A Christmas derby against local rivals is always an exciting affair and, as the Budleigh bowlers travelled to Madeira, festive spirit was high, writes David Roberts.

What turned out to be another most enjoyable and, indeed, close encounter, ended with Budleigh taking the match honours to the tune of a 58-55 score line.

Budleigh did lose on two of the three rinks, but that was ‘off-set’ by an important win for the rink of Tony Lim, Tony Hanson, Joan Shaw and skip Mo Bond, who secured a 28-15 success.

In fact, it was something of a great recovery, as the Budleigh quartet found themselves seven shots down after the first five ends, but fought hard to take the lead on the 12th end and then didn’t look back as they restricted their opponents to scoring just three shots over the last nine ends of the contest!

There was also a great fightback from Mike Killoran, Gwen Hurst, Margaret Avery and skip Gerry Roberts, who ultimately just fell short, as they were defeated 19-17.

The other rink in action, the one of Ann Vincent, Mike Shaw, Lilian Grainger and Leighton Burston found it a difficult afternoon as they lost 21-13.

Nevertheless, a three-shot win was a great result for the Budleigh contingent.

Thanks as ever to Maderia for their great welcome and to Ann Vincent for captaining the Budeigh team.

In the coming week, there are mixed friendly matches against Honiton and Axminster at Cricketfield Lane and the Maderia Bluebirds take on the Budleigh Falcons in the Budleigh Evening League.

Budleigh Bowls Club sends best wishes for the new year to all its members and looks forward to a successful 2019.

? Having enjoyed a successful and enjoyable start to the indoor season, the second half of the campaign kicks-off in earnest for the Budleigh bowlers with some key fixtures in January,

The men play Dawlish in the next round of the Parrott Trophy and also meet local rivals Madeira in the Top Club competition whilst the ladies start their Top Club quest.

The month also sees two Over-60 League matches for the men and three Lane matches for the ladies together with seven friendlies.

It’s also the month that sees the opening rounds of the club’s own internal competitions.

With such a busy January, it is a welcome break for the players to recharge batteries over the festive holiday.

In what was a relatively quiet pre-Christmas week, there was success in the Tuesday morning triples league for Team Oak with Keith Edwards, Bill Barber and Dawn Graham 21-11 and for Team Elm, including Mike Killoran and Mo Bond, who won 28-10.

Last, but not least in the pre-Christmas action, in the Budleigh Evening League there was an impressive win for the Exonia Eagles as they took all six points against an in-form Madeira Robins, beating them 42-24.