Durie Hill Bowling Club are delighted with the response from their local community to get into the sport on a social basis, as dozens have flocked to the Windsor Terrace clubrooms over the past two months.
The brain child of Kelvin Francis and Gene Ridgway, 'Friday Fives at the Hill' saw teams involved in triples competition at 6pm on Friday evenings under Bowls3Five rules.
In the busy modern world where shortened versions of traditional sports like rugby sevens and Twenty20 cricket are becoming the norm, Bowls3Five has been televised on Sky TV and consists of games with short time limits, where players have two bowls each per end, and are played as a best-of three sets format, consisting of five ends a set.
Francis said they took that framework and combined it with the successful 'Barefoot Bowls' concept which has been introduced in Australia to create social leagues at clubs which have been struggling for numbers.
'Friday Fives' had an 80 minute time limit for triples games, with teams registering five players so they can either use substitutes or still have a full lineup available even if somebody is off sick or has another commitment.