THE NEMISIS THAT IS COVE

For at least the fifth time in the last 7 years, Oakley's men found themselves up against perennial County Northern Area Winners Cove in the County Club Championship and for the fifth time Cove came out on top. On a warm evening the Cove green was pushier than normal but both sides settled quickly and with the rinks of Bob Goodyear and Graham Tompkins making good starts, Oakley trailed at 6 ends by just 6 shots. By 10 ends the Cove lead had gone out to 11 but with Nick Hardy's rink rallying well the difference, with all rinks having 5 ends to play, was just 8 shots. That was, for Oakley, as good as it was to get, as they went down to a 73-57 defeat, principally caused by the fact that, on only one occasion, did they pick up a score above 2. Cove scored 3 or more on 9 ends. Oakley scores: Leigh Allen, Malcolm Grime, Fred Norris and Nick Hardy won 16-12; John Yarrall, Martin Smith, Spencer Kerley and Graham Tompkins lost 15-18; Steve Devonish, Gerald Norris, Ric Newson and Bob Goodyear lost 15-17; Jamie Fewtrell, Jim Dixon, Sean Lassman and Ashley Nethercliffe lost 11-26.