Merrow’s latest mid-week friendly was hosted by Puttenham on Wednesday, 6th June.

The weather gods were smiling on us as the match of three triples got under way. Initially, both sides had problems reading the green, with even the home side suffering.

Despite Merrow’s best efforts, we lost on two of the three rinks, with Puttenham winning by 53-41. However, congratulations to our top rink of Lorna, Len, and David E, our only winners.

Sadly, one of Puttenham’s bowlers was taken ill towards the end of the match and was treated on the green by a team of paramedics. I’m sure all Merrow players join me in wishing him a speedy recovery.

Our afternoon was rounded off with a delicious tea, with scrumptious home-made cakes.

Merrow entertain Puttenham on 14th August and we look forward to a good match.

Photos by David Raison and Libby Taylor.

On Sunday, 3rd June, Merrow visited Godalming for our maiden friendly.

We were treated to a beautiful, and very hot, afternoon of bowls, accompanied by a band playing in the adjacent park. There were hordes of people out enjoying the sunshine and music, and some even watched us bowling. Overall, a very bucolic scene.

Godalming had surplus bowlers who wanted to play, so we ended up playing two triples and two rinks, with Godalming loaning two players to make up the fours.

As ever, although this was a friendly, no quarter was given, but the match was played with good humour on both sides. The green was playing well, fairly smooth and fast with bowls turning as expected.

We had a welcome break for tea after ten ends, when Merrow were presented with a scroll marking Godalming’s 150th anniversary in 2017.

The final result saw a victory of 70-57 for Merrow, but each side won on two rinks, which seemed a fair result. Congratulations to Merrow’s top team of Ken, Lorna, and David E for an outstanding performance, winning 25-8. We look forward to this match becoming a regular fixture.

Photos by David R and Ben Hosking:

On a gloriously sunny afternoon we entertained our close rivals from Burpham for a match of four rinks of triples.

Merrow made an excellent start and at tea were up by 22 points overall.  Unfortunately the tea break gave the Burpham bowlers an opportunity to refocus, so although Merrow ended up winning on three rinks, overall Burpham won by 3 points.

Many thanks to Joan and Lesley for providing a lovely tea and congratulations to Merrow’s top triple of Ken, Mike and Debbie.

Ben Hoskings’ photos of the match:

Last season, we made contact with Westfield Bowls Club and invited them to Merrow for a friendly. This culminated in the two clubs agreeing to play home and away matches in 2018.

On Wednesday, 23rd May, Merrow bowlers travelled to Westfield for the first of our two matches, this one starting at 6pm. Merrow had expected to be playing four rinks of triples, but somewhere along the way Westfield had got the feeling that we were only going to be playing three rinks and had organised a Ladies final on one of their four rinks. As a result, six Merrow players agreed to play for half of the match, which wasn’t a great outcome for them, with one team’s players being spread out across the other three teams.

Eventually the match got under way. The weather looked threatening, but within a few minutes the skies cleared and we had a fine evening for bowls. It was nip and tuck for most of the match, but eventually Westfield came out on top, winning on all three rinks. Fortunately, the captain’s rink was our best performing, saving some embarrassment, losing by just two points, so well done Ken B, Richard D (first half), Debbie E (second half), and David R.

A very welcome tea was provided after the match by Ken, who was also manning the bar.

Although we lost this match, the score was a vast improvement over our last meeting, so there’s a lot for us to celebrate. Here are some photos taken by Ben Hosking to give a flavour of the evening.

On Saturday, 19th May, a dozen Merrow players forsook watching the Royal Wedding on TV, instead travelling to Pippbrook for a friendly of four triples.

On a glorious afternoon, battle was joined on a very fast green. Merrow soon started to move ahead, although rink 1 was having to deal with very strong opponents. A very welcome break was taken after 10 ends for tea and delicious cakes, kindly provided by Jean and Malcolm.

After the break, the reinvigorated teams got back to the business in hand. Despite Merrow winning on three rinks, Pippbrook came out on top, winning 64 – 61.

Congratulations to our top rink: Ken B, Richard D, and Colin M. Well done!

Our rearranged home match with Pippbrook will be on 30th June at 2:30, so be sure to get your names on the team sheet in plenty of time.

Here are a few pictures from the match.

Preparing for the match

Ready, steady, go!

We are under way

Waiting for the next bowl

Bowls in full flow

If you can just squeeze through this gap…

A nice smooth delivery by C Emery

On a cold and windy Wednesday afternoon, Merrow bowlers (and their supporters) travelled to Mayford Hall for a match of four triples.

The green is a little smaller than Merrow’s, so we all had to adjust our deliveries. However, the green soon started to turn, which helped build the heads.

The match was a good natured affair, with many familiar faces from Wey Valley. Despite this being a friendly, no quarter was given by either side, as witnessed by the final score, with Merrow winning 62 – 68.

A welcome warming tea at half time was provided by Jim and Ian.

We look forward to our return match on 4th July.

The result of match played at Horsell   v  Merrow  10th  May, Horsell names are shown first.

Rink 2 B. Murray,  C. Couling,  J. Lennard lost to M. Hosking,  J. Wills, R. Morrison 6 – 23

Rink 3  R. Lawrence,  K. Turner,  P. Simmons  beat K. Burburry, M. Moscrop,  C. Mitchell   20 – 13

Horsell   26   Merrow  36

On what must have been the hottest day of the year so far, Merrow welcomed Horsell Bowls Club to our green.

We played four rinks of triples, with high hopes of a good match. The green had been improved since our last match against Liphook, and we were quite positive. However, the gods were not with us, as we went down 45 – 87, losing on all four rinks. Still, it was a good-natured match, and I’m sure everyone enjoyed the day.

It was not all bad news though. Rink 1 had been leading for much of their match, eventually losing by four points. Well done Mark and David E for a storming performance (your correspondent was also on this rink but can’t claim any credit). Rink 3 also saw a fine performance by Merrow, again losing by just four points. Well done Mike M, Allen M and Bob C.

In the words of D:Ream, “things can only get better”.

Merrow players made a good start to the new Knaphill Triples league with a win over East Horsley.

As is normal, two rinks of triples were played over eighteen ends. We were blessed with a nice sunny afternoon, which helped to dry what could have been a rather soggy green.

The final result was one rink each, with Merrow prevailing by just a few points overall.

Congratulations to both teams on a fine performance: Lesley B, Len M, and Colin M; Mark H, Ken B, and Lorna R.

For our first outdoor fixture of the 2018/19 season on Sunday, 22nd April, Merrow welcomed Liphook for a match of four triples. An unseasonably warm day was very welcome, and we had a good number of supporters to watch the match.

All players found the green difficult, although it did improve slightly towards the end of the match. However, with more rolling and cutting, we should see a noticeable improvement over the next couple of weeks.

The match was closely fought, with Merrow eventually winning on three of the four rinks, with an overall score of 64 – 56. Well done to all, and to our best rink of John W, Len M, and Bob C, who won by nine points.

Our next fixture is on Saturday, 28th April, when we host Pippbrook.

The photos below are by Ben Hosking and your correspondent, David R. Please contact me if you require copies of any photos.