Dragons v Bustards

The first clash of the season between our two teams, on a lovely spring Downton day. The sprinkler system had come on at 6am, so the middle of the green was very wet & we had to use outside rinks 1 & 6. Both of these were very slow, but sped up well as the match progressed. It was lovely to see Geoff, as he hasn’t been very well recently. Hopefully, we will soon see him back on the green.
Rink 1 – Janet, Lewis & Neil – won 18-10. A warm welcome to Neil, who was making his Bustards debut. Having lost the first end, we were never behind & played a very consistent match, winning 10 ends, which inc 2×4, 1×3 & 3×2. I promised Janet & John a decent skip this week & thankfully, we had Neil! An excellent team performance.
Rink 6 – Tony, Paul & Ivan – lost 8-15. It all started so well, winning 6 of the first 8 ends to lead 8-3, then Steve, John & Colin upped their game & they won 11 of the last 13 ends, taking single shots on all of the last 8! A good, tight match. Well done to the Dragons trio.
The overall match score was Bustards 26 v 25 Dragons. Bustards 6 points, Dragons 2 points. Other results went our way, so we are now off the bottom of the league!
Next week we are at home to Knyveton. The match starts at 10am & the bar will be open from midday. All spectators are very welcome.
Ivan Buss 9thMay 2026.

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Downton Dragons v Lyndhurst Lightning

The Dragons first match of the season was away against the newly promoted Lyndhurst lightning who were wearing their new colourful club uniforms with blue trousers and matching white and blue club shirts. Dragons Steve, John and Colin were playing outstanding and by the fifteenth end were winning 28 shots to 9.However the tide turned and Lyndhurst scored five shots followed by seven shots which created a nail biting finish of 28 shots to Downton and 22 to Lyndhurst. The Dragons second team consisting of Lynda, Lewis and Nick had a much more evenly played game which they eventually won by 18 shots to 12 shots. The total score was 46 shots to Downton and 22 shots to Lyndhurst. The Dragons won all six points and are now second in the B&D league division four. Steve Allen Dragons, Captain

Argyll C v Bustards

First B&D match of the season, the Bustards travelled to Bournemouth to take on Argyll C. Because of the road restrictions due to the Cuckoo Fayre, we were there very early & had time for breakfast!
So, on a lovely warm, dry, sunny, blue sky, windless day, on a small, fast green, what could possibly go wrong?
Rink 2 – Ann, Steve & Tony – Lost 6-20. We finally won the 9th end to trail 1-14 & whilst we then won 4 of the last 9 ends, we were never going to turn that deficit around. Our score was made up of 2×2 & x2 singles. In the circs keeping them down to 20 was a good effort.
Rink 3 – Janet, John & Ivan – Lost 14-18. 10-3 up 7 ends inc 3×2 & a 3 on the first end, this match was looking good. We then only won 3 more ends, due to some poor shot selection & execution by myself. A 5 against on end 16 really did for us. My apologies to Janet & John, who both played some good stuff.
The overall match score was Bustards 20 v 38 Argyll C. With a -18 shot difference, we head in to week 2 bottom of the league!
Next week we are away to the Dragons & hopefully, we can play a little bit better than we did today. Next week’s match starts at 10am. The bar will be open from midday & all spectators are very welcome.
Ivan Buss 2nd May 2026.

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Alderbury

So, on a sunny blustery evening, the team match season got underway with a Harold Ford Cup match, one mixed triple home & away.
Our home rink team was Jane, Richard & Paul B. We played well in the first half of the match, indeed after 11 ends it was 8-8 & with a 3 on end 12, we were 11-8 ahead. Then Alderbury won 5 of the last 6 ends, including a 3 on the last end, to win the match 13-17. We won 6 ends, to Alderbury’s 12. Our score included 1×4, 1×3, 2×2 & 2×1.
The away rink team was Peggy, Lewis & Ivan. Alderbury won 8 of the first 9 ends to lead 2-12, before we started our comeback. A 4 on end 10 started things off, then a 2 & a 5 on ends 13/14 got us back to 13-14. We then won the last 3 ends to win our match 18-15. Our score was made up by 4×2, a 4, a 5 & a single of the final end.
Sadly, the overall score was Downton 31- 32 Alderbury. There’s always next year & now we can concentrate on winning the league!
Ivan Buss 30th April 2026.
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President v Captain Competition

On Saturday the 25th of April the president versus the captains competition took place. Playing for the presidents were Shelley and Richard head, Rod and Marg Hall. Playing for the captains was Dawn and Steve Allen John James and Paul Bromage the weather was very sunny so suntan lotion and hats on heads were required. Everyone had an enjoyable game but the president‘s team thrashed the captains team by 20 shots to 2 shots afterwards tea and biscuits was served and friendly banter and jokes made it a very, very enjoyable afternoon. Captain Steve Allen Sent from my iPad

2026 Charity Fun Day – Our Green is OPEN

A big thank you to everyone who came along to support the charity fun day & a big shout out to everyone who also brought cake & raffle prizes with them.

Thanks especially to Ivan, Rod, Marg, Peggy, Janet & Paul for organising and running the event today. Very much appreciated.

As is our tradition, we opened the season with a Spider, and this year the proceeds went to V.I.B.E (Visually Impaired Bowls England)  to help them raise funds to prepare for and play in the World Championships in New Zealand in 2027. We raised £18 in the Spider and congratulations to Tony, this year’s winner, who now wears a special badge to mark the event..

We made £24 on cake sales & £49 on the raffle, so a total of £73 will be going in to club funds. Thank you for your generosity.

We hope you all enjoyed the afternoon & hopefully, if the weather stays fine for a few days, the green will start to quicken up!

Thanks again for your support, and we are all looking forward to another enjoyable season at Downton.