FIXTURES & WEEKLY REPORT

Oakham Bowls Club  W.E. 1st June 2025

Oakham’s Thursday Team’s winning  run ended at  Fleckney this week. The match played on four rinks over eighteen ends resulted in a narrow 3 shots win   for Fleckney despite Oakham winning on three of the four rinks.

Match Captain  Colin Wagstaff skipped rink one with Jenny Owen as lead and Barrie Payne at two. Oakham started well but 5 shots from Fleckney on the fifth end rocked them and with three ends to play they were still trailing by 8 shots .Always resilient they won the next two ends and with one end to  play they were still 4 shots behind.  From nowhere  they scored an excellent 5 shots on the last and in the words of their Skip “to win a surprising victory” Oakham on 18 shots, Fleckney on 17.

Alan Jones led on rink two with Mike Shalders at two and Ray Gregory was the Skip. Oakham took control from the first end  and quickly established a lead .After fourteen ends Oakham  were sitting comfortably with  20 shots, Fleckney had 9 shots. Over the last four ends, either Oakham switched off or Fleckney suddenly awoke as they won all four, added  9 shots to their total to get within two of the Oakham score. Oakham held on to win with 20 shots, Fleckney with 18 shots.

Rink Three had Bob Spence as lead, Ros Carter at two and Denis Smith was the Skip. Oakham found the going difficult over the first five ends.  However, the next three ends gave them a lead which they retained for the rest of the game On the fourteenth end they scored 8 shots, 1 short of a Hot Shot. Oakham won with 23 shots, Fleckney had 14 shots..

Eddie Owen skipped on rink four with John Willcock as lead and Janet Horwood at two. The Oakham team found themselves  with a difficult task, facing a very strong Fleckney team  Despite their best endeavours  they were restricted to winning just five  ends during the game which finished with Oakham on 7 shots, Fleckney on 22

Saturdays Team welcomed St Margarets to the Vale for their  second  meeting of the season. Disappointingly  for Oakham the match resulted in a another win for the visitors. Oakham finished with 62 shots St Margarets with 80 shots. It was a triples match played on five rinks over eighteen ends.

Rink one for Oakham had Jenny Owen as lead, Barrie Payne at two and Eddie Owen as Skip.  They had their  eye on the winning post from the start of the game and never lost sight of it. They held the lead throughout the game ending with a winning score of 21 shots to St Margarets 14

Colin Wagstaff skipped rink two with Lesley Webster as lead and Ros Carter at two. This was a game that was mostly controlled by Oakham but slipped from their grasp at the last hurdle. They took the lead on the fifth end and with one end to play they still had a 1 shot advantage. St Margarets scored 2 shots on the last end giving them the win by 1 shot. Oakham finished on 13 shots, St Margarets on 14 shots.

Jane May led on rink three with Nigel May at two and David Tomlinson as Skip.  This was a game of two halves, the first nine ends dominated by Oakham, the second nine by St Margarets but  ending with a 1 shot win for the Home team. Over the first nine ends   Oakham scored 11 shots , St Margarets 3 shots  Oakham took 2 shots from the last nine, St Margarets 9 shots. Oakham ending on 13 shots, St Margarets on 12 shots.

Denis Smith was the Skip on rink four with Sylvia Shalders as lead and Mike Shalders at two. Oakham bowler Mike Creffield was on loan to St Margarets for this game. After winning the first two ends Oakham slipped behind and after thirteen ends they held 4 shots to St Margarets 14.This situation galvanised them into a final push. They won  the last five ends but were unable to overcome the deficit, finishing with 10 shots to St Margarets 14 shots.

The lead on rink five was Liz Naylor with Barry Drain at two and Sean Biollo as Skip. Oakham bowler Carol Shelvey was on loan to the opposition in this game  and helped to deliver a heavy defeat to her colleagues. Oakham were only able to muster a win on four ends with fourteen won by St Margarets resulting in a final tally of 5 shots for Oakham and 26 shots for St Margarets.