Saturday saw a busy day of internal competitions at Budleigh Bowls club and what a day it was.

Whilst nine matches were completed, one in particular had the spectators on the edge of their seats, as Norman Upchurch and David Tomlinson played out an exciting four wood championship second round match.

It was David who grabbed the early initiative, taking an eleven-shot lead early on but, somehow, Norman slowly but surely found some form and played himself back into the game, taking it to sudden death. At 28 ends and with the score 20-20, it was Norman who took the one shot needed to book a quarter final slot.

In the other Mens’ championship matches, Brian Crook, John Dill and Paul Griffin made light of their opposition with big wins to also reach the quarter finals and, in a thrilling championship last match of the day, Graham Anderson fought back from an early losing position against Peter Evans to win through 23-18.

Graham and Gwen Hurst played an early Mixed Pairs match against Hilary Medley and Mike Killoran, winning through 23-17, whilst two debutants to the competitions completed great wins, as Jackey Phillips and John Sheppard were victorious in the two wood competitions.

Paul Griffin, in great form, made it two wins in a day, as he also progressed to the next round of the Mens’ Two wood competition. In matches played earlier in the week, there were two impressive wins for Melissa Camp in the Ladies Two wood round robin.

Thank you to all the organisers, players and markers for a great day of bowling.

In other matches, the Men suffered a first-round exit against a strong Mid-Devon side in the Parrot Trophy, losing overall 30-52, and in the Wednesday Club Triples League, there have been recent wins for Teams Ash, Willow, Beech and Oak and congratulations to Team Ash - Jackey Phillips, Tony Lim, Bob Gooch, Mike Killoran and Tony Gooding who still head up the league table.

The club looks forward to mixed home friendly matches against Ottery and Honiton in the coming week.