Thame Bowls Club Weekly Newsletter No 3/2026
Sunday 3rd May
The day was good, the promised rain held off. We assembled for our 2:00 pm game as usual, Capt. Adrian and team duly welcomed; Watlington won the toss and elected to take the mat. On rink 1 John Holmes, Mike Zac and Keith Brooks had a frightful game, one to forget with a loss of 7 shots to 26. On rink 2 Dave Holland, Marion Keal and Trevor Watkins fared much better, and it looked as if they were in for a win but lost the last four ends and ended with a draw, 15 shots each, hard luck team. On rink 3 Colin, Roger Mackriell and David Slawson had a good game collecting shot wins to end their game 21 shots to 7. On rink 4 Dave White, Tony Battaglia and Diane Mackriell also had a good game winning 26 shots to 9. On rink 5 with Ian Rutherford, Jan Sargeant and John Wilkinson also had a day to forget losing 6 shots to 20
All in all, a good day playing, with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, unfortunately the shot score ended Thame 75, Watlington 77, but well done all. Thank you everyone that helped setting up the rinks and putting away. Similarly to all, thanks for setting out tables and chairs and putting away. Thanks to Wendy, Sandra, Pauline and Jan for the teas and clearing away, Ian and Chris at the bar, and Chris and his team for a great green. Colin French
Tuesday 5th May
We welcomed Captain Ross and his Amersham team, and once formalities were completed, we started our game, Amersham winning the toss and electing the mat.
On rink 2 Colin, Ken Lewis and Trevor Watkins found themselves up against a formidable team and after 7 ends started falling behind steadily especially, to skip Steve playing some brilliant shots, the game ending Thame 11 Amersham 25, not a good day. On rink 3 John Holmes, Jan Sargeant and Chris Roberts also found themselves up against it but worked hard to keep the shot score to Thame 11, Amersham 17. On rink 4 Dave Holland, Bill Giles and Roger Mackriell were holding their own until end 16 when they lost 5 shots which ended their chance of winning, Thame 13, Amersham 18. On rink 5 Tony Battaglia, Peter Dawe and John Wilkinson also had a tough time, working hard to be 1 shot up at end 13 but losing every end from then on. Thame 10, Amersham 16. Final shot score Thame 45 Amersham76, not a good day for any of us.
Thanks again to Sandra Diane Jan and Pauline for their work in the kitchen, thanks to Ken and Chris in the bar, Chris and his team for the green, and all the playing team for setting up and clearing away the rinks, and tables and chairs. Colin French
Wednesday 6th May
It was a sunny, but not too hot day, for the ladies Marlow away game on Wednesday 6th of May. What a pleasure it was to field four triples. Our best players were out in force as beating Marlow is one of the seasons big challenges.
The score on most of the rinks were pretty even for most of the game. On rink 2 Diane enjoyed a new role ie playing second and Jan Sargeant was effective as skip along with Ann as lead. The score was even on the 17th end, but they lost 15 – 17.
Rink three with Deirdre, Philippa and Sharon were leading to start with but fell behind. However an heroic four on the last end saw them lose by just 3: 15- 18.
Rink 5 with Carol, in her first match for the club, Pauline and Heather had a very up and down game but a surprise score of 7 by Marlow on the 16th end saw them lose by a disappointing 17 to 23.
Rink 4 with Jenny, Jill and Caroline were slow to start scoring but they soon improved and a solid 6 on the 14th end saw them rocket into the lead which they never lost. They were our only winning rink with a score of 20- 17.
Well done, ladies- it was a good score against an always strong Marlow side. We lost by just 7 overall with the final score being 67 - 75. We look forward to playing them at home in August. Pauline Holmes.
7.5.2026
