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

The Bustards travelled to the pretty Pelham Sea Horses ground, on a hot, dry, sunny day. Summer has finally arrived! The green was very quick & played really nicely.
Rink 3 – Janet, Steve & Paul – Won 23-11. We lost the first end, then won 9 ends in a row. During this spell, we scored a 5, a 3 & 3×2. The home team rallied to win 6 of the last ends, which including a 4 on end 13, which we matched on end 17. In the end we ran out 23-11 winners. Well done on an excellent team performance.
Rink 3 – Lewis, John & Ivan – Won 23-7. We won the first 4 ends to lead 5-0 & never looked back. After losing end 5, we won 7 in a row. Up to end 12, we scored 6×2 & 4 singles to lead 18-2. The home side won 4 of the last 6 ends, but a 4 on end 17 helped us secure a 23-7 victory. Again, another excellent team performance, well played .
The overall match score was Bustards 46 v 18 Sea Horses. We are now moving up the table & improving our shot difference.
Next week we are at home to Lyndhurst Lightning, starting at 10am. The bar is open from midday & all spectators are very welcome.
Ivan Buss 23rd May 2026. > > > > > Sent from my iPad

Our first B&D home match of the season, against our good friends from Knyveton. After all the bad weather we’ve had this week, the green was playable, but was very soft & heavy, so we had to use rinks 5/6, which were the driest on the green. The green did start to dry out & improve as the match went on, but it really was very hard work today.
Rink 6 – Janet, Steve & Paul – Won 37-5. Home advantage was evident here & by Paul’s own admission, he was very pleased with the way Janet & Steve played! We were never behind, winning 14 ends in total. This included a 6, 4×4 & 2×3. An excellent team performance & a welcome boost to our poor shot difference. Well done guys.
Rink 5 – Peggy, Lewis & Ivan – Lost 15-16. Each team won 9 ends each. They had a 4 & 4×2, whilst we scored a brilliant 5 on end 17 to take the lead 15-14. Sadly, we then played a very poor final end, conceded a 2 & lost the match 15-16.
The overall match score was Bustards 52 v 21 Kestrels. We are still in the bottom half of the table, but we do now have a +14 shot difference.
Next week we are away to Pelham Sea Horses, who are currently bottom of the league.
Ivan Buss 16th May 2026. > > > > > Sent from my iPad

Last season Paul & I reached the New Forest mens plate semi final, so this year we thought we would have a bash at the Aussie pairs. Our first round match was away to Nick/David at Fordingbridge. Despite the rain during the day, the green played really well, although it was pretty soft & wet. Thankfully, the rain kept away until we’d just finished the match.
We lost the first two ends & after a 3 against on end 5, we trailed 2-7. Another 3 against on end 9 didn’t help, but we chipped away & after a 3 on end 13, the score was 11-11. The last 5 ends we played really well, especially end 17, when we scored a 4. Final score was 18-12 & we won 12 ends in total. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum & take it in to our next match. Thank you to Nick/David for an excellent, close match & we wish them well in the plate competition.
Ivan Buss 13th May 2026.

 

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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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.

Sent from my iPad >

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.
Sent from my iPad