In the absence of the captain, Vice-Captain David Thorne took charge for the 1st time in organising the visit of Paignton Torbay for a Triples Friendly. David had to alter the line-up due to 2 last minute withdrawals but the changes proved successful as the home side pulled out all the stops to record a fine victory by 66 shots to 56.
Although each side won on 2 rinks, the difference was made by a great performance from Eric Fitch’s rink who went into an 11-1 lead at half time with the help of a count of 5 on the 8th end. This lead was extended in the 2nd half to 14 shots as the visitors were restricted to only 4 winning ends. The other 3 matches were all very close with contrasting fortunes. Kevin Moore’s rink was 1-8 down after 7 ends but the lead was clawed back to 13-all after 15 ends. A count of 3 was dropped on the penultimate end to give Paignton a 2 shot lead but 3 shots on the last end won it for Town by one shot. On Tim Lewis’s rink a 10-5 lead at 12 ends was lost as the visitors scored 8 shots in the next 4 ends to scrape home by one shot. David Thorne’s threesome seemed to be plain sailing as a 10-3 lead was held at 8 ends but the away side, fortified by a cup of tea, scored 11 unopposed shots to lead 10-14. Although Town pulled the score back to 15-all, 2 shots on each of the last 2 ends meant defeat by 4 shots.
Details:- Marion Thorne, Roy Krywko, Eric Fitch won 22-8. Roy Kendall, Tracey Moore, Kevin Moore won 17-16. Joan Kendall, Ray Lancaster, Tim Lewis lost 12-13. Jim Balsdon, Steve Ellis, David Thorne lost 15-19.