Sunday the 04th December had Hertfordshire play Suffolk at Elm Court in the third round of the ESMBA’s ICC competition.
Session one had Martin Nash playing singles on Mat one. Suffolk got a good start taking a triple on the first end. Martin came straight back by taking a double, only to see Suffolk take the following three ends for two singles and a triple to go 8 – 2 up after five ends. End six and Martin took a hotshot four and followed this with a double, to be level at eight all after seven ends. Suffolk went back in the lead taking a single and a double. With Martin holding end ten for a single he had reduced Suffolk’s lead to 11 – 9. Suffolk then increased their lead, taking four singles to go 15 – 9 up with one end to play. Martin held the last end for a single but Suffolk had their first win at 15 – 10.
Mat two had Darren Brown playing the second single of the first session. Darren started well, taking two ends for singles before Suffolk replied with a double on end three, to make it all square. Darren then took a further single, followed by a double and another single to go 6 – 2 up after six ends. Although Suffolk held end seven for a single, Darren came straight back taking two more singles, to go 8 – 3 up. Suffolk then reduced their deficit by holding a triple on end ten, to be only two shots behind at 6 – 8. The last five ends all went Darren’s way for singles, giving him the win at 13 – 6.
Mat three had our first fours of Bill Gearing, Trevor Knight, Margaret Hare and Alan Hare. They started well, by taking a triple and a double to go 5 – 0 up. Suffolk then got going; taking a triple and a single, they were only one shot down at 4 – 5 after four ends. End five and our quartet increased their lead by taking a double. The following two ends went for a single apiece, so our four had the lead at 8 – 5 after seven ends. With the following two ends also going for a single each, Bill, Trevor, Margaret and Alan had the lead at 9 – 6 with two ends to play. Taking the penultimate end for a double and following it with a ‘magnificent’ four, Hertfordshire had the win at 15 – 6.
Mat four had Mike Eccleston, Denise Moores, Jan Rogers and Darren Stanford playing the second fours of the first session. Suffolk took the first end for a single. With our four taking the lead with a triple on end two. Suffolk then won a run of five ends, taking three doubles and a triple followed by a six, they had a substantial lead of 16 – 3. Mike, Denise, Jan and Darren took end eight for a triple and followed this with a single and a double to reduce Suffolk’s lead to 16 – 9. With the last end going Suffolk’s way for a double they had the win at 18 – 9.
With Session one ending with two wins for Hertfordshire and two wins for Suffolk it was all very close at 4 – 4. The outlook for the bonus points was also very close with the singles aggregate score being 23 – 21 in Hertfordshire’s favour and the fours being drawn at 24 all.
Session two had Beverly Stevenson, Alan Spicer and Brian McGivern playing the first triples match of the day. With our three taking the first end for four shots, the game was on. Suffolk’s reply was to take a triple followed by a single, to level it at four all after three ends. With the following two ends going for a single apiece, it was still level at five all after five ends. Bev, Alan and Brian now started taking a run of ends. Taking two singles, a double, a triple and a four, they were 16 – 5 up with three ends to play. Suffolk came back taking end eleven for a double. However, our three then took a triple, to increase their lead to 19 – 7 with one end to play. Suffolk held on to the last end for a double but Hertfordshire had the win at 19 – 9.
Mat two had our second triples of Audrey Fowler, Julia Bruce and Brian Fowler taking the first end for a four. Suffolk then took a single, to which our three’s reply was a double. Suffolk then held end four for a further single. However, with our three taking end five for another four, they were 10 – 2 up after five ends. Continuing their run for the following seven ends, they then took four singles, two doubles and a triple to go 21 – 2 up with one end to play. Suffolk then held the last end for a double giving Audrey, Julia and Brian the win at 21 – 4.
Mat three had our first pair of the day Jeanette Gayler and Mark Spalding starting well, taking two doubles and a triple to go 7 – 0 up after three ends. Suffolk then started a comeback, taking a triple, two singles and a double they had pulled it back level at seven all after seven ends. Suffolk followed this with a double to take the lead at 9 – 7. Jeanette and Mark pulled back level with a double and they followed this with a triple to go 12 – 9 up after ten ends. End eleven saw Suffolk hold on for a single. However, our pair then took a triple followed by a single, to increase their lead to 16 – 10 with two ends to play. The last two ends went for a single apiece, giving Hertfordshire the win at 17 – 11.
Mat Four and our second pair of Jeff Branch and Dennis Mack started off by taking a double. Suffolk took the following two ends for singles, to draw level after three ends. They followed this with a double, taking the lead at 4 – 2 after four ends. Jeff and Dennis then evened the score taking a double and went in the lead taking a triple. Suffolk came straight back taking their own triple and it was all level at seven all after seven ends. Jeff and Dennis then pulled out a lead, they took a triple and a single followed by a double, to be 13 – 7 up after ten ends. Suffolk reduced their deficit taking a double on end eleven. Our pair took a further single, with Suffolk again coming back for a double, to reduce our pairs lead to 14 – 11. Jeff and Dennis increased their lead, by taking the penultimate end for a triple. Suffolk held the last end for a single shot, giving Hertfordshire the win at 17 – 12.
Going into the lunch break Hertfordshire had won all four mats in session two giving them a points lead of 12 – 4. The bonus points for these two disciplines looked good for Hertfordshire at this stage with the Triples shots being 40 – 13 in Hertfordshire’s favour and the Pairs shots being 34 – 23 also in Hertfordshire’s favour.
With everyone feeling refreshed, session three started with ours fours team of Mike, Denise, Jan and Darren on mat one. Suffolk took the first end for a double. Our four replied by taking a single followed by a double, to take the lead. Suffolk came back in for a single and it was all square at 3 all after four ends. End five and our four took another single and a slight lead. Suffolk’s reply was to take a four on end six and a three shot lead at 7 – 4. This was Suffolk’s last end. Mike, Denise, Jan and Darren took the last five ends, for two triples and a single, followed by a glorious four and finishing with a single, they had a good win at 16 – 7.
Mat two had our other fours of Bill, Trevor, Margaret and Alan. They started by taking a single, only to have it matched on end two by Suffolk. Our four then took a double but again it was matched by Suffolk and it was three all after four ends. Suffolk then took the lead with a single but again our four matched it and it was four all after six ends in this close game. Hertfordshire then regained the lead with a further single and following this with a triple, they had a four shot lead at 8 – 4 after eight ends. Suffolk then reduced their deficit by taking a triple, leaving our four with a one shot lead at 8 – 7 with two ends to play. Bill, Trevor, Margaret and Alan then closed the game, taking the last two ends for doubles and winning at 12 – 7.
Mat three had Darren Brown playing his second singles match of the day. Suffolk got on the card first by taking a double. Darren took the second end for a single, with Suffolk taking a further single to go 3 – 1 up after three ends. End four saw Darren start a run of ends, Starting with two singles, he then took a hot shot four. Following this with a further double and a single he had a 10 – 3 lead after eight ends. Suffolk then took end nine for a single. With the following two ends going for a double apiece it was 12 – 6 to Darren after eleven ends. Darren held the next two ends for a single and a double. The penultimate end saw Suffolk take a single. With Darren finishing the game with a triple, he had a good win at 18 – 7.
Mat four and Martin Nash was playing the last single of the day. Suffolk got off to a good start, taking a triple on the first end. Martin replied with a single. However, Suffolk then held end three for a double to go 5 – 1 up. End four and Martin pulled back with a triple, to be only one shot down. Suffolk then started a short run taking two singles and a double and following this with two further singles, they were 11 – 4 up after nine ends. With six ends to play Martin started pulling it back. He started with a single and following it with a hot shot four and a triple, he had the lead at 12 – 11 with three ends to play. Suffolk then took end thirteen for a single and it was all square at twelve all. Martin then held the next end for a triple. Finishing with a single on the last end, Martin had the win at 16 – 12.
At the end of session three Hertfordshire had won a further four mats to increase their lead to 20 – 4. We could now add on the bonus points for the singles and the fours. With a seventeen shot advantage in the singles and a fourteen shot advantage in the fours Hertfordshire also had the bonus points, meaning we were already winners at the start of the last session at 24 – 4.
Session four started with our pair of Jeff and Dennis on mat one. Suffolk took the first end for a single, to which our pair replied by taking ends two and three for singles. Suffolk then took a double but with our pair matching it with a double of their own on end five, they had a small lead of 4- 3. Suffolk then levelled the match by taking a single on end six. Our pair then took the lead with a triple. Suffolk reduced the deficit by taking a single on end eight, to be only 7 – 5 down. Jeff and Dennis then started a run of ends. Taking two doubles, a single and a triple, they had pulled out a lead of 15 – 5 with three ends to play. However, Suffolk fought back taking a triple and a double. Jeff and Dennis finished the game with a hot shot four and a good win at 19 – 10.
Mat two had our pairing of Jeanette and Mark. Starting well, they took two singles and a triple to go 5 – 0 up. Suffolk came straight back by taking a hot shot four. With the following two ends going for a single apiece, our two were 6 – 5 up after six ends. Jeanette and Mark then got going with a strong run of six ends. Taking a single, four doubles and a triple they had pulled out a lead of 18 – 5 with three ends to play. Suffolk held end thirteen for a hot shot four and followed this with a single. Jeanette and Mark held the last end for a single taking the win at 19 – 10, the same score as Jeff and Dennis.
Mat three and our triple of Audrey, Julia and Brian started well by taking a four. Following this with a single and a double they had a seven shot lead. Suffolk held end four for a double but our three took the following end for a triple, increasing their lead to 10 – 2 after five ends. Suffolk then took end six for a triple, to which Audrey, Julia and Brian instantly replied; by taking a further triple to restore their eight shot lead. They followed this with a single and a four, making them 18 – 5 up after nine ends. Suffolk then took end ten for a double. Our three held the following end for a single. Suffolk came back taking the penultimate end for a triple and the last end for a single giving Hertfordshire the win at 19 – 11.
The last triple of the day were Beverly, Alan and Brian playing on mat four. In a very closely fought match the first two ends went for a single apiece. End three saw Suffolk hold a double but with our three then taking two singles; it was all square at three all after five ends. Suffolk then held a single followed by a double, to go three shots in front. Beverly, Alan and Brian then reduced their deficit by taking a single. They then took the lead by taking a triple, following this with a further triple they were 10 – 6 up after ten ends. End eleven and Suffolk stormed in, taking a five and regaining the lead at 11 – 10. Bev, Alan and Brian replied by taking a four on the penultimate end, regaining the lead at 14 – 11. The last end saw Suffolk hold on for a triple bringing the game to a draw at 14 all.
The last session was over and the scores were totted up. Winning three games and drawing one in the last session bought the scores up to 31 – 5. With a twenty nine shot advantage in the pairs and a fantastic thirty five shot advantage in the triples, Hertfordshire also gained the remaining four bonus points making the final score 35 – 5 to Hertfordshire. A fantastic win, the highest margin ever achieved by Hertfordshire. The final shot tally was 254 – 159. Having only played half of our six matches, our tally of two wins and a draw has put us at the top of our group. What will our second half bring? Our squad can now have a well earned rest over Christmas. Our next match is away to Northamptonshire on Sunday the 08th of January. Let’s see if we can maintain our unbeaten run.
Best wishes to all our readers for Christmas and The New Year