THE WEEK started badly but finished well for Alcester’s crown green bowlers.
There was another heavy defeat away from home for the A team in Division Two of the Yardley Wood Superleague when they travelled to Yardley Wood Social Club.
The hosts dropped just two shots as Ken Craddock and Carole Slater (both 21-20) were the visitors’ only winners. The 56-shot winning margin gave Yardley Wood 16 points to Alcester’s two.
The good early season form of the B team in Division Four continued as they recorded their third successive win.
Visitors Bournville Sports B were the latest victims as Alcester ran out winners by 53 shots.
Excellent cards from Margaret D’Elia (21-6), John Willis (21-8) and David Hodgson (21-9) were backed up by solid wins for Trish Barry (21-13), Rick Horton (21-16) and Red Masterson (21-17) to give the hosts a 16-2 victory.
Alcester’s notorious fragility in cup matches was once more in evidence as both teams were dumped out of the Heart of England Cup at the first hurdle.
For the A team, the home four players did achieve an 11-shot victory with winning cards from Ken Craddock (21-11) and Jean Bannister (21-12).
However, the away four could not produce a winner as they went down by a massive 43 shots to give Ye Olde Knowle A an overall 32-shot passage into the next round.
The B team met Triplex, again with no winning cards among the four away players. The home quartet achieved little more with only a single win for Rick Horton (21-18), resulting in a 72-shot thrashing overall.
Things improved in the Heart of England Over 60s competition as both teams recorded wins. In Division Two the A team made the short trip to Henley A and came away with a 15-shot success.
Excellent cards from John Alderson (21-10), Ken Harvey and Renny Bannister (both 21-11) and Val McDermott (21-17) saw the visitors through to a 14-2 success.
The B team recorded their first win of the season in Division Four with an 18-shot victory over visitors Weoley Castle Working Men’s Club.
Winners for Alcester were Jean Craddock (21-11), Trish Barry and David Whittington (both 21-14) and David Hodgson (21-17), seeing the home side achieve a 14-2 victory.
