Louth bowls: Kestrels beat rivals to extend lead in title race

The 15-4 scoreline was harsh on Otters who contributed to a very close game, but Kestrels could do no wrong and kept nicking the shots.

Otters had enjoyed a comfortable 20-2 win against Mudlarks in their first game, while Kestrels did well to pick up three shots on the final end of their game against Two Plus One to win 15-12.

Wasps’ title challenge is all but over after losing their third successive game when going down 17-5 against Dreamers. They now trail Kestrels by 11 points.

Bottom team Meridian have improved steadily over the season and were once again unlucky to lose 13-12 to Matelots who also beat next-bottom Scorpions 14-8 to consolidate fourth spot.

* The best match of the Australian Pairs League fixtures was in Division One where league leaders Malcolm Pearce and Mike Norton were being outplayed by Gill and Pete Fletcher.

They scored seven shots on the first end and had built up a good lead, and although Pearce/Norton gradually closed the gap, it seemed their opponents had enough of a lead to see them through.

But the leaders won the final three ends, with one shot on the final end allowing them to salvage a 19-19 draw.

Second-placed Derek Blow and Barrie Robinson eased to a 16-3 victory over Jenny and Terry Cornwall to close the gap to one point, albeit having played one game more than the leaders.

Linda and Martin Oldfield moved into third spot after a comfortable 24-3 win against Yvonne Cooper and John Clayton.

In Division Two, Tony Hunter and Joe Yensen moved three points clear of the bottom rung after edging to a 13-10 win against Sheila and Ken Webster.

But they have played three games more than bottom pair Bobbi and Keith Mumby-Croft.

* The club hopes to have most of the winter fixture sheets available by the end of the week.