IN THE Bowls England Two Fours competition, Dorchester A claimed a fine victory over a strong Bridport line-up, winning this first round encounter by 43-31.

Both games were hard-fought, especially the clash between Dorchester’s Martin Patterson, Dave Joslin, George Spracklen and skip Nick Voss who faced C Taylor, J Carter, B Taylor and skip B Conisbee.

Dorchester were threatening to win easily as they swept to a 15-7 advantage after 13 ends but Bridport then showed great resolve, winning five consecutive ends to tie the game at 15-15 with just three ends remaining.

Most unexpectedly, in such a tight encounter, the county town side hit Bridport for six in the next end, which enabled Dorchester to finish with a 23-17 victory.

Dorchester’s Ged Costello with Dave Stiggants, Jim Kelly and Roger Nicholas were also involved in a nip-and-tuck battle against Bridport’s B Jones, K Brooks, B Shortland and C Thorne.

Dorchester edged to a slim oneshot lead after 10 competitive ends and then struck with a vital four shots at the next end.

This five-shot lead proved to be enough of a cushion to enable Dorchester to close out the victory at 20-14.

Greenhill A sent a very strong side to Dorchester in their latest Bowls Dorset League One encounter and this line-up showed their class as they gained three clear rink victories to claim maximum points with a final 68-31 scoreline.

Dorchester A stalwarts Robbie Legg, Alan Lewis, Terry Greenman and Gary Mumford gave England international Martin Puckett and his squad of Burroughs, Brown and Smith a real run for the money for most of their clash with the seaside team holding just a narrow three-shot advantage after 14 ends.

However, things went pear-shaped for the home team thereafter as Puckett and Co raced ahead to win convincingly 23-9.

Greenhill’s Hovenden, Ingham, Obee and skip McCarthy were always in command against Dave Glanville with Colin Ackerman, Gerald Cornick from the moment they scored a four at the fifth end to take a 6-2 lead.

Although the Dorchester quartet wriggled on the hook, some fine bowling by Greenhill, especially from skip McCarthy, saw the away team, gain a comfortable 20-9 success.

It was even easier for Greenhill’s StJ Corben with Martindale, Poulter and Durant as they restricted Dorchester’s Ken Coutanche, Arthur Lacey, Peter Stevenson and skip Alexander Wilson to a single shot in the first nine ends as they took a commanding 16-1 lead.

Although the rest of the game was an evenly fought affair, the result was never in doubt as Greenhill cantered to a 25-13 victory.

It was mixed fortunes for Dorchester’s top Percy Baker teams as they both took on sides from Sherborne.

The W1 squad lost heavily at home by 44-26 whereas the W1 team registered a tight 37-31 success after their journey to North Dorset. Dorchester’s Tucker, Harland and Lawley won 21-15, coming back from losing position at the half-way stage and Hawkes Stevenson and Corbin grabbed a tie in the other game.