Bayside Boules Club - Alden Park

What an unexpectedly beautiful morning.  Sixteen [ the magic number ] were available to play. We are now expecting a text on Sunday night if you're not available to play so we can decide if we need volunteers to play later on the Monday.  If we have seventeen, even, we will ask for two, at least, to play singles later. Ciaran still tops the poll with nine thirteens in just four weeks!  A slight hiatus today which gives us all hope.  Interestingly, Charlie is fourth with only three thirteens returned so far!  From what I saw the play was enjoyable and competitive overall.  Nigel came to view proceedings and be a neutral voice. Oh...what a lovely bunch of boules... Blessed be he amongst women..... Distant relatives... Shadow boxing... We're watching you.... Saturday.... The Elysian field.... Study the following photo carefully....there's clues to be had..... We're keeping the graffiti at bay....... Players from Donaghmede Mens Shed enjoying play on Thursday morning...  

Following the advice from government, we restricted play in the competition to 16 players and since we had twenty ready to play we asked for four volunteers to play at later time. Tom B, Sean J, Eileen D and Tom D kindly agreed to play at 12.00 noon instead.  We agreed that 16 is the ideal number playing and from now on we will find out by text on the Sunday night who will be playing on the Monday Competition. If we have more than 16 then we will ask, or have a roster, for players to play at the later time.  It worked well today but weather might play a part as time goes on....but we'll deal with that also. Ciaran W has just dropped one point over his nine games, thus far, leaving him on an amazing 116 total.  His playing partner today Gerry L is flying up the ranks.  Chris and Eileen are on and over the century.  The weather was balmy and play was of a very high standard. Thanks Ciaran for the score sheet. Social distancing at its zenith... The lads are stepping out but Charlie is

On a damp and dreary Summer morning we had twenty players for this mornings competition. Our max. is twenty four or six players on each piste.  We had the cards drawn and the groups of five organised on each piste with three minutes to spare!.........  a first for us....well done.  Since we were playing five on each piste, which would be frowned upon in 'official circles', we played 3 v 2 and changed partners after each game. Everyone gets to play with three boules at least once. We are aware that everyone wants to play with three boules but sometimes it's not possible.   Under our new protocols for this competition each player's best 24 of a possible 36 scores, in the twelve week period, will decide the winner. Should there be players on equal scores after the twelve week session we will keep taking the next best scores until we have a winner. Chris and Ciaran have established a tidy lead already with only Sean and Eileen in the 70s, besides.  No score in the 60s

Ciaran proudly presenting Tom D with the Tom Walsh trophy for winning the inaugural boules competition for the Bayside Boules Community in Alden Park.  Tom D was delighted to be the first recipient of the trophy and promises to let others win it in the future! We had a great turnout on a decidedly cool summer's morning. We welcomed James R and Maureen D as new competition members, though they both are experienced carpet bowlers. Note the Covid Elbow greeting as Ciaran presents the Tom Walsh trophy to Tom D. Ciaran promises to invest his Ab*******ie advertising fee in the BBC! Honestly, I won it fair n square......don't believe those conspiracy theorists! Maureen on her first competition day in Alden park. Chris hatching a cunning plan....despite the current scores. Nigel wasn't playing but he refereed, umpired, measured and generally assisted proceedings. Spot the boule.....Maureen spot the Bou........!!!!! Sean and Eileen reeling them in..... Respecting Social Distancing

Our congratulations go to Tom D! A fine performance on the last day saw him win in style as he finished joint top scorer for the day. His score of 34 actually extended his winning margin at the top to 12 points. A superb total score of of 249, averaging more than 31 per counted week has seen the bar set very high. The Tom Walsh Trophy will be presented following play on the next day of competition. The  final league positions are: Tom staying near the score sheet! Thanks to  Mary for the following pictures from the day (and for taking less of Chris this time! 😏): Try figure out who won this point! "Land it right here." And that was only the beginning of boules for the week! The original group met to discuss what had worked well and what could be tweaked for the next league. Details of the changes will be briefed  before competition starts on Monday. Then there was boules on Wednesday morning, Wednesday evening, Friday evening and Saturday morning. It's hard to keep track