Ottery St Mary bowlers were beaten in the Two Counties competition when they entertained Honiton, writes Michael Smith.

It proved to be a close encounter with just five shots between the teams at the close of play, Honiton winning on three of the rinks and Ottery on one.

The one winning rink for Ottery was the one of Tony Luff, Chris Hawke, Margaret Bright and skip Terry House (22-16).

In the men’s Over-60s League the A team got back to winning ways with a victory over Topsham C, Terry House, rian Baker and skip John Pethick having a fine 26-9 win.

The B and C teams continue to struggle, the B team going down to Feniton B and the C team to Pinces D.

Ottery had brace of friendly fixtures with the first being a visit from Exonia who shared the honours, two rinks apiece. However Ottery won overall with a 66-60 score line with Alan Lascelles, Moyra Griffin and skip Norman Lawrence having a fine 21-10 victory.

That was followed by a visit to Severalls Jubilee in Crewkerne where Ottery won on three of the four rinks, lost on the other and won the match 80-74.

The best of the winning rinks for Ottery was the one of Pam Baker, Frank Holden, Gail Hawke and skip Tony Luff (25-8).

Ottery travelled to Cullompton for another Two Counties League match and this time went down three rinks to one and by 81 shots to 71 overall.

The winning rink was the one of Chris Hawke, Tony Luff. Margaret Bright and skip Terry House (26-16).

In the Devon County Section Three mixed pairs competition, Ottery’s Dave Brown and Margaret Bright had a fine run, reaching the final after winning through three rounds.

In a closely fought match against Ian Thomson and Jean Rainton of Madeira, they narrowly lost the match 23-17. However, congratulations are due to them for what was a great performance.