Baldock Town Bowls Club continue to lead the way in the Stevenage Mixed League with the season heading into the final stages.

They have 74 points from their 16 games, eight clear of defending champions St Ippolyts who have also played 16 of their 20.

Baldock's latest success was a 54-46 win over Riverain, gaining them five points.

St Ippolyts meanwhile played twice and won twice, the first a 53-49 win at home to Letchworth Garden City, winning on two of the rinks, and there was a similar two-rink success in a 57-55 victory at Aston.

Howard Garden are third, a further nine points behind.

In total, 82 matches have been played so far.

Datchworth played one of them this week, falling to a 51-39 loss at Riverain, the home side winning on all three rinks, two of them by three shots and the other by six.

Datchworth’s Blue team travelled to Northaw and Cuffley for their final East Herts Bowls League Division One match and came away with maximum points after a 45-29 win.

Dickie Jackson, Rob Hazeu and Peter Hills roared back from a 17-4 deficit after eight ends to win 29-20 while George Campbell, Derek Henley and Les Parsley had a 16-9 victory.

In Division Three, the Golds lost 59-21 away to Potters Bar Glyders team in their penultimate fixture, both rinks losing.

There was a double-header at their Turkey Farm green and both were defeats.

The Welwyn Hatfield League side lost 58-13 to Shire Park Greens in Division Two while the ladies team of Jan Smith, Janet Akers, Ann Edwards and Chris Hills, playing their last County League match of the season, went down 16-13 to Whit Hern.

The club also played three mixed friendlies.

They lost 44-43 away to Townsend, rain bringing the contest to a premature close with the four rinks shared equally.

There was also a 58-51 loss at Harpenden in a match that did go the distance.

Again the four rinks were shared equally with the best of the Datchworth successes coming to Rachel Jones, Lucy Williams and Clyde Martindill who lost just six ends in a 15-8 victory.

Datchworth did win 88-72 away to Ware though with three of the five rinks successful.

The top one was the 24-8 win for Daniel Williams, Maureen Blunt, Julian Hales and Rob Hazeu.

Back at Baldock, two of their bowlers contested the North Herts ladies singles.

And in a very close finish, Mary Ann Haskins picked up three shots on the last end to beat Wendy Budge 22-20.

The pair were both successful in the triples final as, along with Janet Turner, they enjoyed a comfortable 10-shot success.

A 40-29 win in the County League over Stevenage sent them into the area semi-final but they fell to a 74-57 loss in a friendly against Biggleswade Town.

St Ippolyts also had success in the North Herts competitions.

Their ladies team of Celia Farley, Janet Godfrey, Deborah Howard and Chris Richardson beat Stevenage Town in the final of the fours.

Whitethorn's ladies won the final of the North Herts pairs competition, beating Riverain 16-14 in a contest that was tight from start to finish.

Howard Garden played their last Men's County League match against Royston, losing on both rinks and 40-23 overall.

They finish second though and will face the Division B winners in a play-off.

An internal competition, the Beetlestone Cup, was won by Jill Roberson and John Carrod, with David Weemys and Jamie Moynes in second place. 

A friendly triples match at North Herts ended in a 50-41 win for the home side.

Thelma Blake, David Weemys and Dave Mann had their only rink success, winning 21-11.

One of the North Herts teams that included Lynne Brown and Len Staples did particularly well with a 25-8 win while the other, comprising Paul Riseborough, Derek Gilder and Rae Glenn won 14-12.