! However, the never say die attitude of Maldon B saw Dave and his rink win all 4 of the final ends gaining 8 points without reply. If they had been playing 32 ends we would have taken the points!!
The rink next door consisting of Simon Ash, Ron Thackeray , Bobbie Bruce and Derick Benson had a rather different start trading one pointers for the first 5 ends. It was from end 5 that the locals found the unpredictable green and begun to pile on the points. Nobody had a bad game but the green was certainly a fifth player on Ingatestone’s team sheet. For quite a while it looked like we might not make double figures but the happy shouts from our fellow bowlers on the rink next door in their final ends inspired us to take 2 on the 21st end. Thus resulting in a 10 on the left hand column of the score card.
Overall score 37-51 against and so an 8-0 loss. As usual at Ingatestone the company was pleasant and the banter of a high quality. Good luck to John Snell and his team as they push for promotion.
August
Thursday 1st KO Shield Semi-Final
Tuesday 6th Home v Mill Lane - following is the report from Simon Ash:
Maldon B welcomed Mill Lane players to our green for their first visit. The sun was shining and as usual the Maldon squad needed no motivational speeches from the Captain to be ready for this game. As has become our MO both rinks failed to score until Simon’s rink took a shot on the fourth end. However, it was another 3 ends before any more points were added. The usual high spirits and never say die attitude on Dave Bruce’s rink was sourly tested when it wasn’t until the 8th end that a point was put into the scoreboard making it 1-15.
Simon, Ron, Bobby and Derek B rallied in the last 8 ends and took the lead on end 10. The score stood at 13-13 with 3 ends to play. The final ends was a tense affair as the score stood at 14-15 as the Jack was sent down by Derek B. A tight head unfortunately was taken by one shot by Mill Lane. 14-16, close but no cigar!
Dave Bruce’s rink consisted of David Sargood at 3, Peter Pask at 2 and Phil Arnold at 1 were having a torrid time. Let’s not dwell on the details apart to say that the game was played in good spirits and a friendly beer was enjoyed at close of play!
Final overall score22-41.
Next time we will have a beer before we roll up.
Final game next Tuesday and we are looking forward to it, honest!!
Tuesday 13th Home v Tiptree Jobserve B -
Well here it is the final CMBL Maldon B Match Report of the 2024 season.
Tuesday’s team sheet reflected the importance of getting a full 8 points from this match against the bottom team, Tiptree to maintain our Division 4 status. Captain Ash pulled on the vast experience of Mr T Matthams as skip and Mrs P Clack as his solid lead ably supported by the enthusiasm of the two Dave’s, Sargood and Bruce. The other rink had a familiar look with the usual 4 of Derek, Bobby, Ron and Simon.
So to the game. After a sweltering day, as soon as we stepped onto to the rink it began to rain, a sort of a relief from the hot and humid conditions of the last two days but the green slowed.
The usual slow start on both rinks meant that Captain Simon had a sinking feeling that this vital survival match was slipping away early doors . He need not have worried as on Trevor’s rink things evened up and then began to pull away. On Simon’s rink it was all square at 6-6 on end 9. Tiptree took a point on the next end but that was the last time they troubled the score card. Bobby had a great game, supported by Derek who was never beaten by his opposite number and Ron supplying some sweet shots to leave Simon looking good as he left the head. At the end of 18 ends the scoreboard on rink two looked a healthy 23-7.
On Trevor’s return to competition he decided to further entertain the small but enthusiastic crowd to a nail biting finish. 18-18 as Pam cast the Jack on the last end. A few changes of shot wood kept it tight but the valiant 4 on rink 1 pulled off a two wood lead and therefore winning the contest 22-18.
An 8-0 result sheet was exactly what we needed to maintain our place in this division. Well done to all players who contributed to Maldon B season. We wish Tiptree a speedy return to Division 4.