End of Season Fish ‘n’ Chips

Our last Thursday club night of the season saw 24 members playing a timed triples match which was narrowly won by Trevor’s team despite being down at the half-way mark.

We then adjourned to the main club for drinks and a well-deserved fish ‘n’ chips supper. The raffle draw curtesy of Allen M and Ken caused a great deal of amusement but eventually all the prizes were distributed.

This was the first of the social events that John and Trevor are arranging over the winter so keep a look out for the Quiz and Race Nights along with our three planned indoor fixtures.

Work on the Green

The end of season work on the green started early thanks to the fact that our last two friendly matches were away to Seale and Sands and Castle Green. We lost both matches but were well entertained by both clubs and many of our new bowlers were able to play over the weekend.

Meanwhile Steve M was introduced to tining. You can see him above sporting his new PPE whilst ‘driving’ the hollow tining machine. It certainly made life easier being able to alternate the work with a rest and a cuppa. The green was hollow tined, scarified and cleared up on Saturday before sarel rolling and overseeding the next day – just in time for the rain!

Second pass of scarifying in progress

Our Harding Cup squad of John and Sally, Trevor, Steve M, Lorna, Jarek, Ken B, Debbie and David played ‘home and away’ triples against the local village clubs throughout June, July and August to reach the final for the first time in 6 years. Merrow last won the cup in 2013.

We met Puttenham in the final with a little trepidation, having lost to them in the qualifying rounds, but playing on a neutral ground at Ripley meant both teams had a challenge. On the day Merrow were winners on both rinks for a hard-fought victory.

After the match there was a presentation ceremony, followed by a wonderful tea provided by Mariane for the players and many spectators from all the participating clubs.

We would like to thank Ripley for being fantastic hosts and David P for the organisation of the whole competition.