THE half-way stage, in the CML has been reached, and Cadoxton completed their sixth win out of seven, when they defeated Ystrad Mynach, at home on July 4, to hold second place by two points.

Roy Harding skipped the only losing rink, which spoilt his unbeaten run this season.

The rink skipped by John Jones had a close start to their game and were level after five ends. They had a one shot advantage after 10 ends.

Derek Brook was playing a big part in helping to keep in front, and a four on the next improved their supremacy. Each side scored on five of the last 10 ends, to complete a home win.

Don Kuhnell had the advantage of playing against a triple. However the opening eight ends were close with shared singles for a 4-4 score. At this stage the extra two bowls started to make the difference and a comfortable gap was opened. Only four times were ends lost during the remainder of the game.

Howard Craven skipped the final rink and surged into an 8-1 lead after seven ends. Their dominance continued reaching 13-2 after 12 ends. This was boosted further by the end with just five losing ends throughout.

S Clarke, G Davies, I Robertson, D Kuhnell 24 – 9

P Swannick, D Evans, K Chedgzoy, R Harding 11 –20

J Stacey, L Davies, D Brook, J Jones 18 –12

R Byrne, L Adams, D Jeffries, H Craven 22 – 7

75 – 48

Cadoxton ‘A’ side are now resigned to the fact that winning is highly unlikely and until the team can be brought to full strength they will play the remainder of their games as a friendly day out and hope for an early recovery of their incapacitated members.

R Cole, R Morris, J Ferguson 13 – D Howells, G Snowden, L Fowler, T Thomas 32

J Smart, E Heppenstall, D Fanning 12 – C Williams, P Brown, J Ball, K Williams 42

S Clements, I Heppenstall, D Hammond 10 – D Thomas, J Nixon, P Twomey, K Alexander 43

G Powell, A Prince, A Carpenter 15 – J O’Brien, D Post, F Pike, M Adams 21

50 - 138

On a beautiful evening for bowls, Cadoxton travelled to Penarth, with a team made from half the reserve side, to give them some practice of playing in a complete team. The game was played on a lovely playing surface, in a Munro Cup match.

The rinks skipped by John Jones and Don Kuhnell, against their opposing skips Bob Hill and David Dalby, both enjoyed close matches but finished on the losing end by the same score.

Don’s rink fought back from 8-0 down and often came close to taking the lead, but each time was thwarted by David. On the other rink the scores were tied at 5-5 and 7-7, before a four gave the visitors the lead. However this was followed by seven singles against, whilst scoring a single on one end.

Howard Craven skipped his rink against Clive Fry, and after seven ends held a 7-3 advantage. A bad run of four ends conceded four, two, three and five took away any chance of success especially as a further five went against a few ends later.

Ivor Robertson was promoted to skip in the remaining rink and came up against a strong rink skipped by the experienced Nick Chandler. They were soon in trouble with three fours and a three against in the opening six ends. A five in their favour looked as there could be a revival, but unfortunately only three more ends had any further success.

J Stacey, E Heppenstall G Davies, H Craven 11 – C Davies, P Davidge, B Lewis, C Fry 24

D Fanning, A Prince, D Jeffries, D Kuhnell 12 - N Thomas, J Lowen, D Plank, D Dalby 16

R Byrne, P Swannick, P Ellis, J Jones 12 – M Conway, H Trow, C Grant, B Hill 16

S Clements, I Heppenstall, D Hammond, I Robertson 13 – G Rosser, B Herne, R Grant, N Chandler 30

48 - 86

Going into the start of the second half of the season, Cadoxton travelled to Fairwater for their CML6 match against Ely full of confidence, with only one defeat to date, but returned with their tails between their legs.

The only rink to have any success was skipped by Don Kuhnell. Although the members of his rink were well below their normal form, the opposition were also poor, and with a positive performance from him the score reached 13- 3.

Unfortunately four ends later, at the break for tea, the advantage was reduced to 13-12. On the resumption a six helped rebuild an advantage.

However the poor play continued and 10 shots were conceded in three ends before the final end, to trail by one shot. The rink win was obtained with the final bowl to make the necessary two shots.

Roy Harding had a close game on his rink. The scores were level on 4-4 and again at 7-7, when a four took them into the lead, but a four and two singles took away the advantage. In the final stages a three and a single brought the scores level leaving another last end shoot out which went to the opposition.

Howard Craven’s rink had a bad day. They trailed throughout with only seven successful ends in their 11 shot defeat. After nine ends they were still in contention with the score at 7-11, but only three more ends were successful after the break.

There was a similar sad story on the rink skipped by John Jones. They did not compete in the game until after the tea break, when they trailed 5 – 14 they were always in arrears for the remainder of the game but did make a spirited reply by scoring 12 against six in the second period.

H Hellyar, G Davies, I Robertson, D Kuhnell 27 –26

P Swannick, D Evans, K Chedgzoy, R Harding 16 –17

J Stacey, L Davies, D Brook, J Jones 17 –20

R Byrne, P Ellis, D Jeffries, H Craven 13 –24

73 – 87