WITH wins in all home matches, an away victory and two narrow defeats, it was a week of satisfaction for Alcester Bowling Club.
The week commenced with one of the narrow defeats in round two of the Heart of England Cup in which half of each team play at home and the other half are away.
Alcester A faced Baldwin B and Alcester’s home group had winners in John Alderson (excellent at 21-7), Renny Bannister (21-15) and David Sutor (21-16), to give them an 11-shot lead. However, only Carole Slater (21-18) was successful at Baldwin, where the group went down by 18 shots. Thus a seven-shot deficit overall saw Alcester exit the competition.
Things did not go well for the A team in Division Three of the S&W Birmingham Over 60s League either. Visiting Ye Olde Knowle B, only John Alderson (21-10) was able to produce a winning card as the team crashed to their heaviest ever defeat in this league, losing by 46 shots. They picked up just one point as the hosts collected nine.
In Division Five the B team hosted Hockley Heath B and Jean Craddock ran riot to produce a 21-0 success, backed up by a 21-0 walkover caused by the visitors fielding only five players.
Gill (21-12) and Geoff Spiers (21-18) were also successful for Alcester, giving them victory by 46 shots and eight points to two.
A further defeat befell the A team when they visited King George VI A in Division Three of the Yardley Wood Superleague. They did have three winning cards from Rick Horton (21-11), Carole Slater (21-19) and Mike Rowell (21-20), but were forced to concede by 11 shots, collecting three points to the hosts’ 15.
In Division Four of the same league, Alcester B received a visit from King George VI B and Alcester took no prisoners as they cruised to a 61-shot win, with all eight players recording wins.
These were Ken Harvey and Red Masterson (both 21-10), John Westmoreland (21-12), Stephen Farr (21-13), Margaret D’Elia and Jean Sherrington (both 21-14), Tricia Barry and Gill Evans (both 21-17). This gave Alcester a maximum 18 points as the visitors left empty-handed.
In Division Two of the Heart of England League, five out of the eight players won but Alcester A again suffered defeat when they visited King George VI A for the second day in succession, this time going down by a mere four shots.
For Alcester Bob LeResche and Carole Slater (both 21-13), John Slater (21-14) Renny Bannister (21-18) and Margaret D’Elia (21-19) had winning cards, but the points went 13-5 in the hosts’ favour.
The B team in Division Five had a 43-shot victory when they hosted King George VI B, again for the second day in succession. Best for Alcester was Peter Barber (21-9), followed by Red Masterson (21-10), Val McDermott (21-11), Jean Sherrington and Colin Duggan (both 21-13). Alcester picked up 15 points to three for the visitors.
The over 60s section of the Heart of England League saw the A team visit College AG A in Division Two. Excellent for Alcester was John Slater (21-8), with Renny Bannister (21-11), Margaret D’Elia (21-13) and Ken Craddock (21-16) all adding points. The visitors picked up 14 points to the hosts’ two as Alcester cruised to a 28-shot victory.
In Division Four the B team also had an impressive victory when they entertained Tanworth. Captain John Willis led the way with a superb 21-4 card, hotly pursued by Red Masterson (21-7), with Jean Craddock (21-15), Val McDermott (21-16) and Gill Spiers (21-20) adding points. Alcester ran out winners by 40 shots, collecting 15 points to the visitors’ one.
