Colchester Indoor Bowls Club

Colchester Edge Clacton In County League

CIBC and Clacton BC clashed in a County League match at the weekend. Both clubs won on all three of their home rinks. Clacton’s greens are noted for being very slow while at CIBC greens are slicker. This is borne out by the results as both teams struggled on the away rinks. At home CIBC won the shot count 86-32 and at the seaside Clacton won 67-38.

On rink one in Colchester skip Elliot Mann had Peter Pushman, Alan Ghent and Ed mercer in his team. A 7 on the first end really put Clacton skip T. Hatley onto the back foot. However, they fought back and CIBC only lead 9-5 after six ends. CIBC led 14-12 after fifteen ends and it was game on. However, CIBC won five of the final six ends went on to win 25-15.

Daniel Rodger was CIBC skip on rink two. In his team he had Cadell Lench, Grahame Brookes and Nigel Jenner. Clacton skip P. Halliday and team found it difficult to contain the hosts. BIBC led 10-2 after seven ends and then 24-6 after fourteen. The final score was 29-12.
Clacton skip J. Pallet and his team found rink three particularly slippery. They went thirteen ends without registering a shot against CIBC skip Bradley Mann and his team, Paul Mann, Kevin Smith and Dave Fisher. After seven ends CIBC led 10-3 and 28-3 after seventeen ends. The final score was 33-5.

Away at Clacton CIBC skip James Rippey played with Geoff King, Ian Reeves and Darren Dellar. Clacton skip, A. Evans and team pulled out a 10-3 lead. However, James and team fought hard and after sixteen ends CIBC led 16-14 but they lost the next four ends and the game 18-23.

Andy Smith skipped Brian Finney, Alf Commerford and Tom Smith against Clacton skip K. Jackson. CIBC did not have it easy and were 1-8 down after six ends and 5-20 after fifteen ends. They did win four of the next six ends but lost the game 12-22.

Finally CIBC skip Mark Tokley was up against Clacton skip P. Hagger. Brian Smith, Ian Harris and Jamie Coleman made up the CIBC team. Scores were 4-4 after six ends, but CIBC trailed 7-12 after twelve ends. CIBC did not score again until the final end and lost the game 8-22. However, they would have been buoyed when looking up at the overall scoreboard which would have shown an overall 124-99 victory for Colchester.

The 2025 Robbie Robinson Cup

The 2025 Robbie Robinson Cup attracted a field of 16 bowlers hoping to win this mixed singles event, inspired by the much beloved CIBC founder member, the late Robbie Robertson. Players were split into four groups. Each player had to play the three others in the group in order to qualify for the knockout stages.
Knockout Stage

Rink 1. Bradley Mann v Andy Smith. Game 1, Andy looked good when leading 6-4 after five ends. However, Bradley won the next two ends to level the scores to 6-6. Game tied. The second game was quickly won 6-2 by Bradley who qualified for the semi final.
Rink 3. Geoff King v Martin Hogg. Geoff won 5 of the 7 ends to take the first game 6-3. Geoff was winning well leading 4-0 after 2 ends of game 2, but Martin came back to level the scores after 4 ends, 4-4. Each player took 2 shots over the last 3 ends, 6-6. Geoff was through to the semi final.

Rink 4. Andrew Penfold v James Rippey. Andrew won the first end to lead 1-0. James won all the other ends and the game 8-1. The second game was also won by James 5-1. James advanced into the semi final.

Rink 6. Brian Smith v Dan Rodger. The first game ended in a tie 6-6 after Dan came back from being down 1-5. In the second game Dan fared much better when leading 5-2 after 4 ends. However, Brian was not having it, he won the last three ends, by clocking up 8 shots to take the game 10-5 and go into the semi final.
Semi Final.

Rink 1. Geoff King v James Rippey. Geoff won the first two ends to lead 2.0. James won all the other ends and the game 7-2. Second game, Geoff did not win the first two ends and James went onto win the second game 9-0. He was in the final.

Rink 4. Brian Smith v Bradley Mann. Brian Smiths hot streak continued as he won seven ends to win the first game 7-0. Which meant, Brian had won 10 ends in a row, over this game and the quarter final. Bradley Mann took the second game by the scruff of the neck winning 8-1. This meant an 8-8 tie over the two games. Two 3 end tie breaks followed which were both won by Bradley. Brian must have rued never getting a second shot in during the 7-0 win.

Final. James Rippey v Bradley Mann. A very even first game saw Bradley win 4-3. The second game was even more even and ended in a 6-6 tie. Bradley being the winner overall by 10-9. It could not have been closer.

In the group stages Andrew Penfold was up against James Rippey on rink 4.

Ladies’ practice rinks
Calling all ladies, any level of play or experience.
Are you interested in practicing in a friendly roll up format?
Join us for a ladies practice at one of our dedicated sessions.
We get together to focus on something each week, working to improve two-wood play (many team competition matches are 4s and we want to build confidence here). Or we can look at any techniques / skills that interest you, such as short jacks or bowling the ditch hand.
Are you an experienced bowler? We’d love you to share your knowledge with us, please come along.
When you see a LADIES PRACTICE RINK on BOWLR, ask at the bar to have your name added. Usual rink fees apply. Maximum 8 per session.
Thank you for supporting women’s bowling at CIBC.
Sarah
Ladies’ Captain.
next sessions: see notice board or Bowlr via club website
for weekly days/times

KAY LEE

We are saddened to share the news that Kay Lee passed away on Thursday 18th December. Kay was a much valued member of CIBC for many years and will be fondly remembered by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her.

UPDATE...
Kay’s funeral will be held at Colchester Crematorium on Tuesday 20th January at 1pm and then onto CIBC for the wake.

300 CLUB – TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
There are still tickets available for the 300 Club draw. Tickets cost £55 and cover 11 monthly draws. If you’d like to join, please ask the Duty Steward for an application form.

Draw details…
Draws take place on the first Friday of every month.
You can choose your own numbers (subject to availability) or have numbers allocated for you.
Cash prizes are paid out each month, with prize amounts based on the number of participants.
All proceeds go directly towards maintaining and improving club facilities for the benefit of members.

How to join…
Collect a 300 Club entry form from the Bar.
Return the completed form with payment to the Duty Steward.
Payment can be made by cash or debit card at the bar (credit cards cannot be accepted).
Your support helps keep the club running strong — and you could walk away a winner.

For any questions, speak to the Duty Steward or a member of the Social Committee.

CIBC A SINK WEST MERSEA IN COHEN CUP MATCH

CIBC A played a Cohen Cup league game against West Mersea. Just like the CIBC B team both teams managed to win and lose one home and one away game. At home CIBC A won the shot count 41-29 and away they won 29-28. Overall the count favoured CIBC A 70-57.

At home skip Phil Wheeler played with Mick Barrett and Tony Copock. For the first nine ends this was a close game (7-7). However, in the second half West Mersea only won one end and CIBC A ran out winners, 29-8.

On the other home rink skip Brian Yates played with Sue Yates and Bob Newsom. CIBC A lost the first end but had the lead, 5-4 after five. They had four bad ends and found themselves 5-14 behind at the halfway point. Both team scored 7 shots in the second half and West Mersea won 12-21.

Away at Mersea CIBC skip Karen Remeriez had Mark Garrett and Colin Harrington in her team. After winning the first end it did not look too promising for the visitors as they lost the next five ends, 2-7. After twelve ends the scores were level, 9-9. After fifteen ends CIBC A trailed 12-14 but by winning the final three ends they won the game 16-14.

Rom Amor had in his team Sarah Carter and Rodger Wilson. They won only one of the first six ends but were only a single shot behind after eight, 6-7.They only won two more ends up to the fifteenth bur were still in with a chance, losing by just 5. However, dispite taking 5 shots to just 1 over the final three ends they just could not nick it, 13-14. But the last spurt did help win the away shot count.

CIBC B BOWLERS SEE OFF HARWICH IN COHEN CUP

CIBC and Harwich BC clashed on home and away rinks at the weekend in Cohen Cup ‘action’. Both clubs managed to win and lose a game at each venue. At home the shot count went to CIBC 44-25. They also had the better away shot count of 39-31, giving them a 83-56 score on the overall count. The points earned on the day were 7-4 to CIBC.

At home skip Andy Smith had young Alfie Comerford and Peter Pushman in his team. This was always a close game with never more than 4 shots between the teams. After eight ends CIBC trailed 6-8. After eleven ends it was 9-10, over the final seven ends CIBC scored 4 to 6 by the visitors. Final score 13-16, to Harwich.

On the other home rink Alan Ghent played with Judith Tarr and Steve Butler. This was a close game until the hosts picked up 5 shots on the ninth end to lead 11-6. Harwich won the next end but then lost the following 4 resulting in CIBC leading 24-8. The hosts went on to win 31-9.

Away from home CIBC skip Paul Hills and team, Olive Hawkins and Andrew Johnson started slowly losing the first two ends. They then won the next seven and led 13-3. Later they had another good spell winning 5 ends in a row to lead 25-5. They ended as they started losing the last two ends but winning the game 25-8.

On the second away rink John Whitlam had Tony Skinley and Gill Costin aboard. They did well over the first six ends but trailed 6-8. After losing the next three ends they were behind 6-14. They pulled it back to 11-14 at the end of the eleventh, but the host dominated the final seven ends and CIBC lost 14-23.

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR OPENING TIMES

Christmas week…
Monday 22nd 8 am – 11 pm
Tuesday 23rd 8 am – 11 pm
Wednesday 24th Closed
Thursday 25th Closed
Friday 26th Closed
Saturday 27th 8 am – 11 pm
Sunday 28th 8 am – 10.30 pm

New Years week…
Monday 29th 8 am – 11 pm
Tuesday 30th 8 am – 11 pm
Wednesday 31st 8 am – Late
Thursday 1st Closed
Friday 2nd and onwards Open as usual