Top two turn on the style in bowls league

Richard Vinter had one tricky moment against Pete Stringfellow when he dropped a count of four on the 17th end, but he responded well, picking up seven shots to one against to win 22-13. Andrew Reeson picked up a count of five on the 16th end which eased him home to a success of 22-20 against Tony Powell.

Second-place Carlton Road met third-place Invaders, the Road extending the gap as they triumphed 20-15 and 31-7.

Punchbowlers and Jolly Farmers shared the rink points, but it was the latter who picked up the extra points thanks to Ray Reeson, Rita Epton and Sue Hoyles, winning 23-14. Dave Gill, Steve Skelton and Ian Drury won 25-20 for Bowlers against David Allen.

The Mail have not won many games this season, but against Red 5 they secured an overall success of 36-30.

Holland Fen were too strong for Strollers, winning on both rinks with scorelines of 26-8 and 23-10 for skips Brian Boucher and Alex Tomlin.

A40 were no match for Parthians when Phylis Bourne, Keith Nix and Phil Markham won 19-13 and Diane Bedford, Ann Martin and Pete Bedford came from 8-1 down to win 28-12.

The surprise in the T&B Containers Division Two was the result when top met bottom.

Leaders Nomads could only pick up two points via skip Barry Beagles, who needed a hot shot count to win 17-15. Replying for bottom team Vikings, Janet Loughran, Ray Loughran and Doug Staples were never behind, succeeding 19-12 against Derek Smith.

In second spot, Boston Park closed the gap on the leaders with a maximum points win against Feathers.

Tony Hill, June Bates and Bernard Woods won 24-6 and Ron Thacker, Chuck Davey and Alan Batchelor, even though they lost the last four ends, won 22-13.

Breakaways, in third, did well to secure all six from the Cosmos. Jan Currie, Sally Harper and Derek Butwright won 20-10 and Gordon Gallichan, Ann Jackson and Ivan Dilley succeeded 19-10.

Poachers versus Dynamics saw higher team Poachers clean up all the points with wins of 25-10 for Bob Tingey and 27-11 for Mick Dodes.

Autos versus the Golfers saw the latter, who were in third, dropping down to sixth when they failed to pick up a point. For the Autos, Chris Avison, Tom Freeston and Bernard Skelton won 17-12 and Keith Wilson, George Phillips and Jeff Homewood won 15-12.

This result moved them two points ahead of their opponents at the end of play.

It is all very close at the top of the Cammacks Division Three, with just four points separating the top four and some surprise results coming in.

Top team Central only won one point against Shipmates, captain Fred Epton pushed all the way and happy to force a tied game 12-12. Shipmates’s Ted Vere triumphed 14-11.

In second spot at the start of play, the Burtons lost the aggregate by one shot. Dave Bailey won 13-10 but this was covered by the reply from Saxons’s Peter Stubley, who succeeded 19-15, and the Burtons were down to fourth.

Fairways won all six points against Hotspurs and moved to third spot. Heather Scarboro won 23-8 and Anthea Hall 14-10.

Amateurs moved up to second, winning all six against Bias, Tony Nixon and Mick Greet with wins of 15-10 and 17-14.

Phoenix and Phantoms, in the lower regions, saw the latter pick up the aggregate points with skip Kevin Rockall producing a win of 20-7.