February round up

The Robbers travelled to Poole Park Swans for the first match in February, but were unable to leave behind the poor away form shown in January. This time both mats finished strongly, but could not recover from their poor starts.

Del Way’s triple trailed 5-16 after 11 ends. A good fight back saw them go into the last three ends just two shots behind, but a 3 for the Swans on end 18 left too much for the Robbers to do, and despite winning the final two ends an 18-20 loss resulted.

The fours, skipped by John Beckford, struggled to get a point on the board, and after 7 ends were 0-14 down. They won the majority of the remaining ends, but the damage had already been done, and a more respectable 7-17 was the final score on the mat. The overall result was a 0-6 (25-37) loss.

Just two days later the Robbers were away at Charlton Marshall B. Things seemed to be going a lot better, and John Beckford’s four won 13-10. Unfortunately, Del Way’s triple, who had led for most of the contest, were overtaken in the last few ends, finally losing 16-23 with two points picked up in a 2-4 (29-33) loss.

We had the chance to turn things around less than a week later when Charlton B visited us. The fours, this time skipped by Del Way, won 12-9, but Mike Ackland’s triple suffered a 12-18 reverse, and we again picked up just two points in a 2–4 (24-27) loss.

The Kops saw their first action of the month with a tough trip to Heatherlands Hounds. It proved to be as difficult as expected, and although the triple put up an excellent fight to lose by just two shots at 19-21, the fours were soundly beaten 4-26. The overall score was a 0-6 (23-47) loss.

The Robbers played the first Blackmore Vale game of February at home to the Gulls from Gillingham. With the Gulls occupying second place in the league, one place ahead of us, this was an important fixture. After 10 ends we led 12-4 on mat 1, but trailed 7-10 on mat 2. The second half saw the visitors fight back, but not enough to change the result, and with one mat won by each team we finally ended our losing streak with a 4-2 (34-32) win.

The Kops followed a tough away game at Heatherlands with a tough home game against Carey. In a very strong top division, almost every game sees an opposition containing international players, and this was no exception. Both the triples and the fours were well beaten, with a final score of 0-6 (15-51).

The Robbers finished the month with a trip to West Moors to face the Foxes. With our opponents being the basement side in the league, we were hoping to follow our recent success with another win.

The Foxes certainly didn’t start the match with the look of a team who had struggled so far, and at the halfway stage things were very close as we led by just one shot at 8-7 on the triples, and after 7 ends the fours trailed 2-5 in a low scoring game.

One big end can make a difference, and for Del Way’s triple that came on end 11 when a score of 6 (a “hotshot”) established a good lead, which was held onto for an eventual 24-14 win.

John Beckford’s four clawed back from 2-5 down to lead 6-5 after 10 ends, but end 11 was their big one too, as a 5 gave them a score the Foxes could not catch. Their final score was 16-9, giving an overall 6-0 (40-23) win.

To finish the month the Kops faced Templecombe Bees at home in Division 2 of the Blackmore Vale League. With the teams standing at second and third in the league, this fixture was likely to be important in deciding who would join champions Sturlings in achieving promotion to the top flight.

With both teams winning on one mat it was the visitors who edged it, taking four points and keeping the promotion race open. The final score was a 2-4 (33-38) loss.