Disappointing losses for BSM Riviera Mixed Triples and Over 55s teams were offset by a winning start for the men's MDL side last week.

BSM Over 55s are still looking to replicate their win in their first game of the season. This time it was a was a defeat by Torquay. Although a win was recorded on one rink it was not enough to take the overall win. The final result being a 33 shots to 39 defeat. Surely their second win will not be long in coming with the fighting spirit they are beginning to show.

C Pedder 20 M Collins 16

A Hewitt 13 D McCann 23

Defending champions BSM went down by the narrowest of margins at home to Babbacombe in the Riviera Mixed Triples league.

In a tight game only the rink skipped by Chris Vincent was able to record a win. The others were well fought affairs, the final outcome being a one shot overall defeat for BSM 43 shots to 44.

Although disappointing it does show that the ethos of using players out of position and less experienced bowlers is working. This can only prove to be a good thing for the club in the long run.

K Short 13 B Cready 15

J Hudson 13 G Nicholson 18

C Vincent 17 J Stewart 11

BSM started the Mid Devon League season with a hard fought overall win over Marldon 'B'. Although in a new lower division this season the opposition will not be any easier if this game is anything to go by.

Wins on the rinks skipped by Dave Thompson and Jim Heard were enough to see BSM through to a 75 shots to 68 victory and 10 valuable points to start the season.

This win is more than welcome as BSM are notorious for bad starts and for a while it looked as though it might be happening again, but a new spirit in the team ensured that the losing rinks were aware of the overall contest and kept their games tight and thereby getting the result. It is hoped that this will continue into the next game and for the rest of the season.

P Bradford 17 C Loucker 21

D Thompson 25 B Bailey 7

C Pedder 11 G Brough 22

J Heard 22 D Hawkins 18

An up and down week for the Ladies and Over 55s of Brixham St Mary's.

Having gained promotion to Division 4 of The Gallery League last season it was a step into the unknown for the BSM Ladies.

The first game of the year was at home to Buckfastleigh on the 1st May. To their credit a resounding win was recorded with a 77 shots to 42 victory. Two out of the three rinks recorded wins and going down on the third did not put the end result in doubt. It would seem that the BSM Ladies are now settling into a winning mentality, which bodes well for the future.

J Morris 14 J Pinney 26.

J Chapman 32 E Full 6.

E Thompson 31 S Joint 10.

Alas the BSM Over 55s could not repeat their form of the previous match. The game against Upton Bowling Club found them wanting. Both rinks went down and no points were gained in a 23 shots to 42 defeat. Could this be another in and out season for Colin Pedder's team as it was last season. Let us hope not.

C Pedder 8 K Back 24.

E Curl 15 I Wokie 18.

Meanwhile, training for beginners continues at BSM. Further to the Monday and Wednesday at 10.00am a further session has been arranged to accommodate working people who find they cannot attend in the mornings. Dick Penfold has started sessions for these people starting at 6.30pm on Monday evenings. Anybody wishing to take advantage of this should contact Dick on 01803 852992 or just turn up. All are welcome and they are entirely free to both beginners and improvers. Bring flat shoes and a will to learn that is all that is needed.

Lastly, BSM played host to the Section 6 Men's Triples over the weekend. Whilst this a great honour for the Club it requires a lot of backroom work to be be put in. Our thanks must go to Liz and Dave Thompson and their band of helpers who worked hard to ensure that all ran smoothly and the needs of all the bowlers taking part were taken care of.

The 2013 season can be said to be well underway with a full calendar of games in the last week.

The first of the season's league games was the Over 55s. The game against Victoria ended with wins on both rinks for BSM and eight points in a 34 shots to 21 victory. This team is the latest to be formed within the Club and has taken some time to bed in. Hopefully they will now show us what they have been threatening to do for the past two seasons and continue on their winning way.

C Pedder 20 D Gowler 11

A Hewitt 14 A Lang 10

The rest of the week has been taken up with three friendly games against local and touring opposition.

On Friday 24th April the BSM Ladies entertained visitors from Marldon. An entertaining game proved good training for BSM as they will be competing in their new higher division of the Galaxy League this summer. The final outcome this time was a win for BSM by 52 shots to 34. If this form can be carried forward into the league season it bodes well for the Club again. Keep it up girls.

Saturday 27th April saw BSM entertain the first touring side of the year, Cleveden Promenade from Bristol. Chilly conditions and a heavy green proved too much for BSM this time as they were well beaten by 81 shots to 124. This is the first of 18 touring sides that will visit the club this summer.

Sunday 28th April saw the visit of our friends from Upton Bowling Club in Torquay. Once again the conditions were not the best for bowling with a chill wind making playing conditions difficult at times. This time BSM managed to win on all rinks and come out with a 110 shots 68 victory.

The response for bowling instruction has been such that it is now proposed to extend it further so that working people can attend more regularly. Further details will be forthcoming shortly as arrangements are finalised by the club.

After a weather delayed start the 2013 season got underway.

Saturday 13th April was deemed too wet for the official green opening game.

Fortunately 24 hours later the weather was better and 20+ hardy souls managed to complete 10 ends of friendly bowls before the weather closed in again and play had to be abandoned for the day. All players then gratefully retired to the clubhouse for very welcome cups of tea, sausage rolls and doughnuts generously provided by Jane Morris the BSM Ladies Captain for 2013.

Saturday 20th April saw a very successful Open Day for BSM. With assistance of some of the more experienced bowlers in the Club 17 people were introduced to bowling. With further coaching these people will, hopefully, go on to become valuable members of BSM.

Coaching will take place each Monday and Wednesday throughout the summer season starting on Monday 22nd April. These sessions are free to all who wish to learn and will start at 10am. No experience or equipment required. The first will come with time and the second will be provided.

Experienced players are also more than welcome to come along and play a few ends and see what the club has to offer.

These learners will also benefit from the Free Membership for all newcomers for the 2013 season. Free membership is also available to anyone who is new to BSM and has not been a member before.

Brixham St Mary's Bowling Club Preseason Report

After an eventful winter, with a flooded kitchen and all of the problems that went with it, here we are again on the verge of a new bowling season.  The green is looking better than ever thanks to some hard work by DSM and of course our two stalwarts Maurice and Denis.  However, as ever, certain things must be attended to before we can commence on another busy spring and summer season.

Sunday 17th March 2.00pm - Spring Meeting at the Club House - Please bring along your cheque books and cash for your membership fees.  The Treasurer will be most pleased to relieve you of your money.  Once again joining fees have been held down  for a full membership and will be the same as last year.

Tuesday 26th March 10.00am - Club and Green Surrounds Clean Up Morning - Bring your muscles and anything else you think will help in this onerous but necessary task.

Saturday 6th April - Green Opening  Bring you bowls and muscles.  The green is always heavy especially for you indoor bowlers!

Saturday 13th April - Opening Drive  Always fun and a good way to prepare for another busy season.

Don't forget there will not be any membership fees for any new bowlers to the Club this year.  This includes all new bowlers whether experienced or not as long as they are new to BSM Bowling Club and have never been members before.

The two Captains have nominated their charity for this year.  It will be Brixham does Care and all monies raised from the Charity Pairs and from two concerts to be held on the Old Fish Quay by the Deja Vu Swing Band will be donated to this worthy cause.  The concerts will take place on Monday the 10 and 24 June at 7.00pm. Hope to see you all there.

See you all at the Spring Meeting.

After a traumatic wait for all involved the final outcomes of the ladies, gents and Riviera Mixed Triples teams are now known.

The Ladies have done exceedingly well winning promotion for the second successive season.  This time they go up as Champions of Division 5 of the Gallery League.

It was a long wait to see the final outcome as weather had disrupted the league programme and some other teams in the division had to complete their fixtures before the finishing positions were known.  But all was well in the end. 

Sincere congratulations from all at the Club go to all who played this season and helped toward this successful result for the season 2012. 

The Riviera Mixed Triples team also should be congratulated for winning their league again.  This was a different situation to their Ladies in that it was BSM who had to plough through a backlog of fixtures before being able to lay claim to the league championship.  All did not go quite plan as Brixham Bowling Club gained a convincing win. Taking all 10 points in the game away at Brixham.  However the compliment was returned in the rearranged fixture at St Mary's when BSM took all 10 points.

The 'must win' game was at home against Victoria.  With wins on two out of the three rinks 8 of the 10 points were taken and the league secured.

J Heard            15            M Birt            17

K Short            15            T King            18

C Hall              11            A N Other        16

BSM            41 shots        Brixham            51.

R Rowlinson            31            A Stenning            8

J Heard                   17            B Guest                14

C Pedder                 31            L Oaken                9

BSM    79                               Brixham                31.

J Heard                32                A Lang                12

R Hughes             20                J Huff                  14

J Morris                14                G Hewer              25

BSM    66                                Victoria    51.

Again sincere congratulations from all at the Club must go to all involved this season.

The bad news is that the efforts of the BSM Men's Mid Devon League team were in vain.  They will be playing in Division 3 of the MDL next year.  A poor start and finish to the season sealed their fate and relegation became almost a certainty as the BSM season ended still short of enough points to ensure safety.

Sorry lads just not good enough was it !  As they say there is always next year.

The Over 55s completed the season in a respectable place in their division.  I am sure that better things are to come from this team in the future.

All of the club finals have now been played.  A lot of them had to be rearranged due to one finals day was completely washed out.  Well done to all for being flexible in their approach and finding alternate days to play them.  

The final results were as follows:

Christine Phillipson beat Hazel Yeomans.

Viv Howard beat Pauline Hardwell.

Christine Phillipson beat Jane Powell.

Hazel Yeomans beat Julie Mattock.

Jane Morris / Jenny Hughes beat Viv Howard / Hazel Yeomans.

Chris Vincent beat Hazel Yeomans.

Colin Pedder beat Richard Penfold.

Richard Sanders beat John Mattock.

Chris Vincent / Rod Hughes beat Maurice Giles / George Allen.

Brian Gumm beat Chris Vincent.

John Radford beat Rod Hughes.

Viv Howard / Rod Hughes beat Margaret Davenport / Richard Penfold.

Denis Trott / Dawn Driver / Pat Bradford beat Mike Keast / Pauline Hardwell / Brian Gumm.

John Mattock / Frank Pizz\ey / Mary Hasll / John Hudson beat Alice Fitt / Bill Stockman / Margaret Davenport / Ron Rowlinson.

The cups will be presented at the BSM Presentation evening at Churston Golf Club on the 9th November. 

Congratulations to go to all of the winners but remember there are an awful lot of losers that make up a competition so well done to them as well for making it all worthwhile.