SINCE the last report, Chudleigh Bowling Club have had mixed results on the green winning and losing equal amounts of friendly matches played.

Friendly matches are the life blood of most small bowls clubs and essential for their members. Chudleigh have been extremely pleased to have attracted around a dozen new bowlers to the sport all of whom have been integrated into the club, taking part in club competitions, friendlies etc.

After a disappointing start to their league campaign, Chudleigh ladies rounded off their fixtures with a great win over Torbay Country club with Margie Wilson picking up a four with the last wood of the game to win the overall match by one shot. With other clubs still having matches to play, it looks like the ladies will secure their spot in the league which is a great result for them.

Meanwhile, in the men’s MDL, Chudleigh have been struggling to be competitive consistently across four rinks and find themselves rooted near the bottom of the table. With two matches left to play, big results will be required to even give Chudleigh a chance of staying up.

Individually, Nick Goddard secured enough points to be selected to represent bowls Devon in a match at Lyme Regis against Bowls Dorset, a match which saw Devon beat Dorset.

Penny Hale will be the latest Chudleigh bowler who has secured the points needed and will be able to pick up her Devon Badge next season.

In club competitions, the men’s and ladies’ triples were played out over a single day and following some great bowling and several tied matches, the successful teams were Barbara Purkiss, Hazel Addey and Chryssa Turner in the ladies and Tony Marshall, Andy Fletcher and Roger Keayes in the men’s (pictured).

This was no mean feat as both Roger and Andy are new to the sport this season.

On a very warm Saturday, the ladies also battled it out for the Queen Elizabeth trophy, presented by long standing supporter Barbara Chisnall. Played as a 3-wood pairs competition over three games of nine ends, followed by a 7-end final the successful combination was Val Moore and Anne-Marie Stanley.

Next up for the played-in-a-day competitions will be the mixed triples on August bank holiday Monday.

Following a fantastic win in the penultimate RMTL match against Marldon, Buckfastleigh are now two points behind Torbay Country Club who top the table.

Buckfastleigh have one game to go, away at Babbacombe on August 22 and have one game in hand over Torbay Country Club. All to play for, for an exciting finish in the RMTL League.

This week's crucial match was a home Mid Devon League fixture against Kings B team who were just one place below Bovey and threatened with relegation from the Second Division.

A good result was required to prevent Bovey dropping below them and they produced just what was needed, a win by 12 points to two, finally putting them out of reach of the relegation places.

C Young, K Breame, C Shorland, P Joy 39-9; D Anderson, K Lockett, L Hignett, T Ridgewell 21-30; P Cridge, D Johnson, S Callard R Bailey 25-8; J Hampton, A Tremlett, T Smith, A Franklin 26-16.

In the men's Over 55s X Division, Bovey must have thought they were about to suffer a bad result at home to Bitton Park, being behind on one rink by 14-0 early in the game.

However, a recovery to lose by just three shots felt almost like a win and, with the other rink winning, meant a victory for Bovey by six points to two.

A Walding, K Lockett, C Shorland 17-20; D Anderson, C Miall, P Joy 22-16.

The Y Division team were also at home to Chudleigh but suffered the opposite result, losing narrowly by two shots overall and gaining two points to Chudleigh's six.

A Chew, P Cridge, R Bailey 16-25; D Wraighte, S Perry, K Breame 18-11.

Three home friendlies took place during the week with Bovey winning all three, against Topsham by 72 shots to 49, against The Den, Teignmouth (score unavailable) and narrowly against Newton Abbot by 66 shots to 65.

The club's car boot sale, held yesterday morning and publicised in this column, was highly successful with 50 sellers turning out to display their wares and a fantastic response from the public who ensured it was busy all the way through from 8.00 until 12.00.

Many thanks to all volunteer club members for their support in organising, selling donated items, serving refreshments and traffic management. Many visitors were asking when the next one would be!

Abbrook Park’s Mid Devon league A-team have bounced back to the Premier division.

In 2023, the A-team won promotion to the Premier division for 2024 but things did not go well and they were soon relegated back to the MDL first division.

Captain Rob Horrell writes, “The latest league tables have come through this afternoon. I would like to give a massive congratulations to all the players and also for the support from everybody else.

“The A-team have now been confirmed as champions in division one of the MDL with still two games to be played. We will be back in the Premier division for next season where I feel we deserve to be and I hope we have learnt from 2024.

“We will celebrate in the next few weeks with a home fixture against the men’s squad with some refreshment after, last time it was a close affair. Well done again, Rob.”