Match Report
Match Report - 31 Oct 2015, Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association Inter County Championship Premier 2 beat Northamptonshire
Hertfordshire subjected Northamptonshire to a Nightmare At Elm Court on Halloween with a comprehensive win that takes them to the top of their Inter County Championship Division A Qualifying Group but only on shots difference.
Session 1 (singles and pairs)
The singles and pairs gave Hertfordshire the best possible start, taking maximum points from the opening session.
Tony Gayler led from start to finish and despite dropping a 4 shot count on the last end won 16-11.
Michael West had a much tougher time in his singles game. Leading briefly after two ends, he fell behind and trailed 8-13 with two ends to go. A 3 on the penultimate end put him in with a chance which he took convincingly with a maximum 4 shots on the final end.
Pauline Taylor and Jeanette Gayler lost their first two ends before taking control, winning six ends on the trot to lead 11-4. The Northants pair had the better of the second half of the game but could only close the gap to 13-10.
Welsh Under-21 international, Aaron Jones was making his debut for Hertfordshire alongside Darren Stanford and the pair dominated their game, scoring two 4s and two 3s to win 23-5.
Session 1 result: Hertfordshire 8 pts Northamptonshire 0 pts
Session 2 (triples and fours)
The second session was the highlight of Northamptonshire’s day as they won three of the four games.
Jill Oakes, Peter Griffiths and Liz Bradley dropped 5 shots in their first two ends before they clawed their way back to lead 7-6 after eight ends. Sadly, they didn’t score again, losing the remaining five ends to finish 7-15.
Sue Murray, Audrey Fowler and Brian McGivern led 8-5 after nine ends but then dropped three 2s. A final end 2 wasn’t enough and they lost 10-11.
Eileen Prior, Margaret Hare, Margaret Regan and Brian Fowler took an early lead but a 5 shot reverse on the 7th end saw them fall behind 6-10. They weren’t able to recover from that setback and lost 7-16.
The one bright spot in this session was provided by the four of Graham Yates, Rebecca Nightingale, John Taylor and Ken Murray. A 5 shot haul on the 4th end was decisive. Despite losing four of the first six ends, the Herts quartet were tied with their opponents at 6-6. They finished strongly, scoring on each of the next four ends to win 12-6.
Session 2 result: Hertfordshire 2 pts Northamptonshire 6 pts
After the morning sessions, Hertfordshire led Northamptonshire by 4 points. The singles and pairs looked odds on to take the bonus points in their disciplines, but the fours were 3 shots behind overall and the triples trailed by 9 shots.
Session 3 (reverse singles and pairs)
The singles and pairs proved too strong for the visitors and again took all available points.
Tony Gayler put in another dominant performance, leading from the off and powering to a 19-8 win.
Michael West continued his fine form, winning eleven of his fifteen ends to finish 16-10.
Pauline Taylor and Jeanette Gayler took seven ends to take the lead 7-4 and then limited their opponents to three singles and won 16-7.
Aaron Jones and Darren Stanford got the better of a tight contest with neither side scoring more than 2 shots on any end and won 11-7 to complete a session whitewash.
Session 3 result: Hertfordshire 8 game pts + 4 bonus pts Northants 0 game pts + 0 bonus pts
Session 4 (reverse triples and fours)
With the match already won, it was down to the triples and fours to score as many points as possible to improve Hertfordshire’s position in the qualifying campaign.
Jill Oakes, Peter Griffiths and Liz Bradley started badly dropping a 4 and a 3. After four ends they were 1-8 behind but an eight end scoring streak took them past their opposition and they finished 15-9 ahead.
Sue Murray, Audrey Fowler and Brian McGivern were never in trouble, winning 14-6 and, thanks to their team mates’ comeback in the other triples game did enough to overturn the 9 shot overall deficit and secure the bonus points.
Eileen Prior, Margaret Hare, Margaret Regan and Brian Fowler trailed 4-11 after seven ends and very nearly snatched a win but fell just short 10-11. Their fightback was to prove decisive in the battle for the fours bonus points.
Graham Yates, Rebecca Nightingale, John Taylor and Ken Murray completed a fine day for Hertfordshire, winning 8 of their 11 ends to win 18-6.
Session 4 result: Hertfordshire 6 game pts + 2 bonus pts Northants 2 game pts + 0 bonus points
Match summary
The impressive 32 point return for Hertfordshire puts the county tied on points with Buckinghamshire at the half way stage of the qualifying group. By outscoring Northamptonshire by 71 shots (222-151), Hertfordshire are nominally top of the group on shots difference. Next week’s away game against Buckinghamshire may well prove to be the decider in the group.
Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association Inter County Championship Premier 2 32 - 8 Northamptonshire
| 1 |
Elizabeth Bradley |
7-15,15-9 |
| 2 |
Audrey Fowler |
10-11,14-6 |
| 3 |
Brian Fowler |
7-16,10-11 |
| 4 |
Jeanette Gayler |
13-10,16-7 |
| 5 |
Tony Gayler |
16-11,15-13 |
| 6 |
Peter Griffiths |
7-15,15-9 |
| 7 |
Margaret Hare |
12-6,18-6 |
| 8 |
Rebecca Nightingale |
7-16,10-11 |
| 9 |
Aaron Jones |
23-5,11-7 |
| 10 |
Brian McGivern |
10-11,14-6 |
| 11 |
Ken Murray |
12-6,18-6 |
| 12 |
Sue Murray |
10-11,14-6 |
| 13 |
Jill Quarterman |
7-15,15-9 |
| 14 |
Eileen Prior |
7-16,10-11 |
| 15 |
Margaret Regan |
7-16,10-11 |
| 16 |
Darren Stanford |
23-5,11-7 |
| 17 |
John Taylor |
12-6,18-6 |
| 18 |
Pauline Taylor |
13-10,16-7 |
| 19 |
Michael West |
15-13,16-10 |
| 20 |
Jen Holding |
12-6,18-6 |
| 21 |
A.N. Other |
|
| 22 |
A.N. Other |
|