In the County trophy there was again no joy for the men as they lost 87-56 and are still searching for their first overall win, writes David Roberts.

The best of the rinks was that of Graham Rant, Peter Hillman and Andrew Cardy, who once again did Budleigh proud as they snatched an away 17-17 draw, scoring four shots on the last end having been behind all the way through the match.

At home, Brian Ward, Peter Cooper and Paul Griffin came so close to snatching a result, again having been behind and holding shots on the last end, only to lose out 14-16.

All in all, this represents a great effort against a strong Sidmouth team.

Meanwhile, Budleigh ladies so nearly kept up their good run in the Exeter and District Over-50s Triples League as they just fell short by four shots in an away match to Crediton.

They did, however, record two valuable points as the rink of Gwen Hurst, Bunty Hudson and Di Dixon won through 13-12 with Ann Vincent, Hilary Medley and Marilyn Jackson going down 12-17.

Nevertheless, some good away performances.

In the two home mixed friendly matches of the week, Budleigh were second best to Exonia as they were defeated 50-79 losing on three of the four rinks.

The winning rink saw Tony Barnes, Marilyn Foreman and Brian Summers win convincingly 17-7.

Against St Thomas on Saturday, Budleigh again lost out but this was a much closer match as there was just a one shot difference, with the final score being 51-50.

There were two winning rinks. Melissa Camp, Mike Clark and Graham Rant fought back well to score ten shots in the last five ends to win 15-9 whilst Ann Vincent, Peter Foreman and Tony Barnes played well in a tight match to nick it on the last end 12-11.

The coming week sees the men and ladies take on Madeira in friendly matches whilst the men play Ottery St Mary in the County trophy and Culm Vale in the Over-60s Triples league.

The ladies are home to Sidmouth in the Over-50s Triples league and the club hosts the Ladies’ County Benevolent Triples.

The week’s fixtures end with the visit of the Swansea and Bristol touring team.