Winter League Season 2022/23
Match Reports are in reverse order
Match 12 - The Highwoods team played their final match of the season on Friday 31st March 2023 away at Paxman. The team were in outstanding form and after some close matches won 6 - 2 to consolidate their position by finishing third in the league.
The first session was close with both matches won by the Highwoods team on the last end. The first Four of Irene Rule/Brenda Kettle/Glenyce King/Diane Orrin were one down until end 6 when they dropped 3 shots. However they picked up 4 shots on end 7 to draw level and after a further shot down on the 8th end they went into the last end one shot down. However with the last wood Diane was able to move the jack to take 2 shots on a measure to win the game 9 - 8. The first Pair of Sheila Near & Greg King were involved in another close match with scores at 4 - 4 going into the last end. However some fine bowling saw them pick up 4 shots on the last end to win 8-4.
The second session saw a different pattern. The second Four of Colin Hawkins/John Essex/Gill Waters/Martin Bennet started close with the score at 2 - 2 after four ends. However the Highwoods four played some excellent bowls from then on to win the next four ends and to win the match comfortably 11-3. The second Pair of Terry Reeves & Peter Orrin were involved in yet another close match. They started slowly after some good bowling by the home team lead and were soon 6 - 1 down after four ends. By the sixth end they were 3 - 9 down but some strong bowling in the next two ends saw them pick up four shots to go into the last end just two down. Some good bowling saw them win the last end but not able to pick up the two shots needed and finally lost by 8 - 9.
Match 11 - The Highwoods League team played their final Home league match of the season against Lawford on Friday 24th March 2023 and recorded a good 6 - 2 win.
The first session started slowly with the First Four of Colin Hawkins/Ray Spencer/Gill Waters/Greg King losing the first three ends. However on the fourth end they were able to find their line and length and won the next six ends to win by a comfortable 13 - 3 margin. The first Pair of Marilyn Bennet & Diane Orrin also started slowly and were 2 - 6 down after 5 ends. There were signs of a recovery when they took three shots on the sixth end, but the visitors held on to win a close match.
The second session was much better for the Highwoods team with both the Four and the Pair starting well. The Second Four of Terry Reeves/Glenyce King/Martin Bennet/Peter Orrin built an early lead and were comfortable 13 - 4 winners. The Second Pair of Irene Rule & Sheila Near were also in top form taking four shots on the second end, staying well in control and a taking a further six shots on end 7 to win by a comfortable 14 - 5 margin.
Well done to the team and thanks to Glenyce (& Marilyn) for running the home match raffles and Diane (& Marilyn & others) for proving the food and drinks
The team are currently in 3rd place in the league and go to Paxman next Friday for their last match of the season.
Match 10 - Highwoods played a further league match on Friday 10th March 2023 at Home to Dedham. Against strong opposition and after a slow start the Highwoods team came out on top to record a 6- 2 win. This takes the team into 3rd place in the league with just two matches still to be played.
The first session saw the First Four of Christine Woodrow/John Essex/John Woodrow/Diane Orrin starting poorly being 5 shots down after 3 ends. They rallied in the 4th end but never quite recovered to lose 6 - 10. The first pair of Terry Reeves & Peter Orrin were involved in the closest match of the night and were 6-6 after 7 ends. However the 8th end was a poor end for Terry & Peter and they lost 3 shots to go into the last end 3 down. However some exceptional bowling on the last end saw them take 4 shots to win the match by the fine margin of 10-9.
The second session saw the Highwoods pair of Sheila Near & Greg King in good form being level after 4 ends. However from end 5 they stamped their authority on the match and won comfortably by 11-7. The second Four of Irene Rule/Ray Spencer/Glenyce King/Martin Bennet were involved in yet another close match with the score at 5 - 5 after 6 ends. However two good ends to follow saw them come through to win 8-6.
Well done to the team who play next play their last Home match against Lawford on Friday 24th March.
Match 9 - The Highwoods team played a further match, away v Langham on Monday 27th February 2023. The match did not start well for the Highwoods team in the first session. The first Four of Keith Waters/Ray Spencer/Gill Waters/Martin Bennet struggled to get into the game losing 3 shots on the second end and never being able to recover. The first Pair of John Essex & Peter Orrin started well and built up an early lead until the 6th end. It was a this stage that the home team lead found the jack on a regular basis and despite valiant efforts they won comfortably.
The second session proved much better for the Highwoods Team. The second Four of Colin Hawkins/Christine Woodrow/John Woodrow/Diane Orrin produced the best result for the team on the night taking 5 shots on the first two ends. They carried on in this form to record a convincing win. The second Pair of Irene Rule & Sheila Near were involved in the best and the closest match of the night. It was even all the way through but the last end saw the Highwoods Pair needing two shots for a draw. With the advantage clearly in Highwoods favour before the jack was tantalisingly moved to the end of the carpet. Despite some outstanding bowling they could only take one shot to lose the match 5 - 6.
The team have three matches left at Home to Dedham on 10/3 and Home to Lawford on 24/3 and Away at Paxman on 31/3. Good Luck with a lot still to play for.
Match 8 - The Highwoods League Team played a further Home match on Friday 20th January 2023 against Elmstead Market. The team were in better form than the last match at the start of the month, and after an extremely promising first session finished with a 4 - 4 draw against a strong Elmstead Market team.
The first session saw the first Pair of Terry Reeves & Peter Orrin in outstanding form. They started well leading by 6 shots after just three ends and took seven shots on the sixth end to lead by a substantial margin & to go onto a comfortable win by 19-3. The first Four of Irene Rule/John Essex/Glenyce King/Diane Orrin were involved in the closest match of the evening, all bowling well, with the score level until the last end when the Highwoods team lead by one shot. With just one bowl to go and lying three shots down the Highwoods Skip Diane drew a perfect last shot to the jack to win the match by two shots.
It all looked good for the team but Elmstead Market came back in the second session to level the match. The second Four of Brenda Kettle/David Rule/Ray Spencer/Gill Waters matched their opponents over the first four ends, but a poor fifth end saw them drop six shots. They never recovered after that and lost heavily. The second Pair of Sheila Near & Greg King were up against a strong opposing skip but were doing well until the fifth end when the opposition took three shots to give them a small lead which they were able to hold on to.
The Highwoods team remains top of the league having played one more game than their most of their nearest opponents with the next game against Dedham in three weeks time an important game to win.
Match 7 - The Highwoods League team had started the first half of the season in good form and were top of the league at the end of December 2022. However they have got off to a bad start to the New Year 2023 with a heavy defeat by 0 - 8 away at West Bergholt on Thursday 5th January 2023. Although the team remains in top position the gap has narrowed with the other teams having games in hand.
The first session started with promise with the first pair of Brenda Kettle & Diane Orrin playing well and level after 5 ends. However 3 bad ends to follow saw the home team take control & despite a good last end for the Highwoods Pair ended up well beaten. The first Four of Keith Waters/Christine Woodrow/Glenyce King/Peter Orrin were involved in the closest match of the night and were unlucky to lose by one shot on the last end. The match was level all the way and 7-7 after 8 ends. The Highwoods Four had the advantage throughout the last end holding 2 shots until the last bowl by the Home Skip, who was able to move the jack and give them the shot needed to win the game.
The Highwoods team went into the second session still hopeful of a reasonable result but it was not to be. The second Four of Colin Hawkins/David Rule/John Woodrow/Greg King struggled with the pace of the carpet and despite some sound lead bowling by Colin were soon well down and never recovered to lose heavily. The second Pair of Irene Rule & Gill Waters started badly losing 8 shots on the first 4 ends before coming back into the game with some good bowling. However it proved too much to make up and in the end they just lost out by 2 shots.
The team play their next match at home on Friday 20th January 2022 when they play Elmstead Market at home and are hoping for a good win.
Match 6 - Highwoods played their 6th match of the season on Tuesday 6th December playing away at the difficult Dedham venue. It proved to be an excellent result for the Highwoods team with a close match ending in a 4 - 4 draw.
The first session saw two close matches with the result of each being decided by the last bowl of each match. The first pair of Terry Reeves & Peter Orrin took an early lead and held on until the 8th end with the scores level at 5 - 5 going into the last end. With the last bowl Peter was unable to move the jack far enough and the home team just won a close match. The first four of Irene Rule/Christine Woodrow/David Rule/Gill Waters were again involved in a close match but after 6 ends they led by 6 - 2. After two further close ends the Highwoods four were leading 7 -4 going into the last end but were two down when the home team skip bowled the last wood. Fortunately, this did not quite make the count and the Highwoods four won by one shot. Honours were even after the first session.
The second session saw the Highwoods second four of Colin Hawkins/John Essex/John Woodrow/Diane Orrin starting well but fell away after the 4th end and never recovered to lose the match. The second pair were involved in a further close match and were 4-1 down after 5 ends. A good 6th end taking 3 sots saw them back in the game and similar to the first pairs match the scores were level again at 5 - 5 going into the last end. Greg was however able to make his last wood count and the Highwoods pair won the match by one shot.
At the halfway stage the Highwoods team remain top of the league with 28 points, having played one more game than Dedham who are in 2nd place with 26 points. Well done to all who have taken part with a pleasing performance to date. The team start again in the New Year
Match 5 - The Highwoods league team played an away match at Lawford on Friday 18th Nov and produced their best performance on the season, to date, with a 7-1 win. The match saw 3 close matches and one more comfortable win with all who played on the night helping the team to victory. The need to bring in 3 late substitutes did not detract from the performance, certainly the best so far.
The first session set the pattern for the match with the first Four of Keith Waters/Christine Woodrow/Sheila Near/Peter Orrin being involved in the closest match of the night ending in a 6 - 6 draw earning a point for the team. The first Pair of Terry Reeves & Greg King started well against a strong Lawford pair and were 7-0 up after 5 ends. Although the opposition got back into the game late on, they were never able to catch up and a further two points were achieved for the team.
After the 3 - 1 start made by the Highwoods team in the first session, it was pleasing that the momentum was continued into the second session. The second Four of Colin Hawkins/Glenyce King/John Woodrow/Diane Orrin were in great form and well set up by Colin & Glenyce they were comfortable winners gaining a further 2 points. Another close match in the second pairs, saw the Highwoods pairs of sisters Irene Rule & Gill Waters also starting well and built up a good lead. It was only the last two ends when the home team got back into the game, but Irene & Gill held out well to take a further 2 points.
The 7-1 win takes Highwoods to the top of the league, with just the difficult match away at Dedham to go before the end of the year.
Match 4 - On Friday 11th November 2022 the Highwoods team played their 4th match of the season at home v Langham. It was a good night for the team winning by 6 - 2.
The first session started well with the Four of Irene Rule/Glenyce King/Gill Waters/Martin Bennet starting well with 7 shots on the first two ends and going onto a comfortable win. The first Pair of Terry Reeves & Peter Orrin started well with 6 shots on the first two ends and also winning comfortably.
The second session saw the Highwoods Pair of Sheila Near & Greg King starting with a bad first end but caught up well and were close until end 6 when the visitors again took control to win the match. The second Four of Colin Hawkins/John Essex/Ray Spencer/John Woodrow were in outstanding form taking 7 shots on the first end and leading 13-0 by end 4 to end up winning by a sizeable margin.
Well done to John Essex making his debut for the club with a fine performance.
Match 3 - The Highwoods team were in good form on Friday 21st October 2022 in their Home match against Paxman, recording their first win of the season by 6 -2.
The first session did not start well for the pair of Christine Woodrow & Diane Orrin who found the opposition too strong in the early stages of the match. Although they made up some ground after their poor start they were never able to catch them and lost heavily, The first four of Irene Rule/Glenyce King/Gill Waters/Martin Bennet started well with the scores level after four ends. However with some excellent bowling they won the final five ends to win the match comfortably.
The second session saw the Four of Terry Reeves/David Rule/John Woodrow/Peter Orrin starting confidently with all players contributing and were comfortable winners, never looking in any trouble. The second Pair of Sheila Near & Greg King took a seven shot lead after just two ends, but over the next three ends the opposition cut back most of the deficit. However they soon got back into their stride to again win comfortably
Well done to all who played and helped.
Match 2 - The Highwoods team played their first home match of the season and the first at their new venue when they played West Bergholt on Friday 14th October 2022. West Bergholt are 'new' to league matches but have a strong team. It turned out to be another close and enjoyable match, but fortunes (as at Elmstead) did not quite work out in the team's favour.
The first session saw the pair of Sheila Near & Diane Orrin lose the early ends and were never quite able to catch up. However, the first four of Keith Waters/Irene Rule/David Rule/Gill Waters started well and built up an early lead and it was only in the last two ends that they faltered with the West Bergholt four making up 3 shots on the last two ends to draw the match.
In the second session the pair of Terry Reeves & Peter Orrin had a good start and ran out comfortable winners to take 2 points for the team. The second four of Marilyn Bennet/Linda Spinks/Brenda Kettle/Martin Bennet started poorly but fought their way back in the match to go into the last end level. The disappointment was that they just lost out by one shot on that last end
The match result was a 3 -5 defeat (shots 28 - 33)
Match 1 - Highwoods played their first competitive league match since covid on Thursday 22nd September 2022. The match was away at Elmstead Market who are always a strong team especially on their own carpets. The match saw a good performance from the Highwoods team with three close matches all being decided on the last end.
The first session saw two close defeats with the pair of Brenda Kettle * Peter Orrin losing on the last bowl of the evening and a similar situation with the first four of Terry Reeves/Ray Spencer/David Rule/John Woodrow
Fortunes improved for the team in the second session with Sheila Near & Greg King having a strong finish to take the match on the last end. The second four of Linda Spinks/Christine Woodrow/Glenyce King/Diane Orrin came up against a strong Elmstead four and lost out despite a valiant effort
The match result was a 2 - 6 defeat (shots 23 -33).