SULLY Indoor Bowling Club travelled to Pontypridd on Saturday to play their six rink Club Championship Match against Taff Ely hoping to get back to winning ways having lost at home to Blaenau Gwent the previous week.

Taff Ely is a difficult side to beat on their own carpet as results have shown in previous years and with Taff Ely Club only having three rinks; sides have to play three rinks at 10am until 2pm and three rinks playing the second session from 2pm and 6pm.

Sully was fortunate to have most of their players available to play in their rinks and positions as normal. The morning session skips of Ken McLeod, Brian Griffiths and Matthew Woodcock started confidently and after the fifth end Sully held a narrow lead of 19 – 16 but by the tenth end the lead had changed with Taff Ely now holding a two shot advantage 33 – 35.

Between the 11th and 15th end Sully rinks lost their way with Woodcock’s rink holding their own whilst Griffiths and McLeod struggled losing 11 shots between them leaving a deficit of 16 shots 38 – 54.

All Sully rinks fought hard but by the end of the game only McLeod managed to salvage a point drawing 20 – 20 with Griffiths and Woodcock losing by six and five shots respectively leaving a deficit of 11 shots for the afternoon boys to make up, the score lying at 58 – 69.

The afternoon rinks skipped by Brian Foscolo, Martin Clarke and Fred Phillips got off to a tremendous start taking the initiative and reducing the opponents overall lead to four after the fifth end.

Sully expected the afternoon rinks of Taff Ely to be strong and this proved the case but with Foscolo’s rink of Graham Cogbill, Gary Eastment and Mike Doyle supporting their skip they forged into a 12 shot advantage by the tenth end against the wily Reggie Rand.

The rinks of Clarke and Phillips were battling hard and were managing to keep their scores close against some superb bowling from the opposition and were only two and three shots behind respectively. Foscolo’s rink continued to pressurise their opponents and by the 15th end were 14 shots ahead at 24 – 10.

Clarke’s rink by end 15 had fought back to level at 13 – 13 whilst Phillip’s rink scored 10 shots to one between the 11th and 15th ends to go two ahead.

The afternoon rinks were now leading by 20 shots after 15 ends, leaving Sully with an overall advantage of nine shots.

The final six ends went in Sully’s favour as Foscolo’s rink went on to win 32 - 14 and with Martin Clarke bowling some magnificent bowls to lead his rink to a 23 – 18 victory, unfortunately Phillips’s rink were unlucky on the last end losing by two shots 18 – 20.

Credit must go to the Sully players who fought hard but special well done to the afternoon rinks for making it a resounding Sully win 131 – 121, picking up 15 points to Taff Ely’s seven points.

The next Championship game is on Saturday, November 15 away to Newport at 2pm.