Opal v. El Cid Sabres. Wednesday 15th. February 2012.
Round two of our three El Cid fixtures this time away against the Sabres and with quite a few of our regular players unavailable. Could our reshuffled pack turn up trumps? ( Now there's a thought,dear reader, how many appalling puns about cards can I possibly use in one match report? If you want to play I'll give the answer at the end. If not,well suit yourself!)
Let's start with that diamond geezer Trevor Neale who,on this occasion, was partnered by Sheila Nicholson and Felicity Jenkins.
Off to a cracking start with a four but then a barren spell saw them trailing 6-21 after twelve ends. Things improved somewhat on the run in but not enough to bridge the gap! They were the first game to finish,the final score, 17-28.
A good win on rink one where Ken Marshall and myself stood back and watched in awe as John Coates demonstrated every trick in the book. End after end when our opponents were holding he turned them over in a great solo effort. At the halfway stage we led 12-2, 15-5 after fourteen before our ace started to tire slightly. Final score 16-8.
So with two games completed we had been able to raise the stakes. One game all and only three shots in it.
It really was a game of twists and turns for Dave Moon,Captain Tone and Stan Finn. First they led then,having put in all the spadework,they fell behind.Four times it came back to all square, 9-9 after nine, 13-13 after thirteen, 15-15 after fifteen before five points over the next three ends rewarded them for their patience! Final score here 18-16.
Finally then to rink three where we had a small pair and a jack of all trades! Brian Fenton joined Daphne Ramage and Anne Moon in breaking the oppositions hearts with a 10-0 start after five ends. After eleven ends it had advanced to 15-5. A good fightback saw the gap reduced to 18-14 going onto the last where a last wood winner from Anne got a big hand all round! 19-14 to us.
At the end Captain Tone was flushed with excitement,four shots to the good, 8 points to Opal!
Two friendlies played at the frosty end:-
Anita Ellis, Dennis Purcell and Dave Poole lost out 13-16 whilst Colin Smith, Peter Drake and Peter Mills also dipped out 14-27.
That's it then for this week. Oh yes! The answer to this week's jolly quiz.Let me deal with that. I reckon it was 20 but who cares, enough of this nonsense, time to Snap out of it! ( Sorry!)
Colin Houghton. Opal Scribe.
As Colin is away this week the report falls to me
Opal v El Cid Scimitars 8th Feb
First of our three consecutive games against El Cid
6 points to 4 win for OPAL A very friendly game was played on a cold but sunny morning.
Anne Moon, Beryl Tranter,Brian Fenton gave us a fantastic start, they went into a 19 point lead after 8 ends and went on to win 31 to 5
Trevor Neal, Sheila Nicholson, Matt Taylor were 6/11 down at the half way stage but fought back to win 6 of the last 7 ends to finish 17/14 winners.
Stann Finn, Tony Crease, Dave Pool were 6/8 down at 11 ends.Then lost 6 of the remaining 7 to finish 8/21 down.
Allan Ganble, John Coates,Peter Mills were 6/9 down after 10 ends and went on to lose 9/17
The friendlys finished one each.
Ken Marshall, Doug Bacon, Daphne Ramage could do no wrong only losing 3 ends the whole game and finishing 33 / 6 winners.
Dick Murdoch, Jean Murdoch, Simon Tranter lost the first and the last 4 ends. Scoring 5 5 3 on ends 5 6 and7 made the scores level at end 7 but alas ended up losing 17 / 28
Tony Crease
Opal v. BBC Tigers. Monday 30th January 2012.
Up against a BBC team again this week, this time the Tigers. The weather as you would expect ,therefore, was Frosties !
Not that you would have known it by intrepid Captain Tone's appearance.There he was, still displaying his appendages, in his shorts. Talk about inspirational, no fear here! Frostbite, never heard of it!
And so we took to the field.
In the shadows of rink one Matt Taylor, Sheila Nicholson and Trevor Neale fought out a really tight game. After establishing an early lead they had been pulled back to 7-7 at the halfway stage before dropping a five. It was 8-14 after twelve ends before our heroes took the next five ends to lead 15-14 going onto the last. One down on the eighteenth regrettably to finish with a hard earned 15-15 draw.
It was the old game of two halves for Simon Tranter, Beryl Tranter and Anne Moon. Leading by 9-7 after nine ,things were looking good but the second half didn't continue to plan. Still leading 11-10 after fourteen, a five then knocked us off course from which we never recovered. Final score 11-19.
Myself, John Coates and Allan Gamble were 6-7 down after nine ends before gathering in nine shots from the next three ends to lead 15-7. The next four ends though saw us lose eight shots to make things all square after sixteen. A three on the penultimate gave us some headroom and , thankfully, even the elastic measure couldn't get more than two for our fired up opponents on the last.
A one shot win then 18-17 in a very tight game.
And so to the final scoring game. Dave Moon, Captain Tone and Stan Finn started brightly enough but then had a lean patch so that at the halfway stage it was 5-9. Our boys clawed it back to 10-11 after sixteen only to drop two shots on the next. All on the last then, but sadly it wasn't to be. Two shots to the good guys but not enough to avoid a one shot defeat.
Some really close games but overall 3 points to Opal and 7 to the Tigers.
Better news from the friendlies.
Although Doug Bacon, Peter Drake and Alan Travers lost out 13-27, Anita Ellis, Ken Marshall And Peter Ellis did the biz 18-14. Jill Worthington, Peter Worthington And Peter Mills also took the honours in their game 21-10.
Colin Houghton. Opal Scribe.
