TENSE NIGHT AT OAKLEY

This evening Oakley took on Whitchurch in their first match of this season's Hants and Berks Cup. Early stages were close and after 5 ends the teams were tied at 11-11. Oakley's rink skipped by Sean Lassman was struggling and at 13 ends they trailed by 8 shots although they were more than covered by the other two rinks as Oakley moved into a 16 shot lead. Lassman's rink was the first to finish clawing their way back to a 4 shot deficit but any thoughts of a comfortable victory were dashed by a late rally from Whitchurch that saw them close the gap so that Oakley eventually triumphed by just 7 shots. Oakley scores: J McRae, P Hammond, S Devonish and M Vickers won 22-15; H Aherne, R Denny, R Newson and G Tompkins won 16-12; J Fewtrell, J Dixon, S Kerley and S Lassman lost 16-12

If this game was close and exciting it did not compare with the County Triples match between the Ladies of Oakley and Alton Social, with both teams looking for a place in the Northern Area Final. With all the other matches finished it looked to a captive and excited audience as if Social had won the match as with the game tied at 16 ends they picked up three shots on the 17th end. The final end saw Oakley's skip, Laura Butler with her last bowl trail the jack to give Oakley a surprise 17-16 win. Well done Angie Rowe, Sandra Lee and Laura Butler and good luck in the Area Final.