IT was the end of the road for Ely’s ladies in The Yetton Trophy on Thursday with defeat at the hands of their closest rivals, Chesterton.

Bowls

Captain Sarah Seymour and her team were in confident mood leading up to the tie where a win would have seen them progress into the last 32 but it was not to be as Ely lost all four rinks to a convincing overall score of 85-61.

There was more positive news on Saturday with the men facing Norfolk Indoor Bowling Club in the last 16 of The Denny Cup. In a hard fought contest, Ely came out ahead to book a place in the quarter final with a match against Wey Valley to be played on January 18. Both Greg Harlow and Andy Easy enjoyed wins at home, with Harlow recording a 30-12 scoreline and Easy winning by four.

On the away rinks there was a rare defeat for Nicky Brett and a narrow one-shot victory for Stuart Popple. The match was always close and it was a little surprising that Norfolk decided to concede the match with six ends still to play.

On Sunday, the mixed team faced Carterton in the last 16 of The Egham Trophy. The Oxfordshire based team were an unknown quantity for the Ely outfit having never faced them in any competition before.

The early exchanges were reasonably even with Ely holding a one shot lead after five ends. The away venue was always expected to be difficult and so it proved with Nicky Brett starting slowly.

However, once Brett and Stuart Popple got to grips with conditions they managed to hold their own. Meanwhile, at home, Harlow and Easy were finding things a little more comfortable leading by 22 shots after 10 ends.

From this point on it was a question of the margin of victory and by the conclusion of 15 ends Harlow held a 24-shot lead and Easy led by 15. A final score of 104-54 was probably a fair reflection of the match.

It will be a different story in the quarterfinal on January 13 when Ely face holders Desborough who eliminated the Ely outfit at this stage last season.