Month: May 2024

A perfect day for bowls, warm, dry & sunny and a green that played really well. Congratulations to the green keeping team.
Rink 5 – Tony, Paul & Geoff. W24-15. A great team performance, with everyone at times playing some excellent bowls. Winning 5 ends in a row from ends 3 to 7 scoring 11 shorts did the early damage & a 3 & a 4, on ends 9/10 sealed the deal. Ends won 11/7.
Rink 6 – Lewis, Muriel & Ivan. W15-14. After 7 ends the score was 7-5. Then we played a brilliant end, scoring 6 shots. We should really have won by more, but we got a bit sloppy near the end, losing 9 shots on the last 4 ends. Both teams won 9 ends. Again, another good team performance.
Match result: Bustards 39 v 29 Broncos. All 6 points go to the Bustards.
Next week we travel to play second in the league Solar Electric, with an unchanged side.
Ivan Buss 25th May 2024.

No sign of the threatened thunderstorms, which was good news as the green appeared to have been watered. Having said that, it was still quick & played really well.
Rink 2 – Lewis, Muriel, Ivan. Lost 13-17. We were 10-6 up after 10 ends & 13-12 up after 15 ends where we got a brilliant wick to go from 5 down to 3 up! Sadly, on the 17th end, we had an unlucky wick & went from 1 down to 3 down, effectively sealing our fate. Considering we only won 6 ends, this was a good team effort.
Rink 1- Paul, Alan, Geoff. Lost 11-25. Another tough day at the office, but never gave up & reached double figures on the last end, having lost a 6 on the 17th end. A good effort, against a very strong trio.
The Kingfishers are also struggling for players, so they had to use a couple of players who normally play at a higher standard, which included their men’s first team captain! They have also had to decommission one of their greens, which looked very sad.
Match result Bustards 24-42 Kingfishers. All six points to the Kingfishers. We are now down to eighth, one place above the relegation zone.
Next week we are home to Bournemouth Broncos. The bar is open from midday. All spectators are very welcome.
Ivan Buss 18th May 2024.
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  On what looks like being the last day of summer, the Bustards took on what proved to be a very strong Panthers team, with lots of short ends on a very slow green.
Rink 6 – Lewis, Muriel, Ivan. Lost 11-13. This was the one that got away. From 2 up to 1 down on end 10 & 1 down to 3 down on end 5, did the damage. We won the last two ends, but couldn’t quite pull it back.
Rink 5 – Rosemary, Alan, Geoff. Lost 7-23. A tough day at the office against a trio on top form.
Match result Bustards 18-36 Panthers. All six points to the Panthers.
Next week we are away to Knyveton Kingfishers, looking to bounce back with a good win on the road.
Ivan Buss 11th May 2024.
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The Bustards made the long trip South to face Swanage Seagulls, in their first match of the season. Both rinks were both wet & bumpy, so not the easiest to play on, but who cares when the sun is shining & you can play in shirt sleeves.

Rink 1 – Tony, Paul & Ivan played a good, solid game & comfortably won 19-8. They won 12 ends to 6, with no more than 2 shots won on any end.

Rink 2 – Rosemary, Alan & Geoff took control of their match with a 5 & a 6 on ends 10/11. They finished up with an excellent 21-13 victory.

Overall score: Downton 40 v 21 Swanage. Downton 6 points, Swanage 0 points.

Our next match is at home to Highcliffe Panthers next Saturday, with a 10am start. All spectators welcome & the bar is open from midday.