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

 We are now at the midway point of the season. We played at Argyll on Cuckoo Fayre day (2/5) & lost 20-38, so we were out for revenge! Argyll were on top of the league for a while, but recently they have been struggling for players, as their more senior teams have pinched their players, even though they have a membership of 130! Sadly, they had an early morning drop out, so had to play a 2v3 rink, which was really tough on them. Patrick had changed the rinks direction round, so from having played on rink 6 on Thursday which was shocking, we played on rink 6 today the other way round & it was great. Patrick also organised the weather, which was sunny, dry & warm! >> >> Rink 6 – Geoff, Paul & Ivan – won 39-6. We won the first 6 ends to lead 15-0, which included a 3 & a 7. We then lost end 7, before we won another 4 in a row, which included 2×6. Ian/Derek/Keith then won 3 ends in a row, before we finished off the match 3,3,1,2 to win 39-6. Whilst Paul & I played well, shout out to Geoff, who played lead & was awesome! > >> Rink 5 – Steve, John & Neil – won 44-4. This was our 3v2 rink & boy did we take advantage of the situation. Jim/Barrie kept on smiling & did the best they could, but they only managed to win 4 ends, each by a single shot. We scored 2×1, 3×2, 4×3, 3×4 & 2×6, to take the match 44-4. A brilliant, dominant team performance, well done boys. > >> Overall match score Bustards 83 v 10 Argyll C. Match points Bustards 6 v 0 Argyll C. Shot difference +73. Our shot difference is now +129! The biggest & best win the Bustards have ever recorded. What a brilliant, memorable performance by every team member. Once all the results are in, I think we will be sitting nicely in 3rd/4th position in the league.
>> Next week is the reverse fixture against the Dragons. We won the first encounter by 1 shot, so they will be looking for revenge, whilst we will be hoping to do the double! All spectators are very welcome & as the bar will be open from midday, why not come on down to support & cheer on one of both of out teams, whilst having a long, cold drink! > > Ivan Buss > 4th July 2026. >>> >>>> Sent from my iPad

After 4 days of intense hot weather, we travelled down to the lovely West Moors ground & played our match in a relatively cool 28c. The green was great & we had a had an enjoyable, fun match. > > Rink 6 – Janet, Paul & Neil – won 26-12. We won the first end & were always ahead in this match. We won 12 ends, which included 4×1, 5×2, 2×3 & a 6 on the 16th end, having conceded a 4 on the 15th end. An excellent team performance, well done.
> Rink 5 – Steve, John & Ivan – won 21-14. Having lost the 1st end, we won 9 ends in row to lead 16-2. We then lost a 3 & a 4, before we got back on track & saw out the match 21-14. Overall we won 13 ends, which included 8×2 & 5 singles. Another good team performance, well played boys.
> Overall match score Bees 26 v 47 Bustards. Match points Bees 0 v 6 Bustards. Shot difference +21. The season is now half way through & we sit 4th out of 10.
Next week we are at home to Argyll C, who beat us 20 v 38 in the first game of the season, so we are out for revenge! All spectators are very welcome. The bar will be open from midday, so why not come on down to support the team, whilst having a long, cold drink!
Ivan Buss 27th June 2026. >> >>> Sent from my iPad

A beautiful day in Downton, perfect for a game of bowls. Because we’ve looked after the green during the monsoon season, it is now in good condition & although it is still slow, it played pretty well.
Rink 4 – Steve, Paul & Geoff – won 15-12. A very good game between two well matches teams. We won 10 ends & put together a good run from end 4, winning 4 & in a row, to lead 8-3 after 7 ends. The Mallards took the lead 9-10 on end 12 after a 3, but we came straight back with a 3 of our own & then won 3 of the last 4 ends with singles, to hold on to win 15-12. Well done, a very good team effort.
Rink 1 – Tony, John & Ivan – won 16-12. We won the first 3 ends to lead 4-0 & never looked back. A 3 on end 10 put us 10-4 up & another 3 on end 14 put us 15-7 up. The Mallards finished well with a 3 on the last end, to reduce the winning margin to 4 shots, 16-12. We also won 10 ends. A good result, well done boys.
The overall match score was Bustards 31 v 24 Mallards. Bustards 6 pts, Mallards 0 pts. This result keeps us 6th/10, now comfortably away from the relegation zone.
Next week we are at away to West Moors Bees, who are one place below us.
Ivan Buss 20th June 2026. > >> Sent from my iPad

At last summer has arrived, as the Bustards made the trip to Bournemouth to play against Panthers. The green looked great & it played really well. Bowls really is so much more fun to play when it’s, warm, dry & sunny.
> Rink 2 – Steve, John & Geoff – drew 16-16. We lost the first 2 ends, won the next 2, then lost 7 in a row to trail 4-15. The comeback started on end 12 & we then won 6 ends in a row to lead 16-15. The last end was a really tight affair & the hosts just managed to steal a single to leave the match tied at 16-16. We won 8 ends & which included 3×2, a 3 & a 4. In the end, probably a fair result, but what a great team effort to pull back an 11 shot deficit. Well done boys. > > Rink 3 – Tony, Paul & Ivan – won 19-14. We lost 7 of the first 8 ends to trail 1-10, then we had a great end, whilst the hosts had a disaster, when we took a 6. We then lost 3 ends in a row, to trail 7-13 after 12 ends. Over the last 6 ends we played some great bowls, winning 5 of them, scoring 2/3/0/2/2/3 to clinch the match 19-14. Our hosts won 11 ends overall to our 7 & we restricted them to 3×2 & 8 singles. Another excellent comeback & team performance. Well done boys. > > The overall match score was Bustards 35 v 30 Panthers. Bustards 5 pts, Panthers 1 pt. This result moves us up to 6th/10. > > Next week we are at home to Poole Park Mallards, who are currently 8th.
The bar is open from midday & all spectators are very welcome. > > Ivan Buss > 13th June 2026.
> Sent from my iPad

The Dragons home match against Argyll had to be postponed due to our green being waterlogged (see below). The Bustards game was still on & we travelled to Ringwood, to play on their awesome green, which even though it was wet, played really well. We started the match in sunshine, but within 15 mins, down came the rain & it stayed with us throughout. With no sign of it easing up, we agreed to reduce the match to 12 ends & we just about finished, before the rain got even heavier!
Rink 5 – Janet, John & Neil – Drew 8-8. We started well winning the first 2 ends with a 3 & a single to lead 4-0. They then got a 1 & a 3 to level at 4-4 after 4 ends. Nip & tuck from there, but we managed to take singles on the last 2 ends to tie the match 8-8. Both teams won 6 ends each & the match could have gone either way, so in the end a draw was probably a fair result. An excellent team performance in horrible conditions. Well done.
Rink 6 – Peggy, Geoff & Ivan – Lost 9-15. We won the first end, then lost the next 3, 1-5-1 to trail 1-7 after 4 ends. Apart from the 5, we were holding on several ends throughout the match until their skip stepped in. We took a lovely 4 on end 10 to only trail 9-10. We were then holding at least 2 shots on end 11 until their skip got a lucky wick, to take a shot. They played the last end really well, taking a 4 & winning the match 9-15. The score doesn’t reflect the gritty effort from our team. Well done.
The overall match score was Bustards 17 v 40 Ringwood B. Bustards 1 pt, Ringwood B 5 pts. This result keeps us in 7th/10.
Next week we are away to Richmond Park Panthers, who are currently 9th.
Ivan Buss 6th June 2026.
Our green at 1pm today!

>>> Sent from my iPad

On a beautiful Saturday morning, the Bustards took on Lyndhurst Lightning, with on paper our strongest team of the season. Sadly for us, bowls matches aren’t played on paper & with the Lightning turning up with a very strong team, this was always going to be a tough match.
Rink 1 – Janet, Steve & Paul – Lost 11-21 . Having won the last two games in a row, I kept the side together, looking for another strong performance. A very good Lightning trio had other ideas. We lost the first 4 ends to trail 0-7, then a 4 on end 6, helped us get back to 7-9 off 10 ends. After that we only won 2 more ends & lost 9 shots over ends 11/12/13, to eventually go down 11-21.
Rink 5 – Geoff, John & Neil – Lost 16-19. We lost the first 5 ends to trail 0-8. We then scored a 5 on end 11 & with a 1/2/3 on ends 15/16/17, we went in to the last end only trailing 16-17. Sadly, on the last end it wasn’t to be & we finally lost 16-19. A good effort though boys.
The overall match score was Bustards 27 v 40 Lightning. I’m waiting on a couple of late results to come in, but if they both go the wrong way, we could end the day 8th/10.
Next week we are away to Ringwood B, who are currently 5th.
Ivan Buss 30th May 2026.

>> Sent from my iPad

Second round of the NF Aussie pairs, against Ringwood pair Derick & Derrick. Neil had warned me that they were good. When we were 0-9 down after 6 ends, I understood exactly what he meant! It wasn’t that we played badly, but they just kept on producing consistently good shots & kept on knocking out our scoring bowls. There just was no let up, no respite. That’s the standard we need to aspire too.
We finally got on the board on the 7th end with a 2 & we also won ends 10/11 with singles. However, after end 14 when we 4-20 behind, we agree to call it a day.
This really was a chastening experience, as they really were so much better than us, but we did get through one round & that gave us the opportunity to play on the Ringwood green, which is awesome.
Wishing the two D’s all the best in the next round.
Ivan Buss 29th May 2026. > > > > Sent from my iPad