1. Lyme Regis match report -18th May 2023.
After lunch in the sunshine at Lyme Regis, our bowlers, some new, were ready to take on the opposition. A few ends after the start, the rink of Joy, Debbie and Simon found themselves up against a very strong team who eventually won out. The rinks of Frank, Trevor and Peter, Eric, Bill and Ron both fought back well to secure draws on the last ends.
However, the rink of Georgina, Jo and Mo lost on the last wood of the last end by one, after holding six.
The customary tea etc, after nine ends was back, but Lyme (embarrassingly to them) won all the draw prizes.
We were able to have a chat and a drink with our hosts after the game, where those who hadn’t encountered VI’s before were amazed at the standard of bowling from us.
Grateful thanks to Lyme Regis Bowls Club for their hospitality and we already have an invitation to return next year. Also we can’t thank our helpers enough, as you know without them these games would not be possible.
2. Sherborne match report – 7th June 2023.
A lovely afternoon of bowling, fun and great company was enjoyed by all that went to Sherborne bowls club. Our hosts that day looked after us very well and as reported on FB were intrigued by VI bowling and how good it can be. Also, a really positive note from the game, was a gentleman watching who is registered as a VI might join us in the winter. As usual Georgina Park won on the raffle as well as others from Yeovil but, that’s where our good fortunes stopped.
We were nearly all square at the break after nine ends, but, after tea (not sure what they put in it) Sherborne came out and really started to pull away. Our skips on the day were constantly finding themselves under the cosh with a great deal of work to do and played brilliantly to keep the score down to a respectful loss of 23 shots.
Against sighted bowlers, overall the YVIBC play very well and we can as a team give anyone a good game. Well done to all players and thank you so much to our helpers who had their hands full helping to make the day run as smooth as it did. A great local destination for a game for the YVIBC and we look forward to next year’s fixture there.
3. Somerton match report – 26th July 2023
Another great afternoon for the bowlers of YVIBC, who despite the weather, enjoyed the warm atmosphere and hospitality shown to them by the players at the Somerton bowls club.
Once again, the laughter from Simon and the team could be heard across all rinks, which is exactly the atmosphere you want to play bowls in.
The captain of the day Mo (bless him) once again, had a torrid time trying to establish the line needed and failed to bring his rink home in a winning position.
His rink is notorious for not getting the line right and being a friendly he made sure he got the rink saving his fellow club members the anguish of not being able to bowl a line or length. Refreshments were laid on for us at the end of the game which ended in the best result possible on the day, a draw, enough said.
The customary raffle went well, which saw us win some of the prizes. Many thanks to those who contributed to the draw. As the fixture was so successful again, the good people of Somerton invited us back next year before we left.
Thanks once again to Jeff for our transport on the day and to our helpers who are so generous with their time and definitely sometimes their patience!!
4. Summer Challenge Cup
Leg 1
Trying to put all six rinks out for a game for the YVIBC is quite a challenge, so even though we had six triples we had to let the main club have three players back who volunteered their time to us.
Now with five triples we were ready for the first leg of the summer challenge cup against the Yeovil Bowls Club. The game against the YBC had everything anybody could want, great weather, excellent company and atmosphere with loads of fun and laughter.
The proceedings got under way with a spider (bottle kindly donated by Lisa) and its proceeds going to VIBE, our governing body for visually impaired lawn bowls.
Bill and Sue Light very generously provided the sandwiches and Sue was a stalwart in the kitchen doing teas at the interval. Simon’s mum Lisa, provided us with a fantastic range of cup cakes and some extras for the draw-lucky Rod who won these.
Together though, collectively, everybody that was able to, helped to make the afternoon such a great success. Even though we lost, all five triples gave their all but came up short losing 106.58. Let’s see if we can turn this score around for the second leg.
Leg 2
The YVIBC put up a valiant effort to try and win the second leg but Yeovil Bowls club were too strong an opposition. There wasn’t much between the team when we stopped for tea, (thanks to Lisa for making cakes again and Debbie for providing the sandwiches) but at the close of play, all five triples lost and the final score was 93-60 to YBC (Not as big a defeat as the first leg!). The trophy after being in our possession for a year goes back to Yeovil Bowls club, but there is always next summer.
The Spiders which were run at the start of the two Summer Challenge Games were well supported and raised nearly £70 for Visually Impaired Bowls England
5. South Petherton Match Report – 24th August 2023
A trip to South Petherton for our last away game of 2023 saw some good bowling in the sunshine. After 10 ends we stopped for a lovely tea, sadly on resuming the game, the rain started and we were forced to come off the green. The fixture was reduced to 14 ends. The rink of Simon, Bill and Jo were the only rink to come away with a win. Mo, Debbie and Joy were ahead for most of the match but ended up with a hard fought draw. The other two rinks of Frank, Eric, Trev, Peter H, Trisha and Tony, helped by Rod and Lisa suffered defeats despite valiant efforts by everyone. Despite losing the fixture, a brilliant afternoon was had by all and our hosts at South Petherton were very encouraging to our bowlers on the green. Thank you to South Petherton Bowls Club for a lovely afternoon and for the generous donations to our club funds.