Season Updates 2025

2025 SEASON

 

 

Match Report: Dalglish League – Willington Quay (A) – 28 April ’25

And so to our first away game of the Dalglish season, a trip to face the ever-strong Willington Quay team on one of the longest greens in the league. The sun was shining and conditions were bright and bracing to begin with, though it became increasingly chilly as the evening wore on and the light faded.

Despite the tricky conditions and tough opposition, we managed two fine rink wins. First up, Ryan, Dave and Tony had a real battle on their hands, locked at 8 shots apiece after 12 ends. But once they got the measure of the green – and their opponents – they pulled away superbly to take a commanding 21-8 victory. Special mention to David, whose consistency in leading was key, and to Tony, who spent much of the game expertly nudging bowls even closer to the jack. Ryan, stepping in late for Chris (away on grandad duties!), proved a very capable last-minute replacement.

Over on another rink, Neil, Michael and Anthony had a slower start, trailing for much of the match. However, their persistence paid off: after drawing level at 15-15 by the 18th end, they had a slight wobble, dropping a five in the 19th. Undeterred, they roared back with a fantastic finish, scoring ten shots over the final three ends to secure an impressive 25-20 win.

Our other triples fought valiantly against tough opposition but found the going heavy. Reg, Paz and Eddie went down 11-27, while Ron, Lynn and Bryan battled hard but ultimately lost 10-28.

So, another 4 points earned in the league, though again the aggregate went against us, this time 68-83. Progress is definitely being made – onwards and upwards!

Next up: back at home, and looking to build on the momentum!

 

Match Report: Public Utilities D2 - Collingwood B (H) - 24 April '25

Our final first match of the season saw last season's 'Division 3 winning' Public Utilities team start their 'aiming to win Division 2' campaign with a home game against Collingwood B.

On a night which began in sunny, cool conditions and finished in dull, freezing ones, our team performed well and took an excellent win.

Rink 4 saw Connor skipping alongside Kevin and Corey. All three played some excellent bowls and quickly took a commanding lead which they never relinquished before taking a fully-deserved (and big) 29-10 win.

This took the pressure off Ryan (skip), Sean and Dave W on the adjacent rink as all they had to do was keep it tight, which they did. They led until the 13th end at which point their opponents managed to tie the game at 11 each. The final eight ends saw some very strong opposition bowling which led to a 14-22 defeat for our team.

The net result was we took the two points on offer with a 43-32 win by a (relatively comfortable) 11 shots. Well played team.

Next week (1 May) it's another tough fixture - away at Forest Hall.

 

Match Report: Hateley League - North Shields West End (H) - 24 April '25

And so to the Hateley League and an opening home match against local rivals North Shields West End. For those of you with a short attention span, we lost. 4-10 and by 10 shots. If you'd like to know a bit more, read on.

The good news is that, happily, we had two rink winners. Chris, Sue and Steve Lawrence, the 1st of two debutants, initially went 1-3 down before taking the next 7 ends and 17 shots to take an 18-3 lead. From this point the scoring was shared and our trio ran out comfortable 29-14 winners.

Rink 1 saw our other debutant, Bryan Atkinson, playing alongside Keith and Anthony. This was a really close game with the lead changing hands five times. Going into the final end our trio led by two shots and managed to keep their opponents to just 1 shot at the 21st to take a 15-14 win.

Next to them on Rink 2 Reg, Colin and left-handed Geoff found things tough from the off and eventually lost 6-22, while on Rink 3 Ronnie, Eddie and John C started well but a 10-shot run for their opponents across ends 6 to 11 tilted the balance in their favour. Our trio won five of the remaining 10 ends but couldn't bridge the gap and succumbed to an 11-21 defeat.

The final score was 4-10 with a shot aggregate of 61-71. 

There's no match next week so we go again on 8 May with our annual challenging trip to Rockcliffe Rollers. Let's hope it's not the usual icy wind blasting off the North Sea!

 

Match Report: Clegg League - Wallsend Park (A) - 23 April '25

The first match of our Clegg League promotion campaign began on Wednesday evening with a visit to Wallsend Park. On a decent (for the time of year) green which was much quicker one way than the other (ie. when going downhill - who'd have thought it?!) we came away with a thumping 44 shot and 10-4 victory.

Leading the way were Neil, Ryan and Tom who quickly shot (geddit?) into an 8-0 lead and never looked back, progressively moving into 18-3 and 31-5 leads before finishing (about 20 minutes after everyone else and in near darkness) at 42-7. Well played.

Not too far behind were Chris, Sue and Connor who soon moved 12-3 ahead despite Chris' best efforts. When he finally joined in our trio accelerated away and came away with the honours 29-7.

Our other two trios were not as fortunate, and to be honest came up against more testing opposition, but still kept things relatively tight. Reg, George and Kevin fell behind early to their opponents and weren't able to get back on level terms, eventually going down 14-20, while on the adjacent rink Ronnie, John C and Ashley were 8-7 ahead after 10 ends before a 6-end run from their opponents saw them fall behind and ultimately lose 12-19.

All-in-all it was a really successful evening and a great way to kick off the 2025 Clegg season. Onwards and upwards to our next game - Home vs Throckley (30 April). 

 

Match Report: Dalglish League - Crawford Park (H) - 21 April '25

And we're off!! Our 2025 competitive season began on Monday in the Dalglish League (to which we were inexplicably promoted at the end of 2024???) with a Home match vs Crawford Park ... which all too predictably we lost.

Given the decent weather we've had recently it was no surprise to see the match begin in a fine drizzle and with cool temperatures, but at least it wasn't freezing cold.

Playing across the rink on blue (Blue! Crazy!!) we had two rink wins. Top performers were Reg, Sue & Paz on Rink 2 who led from the off and got as far ahead as 16-5 before finally taking the game 20-13. Next to them on Rink 3 Chris, Corey & Kev started well and were 11-4 up before their opponents staged a comeback meaning that after 20 ends the game was tied at 16-16. Happily Kev dropped his first wood at the final end on the jack and that took the game 17-16.

Our other two triples weren't so fortunate with Neil, Ian and Ryan going down 18-26 (not a bad outcome as they had been 6-21 behind); and Ronnie, John C and Keith losing 9-21. Early days though, wait until the greens speed up!

So, a disappointing loss 4-10 on points with an aggregate deficit of -12 (64-76) - at least we kept things relatively tight. On to the next one - Monday 28 April at Willington Quay.