Night League Report

Boston Indoor Bowling Club (Bibc)

Evening League Report                                                 Week 31: 13 and 14 April 2026

Headline: Holland Fen and Desperados celebrate their Night League success

The final round of Evening League games at Boston Indoor Bowls Club saw Holland Fen confirmed as champions of Division One for the fourth season running with Invaders once again filling the runners-up spot.

Desperados have won the Division Two title and so gain promotion after a season where they have proved to be a talented and resilient team, deserving of their success.

The top four teams in the Orchard Health Group First Division all ended their season with 6-0 wins.  Holland Fen beat Dynamics, who themselves finished in tenth place.  Alex Tomlin’s rink topped and tailed their 30-12 victory with hotshots of six, also scoring a five halfway through the game.  The second rink was much closer, won 18-16 by Sue Simpson-Shaw.

Invaders met Parthians, who ended their season in seventh.  Rod West’s rink started strongly to lead 9-0 and maintained their advantage to run out 22-12 winners.  The other rink was close, Scott Whyers trailing 10-12 after thirteen ends before they took a decisive grip and won 22-15.

Optimists finished third, two points ahead of Strollers in fourth, to complete a tremendous debut season in the top division.  Against IBC, who finished eighth, the rink of Liam and Andy Reeson and skip John Melless were at their ruthless best in winning 39-9, while Matt Whyers’ rink won a close game 17-14.

Strollers were too good for relegated Royal Mail, who will look to rebuild next season in Division Two.  The winning scores were 18-11 and 22-13.

A40 finished fifth, three points ahead of Breakaways, after taking two points in their last game against Golfers, who end in ninth place.  Andy Scotney’s rink started strongly, then were trailing 14-18, but finished well to win 19-18.  Barry Wilson’s Golfers rink, were 5-12 down but came back to win 20-15 for two points, also securing the extras for shot aggregate.

Breakaways took all the points in beating eleventh-placed Nomads, Nick Whitmore’s rink with Carol Dowse and Elaine Edmonds bowling well to win 25-14, Mike Rymer taking the other 13-11.

In Cammacks Second Division, Desperados completed the season with a 6-0 win over Phantoms, who end in ninth place.  Dean Harris’ rink, with Wendy King and Jason Williams, were unrelenting in winning 40-5, with Dave Allen’s rink also winning 17-11.

Runners-up Hotspurs took 4 points off Central leaving them 13 points behind Desperados.  Wayne Smith skipped his first-ever game to a 27-7 win, while a topsy-turvy game on the other rink saw David Boyne win 18-15 for Central.

An ambitious Woodpeckers team took all the points against bottom-side Shipmates to finish third.  Richard Cullen built a good 18-5 lead, eventually winning 20-16, while Phil Exton won 19-18, having trailed 1-15 early-on.

Vectors finished eighth after beating fifth-placed Amateurs on both rinks.  Colin Heppenstall’s rink was trailing 7-12 with three ends to go but finished strongly to win 17-12, while Kevin Rockall’s won 15-12.

Vikings beat Kingfishers 6-0 to finish sixth, with Kingfishers seventh.  John Stray’s rink won 24-9 and Claire Britchford’s 12-10.

Stephen Boycott

Boston Indoor Bowling Club (Bibc)

Evening League Report                                                     Week 30: 7 and 8 April 2026

Headline: Easter Tournament at bowls club is a great success

The Easter Tournament at Boston Indoor Bowls Club attracted 24 teams from Boston and across the county, including Stamford, Lincoln, Skegness, Grantham and Dunholme, to play in a three-wood triples competition.  Generous sponsorship was provided by Boston Blinds and the club’s Bonus Ball.

Each team played three games, with points gained for each end won, plus four more for winning games.  The winners, repeating their success of last year, were Matt Wilkinson, Steve Wilkinson and Ron Moore, who won all three games, netting 31 points with a shot aggregate of +20.  Two closely fought wins was followed by a dominant 21-5 win in their last game that gave them a healthy shot aggregate overall.

Second place went to Steve Boycott, Rob Druce and Trevor Coulson, with 29 points and +16, the only other team on the day to win all of their games, recording 15-10, 14-4 and 10-9 victories.

In third place with two wins and a draw was the team from Grantham, Mark Eurich, Matt Lever and Jason Lewis, who drew their first game 9-9, then had two big wins 18-3 and 16-4, for 28 points and +27, the best shot aggregate on the day.

Maximum points wins for Holland Fen and Invaders over Strollers and IBC in the penultimate round of games in the Orchard Health Group First Division confirmed their respective first and second places in the table, with champions-to-be Holland Fen winning 24-10 and 25-16, while Invaders had 24-13 and 16-6 victories.

With Strollers taking no points, Optimists replaced them in third place after their convincing 6-0 win over Breakaways, 29-14 and 24-14 by Andy Reeson and Matt Whyers.

A40 shared the points 3-3 with Dynamics to retain fifth place, Andy Scotney’s rink winning 22-9.  Anthony Tabor’s rink had a storming finish to win 24-11, after the score had been tied at 11-11 at fourteen ends.

Nomads have struggled this season and will finish in eleventh, avoiding relegation, but bowled as well as at any time during this campaign to beat an in-form Parthians team 6-0, Pino Venniri’s rink winning 26-13 and Mel Maddison’s 18-14.

In beating Golfers 4-2, relegated team Royal Mail also showed the sort of form largely missing this season, leading throughout on Keith Sharp’s rink to win 26-19, and losing 14-17 on the other rink after recovering from a slow start that had left them trailing 1-11 early on.

Desperados, this year’s champions in Cammacks Division Two, had a difficult week as Vikings beat them 6-0, John Millership winning 21-14 and John Stray 20-15.

Five points separate Burtons and Woodpeckers in third and fourth, both of them winning 6-0 last week, Burtons beating Vectors, 23-11 and 19-14, while Woodpeckers were victorious against Kingfishers, 24-8 and 14-13.

Amateurs beat Central 4-2, winning well on Trevor Coulson’s rink 33-5, losing the other 7-17, to leave them in fifth place.

Phantoms took 4 points against Shipmates winning 23-9 on Roy Stanley’s rink, enough to also ensure the extras.  Jeff Ginsburgh won the other rink 21-9.

Stephen Boycott

Boston Indoor Bowling Club (Bibc)

Evening League Report                                             Week 29: 30 and 31 March 2026

 Boston’s bowlers achieve outstanding win in Denny Plate final

The Denny Plate, the national team competition for bowls clubs across the country, has been won by Boston Indoor Bowls Club after they beat Folkestone IBC in a tense final at Nottingham.

The winning margin was 77-65, seemingly comfortable, but that was an illusion as a determined and talented team from Folkestone fought to keep their chances alive, repeatedly reducing the aggregate to single figures as the game entered the closing stages.

The best winning rink for Boston was skipped by Martin Tomlin, playing with Mark Robinson, Chris Gill and Scott Whyers, as they took control of their game from the eighth end to win 24-13.

Matt Whyers’ rink, with Ian Clark, Dave Allen and Alex Tomlin, had a tight game and were trailing by five shots with three ends to go, but a score of six on the nineteenth end ultimately gave them the position to win; final score 20-18.

Jonathan West’s rink, Keith Tointon, Karl Pick and Nathan Dunnington, won a low-scoring game by just one shot, 16-15, having led from the tenth end in a closely-fought encounter.

Andy Reeson’s rink, with Liam Reeson, Rod West and 16-year-old Aidan Brickles, the youngest member of the squad, led for much of their game, but were caught and lost only by three shots, 16-19.

With three rounds of games to go in the Evening League until the end of the season, we are close to knowing who will be the winners and losers across the two divisions.

In Cammacks Division Two, Desperados have sealed their promotion after beating their nearest rivals, Hotspurs, 4-2 in this week’s game, winning convincingly on one rink 28-10 and just losing the other 16-17.  Hotspurs, with a bye in the next round, now trail by eleven points, too many to make up.

Holland Fen and Invaders in the Orchard Health Group First Division both won 4-2 in their latest games, to maintain a twelve-point gap at the top of the table.  Against Parthians, Holland Fen was tested on both rinks, winning 18-13 on one and losing 14-16 on the other.  Invaders beat Breakaways 20-12 and lost the other 17-22.

Theoretically, Invaders could still catch up with two 6-0 wins but Holland Fen’s much better shot aggregate would still see them as champions.

The battle for third spot behind them became more intense with Strollers being beaten on both rinks by A40, who won 20-16 and 16-14, while Optimists took all six points in winning 35-9 and 30-18 over Golfers.  Optimists now trail Strollers by just four points.

With Nomads beating Dynamics 6-0, winning 28-14 and 18-15, and Royal Mail managing only two points for a 21-19 win against IBC, it is Royal Mail who will be relegated after a tough season.

Burtons stay third in Division Two after beating Central 4-2, winning 20-13 and losing 19-20.  Woodpeckers and Amateurs are just five and six points behind, Woodpeckers beating Vectors 5-1 and Amateurs winning against Kingfishers 4-2.

Vikings beat Shipmates 4-2, winning 29-17 and losing 16-18.

Stephen Boycott

 

Boston Indoor Bowling Club (Bibc)

Evening League Report                                          Week 28: 23, 24 and 26 March 2026

Headline: Bowls-cricket evening a great success

The second bowls-cricket evening of the season at Boston Indoor Bowls Club took place last Saturday, a welcome relief from the recent stormy weather.  Sponsored by Sandra Tebbs and organised by Scott Whyers and Nathan Dunnington with the assistance of Ian Tebbs, the competition attracted a full complement of forty-eight bowlers.

The eventual winners were the team of Rob Druce, Mike Long, Keith Swain and David Richardson, who won the final 29-10, having just managed to sneak through their semi-final by the narrowest of margins, 28-26.  The losing finalists were Harry Allerton, Andy Dunnington, Sam Richardson and Martin Tomlin.

The Evening League continued with teams in Cammacks Division Two having two games last week.  Leaders Desperados took eleven points, with second team Hotspurs managing the full twelve, leaving them nine points adrift now.  Next week, they will play each other in a top-of-the table clash.

Desperados beat Burtons 20-9 on one rink but were fully tested on the other to be 9-16 behind before rallying over the final ends to draw 16-16.  They won more comfortably against Woodpeckers, 23-12 and 18-11.

Hotspurs were made to work hard for their six-point win over Shipmates, behind 2-13 and 8-11 at one stage, before rising to the challenge and running out winners 20-15 and 15-13 respectively.  Against Vectors they trailed 7-12 on one rink, but finished well to win 19-14.  The other rink won convincingly 28-12.

Burtons remain third after their second match against Kingfishers, with wins of 22-12 and 22-15.

Phantoms also beat Kingfishers for six points, Paul Greenhough winning 15-9 and Keith Brown 17-14, and took two more from a closely fought encounter with Central, Ron Hulley winning 21-12, while losing the other 13-23.

Central managed two points against Woodpeckers, David Boyne winning 17-12, Woodpeckers taking the rest with a 19-10 win.

Amateurs beat Shipmates 24-14 on one rink to secure four points, the other two going to Shipmates for winning 14-13, coming back after trailing 4-10.  Vectors beat Vikings 4-2, winning 17-9 on one rink, losing the other 14-16, in spite of winning more ends during the game.

The top three teams in the Orchard Health Group First Division all recorded 6-0 wins.  Holland Fen beat Breakaways comprehensively 33-10 on Les Feary’s rink and, with the last wood of the game, 18-17 on the other.  Invaders were at their ruthless best in beating Golfers, 34-8 and 26-9, while Strollers were too good for Nomads, recording wins of 22-11 and 16-12.

Parthians moved into sixth after beating fourth-placed Optimists 4-2 in a dramatic tussle on the two rinks, Richard Keeling winning 32-17 in a dominant display, John Melless skipping Optimists to an equally emphatic 22-8 win on the other rink.

A40 and IBC shared the points 3-3, Sue Hoyles winning 19-14 for A40 and Derek Smith 21-16 for IBC after scoring nine shots over the closing three ends.

Royal Mail managed two points by winning a topsy-turvy game 19-18 against Dynamics, Graham Wilkinson ensuring the other four points by winning 23-13.

STOP PRESS: Boston win Denny Plate Final at Nottingham – details next week!

Stephen Boycott

 

Boston Indoor Bowling Club (Bibc)

Evening League Report                                               Week 27: 16 and 17 March 2026

Headline: Key matches played out at the top of bowls club first division

With the indoor season at Boston Indoor Bowls Club entering the last month, there were two rounds of matches in the Orchard Health Group First Division last week.

Second in the table, Invaders, took maximum points from their games, while leaders Holland Fen and the teams in fourth and fifth, Optimists and Breakaways, scored eight points.  Third-placed Strollers could only manage four points of the twelve available.

Invaders met Royal Mail, winning 22-13 eventually, following a close battle that left the score at 14-13 after fifteen ends, and 23-10, then trounced Dynamics, 38-5 and 24-8.

Holland Fen beat Optimists 4-2, Martin Tomlin winning 28-8 while Matt Whyers secured two points for Optimists by winning 20-17.  They also beat Golfers 4-2, but Golfers pushed them to the limit in two competitive games.  Alex Tomlin won 25-19, but only after scoring six shots in the final two ends, while Barry Wilson led throughout his game to take two points by winning 18-14.

Optimists’ second game saw them take all the points off Strollers to narrow the gap in the table to just six points.  Matt Whyers’ rink won 18-9 and Andy Reeson’s 16-13.  Strollers won their other game against Parthians 4-2, a close affair as they claimed the shot aggregate by just two shots, winning one rink 19-10 and losing the other 11-18.

Breakaways took two points against Golfers, as Nick Whitmore won 19-16 having led from the start.  For Golfers, Barry Wilson’s rink again came up trumps to win 23-13 and claim the extras.  Against bottom-of-the-table Royal Mail, Breakaways won 24-11 on Mark Brown’s rink, but only by the narrowest of margins on Mike Rymer’s, 18-17, having come back from 6-17 down.

A40 held onto sixth place with six points from their two games, beating Nomads 4-2, winning 21-9 and losing 15-16, and then taking two more off Parthians for winning 18-10, but losing 13-26 on the other rink.

Another team taking six points from the week’s matches was IBC, locked into eighth place, five behind Parthians.  They also beat Nomads 4-2, Ian Smith’s rink winning from the front, 24-8, while the score on the second rink was close throughout, only decided on the final end in favour of Nomads, 20-18.  They took another two points against Dynamics, winning Steve Skelton’s rink 21-11, but the other rink was comprehensively beaten 4-23 by Graham Wilkinson.

Desperados lead at the top of Cammacks Division Two has stretched to ten points after this week’s matches which saw them beat Vectors 5-1, winning 25-20 and drawing 19-19, while Hotspurs lost 2-4 against Vikings, winning one rink 20-16, but losing the other 6-25.

Burtons remain third after beating Woodpeckers 4-2, Chris Hill’s rink dominating their game to win 30-5, but losing the other 14-16 to Richard Cullen’s Woodpeckers.

Kingfishers moved above Woodpeckers into fourth after beating Central 4-2, Ian Pryke’s rink in complete charge to win 26-3, but lost the other 8-20.

Finally, Amateurs took all the points against Phantoms with wins of 18-10 and 20-14.

Stephen Boycott

Boston Indoor Bowling Club (Bibc)

Evening League Report                                                   Week 26: 9 and 10 March 2026

Headline: Successful men’s Denny squad reaches the Plate final again

The Men’s squad from Boston Indoor Bowls Club have reached the Denny Plate final in the national team competition for the second year running, a brilliant achievement for the local club.  They will now play Folkestone IBC in the final at Nottingham on March 28^th, hoping to go one better this year and claim the title.

Meeting Darlington IBC in the semi-final on neutral ground at New Earswick near York, they were ahead from the start and never headed over the four-hour match, eventually winning with an overall shot aggregate of 75-66.

Andy Reeson and Matt Whyers skipped their rinks to win 24-12 and 23-11 respectively.  Andy, playing with son Liam, Aidan Brickles and Rod West, started strongly to lead 18-1 after eight ends, while Matt’s rink of Ian Clark, Dave Allen and Alex Tomlin, steadily built their advantage after scoring five shots on the first end and never looked back.

The other rinks ended 15-21 and 13-22 and, while Darlington narrowed the shot aggregate to nine shots towards the end of the match, Boston kept the upper hand to make it through to the final for the second year, helped and encouraged by their travelling supporters.

Back to the Evening League, three matches in the Orchard Health Group First Division finished 3-3, including the top of the table clash between Holland Fen and Invaders, where Martin Tomlin’s rink won 19-15 and Nathan Dunnington’s 18-14.

Third-placed Strollers finished 3-3 for the second week running, this time against IBC, who are eighth, Andy Warne’s rink winning 18-14, Jim Gott’s, for IBC, 21-17.  The third 3-3 game featured Breakaways and Dynamics, the closest of them all, Nick Whitmore winning 22-21 for Breakaways, Mick Rate 12-11 for Dynamics.

Optimists won against A40 by 4-2, with Matt Whyers dominating his rink to win 26-8.  Optimists led 18-8 on the other rink, but Sue Hoyles for A40 won the last five ends to snatch victory 19-18 and two points.

Parthians took all the points against Golfers, Keith Nix taking control from the tenth end to win 29-15 and Richard Keeling winning 17-13.

The bottom-of-the-table clash between Nomads in eleventh and Royal Mail, bottom, saw Royal Mail win 5-1 after two competitive games, Carly Morris winning 14-11 on one rink and Keith Sharp and Pino Venniri sharing the points 16-16 on the other.

The gap between the leaders in Cammacks Division Two now stands at seven points from a high of twenty-one at the end of January.  In the latest round of games, Desperados only managed two points, while second-placed Hotspurs took all six and are chasing hard.

Against Central, Adam Hodgson’s Desperados rink was 16-2 ahead, eventually winning 20-11, while Central dominated the other rink, winning 27-13.  Hotspurs won 24-13 and 19-13 against Woodpeckers.

The other games all finished 4-2 for Burtons, Amateurs and Shipmates.  Burtons, now third, won 23-11 and lost 8-17 against Phantoms, Amateurs beat Vikings 22-15 on one rink, losing the other 16-18, and Shipmates won 17-13 and lost 19-20 against Vectors.

Stephen Boycott

Boston Indoor Bowling Club (Bibc)

Evening League Report                                                   Week 25: 2 and 3 March 2026

Headline: Reeson’s Roll-up for Daisy is a great success

Reeson’s Roll-up for Daisy, the bowlathon that took place at the end of February at Boston Indoor Bowls Club, achieved its prime objective of raising money for charity simply by playing bowls over a 24-hour period.

Andy Reeson and his son Liam started their marathon on Friday evening, ending at 6.30 pm on Saturday.  They played against local and international bowlers and a total of more than £4000 was achieved, split between Sheffield Children’s Hospital (ward 6) and PACT house, in support of Andy’s three-year old granddaughter Daisy who has myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of blood cancer.

The event was well supported by bowlers and club members throughout the 24-hour period, even in the early hours of Saturday morning.  The highlight for many was the chance to see England internationals bowling at the club and, for some, the chance to partner them in a game.  Elaine Edmonds was paired with Les Gillett, the 2022 World Bowls Singles champion, Paul Flatters played with Aaron Johnson, Steve Boycott was paired with Wayne Willgress, Tim Mitchell with Mark Royal and Yvonne Robinson partnered Shaun Jones.

The latest action in the Evening League saw Holland Fen and Optimists face teams at the bottom of the Orchard Health Group First Division, both winning 6-0.  Holland Fen beat Royal Mail 23-14 and 23-17, while Optimists took on Nomads, beating them 31-10 and 22-10.

Invaders also took all the points after being pushed all the way by A40 in two competitive games.  The scores on both rinks were 16-15 with two ends to go, but Invaders finished better to record wins of 22-15 and 20-16.

Strollers and Breakaways shared the points 3-3.  Andy Warne’s rink trailed 13-16 but then scored seven shots over the last three ends to win 20-16.  Mark Brown’s Breakaways rink built a useful 19-11 advantage and held on to run out victors 22-18.  Strollers remain clear in third place while Breakaways are sixth, tied on points with A40.

Parthians moved above IBC into seventh spot by beating them 6-0, winning 24-15 on Richard Keeling’s rink and 23-17 on Ron Moore’s.

Golfers, ninth, beat Dynamics, tenth, 4-2.  Ian Drury’s rink won by 22-11.  The other rink went to Graham Wilkinson 18-16, but only after they scored five shots on the last two ends.

At the top of the Cammacks Division Two table, leaders Desperados were beaten 5-1 by a determined Kingfishers’ squad while second-placed Hotspurs won 4-2 over Amateurs, leaving them eleven points adrift.

Dean Harris built an 18-5 lead for Desperados, but the final 18-18 result reflects the way Ian Pryke’s rink dominated the last seven ends.  Brian Hardy won the other rink 16-15 for Kingfishers having been 15-9 ahead at one stage.

Scot Gray’s Hotspurs were dominant in winning 33-12, while the other rink went to Amateurs’ skip Trevor Coulson 18-12.

Rounding up the other matches, Woodpeckers beat Phantoms on both rinks, 22-11 and 21-10, as did Vikings over Burtons, 23-6 and 22-8.  Shipmates beat Central 4-2, winning 29-5 and losing 10-29.

Stephen Boycott

 

Boston Indoor Bowling Club (Bibc)

Evening League Report                                             Week 24: 23 & 24 February 2026

Headline: Invaders and Optimists lock horns in exciting battle in bowls top division

The latest round of matches in the Evening League at Boston Indoor Bowls Club saw Invaders and Optimists, second and fourth respectively in the Orchard Health Group First Division, fight a titanic battle for two-hours, with the final result in doubt until the very last wood had been bowled on each rink.

With one end to go, Invaders were winning the match 5-1.  After the bell had sounded and the last ends were done, Optimists had reversed the score in their favour, 5-1.  Andy Reeson and Nathan Dunnington‘s rink finished 11-11 with Andy scoring three shots over last two ends to tie the game, while Aidan Brickles on the other rink won the last end so Optimists could claim a 15-14 victory.

Leaders Holland Fen were too strong for lowly Nomads, taking six points by winning 32-9 and 30-7.  With Invaders taking only one point, Holland Fen have extended their lead at the top of the table to 16 points.

Strollers, third, and A40, fifth, both had 6-0 wins against opponents near the bottom of the table.  Strollers took on Dynamics, tenth, winning 28-8 on Paul Flatters’ rink and, with the help of a five on one end and a hotshot of six on another, 19-15 on Andy Warne’s.

A40 were in charge against bottom side Royal Mail from the outset, Andy Scotney winning 36-8 and Sue Hoyles 27-10.

The teams in sixth and seventh, Breakaways and IBC, both won 4-2.  Nick Whitmore’s Breakaways rink had the upper hand initially against Parthians, but Parthians managed to tie the score at 11-11 after 14 ends, before Breakaways ended strongly to take the game 21-11.  Ron Moore skipped the other rink to win 21-17 to give Parthians two points.

IBC met Golfers, Ian Smith’s rink winning 18-13 with a good finish after a tight game.  Golfers won 16-13 on Barry Wilson’s rink by virtue of scoring five shots and four shots on two ends and in spite of taking fewer ends across the game.