16/06/2026
Friendly match - Wimborne v Maidenhead Thicket Tourists
15th June 2026
It’s always a pleasure to welcome a touring club to Wimborne, they seem to bring that extra slice of fun and vitality and Maidenhead didn’t disappoint. They arrived in the area last Friday, staying in Weymouth and playing games at Dorchester and Greenhill before arriving at Wimborne on their way home.
They brought a full compliment of bowlers and spectators, 52 people in all, and asked if we could offer sandwiches etc prior to their bus ride home, which we were very happy to do. Several visits to the cash & carry for supplies later, we were ready to receive them at 11am.
Maidenhead had a number of their bowlers playing in a county match later in the day, hence the early start, and Wimborne had several who were travelling to Shaftesbury that evening to play a rearranged league game, so thank you to those home bowlers who elected to play both matches and not leave us short for the friendly.
An extremely big thank you goes out to all our members who arrived very early morning at the clubhouse to clean, set out tables and chairs both inside and outside on the patio, cut and prepare 40 ham and another 40 cheese rolls, coleslaw, pickle, chopped onion and crisps, all laid out ready for selection once the match had finished. In addition, we prepared pots of tea and offered biscuits prior to the match starting.
Further to that, they all pitched in to clear tables, wash and put away all plates, cups, saucers and serving bowls, wash and wipe down tables, vacuum to carpet of all debris, restack the additional chairs and clear the patio.
This was a monumental task but as is usual amongst our members, one that was approached head-on and contributed to a very successful day.
More thanks go to those who prepared and sold raffle tickets, always goes down well with both home and visiting bowlers, to our bar staff who had a very busy hour or so, to those who helped set up then clear away the rink equipment and even to the park grounds staff who remembered to mow the green earlier than their usual scheduled time.
The match itself consisted of 6 mixed rinks of 18 ends.
The overall match stats resulted in a win for Wimborne by 97 shots to 77, 58 ends to 49 and an overall game victory with 4 wins and 2 defeats.
I was informed by their Captain that in 12 years of him organising tours, they’d only lost once previously, last year at Eastbourne, so a very big feather in the cap for Wimborne Bowls Club and to our members who played that day.
The very prestigious Top Rink for Wimborne goes to Carole Stanbridge, Therese Walsh, Julie Lamb and Steve Wakley who mastered Rink 6 and won by 25 shots to 7, a great performance, dominating the match from start to finish.
This match was the only one that had a significant shots margin as all the others were nip and tuck throughout.
Our next win involved Eileen Mann, Trevor Mant, Mike Skipp and Charlie Carr (who stepped in at the last moment due to a call off) who won 16-12. Wimborne started well, leading 6-1 after 5 ends, Maidenhead pulling back to lead 11-7 after 11 ends but with some consistent scoring toward the end of the game, Wimborne took the match by 4 shots.
Our third win involved Jenny Morris, Peter Mann, Jan Wakley and Geoff Lamb winning 16-13. Wimborne started slowly and by 10th end were losing 10-4. The game then swung in our favour, taking 6 out of the final 8 ends, Wimborne took the match.
Our fourth win was a very close affair; Ann Keats, Maggie Wilkins (sub Brian Keats after 9 ends) Jeffery Elston and Steve Baker won by 1 shot, 12-11. Throughout the match, no side ever broke clear to lead by a significant shot margin, nip and tuck all the way, the match being won by 2 ends of 3 shots each by Wimborne in the early stages.
Our first defeat, by 2 shots, involved Brian Wilkins, Robin Walker, Bryan Metcalfe and Richard Walsh. This was The Captains Rink, requested by Maidenhead captain and tour organiser Paul Worthy, so we were happy to oblige. Scoring was even all the way through, any team could’ve won but Wimborne fell at the final end and lost 15-13.
The Wooden Spoon match involved Dave Stanbridge, Judy Skipp, Pauline Elston and Steve Crooks. On many occasions, the Wooden Spoon match loses by quite a few shots, but this time, there was only a 4 shot margin, Wimborne losing 19-15. Maidenhead pulled out a good lead, 15-7 after 13 ends but a strong finish from Wimborne saw them pull back to 15-14 with only 2 ends to play. Then disaster struck, Maidenhead taking 4 shots on the 17th end and killing the match.
Overall, another very enjoyable day was had by all; the weather was warm and sunny, our green played extremely well (assisted by the earlier cut), and not for the first time this season, drawing complimentary remarks from our opposition. Maidenhead bowlers were very good company, contributing greatly to the after-match atmosphere in the clubhouse and of course, to the bar takings at the end of the day.
A big thank you to all our members who continue to support the friendly matches and to give their time to help and assist in all capacities before, during and after game day.
Richard
