After three heavy defeats, Bembridge A travelled to Shanklin more in hope than expectation. The Shanklin green was as usual in immaculate condition although a gusty wind made bowling difficult from time to time. Only one rink made a good start and Chris Emms as skip with David Brown, Peter Svensden and Colin Greer remained in contention well into the second half of their match until fading in the latter stages to lose 16 – 27. Pat Maher with Gerald Rees, Chris Brown and Norman Cooper dropped 5 shots on the first end to a strong Shanklin four and were second best throughout with only occasional flickers of resistance. The final score of 14 – 34 accurately reflects the Shanklin dominance.
The match involving Bill Silvester with Steve Day, Ian Hampshire and Stewart Small saw an amazing comeback and a welcome 2 points for Bembridge. At one stage in the match, Bembridge were losing 4 – 16 and no one at that stage would have predicted that Shanklin would not add a further point and that Bembridge would reel off 16 shots without reply to win 20 – 16.
Asked for their comments at the end to explain this astonishing recovery, Bill Silvester seemed lost for words while Stewart Small put it all down to constant practice and being able to transfer lessons learned into a match situation.
Match Result: Shanklin B 8 points Bembridge A 2 points
Shot score: Shanklin B 77 shots Bembridge A 50 shots