A famous football coach once said: ‘Winning isn’t everything - It’s the ONLY thing’, a mantra clearly taken on board by members of Madeira Bowling Club.
Top billing goes to the Devon Foxlands team, which has battled through to emerge winners of Section 3. In a gripping final played on one rink at home and one rink away, against Sidmouth, the away rink cruised to victory for Madeira.
However, on a perfect summer evening, spectators watched from behind the benches as Sidmouth were having a comfortable evening in Exmouth. When the total shots were counted the overall score was a 35-35 tie. However, under the competition rules, a countback gave the match to Madeira 34-30 and they advance to Section finals.
In the Men’s County Section 3 competitions, Madeira players were also having significant success. In Group B Singles, Ray Parker won three of his matches, edging out Adam Dredge of Chardstock 21-18 in the Section final to reach the last sixteen.
Exmouth bowlers then dominated the Section 3 Pairs. In the final of Group A, Nick Cole and Craig Ralph defeated fellow Madeira players David Tucker and Colin Mees, by a score of 25-9. Then in Group B, Martin Langford and Bill Davis stormed through against the fancied Seaton pairing of Kevin Lovering and Brian Cann by a score of 21-11.
Monopolising the Section 3 Triples, four teams from Madeira played at Sidmouth and Seaton. Ken Roberts, Cliff Skinner and Bill Davis ousted a Feniton trio 16 - 13 and will now meet the winners of Section 6 at South Molton.
Alan Halpin (substituting for Martin Langford), Ray Parker and Bob Walker also went through and will meet the winners of Section 8, by defeating a fellow Madeira triple by 19 - 13.
Away from the greens, Madeira held its AGM on Tuesday evening, at which club officers were elected and the President’s award for service to the club was presented to Myra and Geoff Furminger.
Finally, in a nail biting four rink triples Friendly against a fancied Honiton squad, a blistering 24 - 7 victory by Gary Kinchin, Annette Bister and skip Clive Brinkworth proved just enough to ensure a win for Madeira by an overall tally of 66 - 63.
By Terry Dowrick
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here