THE City of Ely Bowls Club opened their National Club Championship campaign with matches against Peterborough and Chesterton.

On Saturday, the men, seeking to win the Denny Cup for the third year in succession, faced Peterborough in the opening round.

Not so long ago this would have been regarded as a difficult match and it was Peterborough who were the last local opponents to beat Ely club in the early stages of this competition.

However, in recent times, the Ely club, sponsored by N&C Glass, has shown sensational form in cup and the champions had all the answers this time around.

At home, Greg Harlow and Andy Easy built a substantial early lead and although Nicky Brett was finding life difficult in the away leg, Andrew Ware was also scoring well.

After 10 ends Ely were up by 23 shots and even though Brett was trailing by five the team was in confident mood. By 15 ends the lead had increased to 37 and Brett in his usual fashion was finishing strongly. At home, Harlow led by 17 and Easy by 10 whilst Ware also led by 10. The closing stages of the match saw Ely maintain their advantage with a final score of 93-56. Wins were secured on all four rinks with Brett eventually pulling out a 20-16 result. Ely’s next opponents will be Pentney.

On Sunday, after a shaky start, the mixed team scored a fine win over Chesterton to get their Egham Trophy campaign off to a flyer.

The early exchanges did not bode well for Ely, with Nicky Brett’s rink dropping five shots on the opening end at Cambridge and Ware’s home rink down by eight after five ends.

Harlow and Ian Brown were progressing well and the recovery was well under way after 10 ends when Ely led by nine shots. The lead was extended to 15 shots after 15 ends and a closing score of 99-59 reflected Ely’s overall superiority.