BOVEY Tracey Bowling Club recently held their annual Drawn Mixed Triples competition and of the nine teams, Christina Towles, Ken Isaaks and Steve Callard (photographed) came out on top.

They overcame Keith Lockett, Sue Davies and Sue Johnson in the final on what was an excellent day for bowling.

In the County Men's Grater Pairs competition, Kenny Bream and Roger Bailey won 15-11 against a strong pairing from Shaldon. However, in the Unbadged Pairs, they were beaten by Newton Abbot.

Sarah Breame was competing in the ladies' Two Wood Singles Section Five final, losing 15-12. However, she should be encouraged by her achievement in reaching that stage in what was her first foray into county singles competition. In the County Mixed Pairs, Les Hignett and Heidi Call won by 26 shots to 13 against Marina in a match which was very tight until the latter stages when the Bovey pair forged ahead.

The Men's Mid Devon League team were away at Chudleigh where a win on one rink resulted in them gaining two league points. They now begin a run of several home fixtures, an advantage which they will need to maximise to make up for lost ground. In the men's Foxlands home-and-away competition, Bovey lost both matches against Starcross despite leading throughout the home match until the last two ends.

The club were happy to host the Devon Patrons who, despite winning all four rinks, were charitably disposed to "call it a draw" and a pleasant afternoon tea was enjoyed during the half-way break.

In the Ladies' Triples Challenge, Bovey achieved an excellent result at Bitton Park, winning one rink and taking four league points for the overall score.

Neither of the men's Over 55s teams achieved any semblance of success this week. The X team lost 0-8 at Abbrook Park to leave them mid-division in their table and the Ys also lost 0-8 at home to Kingsteignton, leaving them next to bottom in theirs.

Dawlish Bowling Club’s reigning champion Mark Hinder has booked his place in the Area Final of the Champion of Champions after a dramatic 21–20 victory on home soil.

After beating players from Torquay and Newton Abbot, he hosted Paignton’s Tim Lock in the semi-final with a strong crowd in attendance.

Hinder made the brighter start, moving 7–1 ahead after five ends, but Lock responded well, closing the gap to 12–10 by the 14th end. The match was level at 12–12 after 16 ends before Lock struck a decisive blow, scoring four shots to move ahead.

Hinder replied with two steady ends, but Lock again surged, collecting another four shots on the 20th end to lead 20–15 and stand just one shot from victory.

What followed was a remarkable display of determination from the Dawlish champion. Refusing to concede, Hinder strung together three superb ends — scoring one, then three, and finally a perfectly judged two on the last end — to overturn the deficit and clinch a memorable 21–20 win.

Hinder will face either Kevin Hamer (Stoke Fleming) or Barry McPhillips (Plymstock) on a neutral green in the final, to be played by July 14.

In Dawlish’s second MDL match of the season, they welcomed local rivals Marina for a Division One clash. The two club are only one mile apart and have always had a healthy rivalry.

After a promising start to the new season, Dawlish have recruited well and now have a healthy membership following several taster days at Dawlish Bowling Club during April and May.

The game started slowly for Dawlish on two rinks while two rinks made a strong start. Marina brought a strong team with lots of experience in the MDL. Marina finished being relegated from the Premier League last season while Dawlish were promoted to Division One.

The conditions ended up being overcast windy and cold. Dawlish came through on three rinks with wins from winning skips, John Challinor 19-13, Kenny Lenton 17-7, top rink Kevin Gibbins 30-7, while Alan Maher rink lost 8-20. The score was 74-47 to Dawlish. 12 points going to Dawlish and two points going to Marina A.

Captain Alan Maher said: “It's a funny old game as the saying goes, one week your top rink, the very next game, you're the only losing rink.

“I didn't feel our rink played that bad, but the straighter woods of the opposing rink worked well for them not sour grapes just a point of view.

“Overall, I thought it was a very good night for Dawlish Bowling Club and very Happy for the other 3 rinks who played very well indeed”.

The next game was away at Bitton Park on Monday, June 15. The conditions were good but later the wind picked up from the Teign estuary.

Dawlish lost only one rink as captain Alan Maher suffered a narrow defeat after nearly coming back from 18-11 down, ending up 18-17. Kenny Lentton’s rink won convincingly 12-18. Another good win for Kevin Gibbins’ rink 11-18 followed by a 14-18 win by John Challinor’s rink.

Dawlish produced the goods again and after finding the line and length came out on top with a well-deserved 12 points to add to the league table.

The following game away at Shaldon B, on June 18, was a tough night for the team. Shaldon had some quality A team players helping the club on the night and this proved to be a bigger challenge for Dawlish.

After a steady start for Kevin Gibbin’s rink, they suffered a loss to some excellent bowling from the home team and went down 23-18.

John Challinor’s rink was well beaten from the Shaldon rink and finished 31-8. Kenny Lenton’s rink won 8-20 but finished ruing missed chances to negate Challinor’s score.

The captain’s rink turned in a good display to win 15-20. Alan Maher said he was disappointed with the overall result but felt that four points away at Shaldon was fair on the night.