Dorchester 95

ISCA Exeter 51

DORCHESTER came out on top in their first ever clash with Exeter in the quarter-final of the Vivienne Trophy which the Dorset side quickly dominate.

Having already eliminated Moonfleet, Bournemouth and last year’s champions Palmerston from this National competition, Dorchester were expecting a battle royal against their Devon opponents but Dorchester had a fast start.

In the two home and two away clash it was the home triple of Jan Meyers, Sue Lofthouse and skip Jenny Trotman who set the pace with a blistering demolition of the Exeter rink skipped by Judy Smith as they raced to a 17-1 lead at the halfway stage of the exchange, and stormed to an anchor 29-4 result, which laid the foundation for an impressive victory.

The fellow Dorchester home triple of Chris Jones, Val Cornick and skip Hazel Newboult took the opening three ends against Isca skip Liz Chambers, before the Devon triple got back into the game to level the scores at six apiece.

After Dorchester fell 12 - 6 behind, Newboult hit back with a six count to level at 12-12 before the Devon trio turned on the after burner to race 25-14 ahead.

Dorchester gained five shots on the final end which limited the damage to a manageable deficit of six shots 25-19.

Meanwhile, the Dorchester travelling rinks were taking the fight to their opponents with Hazel Ryan, Judith King and skip Fran Dyer having an away day bonanza at Isca winning 12 of the 18 ends played.

From a slender early lead of three shots to two, Dyer and co then smashed their way to a 30-7 demolition of the Exeter trio skipped by Audrey Stone.

The companion Dorchester trio of Jan Cherry, Sandra Hubbard and skip Kay Johns took time to master the rink as they lost their opening five ends to Isca skip Chris Lyon, but from 6-0 down took the next three ends to accumulate 10 shots and then battled to a highly creditable 17-15 win.

Dorchester overall 44 shot victory takes them to a semi-final clash with West Sussex club Arun of Bognor Regis, and gives them a chance to reach their second final in three years.