PENARTH Bowling Club enjoyed a special occasion on Wednesday last when the eagerly awaited return clash between the Indoor Captain and the Outdoor Captain’s teams took place at the Indoor Stadium.

No effort had been spared in the rigorous preparations for this momentous encounter, with all seats sold well in advance.

Such was the seriousness which the occasion was held that Dave Clements even swore a vow of silence (which lasted approximately 43 seconds), Haydn put in some extra practice, and Guy Thomas, to everyone’s amazement, arrived with a full 45 seconds to spare.

In the event, the match lived up to all expectations.

Casualties were light and there were only a handful of yellow cards, the most notable being to Terry Buckingham, for persistently talking about Cardiff City, and a stray delivery from Nick Thomas which had a trajectory like a corned beef tin and ended up “shot” two rinks away.

After a keen encounter, it must be recorded that the match ended with a 19 shot victory for Phil Davies’ “Outdoor” Team, with the star performers being “Whispering Dave’s” rink, where Dave, ably supported by Tony Thomas, Dave Ingram and Mike England bowled well throughout.

Elsewhere, there were keenly fought skirmishes, with Bob Lewis and Haydn Trow, suffering narrow defeats at the hands of Bob Hill and Dave Dalby respectively.

Meanwhile the fourth rink produced a titanic struggle between those two formidable skips, Clive Fry, and Dinas Powys’ answer to “Braveheart”, Colin Grant.

This epic encounter hung on a knife edge until the very last wood when the wily Clive, one shot down and scores level, turned it round with his last delivery, which was a classic (though it must be said, Derrick Musk had a more poetic description for it.)

All in all a very successful evening with some excellent bowling and a fantastic turnout of 32 club members.

Congratulations to Trevor Jenkins on making a super debut, he is definitely a first-class prospect, and to Dave Rogan for stepping in as a last minute “sub”.