THIS week Bovey Tracey Bowls Club ladies played their first South Devon League match of the season away at Brixham, Furzeham.

In a hard-fought match on a heavy green, the home side won by two rinks to one and by 59 shots to 44. L Cridge, C Towle, S Johnson 15-17; R Young, D Simpson, H Call 21-17; D Bailey, K Callard, S Breame 8-25. League points- Brixham, Furzeham 8-2 Bovey Tracey.

The men's Over 55s X team were without a game this week whilst the Y team visited Kingsteignton. The scores rather reflect the difficulty the Bovey players experienced in adjusting to the mat with Kingsteignton winning by 63 shots to 12. A Chew, D Wraighte, K Breame 4-39; S Perry, A Franklin, P Cridge 8-24. League points- Kingsteignton 8-0 Bovey Tracey Y.

In a home mixed friendly match against Plymstock on a pleasant, sunny afternoon, the rinks were shared two each with the visitors winning narrowly by 59 shots to 56. In contrast, a mixed friendly at Ilsington was played in cool, blustery conditions, where Bovey's players failed to master the all-weather surface. The result was a resounding win for the home team by 116 shots to 37.

Meanwhile, the first rounds of various county competitions have taken place with Bovey players involved.

Les Hignett & Heidi Call won 19-7 at Dawlish in the mixed pairs and in the Unbadged men's triples, Kenny Breame, Chris Shorland & Roger Bailey won 26-10 v S Hervin, A Sinden & P Davidson.

Phil Cridge was involved in the two other wins, beating Adrian Roberts of Bitton Park 21-15 in the Unbadged men’s singles and, alongside David Cosway, advancing in the Unbadged men’s pairs with a 15-8 victory over Starcross’ Peter and Roy.