PENARTH Bowling Club enjoyed a mixed measure of success in last week’s matches with the ladies having a particularly fruitful week. The highlight of the past seven days was the successful charity day held on Sunday.

The Alliance side entertained Whitchurch Hospital on Tuesday, May 24 and, despite winning on two rinks, went down to a 14 shot defeat. Penarth’s best four comprised Dave Ingram, Dave Holdaway, Tony Thomas and skip Haydn Trow with an 18-10 win.

Bob Willmott, with Russell Daniel, Ken Brinkworth and Dave Hilldrup staged a fighting comeback to edge it by 14-13, but, sadly, the deficit on the other two rinks proved decisive.

The 2016 Munro Cup campaign hit stony ground with Wednesday’s visit to Barry Romilly. Half-way through this encounter Penarth were well in control with a 15 shot lead overall but the hosts gained the tactical advantage after this point by utilising full length jacks on the rather heavy green.

This proved to be crucial as Romilly gradually gained the upper hand to win by nine shots. The best performances for Rectory Road came from Neil Gaskell, Nick Thomas, Rob Grant and skip Colin Grant (24-19) and Jack Beanland, Derrick Musk, Bob Horne and skip Dave Plank (18-18).

Sadly, Penarth's friendly match at Llantwit Major on Saturday, once again underlined the inability to fully adapt to heavy conditions. On a very grassy surface and after overnight rain Penarth often struggled with the long jacks once again and eventually lost out by 14 shots in total.

The bright spots were victories for Jack Beanland, Haydn Trow, Dave Plank and Dave Dalby (18-16) and Neil Gaskell, Ron Birkby, Bob Lewis and skip Clive Fry (20-19). Meanwhile, back at Rectory Road, the A team were entertaining Llantwit Major A. The result of this match, in which both teams provided one rink and three triples, was in doubt throughout but, despite the heroic efforts of Reg Jones, Dave Hilldrup and skip Ron Maggs (33-15) and a hard fought victory for Brian Knight, Ken Brinkworth, Nick Thomas and Roger Gidman, Penarth lost out by just four shots at the end.

The Rectory Road ladies enjoyed a largely successful week, with two wins in the three matches played. Once again, it was a heavy green at Millwood which proved to be Penarth’s undoing in Tuesday’s Double Rink match despite a gritty fight by Joan Lewis, Jill Gaskell, Jayne Edwards and skip June Williams (16-16), the end result was an 11 shot reversal.

Things brightened up considerably for Wednesday’s Afternoon League match at home to Murch, when Penarth won on all three rinks to record a valuable 59-37.75 win.

A fine performance from the Betty Jones rink where Betty, well assisted by Jill Gaskell, Barbara Brown and Joyce Allen recorded a 28-9 success put Penarth in control, and with Maureen Dalby, Mary Bowen, Kath Jenkins and Belinda Price (17-16) and Chris Church, Jayne Edwards, Sue Croll and Tricia Brinkworth (14-12.75) also winning through it was a good day all round.

Last week’s Evening League game, also against Murch, saw another victory, though this time, Penarth had to travel and found the hosts in good form. Largely thanks to a handsome 21-9 win for Lorraine Palmer, June Williams, Wendy Grant and skip Tricia Brinkworth, and only a narrow defeat for Belinda Price’s rink, Penarth gained an eight shot overall victory.

On Sunday, the club’s annual charity day was held under sunny skies and around 70 members turned out to enjoy an afternoon Spoons, played both on the green and indoors. Following a very enjoyable afternoon’s bowling the members were treated to a sumptuous buffet provided by the ladies followed by the traditional raffle which this year seemed bigger and better than ever.

The ultimate measure of success was the fact that around £800 was raised for charity with this year’s beneficiaries being the Twinkle Star Charity which raises funds for providing support for bereaved parents. Congratulations to everyone involved with this very worthy effort.