With the winter season coming to an end attention turned to the club competition finals, with five sessions spread over Friday evening and the weekend the majority of the finals were completed.
Tony Nisbett had a very busy time at the finals, playing in all five sessions, the best out of the five though was the last one as he took on Doug Pitcher in the Over 60s Singles. Pitcher got off to a good start, quickly leading 5-1 but Nisbett pulled back an took a 10-7 lead. The pair kept exchanging blows, neither managing to break clear of the other. With the scores level at sixteen all a single and double took Nisbett two away from victory but Pitcher replied with a double and single of his own to level things nineteen all. A pair of singles sealed the victory for Tony Nisbett 21-19 in a truly epic clash.
Tony was joined by his wife Sue, Judy and Gerry Magan in the Open Fours to take on Wayne Kilsby, Becky Lever, John Kilsby and Nigel Hewitson. Magan’s four made a good start, 6-1 up after five ends, Hewitson and co scored a double but Magan took their advantage to ten shots at the midway stage. The game spun on its head over the next four ends as Hewitson score a single, seven and five with a single in reply to lead 16-14. The sides exchanged singles before a pair of threes took Hewitson and co eight clear with one end to play, needing a miracle Magan and co could only take a single, Hewitson’s four winning 23-16.
Tony Nisbett and Gerry Magan were joined by Colin Hall in the Men’s Triples taking on Chris Chapman, John Barnet and Oliver Fowler. After six ends Fowler’s trio held a four shot lead but a double and five swung the game in Magan’s favour, another good spell saw that advantage turn into a ten shot lead with five ends left. Fowler and co halved the deficit over the next two ends but Magan’s three took it back to ten with a five, Fowler took a penultimate end double but Nisbett, Hall and Magan finished with a single to win 24-15.
Oliver Fowler, Andy Fowler, Keith Mason and Ewan Mason took on Doug Anderson, Jim Dean, Geoff Tysall and Pete Dymond in the Men’s Fours and made a good start to lead by nine after six ends. With ten ends played Dymond and co had reduced the deficit to three but then dropped a treble on the next end. Dymond’s rink scored a couple of singles but a pair of doubles and a treble took the Fowler’s and Mason’s to a 22-9 victory.
In the first of two encounters Maureen Edwards took on Jane Redfern in the Ladies Two Woods. Redfern quickly moved 4-0 up but Edwards scored seven unanswered shots to move 7-4 ahead, Redfern dug in to clear the deficit and move five shots clear. The pair exchanged shots to leave the score 18-13 to Redfern who then took a single and double to win 21-13. The Ladies Championship saw the pair resume their battle, this time it was Edwards that made the early running to lead 7-2. Redfern cleared the deficit and moved a shot clear before going on a scoring spree to lead 19-10. Edwards scored a treble but Jane Redfern completed the double over Maureen Edwards with another 21-13 victory.
Jane Redfern teamed up with Yvonne Bromfield to take on sisters Julie Smith and Kim Tubb in the Ladies Pairs and they recovered from a first end four to lead by three after eight ends. A pair of fours, treble and single swung the game in the favour of Smith & Tubb, 18-9 after twelve ends. Redfern & Bromfield took a double but dropped a six to see the deficit increase thirteen with four ends to go. Redfern & Bromfield took a brace of doubles and a single but called it quits after the penultimate end, Smith & Tubb winning the Pairs 24-16.
Before heading off to join the Warwickshire Juniors in the National Under 25s Double Rink final Jacob Mills played Graham Farrell in Men’s Two Woods Finals, he raced away to a 6-0 lead but Farrell hit back to reduce the deficit to two and the pair kept exchanging shots as the score reached 9-7. Another good spell took Mills 16-8 ahead and then through to victory 21-9.
Sue & Tony Nisbett were in action again taking on Kim Tubb & Howard Wilkins in the Mixed Pairs final. A balanced start saw the Nisbett’s one up after four ends, they then put on a scoring spurt to reach the eleventh end fourteen shots up. A treble and double knocked a bit off the deficit but Sue & Tony Nisbett completed the victory 21-10.
Unfortunately, two finals had to be cut short due to players poor health. Tony Nisbett and Gerry Magan were 16-0 up when Dave Furness & Doug Pitcher had to concede in the Over 60s Pairs, while in the Men’s Pairs Oliver Fowler & Ewan Mason were 12-1 up when Wayne & John Kilsby had to call it quits. 

​The three remaining finals of the club that couldn’t be played over finals weekend were completed on Wednesday night.
Fresh from finishing runners up in the National Under 25s County Double Rink with Warwickshire brothers Jacob and Thomas Mills faced each other in the Junior Singles final, which is made up of two sets of seven ends. With five ends gone Thomas Mills held a one shot advantage and took the first set with a couple of singles. Three ends into the second set and Thomas was again a shot up but Jacob took a double to move ahead. Thomas Mills scored a brace of trebles to win the title 2-0 in sets, set scores 6-3 and 8-3.
The Mens Championship saw Geoff Tysall take on Oliver Fowler and a tense start saw neither player break clear, the score 5-5. Tysall then took advantage moving five shots ahead, Fowler hit back but Tysall managed to keep his advantage to lead 16-11. A single and brace of trebles saw Fowler clear the deficit and move two shots clear, the next end he took a double to move within a shot of winning, a good final end saw him take the shot he needed to win 21-16.
Father and son Keith & Ewan Mason faced the grandad and grandson duo Doug Pitcher & Cormac Sheehan in the Related Pairs final. The first six ends saw five singles and one tied end, Sheehan & Pitcher holding a slender lead. An impressive spell saw the Mason’s add nine unanswered shots, a double and single brought the deficit down to five but the Keith & Ewan Mason sealed the victory with a pair of singles and a five, final score 18-6.

The final charity gala of Rugby Thornfield Indoor Bowls Club’s season saw sixteen teams compete in aid of Prostate Cancer UK. With fundraising target of £1,000 already exceeded, rough estimate at the end of the gala was £1,700+, member Nigel Malka who had been growing his hair and beard for a number of years would be clean shaved during the midway break.

With the first round of games completed ‘The Levers’, ‘Unbiased’ and ‘Liams Lot’ were joint top with seven points, one point clear of ‘Four Four All’, ‘Rink Raiders’, ‘No Chance’ and ‘The Sick Notes’. Heading into the half-time break, when the big shave would take place, ‘Unbiased’ and ‘The Levers’ were still locked together at the top of the pile, ‘Liams Lot’ were a point behind in third place and they in turn were a point ahead of ‘Four Four All’. In joint fifth, three points behind fourth spot, were ‘No Chance’ and ‘Urine Good Company’.

A freshly shaved Malka rejoined his team as the bowls resumed but the top two after the third round were still ‘The Levers’ and ‘Unbiased’, with ‘Liams Lot’ still one point behind them. ‘Urine Good Company’ had moved into fourth place, a distant five points behind third spot, and one point ahead of ‘Four Four All’, ‘Askits Crew Rule’ and ‘Rink Raiders’. A quirk of the fixtures saw ‘The Levers’ and ‘Unbiased’ play each other with ‘Liams Lot’ hoping to benefit from any slip. A 5-4 victory meant that ‘Unbiased’ (Colin Perkins, Ken Johnson, Sue and Tony Nisbett) finish top with twenty-four points, ‘The Levers’ had to settle with second place, three points behind first and one clear of third place ‘Urine Good Company’. In joint fourth were ‘Liams Lot’ and ‘Rink Raiders’ a point behind third. Though the real hero of the day was undoubtedly Nigel Malka for braving the shave to help raise a large amount for charity.

Rugby Thornfield Indoors Bowls Club welcomed sixteen teams for their latest charity gala in aid of the Little Princess Trust, the charity provides real hair wigs free of charge to people up to the age of 24 that have lost their hair due to cancer or other medical conditions. Event organiser Tina Gray had grown her own hair long enough to donate 12 inches of it before the gala started.

After the first round of games six teams shared top spot all with six points they were ‘Who Dunnits’, ‘Three Bees and One’, ‘The MOS’s’, ‘Bald Eagles’, ‘Grange’ and ‘Three Spires’. Tucked one point behind them and completing the set of teams to win their opening game were ‘5-4-3-2-1’ and ‘Askits Crew’. Heading into the half-time break the lead was now shared between ‘The MOS’s’, ‘Grange’, ‘Bald Eagles’ and ‘Askits Crew’ all with eleven points, one clear of ‘5-4-3-2-1’ who themselves were two points ahead of ‘Who Dunnits’, ‘Three Bees and One’ and ‘Team Helen’.

With three games gone ‘Grange’ held the top spot, ‘5-4-3-2-1’ were second, ‘Three Bees and One’ third, fourth place went to ‘Three Spires’ and in joint fifth were ‘The MOS’s’ and ‘Team Helen’. Four points separated first and fifth places ensuring that the final round of games could change things.
When the final round of games was finished ‘Grange’ (Doug Anderson, Bob Page, Martin Webster and Pete Dymond) held on to top spot to win the gala with twenty three points. Second place went to ‘Three Bees and One’ who were three points behind the winners, they in turn were a point ahead of ‘5-4-3-2-1’ in third place while joint fourth with nineteen points were ‘The MOS’s’ and ‘Team Helen’

Further donations in support of the Little Princess Trust can be made via Tina’s JustGiving page - https://www.justgiving.com/page/tina-gray-1

The club hosted a sixteen team charity gala in aid of the RNLI, each team playing four games of four ends.
Heading into the half-time break ‘Rugby Robins’ and ‘Captain Pugwash’ were joint first on thirteen points, one point ahead of ‘All at Sea’, ‘Team 2’ and ‘Team 13’. With the third game completed ‘Captain Pugwash’ now was alone in first place, two points ahead of ‘Team 2’ and ‘All at Sea’ in joint second, they in turn were four points clear of ‘Team 15’ and ‘Team 13’.
​A strong finish saw ‘Captain Pugwash’ hold onto top spot with 26 points, second with 24 points were ‘Team 2’, joint third went to ‘Team 15’ and ‘All at Sea’, with ‘Rugby Robins’ completing the top five with 18 points.

The first eight ends of the Ladies Two Woods final were all decided by a single shot, the score four all between Becky Lever and Jane Redfern. Lever took the first double but couldn’t build a big lead, after eighteen ends she led 11-10. The pair exchanged doubles and then singles before Redfern moved ahead, leading 15-14. Both players picked up three single to leave the game at 18-17 to Redfern and Jane took the next two ends with a single and double to secure a 21-17 victory.

The Ladies Championship between Kim Tubb and Maureen Edwards was very tense and close, nothing could separate the pair as they were level on 13-13. A single and pair of doubles from Tubb helped her move 18-15 ahead and a double on the next end took her to 20 shots. Edwards made a last gasp attempt to turn things around, scoring a single and double before Kim Tubb secured the shot she needed to win the Championship 21-18.

A good start by Sigrid Thomas and Maureen Edwards saw them three shots ahead after five ends against Nicola Bradshaw and Jeanne Sands in the Ladies Pairs. Bradshaw and Sands pulled back and took a one shot lead with ten ends played. Thomas and Edwards replied with a treble and four singles to leave them six clear with three ends to play. The sides exchanged doubles before the game was conceded, Sigrid Thomas and Maureen Edwards winning 17-11.

Sigrid and Maureen were joined by Becky Lever for their Triples final against Jane Redfern, Sarah Blackshaw and Yvonne Bromfield and it was the Edwards trio that made an excellent start, 8-0 up after five ends. Bromfield and co hit right back with a six but at the halfway point they were still six shots behind. A pair of singles and doubles too Edwards and co twelve ahead after thirteen ends, Bromfield took a treble but Edwards hit right back with a four to lead by thirteen with three ends to go. Bromfield and co scored a single on the next end but decided to call it quits, Thomas, Lever and Edwards 23-11 winners.

Father and son Keith and Ewan Mason faced off against each other in the Mens Two Woods Singles and nothing could separate them early, the score 4-4 after five ends. Ewan took a 7-5 lead but Keith wiped out the deficit and moved a shot ahead with eleven ends gone. Three singles and double saw Ewan move back in front by four shots, an exchange of shots with an odd single allowed Keith to reduce the deficit down to three but Ewan took the next two ends with a double and single to move the score to 19-13. Keith responded with three singles but couldn’t stop Ewan Mason picking up the double he needed to win 21-16.

A masterclass in drawing allowed Chris Chapman to quickly build a 15-1 advantage in the Mens Championship against Oliver Fowler, Fowler had a run of his own bring the deficit down to 15-5 but Chris Chapman finished in style with a couple of pairs and a single to bring him to a shot from victory before getting that shot the next end, winning 21-5.

Wayne and John Kilsby made an excellent start to the Mens Pairs final against Brian Smith and Nigel Warren to lead 10-3 after seven ends. With ten ends gone the lead had been reduced to five but an excellent spell helped the Kilsby pair move 18-7 up with fourteen ends gone. A single and treble brought the deficit down to seven, Wayne and John Kilsby secured the victory as both sides finished with a single each, final score 19-12.

There was a close start in the Mens Triples between Chris Chapman, Dave Sands & Oliver Fowler and Ray Dawson, Tony Mosteckyj & Gary Tubb, the Tubb trio 5-4 up after seven ends. A four and brace of doubles moved them nine clear before the game really changed on the next end. With the last wood to go Fowler and co were a shot down but had a chance to take out the shot wood to pick up several shots but the bowl was tight, caught a short wood with hit the jack and a couple of ricochets later left him six shots down instead. Tubb’s trio scored a double on the next end to lead 21-4 with six ends left, Fowler and co took the next four ends with a brace of singles and double to cut the deficit to eleven but they conceded to leave Ray Dawson, Tony Mosteckyj and Gary Tubb 21-10 winners.

First and seventh end fours helped Ray Dawson, Tom Wheeler, Gary Tubb and Howard Wilkins lead by six in the Mens Four finals against Oliver & Andrew Fowler, Keith & Ewan Mason. With twelve ends played the lead had been reduced to four but Wilkins and co finished strong to pick up another seven shots with only one in response to secure the win 21-11.

The Under 25s Singles is played as two sets of nine ends with a three end tie break if needed. Thomas Mills was taking on his older brother Jacob Mills and took the first end with a single, Jacob replied with a four and three before Thomas got another shot. Two singles and a pair sealed the first set for Jacob 11-2. Thomas again got the first shots in the second set but with five ends played the scores were level 3-3. Jacob scored two doubles to lead by four with two ends left, Thomas got his own double to trail by two heading into the last end. It was Jacob Mills that won the final end with a single to win the second set 8-5 and the title 2-0 in sets.

A tense start in the Over 60s Singles saw Jane Redfern and Tony Nisbett all level on 3-3 but Nisbett then went on a run of three singles and a double. Redfern cut the deficit to three, Nisbett picked up a treble and Redfern replied with a double to trail 13-9. Nisbett prevented his opponent from scoring again as he completed his victory 21-9.

There was only one shot in it in the Over 60s Pairs between John Kilsby & Nigel Hewitson and Brian Smith & Nigel Warren, Hewitson 4-3 after five ends. With eleven ends gone Kilsby & Hewitson were still one in front but increased it to six with two ends left. Smith & Warren took the penultimate end with a treble before a strange ending to the final end. With one wood to go Kilsby & Hewitson were two and a measure down, Hewitson said to measure it and was relived to see it was just two, John Kilsby and Nigel Hewitson winning 18-17.

The Related Pairs saw Jo and Nigel Warren take on Sue and Tony Nisbett. With four ends played the Warrens were up by a shot and picked up a six and pair of singles to lead 12-3 after seven. Nisbett hit back taking five shots from the next two ends but Warren replied with a pair of threes either side of another double by Nisbett before the teams exchanged singles, the score now 19-11 after fourteen ends. A treble and double with a single in between left Warren four ahead going into the final end. It was Jo and Nigel Warren that took the final end with a single to win the Related Pairs 21-16.

Sue and Tony Nisbett were also in the Mixed Pairs final, this time against Graham Farrell and Rachel Ashmore. A good start saw Farrell & Ashmore 9-5 up after eight ends, with twelve ends gone the lead had been increased to nine. Nisbett hit back with a four and three to move within two shots. With two ends to go Farrell & Ashmore had taken the lead back to five, Nisbett scored a single on the penultimate end but could only take two on the final end, losing 19-17.

​Graham Farrell and Rachel Ashmore were joined by Oliver Fowler and Chris Chapman for the new Open Fours competition, their opponents were Nigel Malka, Dave Spence, Martin Sandwell and Sarah Blackshaw. Chapman and co made a good start, a fifth end four taking them 7-1 up. A pair of doubles cut the deficit down but a single, double and treble took Chapman 13-5 up after ten ends. With four ends to play Blackshaw’s rink had reduced the deficit to six, the sides exchanged doubles before Blackshaw picked up another double to go into the final end four adrift. They could only get another shot, leaving Graham Farrell, Rachel Ashmore, Oliver Fowler and Chris Chapman 18-15 winners.

​Sixteen teams gathered at the club for a bit of Christmas cheer and to raise money for Myton Hospices in a charity gala.
 
A perfect start saw ‘Websters Imps’ lead the way, one clear of ‘The Merry Bunch’. In joint third on nine points were ‘Martin’s Birthday Party’, ‘Four Calling Birds’, ‘Dog Walkers’, ‘Impossible Three’ and ‘Xmas Wrappers’. Heading into the break ‘Deanary’ joined ‘Websters Imps’ in first place, joint third was shared by ‘Martin’s Birthday Party’ and ‘Impossible Three’ with ‘Dog Walkers’ in fifth place.
 
With all the games completed ‘Websters Imps’ aka Doug Pitcher, Bob Page, Martin Webster and Pete Dymond held onto top spot with 28 points, three points behind them were ‘Martin’s Birthday Party’ in second, a further three points back in third place were ‘Impossible Three’. Fourth place was shared between ‘Deanary' and 'The Merry Bunch’.
 
Rugby Thornfield is more than a bowls club, it is part of the social prescribing network with local GPs and NHS, has regular exercise classes ran by Take Heart, Pets as therapy sessions and much more. For further information see the club website www.rtibc.co.uk or search for Rugby Thornfield Indoor Bowls Club on Facebook.