LAST week saw some notable successes for Penarth Bowling Club in what was a largely, very satisfactory seven days,

Sunday saw Penarth welcome old friends from Clevedon for a mixed friendly and despite the threat from the weather a very enjoyable game ensued.

Both sides bowled well in a competitive yet convivial atmosphere and the final result, 104-101 in favour of Penarth reflects the closeness of the encounter.

Pick of the home rinks was the one comprising Sue Roberts, Berwyn Lansley, Mike England and skip Bob Hill with a 22-11 win, and there were also winning contributions from Ron Maggs and Colin Grant to round off a very pleasant day’s bowling.

Russell Daniel’s Alliance side have performed consistently well this season but they met their Waterloo on Tuesday in the shape of Mackintosh BC.

Unusually, Penarth failed to produce a single successful rink in this one and Penarth sunk without trace to a 28-60 defeat.

Wednesday’s Munro Cup match at Millwood proved the old adage that it pays dividends to “hang on in there” even when things are going badly. Dave Dalby, with the help of Derrick Musk, Dave Plank and Alan Stockham won 20-11 and Clive Fry’s rink kept up their consistent record with a 20-13 success.

With four ends remaining Colin Grant was coasting at 15-6, whilst Nick Chandler was up against it, 5-18 in arrears.

However, to prove that it “ain’t over until the fat lady sings” in the ensuing final four ends Colin dropped 11 shots whilst Nick’s four picked up seven, so, in the light of Penarth’s slender six shot win overall, Nick’s contribution proved vital in the final analysis.

There was a notable success for the Rectory Road men on Friday when the club won a hard fought battle with Whitchurch, at Whitchurch, in the South Glam Bowling association single-rink competition.

So well done to Dave Dalby, Bob Lewis, Dave Hilldrup and Phil Davies whose 19-18 win booked a spot in the semi-finals where they will meet either Merthyr West End or Ystradfechan.

Saturday saw a splendid victory in the PG2 competition at Cardiff Athletic. In a nail-biting match, the Penarth men kept their nerve to pick up 16 shots between them on the final three ends to squeeze home by a single shot and thus achieve a very valuable nine points.

Once again it was the vast experience of veteran skips Ron Maggs and Bob Hill which steered Penarth home. Ron, in company with Alan Stockham, Brian Hocking and Russell Daniel won by 23-11 and Bob’s rink with Dave Holdaway, Rob Grant and Colin Hicks earned a priceless draw.

On Sunday, there was further good news for Rectory Road when a rink representing the club won the Belle Vue Rinks Tournament, which was part of that club’s centenary celebrations, and played in glorious weather.

In all, eight local sides fought it out with Penarth winning all their three pool games and then, in a thrilling close fought final won through against a strong Cadoxton A rink to claim the title.

So congratulations to skip Bob Hill, Alan Stockham, Phil Davies and Ron Birkby for this excellent result, and well done to Belle Vue and particularly Malcolm Thomas and his members for their excellent organisation.

Sadly, the adverse mid-week weather played havoc with the ladies’ fixture schedule last week, with the result that the only game played was the double-rink match against Murch, and even this had to be abandoned after 11 ends with Penarth just one shot to the good. Let us hope for far more agreeable weather next week.

The membership at Penarth Bowling Club would like to extend their heartiest congratulations to Ritchie Janes, following his recent success in defeating Rectory Road’s Jason Greenslade in the County Singles.

Ritchie was, of course, a very popular member of Penarth Bowling Club for a number of years and was not only an outstanding bowler but club captain in 2008, where he successfully captained the side to victory in the Munro Cup. They all wish him every success in the future.