COURTAULD Halstead Bowls Club's outdoor season commenced with the first round of the Ferguson Joyce Trophy and it was the team of Stan Jones, Roy Whicker Clemence and Tony Garrett that took early honours.

Even losing the first end by six shots against Mick Rayner, Eric Marson, and skip Ron Guthrie, Jones, Clemence and Garrett scored heavily throughout to take the match 19-12.

Meanwhile, Patrick Ashcroft, Trevor Wignall and skip Tony Jones had a successful first-round match against Bernard Rust, Brian Chadwick and skip Geoff Hughes, taking five ends on the bounce to win 15-10.

There was a close game between Alan Lowe, Tony Wright and skip Mick Mills, against Archie Peacock, Terry Reynolds, and skip Denis Saville.

A seven-shot return on the 11th end saw Peacock, Reynolds, and Saville bring it to 14-12, but the match ended in a 15-15 draw.

Meanwhile, Courtaulds Halstead's indoors bowlers travelled to West Mersea for a contest on three rinks over 18 ends.

The overall result was a 54-43 win for the hosts.

Winning on their rink were Margaret Partridge, Rita Brooks, Tony Garrett, and skip Dennis Saville.

By the 13th end, the game was all-square at 9-9 and the Courtaulds quartet manage to hang on to a slender lead in the final end to win 13-12.

Mick Mills, Elizabeth Burrell, Eric Marson and skip Tony Jones pulled their game back at the midway point as they trailed 11-9, but they could not stop their opponents from scoring on the last three ends and lost 21-16.

By the halfway stage, Stan Jones, Malcolm Wayne, Barbara Jones and skip Trevor Wignall were all-square at 10-10, but a run of not scoring in the latter stages saw the home side romp away to a 21-14 success.