Sidmouth Bowls Club sent three ladies’ triples to play at Madeira with lots of laughter and some excellent bowling, writes Carol Smith. 

We had two rinks that both won by many shots and one that drew. The top rink of Sheila Palmer, Anita Mason and skip Sue Turner won 23 -11, closely followed by Annie Crocket, Mary Turner and skip Jill Bishop, 21- 11.

The third rink of Deborah Robertson, Mary Meadows and skip Carol Smith had such a close game from start to finish. At 10 ends, the score was 6-4 to Sidmouth, eventually finishing 12-12. The overall score was Sidmouth 56 Madeira 34.

Next was a home friendly against a very strong Taunton Deane team but we played superbly on the day to win 50-41. It was good to see Andrew Lowe playing against his previous club before he moved to Sidmouth and joined us. Our top rink was Chris Radburn, Chas Coates, Mary Meadows and skip John Mason, 18 -13. 

Having won our Ladies Championship last winter, I was entered into the Champion of Champions this year. After a walkover in the first round because of health problems, my next game was at Exonia against a very young international player, Nicole Rogers, who is just 25.

I looked up her bowling career and wished I hadn't! She has won so many titles, both indoor and outdoor, National and International, and is also Captain for the England Under-25 squad. 

I had no expectations of winning but just wanted to give her a reasonable game and not get whitewashed. I managed to keep her down to one or two shots at a time , but she was like clockwork and removed most of my shots, winning 21-4. Nicole has also just been named Devon Bowler of the Year and thoroughly deserved for a superb player and lovely person.

Sidmouth went down to a Men’s Interclub defeat against Madeira, despite the home rink of Andrew Lowe, Kevin Frickey, Paul Irvine and skip John Mason enjoying a good win of 19-13. The overall score was Sidmouth 66 Madeira 93.