The prospect of a new name on the Ladies’ Championship trophy moved a little closer after one of three remaining champions was knocked out in the first round.

Following current champion Elsie Wilding’s decision not to defend her title, her beaten opponent, Nicola Coles – who had won it the previous year – bowed out in the first round of this year’s competition against Linda Huntley in what proved to be a stunning game of bowls.

Linda recovered from 7-3 down to reel off 11 successive winning ends and triumph 21-10 in a match that would have graced the final and which both players agreed was much closer than the score suggests.

Of the six players still in the competition, only Anne Bosman and Dorothy Glasby have previously won the title.

In the semi-final Linda will play Jill Hatfield, who made a stunning start to the 2025 competitions season with a dramatic victory over Rowland Morris in the John Martin Shield.

Jill was trailing 10-18 to the erstwhile serial trophy winner before clawing her way back to 20-all. Then she grabbed two on what proved to be the final end to triumph 22-20.

There was an even more sensational finish in another John Martin Shield contest, between Peter Huntley and John Box.

Peter fought back tenaciously from 10-20 down to 18-20 and was holding three for the match when John bowled his last wood.

I’ll leave the admirably objective Linda to describe what happened next.

“With an amazing last bowl, John knocked Peter’s shot-bowl off, replacing it with his own. A well-deserved win to John!”

It’s been a good start to competition bowls for Mark Gooch, who stunned former club champion Basil Larkins in the Handicap, winning 21-9, having started with a handicap advantage of eight.

He followed that with a 21-3 triumph in the John Martin Shield over Bill Mann, who himself reached last year’s Handicap final.

Meanwhile, a change of woods helped Basil put his Handicap disappointment behind him, as he thrashed yours truly (last year’s Men’s Championship runner-up) 21-8 in the preliminary round of this year’s competition, during what has become a purple patch for the two-times former men’s champion.

There was more than some consolation for me in the Handicap when, with a one-shot head start, I beat Anne Bosman – twice winner of the competition – with a mini-comeback of my own, from 4-8 down to 22-8.

Next stop: the on-fire Mark Gooch!

All submitted results are on the website, under the heading Club Matches 2025.