Howard Garden beat Letchworth Garden City on Sunday by 89-80 shots in a SDML match and took five league points to two. It was a well-contested game in brilliant sunshine with both sides winning two rinks apiece. Howard Garden played two evening friendlies

Howard Garden beat Letchworth Garden City on Sunday by 89-80 shots in a SDML match and took five league points to two.

It was a well-contested game in brilliant sunshine with both sides winning two rinks apiece.

Howard Garden played two evening friendlies, losing by 75-79 against North Herts last Monday in a close match but beating Brookers of Hitchin 71-56 last Wednesday. The midweek bowlers lost by four shots to Stopsley last Tuesday at home but beat Barton-le-Clay away by three shots last Thursday.

Shefford played a mixed game against Stotfold on Sunday and lost by 78 shots to 65. They had one winning triple of Margaret Bucknell, Chris Tuffnell and Barry Robinson.

Saturday saw the men beat Barton-le-Clay by 102 shots to 100. The highest winning rink was Colin Crouch, Yves Dorson, John Batcheldor and Bob Nicholson.

The ladies played Sandy Town and ended up drawing as both rinks finished level. The men lost in the Harmsworth Cup to Maulden last Wednesday, losing on three rinks and winning on one.

Letchworth Conservative Bowls Club hosted a rescheduled men's league game with Holwell last Wednesday which resulted in a 45-27 shot win.

Rink one: C Izzard, B Saville, M Treadaway, P Mountney won 29-12. Rink two: K Ryall, T Bishop, S Brown, V Mountney won 16-15.

A very enjoyable five-rink triples friendly was played at Fairfield Bowls Club on Saturday which saw a 103-90 shot defeat, and the club entertained Melbourne on Sunday to a three-rink triples friendly and again lost by the smaller margin of 52-48 shots.

Whitethorn enjoyed a sunny Saturday afternoon playing at home against St Neots and they won by 22 points.

Skips: Terry Graham 27-12, Angie Fabris 29-16, Terry Saunders 10-26, Jenny Ralph 25-21, Bill Chaudhery 20-23, Bob Ralph 22-22.

Hitchin Town played their first league match of the season last Thursday, suffering a narrow defeat by one shot at the hands of Aston (34-35).

Their winning rink had a comfortable game despite dropping six shots on one end, while the other rink saw a close game go Aston's way in the last few ends.

The top rink was John Hill, Norman Parke, Mike Wadsworth and Alan Cook.

Rink one: G Williams, G Munge, M Squires, S Dawson lost 12-20. Rink two: J Hill, N Parke, M Wadsworth, A Cook won 22-15.

They returned to winning ways on Saturday with a comfortable win over visitors from St Albans (99-86).

Hitchin won on three of the four rinks and the top rink was Geoff Munge, Noel Webb, Gerry Leuty and Ivan Page.

Rink one: G Corda, D Conder, R Parker, I Thorne won 28-26. Rink two: G Munge, N Webb, G Leuty, I Page won 26-18. Rink three: R Allen, M Wells, M Williams, A Hill won 25-17. Rink four: L Hill, N Parke, R Cole, A Cook lost 20-25.

Hitchin's weekday players had a massive win of 72-45 against Datchworth when they played them at home on Bancroft greens last Tuesday.

Rink one: Brian Marsden, Joan Dyer, Mike Wadsworth won 22-4. Rink two: Anne Marsden, Neil MaCleod, Ken Porter drew 15-15. Rink three: Sid Wheatley, Gerry Billingham, Diane Porter won 22-11. Rink four: Barbara Clark, Roy Cole, Mike Williams lost 13-15.

The tables were turned on Hitchin when they played away at Henlow last Thursday, losing 66-77.

Rink three: Bob Parker, Mike Wells, John Porter won 19-15. Rink four: Anne Marsden, Derek Conder, Mike Williams won 19-16. Rink five: Brian Marsden, Neil MaCleod, Joan Dyer lost 13-15. Rink Six: Reg Allen, Joan Squires, Gerry Leuty lost 15-31.

Datchworth have enjoyed another busy week of bowling action.

Scores: Datchworth Blue 21 Bengeo Blues 43; Datchworth 45 Hitchin Town 72; Datchworth Gold 32 Rye Park 29; Datchworth Gold 26 Shire Park Gold 40; Datchworth Gold 25 Greenside 34; Datchworth 40 Whit Hern 41; Datchworth 71 Three Horseshoes 85.