Townsend hosted a very strong Welwyn and District Team in the County Club Championship, a three rink knockout tournament over 21 ends.

After the first few ends Alan Charrans' rink - of Kevin Hull, Bob Padget and Gordon Williamson - started to edge ahead and were never bettered, winning by 22 shots to 15 in the end.

The next home rink to finish - of Mike Doherty, Richard Morgan, Bob Lawrie and Matt Pope - were marginally down at the half way stage but finished exceptionally strongly to record a 21 to 12 result.

The final rink to complete - that of Ian Forster, Mike Cowell, Roger Potter and Peter Thomson - having also staged a strong comeback against the visitors' strongest line-up, accepted the concession of their opponents with the score at 13-15.

The overall score, of 56 shots to 42, in favour of Townsend, meant them booking their place in the next round against Hatfield.

Townsend decided that an internal gala was the way forward, and vice -president Roger Potter was duly volunteered for the enviable position of organiser. A bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Roger started with too few, then too many, before settling on exactly the right number of participants.

Although at first glance the guidelines seemed to have all the clarity of the off-side rule, after our organiser had explained what he actually meant and fielded a few questions from the curious assembly, most went off happily with the correct number of woods, the proper partners and the designated initial opponents, for the first of no less than four rounds of combat.

Given that each of these matches was to be against different opposition on a rink that neither team had bowled on previously, an algorithm similar to that used in complex mechanical equations had to be employed. Luckily the bar was open which made all seen clear...

After a splendid afternoon's competition the winning team, who had remained undefeated throughout, was declared and Ernie Wright, Dave Ricketts and Peter Thomson were duly rewarded.

In the Ladies' triples, versus Clarence Park on a home and away basis, the home Townsend rink - of Sandra White, Rena Williamson and Jane Dixon - won by 15 shots, which meant an overall victory as the rink playing away managed to hold their opponents to only a four shot deficit.

The midweek friendly saw Townsend visiting Welwyn and District for a four rink match. The overall score was 2-2 in terms of rinks but the overall winner was Townsend by 55-46. The two winning rinks were skipped by Gordon Williamson and Bob Padget but the decisive result - a 21-8 scoreline - fell to Williamson, who, along with new bowler Brian Pigott and Richard Morgan, delivered the overall winning margin.

In the quarter finals of the County fours, Townsend entertained a highly experienced and qualified foursome from Royston. In a match curtailed to 15 ends for reasons that no one seemed to be able to explain, apart from to say that it synchronised with the format of the Commonwealth Games, Townsend led for much of the match.

With two ends to go the visitors drew ahead and managed to hold on to win by 12-10. The Townsend four comprised Mike Doherty, Bob Lawrie, Peter Thomson and Alan Charran.

A very busy Alan Charran and partner moved on to the quarter finals of the Senior pairs, with an 18-11 victory over a couple from North Mymms.