Baldock Town, current holders of the Cairns Cup, saw off the challenge of Hitchin Town on Friday with two triples at each venue. The home team struggled against a strong Hitchin side but the away rinks had a far more comfortable passage. At Baldock, rink

Baldock Town, current holders of the Cairns Cup, saw off the challenge of Hitchin Town on Friday with two triples at each venue.

The home team struggled against a strong Hitchin side but the away rinks had a far more comfortable passage.

At Baldock, rink one (Hitchin first): G Williams, N Webb, A Cook lost 13-20 to J Tait, J Murison and M Wintrip, rink two: L Hill, N Parke, L Lane won 19-13 against J Russell, R Gentle and J Carter.

At Hitchin, rink one: A Newbury, R Parker, A Hill lost 4-32 to B Leadley, P Riley and D Turner, rink two: J Hill, M Squires, G Munge won 27-11 to G Cross, I Walker and B Todd.

Baldock Town visited Stevenage to play Roebuck in the county league last Thursday and came away winning by 32 shots and a points score of 6-0.

Both rinks won comfortably - B Todd, J Murison, D Turner and M Swain won 35-14 and B Leadley, M Wintrip, T Castle and J Crosby won 24-13.

Baldock have now won all three matches played and have only dropped one point to date.

On Sunday, Baldock entertained Buntingford and won on five of the six rinks in glorious sunshine.

Scores: J Carter won 35-9, M Wintrip won 29-10, W Reid won 28-13, N Gazely lost 12-17, J Murison won 31-7, B Todd won 23-12.

Hitchin Town hosted a match against Riverain on Saturday, eventually losing by three shots (69-72).

The top Hitchin rink was Joe Corda, Joan Squires, Mick Squires and Ian Thorne.

Rink one: G Corda, J Squires, M Squires, I Thorne won 20-15. Rink two: B Clark, N MacLeod, A Cook, A Hill won 18-17. Rink three: G Leuty, N Webb, I Page, L Lane won 17-15. Rink four: R Allen, N Parke, R Parker, W Harrison lost 14-25.

Hitchin had its inaugural weekend fixture against Letchworth Conservative Club on Sunday, losing by five shots (53-58).

Playing at Letchworth on the last remaining three-rink green in the county, Hitchin were only able to win on one rink. This was Joan Squires, Mick Squires and Andy Hill.

Rink one: J Hill, R Parker, G Munge lost 19-28. Rink two: R Allen, G Leuty, L Lane lost 13-21. Rink three: J Squires, M Squires, A Hill won 21-9.

Hitchin's weekday bowlers bowled away at Riverain's Walsworth Greens last Tuesday, losing 68-105.

Rink one: S Wheatley, R Parker, W Harrison lost 14-19 to L Ferry, B Wareham, R Clay. Rink two: I Page, S Ingram, Joan Dyer lost 13-19 to D Hawkins, B Lee, C Thurstance. Rink three: G Corda, D Conder, K Porter lost 12-21 to R Hadley, J Clay, D D'Cruze. Rink four: B Clark, John Dyer, M Williams lost 10-27 to M Chapman, R Ward, R Wareham. Rink five: N Parke, G Munge drew 19-19 with E Sibley, T Booth, B Mills.

Hitchin did a little better when they played at home against Royston Vets on Friday, losing 67-73.

Rink one: R Allen, B Marsden, T Carter lost 6-25. Rink two: G Corda, J Squires, K Porter lost 15-25. Rink three: J Parish, N MaCleod, R Cole won 22-12. Rink four: A Marsden, S Ingram, J Porter won 24-11.

It was payback time for Stotfold in their first step in defence of the Pell Shield that they won last year.

They beat Kingsbury, a team that had already beaten them in the Harmsworth Cup.

In the away pairings, Roland Legate and Richard Drury lost 14-23 and Frank Amos and Alan Holloway lost 16-18 so were 11 shots down.

It was left to the home pairings to rescue the match, which they did when Chris Albon and Bobby Bell won 25-15 and Andy King and Mick Cave won 23-14 giving Stotfold a win by eight shots.

In a round robin event, which was well supported by club members, the eventual winners were Alan Smith, Maurice Legate and Tom Collins.

The club is looking forward to its open day this Sunday (July 6).

Sunday afternoon at Shefford saw captain's day with 36 members taking part.

After a series of different games, the winners were Stan Spencer, Margaret Bucknell and Bob Izzard. Runners-up were Alison Hammond, Stan Potter and Richard Ford.

The morning saw John Batcheldor and Maureen Nicholson progress in the county mixed pairs, winning at Wilstead 17-16.

Saturday saw the men win at home to Russell Park 80-76 with two rinks winning and two losing. The best winning rink was Peter Brown, Stuart Foulkes, Dennis Stevens and Barry Robinson. The ladies lost at Sandy Conservative Club.

Howard Garden played a friendly with Letchworth Conservative Club on Saturday. As the Con Club could not field a full team with only nine players against 21 for Howard Garden, it was arranged that 10 teams of triples would play.

It resulted in an enjoyable afternoon and the winning skips were P Mountney, B Bradbury, D Brothers, T Hyland, and T Macey.

Evening county games were lost against Royston 30-44 and Letchworth Garden City 33-38, while the midweek bowlers lost 60-111 to Stevenage and 80-84 to North Herts.

Letchworth Conservative Club played an enjoyable friendly game at home against Hitchin Town on Sunday, winning 58-53.

Rink one: C Mountney, B Saville, V Mountney won 28-19. Rink two: K Ryall, R Ryall, T Price won 21-13. Rink three: M Mountney, S Brown, P Mountney lost 9-21.

Datchworth played seven matches against only five clubs.

Scores: Datchworth Blue 44 Knebworth Evens 27, Datchworth Gold 30 Knebworth Odds 36, Datchworth 77 Norton 83, Datchworth 79 Norton 60, Datchworth Blue 32 Avdel 37, Datchworth 65 Kimpton 61, Datchworth 104 Harpenden 106.