Marine Gardens hosted the second of its highly successful Open Days last Sunday with an enthusiastic public eager to try their hand at the sport of bowls without any obligation. The long weekend and superb weather paid dividends because over the two separate Open Days, 20 new members signed up to join this popular club with more interested joining later in the year. Current members were on hand assisting people keen to 'have a go', and all those who participated were pleased their efforts had brought positive results.
The annual triples match between Marine Gardens and the Grasshoppers never failed to delight those members playing away at the Pavilion venue last Tuesday. The game, played as triples over 5 rinks concluded with a victory to the Grasshoppers scoring 89 to 73. At the halfway stage, Marine Gardens trailed the hosts by 23 shots and were unable to grab the lead in the second half despite playing an additional 47 shots to the Grasshopper's 40. Mike Hitchin (22 - 17) and Jenny Ashman (19 - 14) were the winning skips for Marine Gardens, however, Leon White (13 - 20), Mike Elborough (8 - 16) and Mick Collins (11 - 22) all went down. Luigi Sebastiano and Brian Fuller assisted Hitchin achieve top rink for the afternoon.
Away at East Preston in a five rink triple match, Marine Gardens lost the non league friendly by 14 shots with East Preston scoring 84 to 70. Halfway through, the host club held a narrow lead of 6 shots but increased the pressure during the remaining half to ultimately claim victory. Derek McCarthy (16 - 16) scored a 5 on the 8th end but went down 4 on the 10th, however grimly hung on to a final draw, whilst Dennis Marton (17 - 15) held a slim lead including the other winning skip Ivan Godsmark (16 - 13). Godsmark's team comprising Alan Paterson and Norman Deegan won the top rink award for the day.
At home playing Goring Manor (Spitfires) in the Brodie Tray league, Marine Gardens suffered an unexpected defeat with the visitors winning 84 to 51. The Spitfires won all 4 rinks resulting in 10 league points being awarded with Marine Gardens collecting none. There were no top rink honours.