News Update
Club Match Results
(June 10, 2018)Marine Gardens regained the Derek Hughes Memorial Cup playing Hedge End Bowls Club at home last weekend in their annual encounter for the trophy. Marine Gardens last won the Cup in 2016, and this year claimed a decisive victory scoring 83 to 69 against the Southampton based club. Pauline Hughes, widow of the late Derek Hughes (a former Hedge End member) welcomed the visitors and presided over a pleasant and exciting afternoon resulting in a victory for the Worthing club. At the halfway point, Marine Gardens held a slim 2 shot lead, with 3 of the Marine Gardens rinks losing to Hedge End. However the second half showed a far better result, with Derek McCarthy winning his rink 18 - 11 after a 6 shot win on the 18th end propelled him into the lead. Pauline Hughes, holding 9 - 5 at the presumption of the second half scored a further 4 on the 18th end and another on the 11th. Len Tebby, 1 shot down at halfway quickly reversed his position with 4's on the 11th and 15th ends, however Hedge End kept level to the end and he was forced to draw 17 - 17. Mike Elborough claimed victory on his rink scoring 14 to 12, with Bob Cole at 18 to 13 also successful. Pauline Hughes ended the day with a draw of 16 to 16 whilst Derek McCarthy at 18 to 11, won the top rink, ably assisted by Anne Knight, Bill Sullivan and Bryan Hartley. Jean Davis President of Hedge End presented Pauline Hughes with the Memorial Cup at the close of play.
The Dartford based Erith Veterans touring team played their annual engagement against Marine Gardens last Wednesday with the host club easing to a 110 to 68 outright victory on all 5 rinks. Holding a 47 to 35 lead at the end of the first half, Marine Gardens raised the bar even further by scoring an additiional 63 during the second half compared to 33 by Erith. Anne Knight (27 -8) won top rink for the day with her team: Dave Holden, John Dorkings and Roy Mills. Other successful skips included current Marine Gardens President Mike Elborough (17 - 15), Derek McCarthy (19 - 14), Gill Vernau (25 - 11) and Brian Fuller (22 - 20).
Away to Littlehampton in Division 3 of the WSBL, Marine Gardens claimed their fourth consecutive victory of the season with a win against Norfolk 'B' team scoring 78 to 56. Ivan Godsmark's team scored 15 ends in succession on their rink before the opposition's result finally appeared on the scoreboard. At 25 - 11, his team of Len Tebby, John Nettleingham and Francis Fahey were awarded the top rink prize for the day. Dennis Martin (17 - 11) and Leon White (18 - 15) were other skips with individual victories, whilst Mike Hitchen went down with a narrow loss of 18 to 19, despite scoring two 4's on both the 5th and 17th ends. A total of 8 league points were awarded to Marine Gardens with 2 collected by Norfolk 'B'.
A further victory went to Marine Gardens in the WSBL, Division 3 category playing away to East Preston last Friday when Marine Gardens soundly defeated their opponents 103 to 52 culminating in individual victories on all 4 rinks. At the halfway point, Marine Gardens led by a comfortable margin of 30 shots and stormind into the second half to rank up a further 51 whilst East Preston could only manage 30. Jum Gray went down by 4 shots on the 6th end, but responded with a 5 on the 8th and a further 4 on the 16th end to win his rink 25 to 15. Mike Hitchin (33 - 9), Leon White (23 - 14) and Ivan Godsmark (22 - 14) each scored on 13 out of 21 ends to secure 10 league points for Marine Gardens and nil to East Preston. Top rink of the day went to Mike Hitchin assisted by Harry Tattersall, Derek McCarthy and Terry Urben. The Division 3 WSBL leader board shows Marine Gardens 16 points ahead to its nearest rival averaging 8.20 points per match.
When success brings with it the danger of complacency, Marine Gardens were soundly defeated on all 4 rinks with a final score of 42 to 86 playing in the Brodie Tray at home against Goring Manor (Hurricanes) last Saturday. At halfway, the Hurricanes led by a clear margin of 21 shots and during the second half, Marine Gardens found it an impossible task to improve their position with a chance of taking the lead. Ivan Godsmark (6 - 25), Mike Ives (12 - 13), David Sayers (11 - 23) and Mike Hitchin (13 - 25) all went down with no top rink award. Following the match, the Hurricanes were awarded 10 league points with nil to Marine Gardens.