With the outdoor season well underway, the Ladies and Men of Purnell Bowls Club have had early successes.
The Ladies have got through to the third round of the Somerset Southey trophy with fine wins over Bloomfield and Prattens, and now play Bath in the next round. Unfortunately, they were not so successful in the national Ladies’ Top Club, losing to Victoria. In the Somerset County Ladies’ Pairs, Jan Dart and Ailsa Midwinter have qualified for the Quarter-Finals.
The Men’s A team have had their best ever start in the Somerset County League, winning their first three games against Watchet, Yeovil and Bath. The win over Bath was very close, with a measure on the last end to get a one-shot win, and are currently second in the Somerset County Premier League One.
The B and C teams did not have the best of starts, losing both their first two games, although against opposition A teams, but had good wins last weekend with the B team beating Prattens and the C team winning against Alexander Park.
The campaign in the Mid-Somerset League got off to a good start with a convincing win over local rivals, Paulton. Meanwhile, in the Somerset County competitions, Terry Priddle has reached the Semi-Final of the Somerset County Two-Wood Singles and the Men’s four of Hugh Lorimer, Denis Skehan, Don Dart and Jim Towells have reached the Quarter-Finals of the County Men’s Fours.
Unfortunately, our sport has the reputation of being for elderly participants, but at Purnell we can prove the opposite when two of our youth members played in our C team. The age range of that team last Saturday was thirteen to 91. Bowls is a game for all ages, so if any youngster is interested in having go, come along to our lively youth session on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m. am where we have a first-class team of coaches to make you welcome.
If anyone else is interested in trying out the game of bowls, please contact Don or Jan Dart on: 01761 471019 or visit our website www.purnellbowls.co.uk.
John Hansford