Thornfield's first gala of 2015 saw twelve teams take to the green to raise funds for the Rugby Talking Newspaper.

Two points separated the top six teams with “Team Preps” leading the way. “Colin's Boys” and “Super Duper Newspapers” were joint second while fourth was shared by “The Talkies”, “Rainbows” and “Ole Codgers”. At the half-time break “Super Duper Newspapers” held a one point point lead over “Colin's Boys”, who in turn were a point ahead of “Ole Codgers” in third place. “Leos” and “Uprisers” completed the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.

With one round of games left “Super Duper Newspapers” (Jan Mitchell, Sue Henderson, Les Hartopp & Bob Henderson) held a slender lead over “Ole Codgers”. “Colin's Boys” and “Leos” were joint third and “Tacky” fifth. 27 points gave “Super Duper Newspapers” a six point victory margin over “Tacky” and “Leos” in joint second. “Talkies” and “Ole Codgers” were a point further back in joint fourth.

Two teams were locked in a battle for the footnote award, both “Plonkers” and “Bluebirds and Bustards” were tied on six points each but “Bluebirds and Bustards” (Mandy Dahlgren, Tony Hoffman, Pat Dahlgren and Ian Gibbs) scored one shot less to secure bottom spot.

Denny Plate
We played Tamworth in the second round of the Denny plate & had a great win. Winning on 3 rinks and losing on 1, with an overall shots win 94 to 64. This was a game which I expected to win, but you can never take things for granted (Church Gresley). We then played Stamford in the third round a much stronger Club, We lost on 3 rinks and won on 1 with an overall shots score of 68 to 97. We all put up a good fight and fought to the end, we did have a couple of players drop out and I would like to thank the reserves & the rest of the team for their support & commitment. Next year changes to the format of the Denny Cup maybe on the cards, it might be ran like a mini league 4 teams in each league playing at least 3 games.

Egham Trophy
We have played another 2 games in the Egham, our third round game was against Solihull & we had to re-think our team due to player availability. We had a great win across all 4 rinks 101 to 54. The forth round game was against Westlecot & the last time we played them we lost with ease. This was like the game against Bromsgrove at 15 ends getting beat by 18 shots, 3 ends later the game was all square & we had the upper hand. All 4 rinks did their bit over the last few ends coming in with a victory 82 to 75 shots. We now play City of Ely on Sunday 11th January. This is a very big game for the club as Ely do very well in Egham every year, making it to the final stages most years. We really need as much support as possible as Ely always have a good following. Just carry on playing the well & we can go all the way.

Top Club
In second round of the Top Club we played Tamworth, we had 10 players that were not available for this game. We won 10 points to 6, winning the ladies 2 wood, pairs & fours. Well done to all that played and to all the bowlers that stepped up for the game. Our next round is against Welford and we have the same issue as the last round. The last round the ladies played the ladies Midland County game, this time the men have their Midland County game on the same day. I ask for your support in all National Competitions & making yourself available for these games where possible. We will not win any competitions without your full support.

Wessex League
January is a big month in the Wessex for us & we really need to win all three matches. On Sunday the 4th January we play last year’s area league winners Kingsthorpe, this is a very strong club & we lost against them last year. I have made a few changes to the team even though we have not lost any points in the league so far. Kingsthorpe has also won their first 3 games & they have only dropped a couple of points. We are play Church Gresley on Saturday 10th January due to the Egham being played on the 11th. We then play Bromsgrove on Sunday 26th.


Under 25s Double Rink
We played Erewash just before Christmas in the under 25s, this was a very hard fought game but we lost on both rinks. I really do believe we will win this competition in the near future as we have some great under 25’s in our club. If anyone has any time or ideas to attract more under 25s to the club please let me know.

What's Coming Up
Egham
Sunday 11th January 10am start - City of Ely (5th Round)

Top Club
Sunday 18th January 2.30pm start - Welford on Avon away (3rd Round)

Wessex League
Sunday 4th January - Thornfield v Kinsgthorpe
Saturday 10th January - Thornfield v Church Gresley
Sunday 25th January - Thornfield v Bromsgrove

Development Team
I have selected the 3 development squads and will put up a list of dates for these games to be played on. This maybe ran as triples or fours as we have no reserves for any team. If you are NOT AVAILBLE to play please let me know as i might have to reformat the league.

Darren Ward - Team Manager