Category: Match

 > After all the rain we’ve had this week, it was nice to see the sun & it turned out to be another beautiful day for playing bowls & our final league match of the season. It was warm (24C), dry, sunny, blue sky & a nice breeze. A couple of the Bees players played for the Timber Trundlers in our friendly match yesterday. Sadly, this match was played on a damp green & caused quite lot of damage to the green, which then had one of its weird days today. To be sure of coming 4th, we needed 1pt from today’s match & to get promotion, we needed to win 6-0 & hope both the Dragons & the Kestrels both messed up. Neil had to drop out having hurt his knee yesterday, so we welcomed Geoff back in to the team & I took Neil’s place. >> >> Rink 3 – Steve, Paul & Geoff – won 18-9. A brilliant performance by our boys got us the point we needed & they won this match in style. The bees won 8 ends, 1×2 & the rest all singles. We scored 1×3, 6×2 & 3 singles. Well done boys, a nice way to end the season. >> >> Rink 5 – Janet, John & Ivan – won 16-15. After 11 ends we trailed 3-13, which included 2×3 & a 2 for the Bees. A brilliant 4 on end 12 turned the tide & the next five ends went 1,2,0,2,2. So, after 17 ends the score was 15-16. Last end Janet played a great jack, John played a lovely set & we managed to take 2 shots to win 16-15, the only time we were ahead. Both teams won 9 ends. Another great performance & a lovely way to end the season. >> >> Overall match score Bustards 34 v 24 Bees. Match points Bustards 6 v 0. Shot difference now +137. Congratulations to the Lightning for winning the league & to the Kestrels who came second & have been promoted. >> >> Overall, a very productive season. Our highlights were beating the Dragons in one match, beating the Kestrels home & away and stuffing Argyll 83-10.
I have been lucky enough to play at some lovely venues this season like Argyll & Ringwood and I’ve met a lot of lovely people & had a lot of fun. What more can you ask for?
Thank you to everyone who played for the Bustards this season & thank you all for your support. I hope you all enjoyed the season as much as I did. >> >> Ivan Buss >> 5th September 2026. >> >> >> >> >> Sent from my iPad

Today we played Salisbury in our final MTL match of the season. It rained for most of the match, but the Salisbury green as always played pretty well & it looked great. Sadly, we lost the match overall by 2 shots, but we won one rink & drew one rink, in remarkable fashion.
Shelley, Richard & Ivan were 0-13 down after 7 ends, then took a 5 to trail 5-13. We then lost 4 ends in a row to be 5-19 down after 12 ends. At this point the recovery took off & over the last 6 ends we scored 2,1,0,5,3,5 to snatch a 21-21 tie. In total we only won 6 ends, 3×5, 1×3, 1×2 & 1 single.
As I said, a remarkable performance. Very well done.
Ivan Buss 2nd September 2026. >>
>> >> >> >> >> Sent from my iPad

After persistent early morning rain, I inspected our green & declared it open, so the Dragons could play their vital top of the table clash with the Kestrels. We had a lot of rain on the way to Poole Park to play the Mallards. I was half expecting to get a phone call to say it was off, which we didn’t get, so we had to make the long journey south. When we arrived, it transpired that no one had been keeping an eye on their green, so I was asked to look at it & decide if we wanted to play or not! As we were chasing the promotion points, I said yes. Luckily for us the rain held off long enough to play a 14 end match. Whilst the two rinks I selected played ok, the green looked really rough, not what we are used to.
Rink 2 – Janet, Steve & Neil – lost 8-15. We lead 6-4 after 5 ends, then a 6 against on end 7, turned the tide & when the heavens opened, we called it a day, losing 8-15 off 12 ends. A 3 on end 5 was the only real highlight.
Rink 1 – Tony, Paul & Ivan – lost 7-20 A very bad day at the office. We were totally outplayed by an excellent trio. After a 5 against on end 14, we called it a day, going down 7-20. Apart from the odd good shot, nothing positive to say.
Overall match score Mallards 35 v 15 Bustards. Match points Mallards 6 v 0 Bustards.
Lyndhurst have now deservedly won the league, with one match to go, currently on 76 pts SD 232. Congratulations. The second promotion spot is between the Dragons & the Kestrels, who the Dragons beat today, taking 4 points. The Dragons are 2nd on 66 pts SD 150, the Kestrels 3rd on 65 pts SD 104 & we are 4th on 60 pts SD 127. The Dragons are away to Pelham Sea Horses, who are bottom of the league, so it’s in their hands. The Kestrels are at home to Ringwood B (8th). Provided we get 1 point from our home against West Moors Bees (6th), we are guaranteed to come fourth.
Next week’s match starts at 10am. All spectators are very welcome & remember, the bar opens at midday, so what not come along & support your team and grab a beer!
Ivan Buss 29th August 2026. > > > > > > > Sent from my iPad

 > Yet another beautiful day for playing bowls, warm (24C) dry, sunny, blue sky & a nice breeze. The grass hadn’t been cut since Tuesday & the sprinklers came on at 6am, so the green was pretty wet & played really slowly. Today we welcomed the Richmond Park Panthers to the nest, who arrived very early, as they expected to be delayed by the closed A31, which thankfully reopened at 1:30am. > > Rink 2 – Steve, John & Neil – lost 17-18. This was a tough one for the boys to take, as it was 17-17 off 17 ends & on the last end, the jack moved three times, before our guests finally took it by a single measured shot. We were 3 down after the first end, then we went 6,1,3,0,4,1,0,1 to lead 16-7 after 9 ends. We then only won 1 more end & a 4 against on end 17, was the turning point of the match. A great effort by the boys & well done to the Panthers trio, on winning what was an excellent contest. > > Rink 5 – Janet, Paul & Ivan – won 19-6. We won 4 singles on the first 4 ends & never looked back. We scored 4×2, 1×4 & 7×1, winning the last 6 ends, whilst the Panthers only managed to win 6 ends in total, all with single shots. Apart from a wobbly patch between ends 8 to 12 inc, we played really well & thoroughly deserved our victory. Well done team. > > Overall match score Bustards 36 v 24 Panthers. Match points Bustards 4 v 2 Panthers. Shot difference now +147. The Dragons (now 3rd) had a good win today 6-0, so we have swapped places with them. Both our teams now have a +147 shot difference. Lyndhurst are 10 points clear of us on 70 points, so with 2 games left (12 points available), it’s very unlikely we will be able to catch them. Knyveton are 2nd on 63, with a SD of only +107, the Dragons are 3rd on 62 points & we are 4th on 60 points. > > Next week we travel to Poole Park to face the Mallards, whilst the Dragons are at home to Knyveton, so it’s all to play for. On the final day of the season (5/9), we are at home to West Moor Bees, Knyveton are at home to Ringwood B & the Dragons travel to face bottom of the table Pelham Sea Horses, so an exciting finish to the season is in store. Touch wood, it’s the Bustards who claim the runners up spot & promotion to division 3. > > Ivan Buss > 22nd August 2026. > > > > > Sent from my iPad

Another beautiful day for playing bowls, warm (26c), dry, sunny, blue sky & a nice breeze. Ian cut the green just before the match, so it looked good & played nicely. Today, we welcomed Ringwood B to the nest, who luckily were unaffected by the big new forest fire, although it did make the journey here a lot longer. Geoff was taken ill overnight, so a big thank you to Tony for stepping in at short notice.
Rink 3 – Steve, John & Neil – won 31-7. We started off well, winning 7 of the first 8 ends, which inc 3×3, to lead 12-1. Two more 3’s followed on ends 9/10, then a 2, so we led 20-2 after 11 ends. A 3 & a 4 on ends 14/15 extended the lead to 28-3, before we gave away a 4. We then won the last 2 ends to close out the match 31-7. We won 14 ends in all. An excellent performance from the boys & a nice boost to our shot difference.
Rink 1 – Tony, Janet & Ivan – won 18-16. A game of two halves. A good 4 on end 5 gave us the lead 7-4. We won 5 of the next 7 ends to lead 16-6, which inc a 3 & 2×2. We then had a bad run losing 1,2,3,2 to only lead 16-14 with 2 ends left. A nice 2 on end 17 gave us a 4 shot cushion & we just managed to hang on to win 18-16. Both teams won 9 ends, but we only won 3 of the last 9. Not a great second half, but a good effort by the team to hang on to the win.
Overall match score Bustards 49 v 23 Ringwood B. Match points Bustards 6 v 0 Ringwood B. Shot difference now +135 & we are back up to 3rd on SD, as a weakened Dragons side drew 3-3 at Argyll. Their SD remains at +132. Lyndhurst are still well out in front, but we are now only 3 points behind Knyveton Kestrels & we have a +36 better SD.
Next week we are home against Richmond Park Panthers (9th/10). The Kestrels are away at Argyll (6th). In the reverse fixtures we won 5-1, whilst the Kestrels won 6-0! 29/8 we are away to Poole Park (5th) & the Kestrels play in Downton against the Dragons. Come on you Dragons! 5/9 final day of the season, we are home to West Moors Bees (7th) & the Kestrels are also at home to Ringwood (8th). All to play for & let’s hope the Dragons can do us a favour.
All spectators are welcome to come & support the team next week & don’t forget, the bar is open from midday, so you can watch bowls whilst drinking beer. Is there anything better on a nice summers day?
Ivan Buss 15th August 2026.

Sent from my iPad

> This was always going to be a tough match, against the league leaders Lyndhurst Lightning at their small, compact ground & so it proved. The weather was great, warm, dry & sunny. The green was in good condition, but was very tricky to read & we left a lot of bowls short. Our hosts laid on donuts & beer after the match (what a great combo) & we would all like to thank them for their hospitality.
> Rink 4- Steve, Paul & Neil – won 19-10. Right from the off we played well & we won the first 4 ends to lead 6-0. After an exchange of ends, they took a 3 on end 10 to bring the score back to 8-6. We then won 6 of the last 8 ends, inc a 4 on the last end to run out 19-10 winners. In all we won 12 ends. Well played boys, an excellent performance.
> Rink 3 – John, Ivan & Geoff – lost 5-33. A very bad day at the office. We were totally outplayed by an excellent trio & had absolutely no luck at all. We trailed 2-4 after 4 ends, then lost a 5 to a brilliant shot by Andy (their Skip) & we won our last end on end 12 to trail 5-18. Then the wheels really came off. This was rounded off with an ugly 7 on the last end, as we lost 5-33. We only won 4 ends. A very disappointing performance. > > Overall match score Lightning 43 v 24 Bustards. Match points Lightning 4 v 2 Bustards. Shot difference now +109. Lyndhurst now have 61 points. Knyveton are 2nd on 55, Dragons 3rd on 53 & we are 4th on 50. There is now a gap of 13 points from us back to Argyll who are 5th. We have four matches left to play. None of these are against the top three, so touch wood, we shouldn’t come any worse than 4th. However, to have a chance of promotion, we will need to win all our last 4 matches & will need to play a lot better than we did today.
Next week we are at home to Ringwood B, who beat us 23-17 back at their place on 6th June, when our ground was waterlogged! Rain – those were the days! Next week’s game kicks off at 10am, although this may be moved to 9:30am, if the next heatwave hits as predicted. All spectators are welcome & remember, the bar opens at midday, so what not come along & support your team & grab a beer!
Ivan Buss 8th August 2026.

Sent from my iPad

Another beautiful day for playing bowls, warm (26c), dry, sunny, blue sky & a nice breeze. Today, we welcomed our good friends from Pelham, who are having a tough time both on & off the green this season & are currently bottom of the league. We had a full squad to choose from, for the first time this season. The Sea Horses scratched earlier in the season against the Dragons, so whilst they got the full 6 points, they only got 10 shots. Accordingly, today was good opportunity for us to take 6 points & add a nice boost to our shot difference.
Rink 4 – Janet, John & Neil – Lost 13-14. We started off well & were leading this one right from the off until the 17th end, when they levelled the score at 13-13. Sadly, we couldn’t sneak a shot on the last end & lost 13-14. We won 8 ends, which inc. 5×2 & 3 singles. The Sea Horses won 10 ends, which inc. a 3 & they won 5 of the last 6 ends, to take the points.
Rink 3 – Steve, Paul & Geoff – Won 27-8. We won 11 ends in total, which inc. 3×4, 1×3 & 5×2. This one was always under control & our boys produced a very good performance, which got us the points & added 18 shots to our shot difference. Well done & well played.
Overall match score Bustards 40 v 22 Sea Horses. Match points Bustards 4 v 2 Sea Horses. Shot difference now +128. Unusually, all the results were in on time today & they have also been entered correctly! As the Dragons lost, we are up to 3rd, 4 points behind Knyveton & 9 points behind the runaway leaders Lyndhurst Lightning.
Nest week is a bye week & the following week, we will be making the trip to Lyndhurst to take on the Lightning. They beat us comfortably 27-40 at home back in May, so if we want to keep in touch with them at the top of the league, we will need to be at our best & take the win.
Ivan Buss 25th July 2026. > > >>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPad

We beat top of the league Knyveton Kestrels earlier in the season, so this one was always likely to be a close encounter. This was another beautiful day for bowls, not too hot, dry & sunny. It was just a shame that whilst both rinks were very fast, the movement was very inconsistent & proved a tricky green to read.
Rink 2 – Janet, John & Ivan – Lost 18-19. We took the first end with a 3, then lost 3 singles in a row to be 3-3. Sadly, we then lost a horrible 7 & 4×2 over the next 6 ends, to trail 5-18 after 11 ends. A brilliant 6 on end 12 got us back in to it & after 17 ends the score was 17-19. Lying 2, I managed to turn it in to 1, so we lost 18-19. Well played Janet & John.
Rink 1 – Steve, Paul & Geoff – Won 16-12. We won ends 3 to 7 to lead 6-2, then they scored a 4 & a 2 to lead 7-8. We then won 7 of the last 9 ends, which inc. 3×2 & a 3, to take the match 16-12. Overall we won 12 ends. Well played boys, excellent performance.
Overall match score Kestrels 31 v 34 Bustards. Match points Kestrels 2 v 4 Bustards. Shot difference now +110. The Dragons won 6-0 today, so they are 3rd on 45 points & we are 4th on 44 points, 7 points behind table toppers Lyndhurst Lightning, who we visit in 2 weeks time.
Next week we are at home to our good friends, Pelham Sea Horses, who are currently bottom of the league. Hopefully, this will be a good opportunity for us to improve our shot difference. The match starts at 10am & the bar will be open from midday, so why not come along & support your team whilst relaxing with a nice, cold beer!
Ivan Buss 18th July 2026. > > >>>>> >>>>>> Sent from my iPad

 Having lost the previous encounter by 1 shot, the Dragons were looking for revenge! We started this match at 9am to avoid the really hot sun, but the temp still reached 29c by the time we finished. It really was a lovely morning in Downton, with a nice breeze & a green that is now playing really well. > >>> >>> Rink 5 – Geoff, Janet & Ivan – Lost 4-27. A great performance by Steve, John & Colin, who all played some excellent shots. We only won 3 ends & were totally outplayed. The Dragons score inc. 2×3 & 2×4. The only positive was that we kept them under 30! >> >>> Rink 5 – Steve, John & Neil – Won 16-15. Another good performance from the boys, following on from last week. We trailed early, then rallied to lead 16-11 after 15 ends, which inc. 2×3 & 2×2. We won 10 ends & had things well under control until the Dragons finished 4, 3, 1, to agonisingly lose by 1 shot. A very good, competitive match, well played everyone. Big shout out to John, who managed to complete the match before he headed off to the walk in centre! >> >>> Overall match score Bustards 20 v 42 Dragons. Match points Bustards 2 v 4 Dragons. Shot difference now Bustards 107 Dragons 113. There is 1 result to come in & as usual 1 of the teams has wrongly entered their result, but when everything has been corrected, I think the Bustards will be 3d on 40 pts & the Dragons 4th on 39 pts.
Nest week we are away to high flying Knyveton Kestrels. We beat them comfortably earlier in the season, but since then they have gone on a winning run & are currently 2nd. The Dragons are at home to 2nd bottom Richmond Park Panthers, so we need a good performance to help us keep hold of 3rd place.
Ivan Buss 11th July 2026.
>>>> >>>>> Sent from my iPad