“THERE is a tide in the affairs of men (and women) which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” So said Shakespeare, and so it was for Downend Short Mat Bowls Club, who have won the Avon Challenge Cup.
The club had suffered a string of disappointing results after Christmas but come spring, they had turned things around.
A convincing win in the league against Wellsway, the current leaders, proved they had certainly returned to form.
The club therefore approached this year’s Avon Challenge Cup with a certain degree of confidence, despite having fallen short in all their previous attempts in the competition.
The Avon Challenge Cup takes place at the Bristol Bowls Centre and is open to all Avon short mat bowls clubs.
Each club is represented by two teams, which both need to be on form if they are to get through what is always a difficult group stage.
Unfortunately, a less-than-convincing performance by one of the Downend teams in the early rounds put progress in peril.
However, this was more than compensated for by some stunning bowls by the second team: a performance that was enough to get the teams through to the semi-final against Saltford.
The match turned out to be closely fought, and in the early stages it looked as if it could have gone either way, but with both Downend teams now performing at a high level, they proved too strong for Saltford, and Downend made it through.
The final was played against a strong team from St Andrews, Weston-super-Mare.
It turned out to be a close game, with some excellent bowling from both sides, but by now Downend were on a roll and proved too much for St Andrews, going on to take the match, and the cup.
Mike Parsons