Match Report
Match Report - 09 Oct 2016, Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association Inter County Championship Premier 2 beat Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire welcomed Hertfordshire to their new home venue of Daventry Indoor Bowls Club. The visitors got the better of the morning sessions of play before Northants staged a recovery and the two county sides finished just 4 points and 6 shots apart. Hertfordshire had three debutants in their line up and all three contributed points to the winning margin.
Session 1 (singles and pairs)
Michael West was up against a young lady at least 50 years his junior. She started quickly and led by 5 shots after 7 ends. Michael responded with a four end burst of his own and went ahead 10-7. Having fought back so well, Michael conceded a maximum 4 count on the next end. Undaunted, he went ahead again with a 2, his young opponent scored a 1 and they were tied at 12-12 with one end to play. Experience told on the deciding end as a single gave Michael and Herts a 13-12 win.
Alan Hare was involved in a tightly contested game where thirteen of the fifteen ends were won with single shots. Alan was the player to notch the only significant scores with a 2 early on and a 3 on the penultimate end and finished a worthy 12-6 winner.
Pauline Taylor and Darren Stanford were ahead for most of their pairs game but couldn’t build more than a 4 shot advantage. Ahead 6-2 after five ends, they were pegged back to 7-7 after nine. Three shots in two ends opened up a 3 shot gap again but that was the end of their scoring and they slipped to a 10-17 defeat.
In the remaining pairs game, husband and wife combo Tony and Jeanette Gayler started badly and were 0-8 down after just three ends. They got on the scoreboard and outscored their opponents to get back to 7-10 after nine ends. A full house 4 shot count took them into the lead for the first time on the 10th end. They built on that to edge 4 shots ahead before a scary dropped 3 cut their lead to one shot with two ends to play. Marital harmony was maintained with the last two ends going to Herts for a 17-13 finishing score.
Session 1 result: Northamptonshire 2 pts Hertfordshire 6 pts
Session 2 (triples and fours)
The positive start for Hertfordshire was continued with another winning session of play.
Jill Oakes, Mary Chadd and Brian McGivern started slowly and were 3 shots adrift at 4 ends played. They then got into their stride with a seven end unanswered run of scoring including 4 shots on the 6th end. With two ends to play, they led 16-5. The last two ends went to Northants but scoring was restricted and the Herts triple brought home the points 16-8.
Adrianne West, Liz Bradley and Brian Fowler took four of the first five ends to lead 7-1. Their opponents fought back to level at nine ends, before the Herts trio went ahead again 8-7 with three ends to go. Northants had the better of the run in and the final score was 8-11.
Rebecca Nightingale, Margaret Hare, Sam Salmon and first timer Bill Gearing scored a telling 5 shots on their third end which proved to be the difference when their game ended. 8-1 ahead after five ends, they had a brief scare as Northants got back within two shots. A steadying three end streak carried the Herts foursome to a 13-8 win.
Ted Nolan was skipping a rink with two of the newcomers, David Richards and Alan Spicer, together with Eileen Prior. The home team won seven of the eleven ends but the Hertfordshire four defended well, only dropping single shots. They countered with a 4 on the 8th end to take the lead which they did not relinquish and edged home 8-7.
Session 2 result: Northamptonshire 2 pts Hertfordshire 6 pts
Time for a brief lunch break and the food tasted all the better for a 12-4 points lead at the halfway stage.
Session 3 (reverse singles and pairs)
Michael West was back to his best after the break. A reasonably close first half of the game saw Michael leading by just one shot at 5-4 after eight ends. From then on, he dominated, winning five of the remaining seven ends to win 16-8.
Alan Hare was involved in another tight encounter where neither player scored higher than a 2 and twelve of the fifteen ends were won with a single. A couple of times he trailed by 3 shots but was back within one with two ends to come. This time he couldn’t quite finish the job and went down 7-11. However, by limiting the damage, Alan secured the 2 bonus points from the singles discipline.
Pauline Taylor and Darren Stanford were four shots behind after three ends. They scored a 3 and then dropped the same score to remain behind by the same margin. Five shots without reply took the lead but they were level at ten ends and behind by two after eleven. An exchange of singles was followed by a 2 on the penultimate end and the scores were tied. An umpire was needed to decide the outcome which was a narrow 14-13 win for the Herts pair.
Tony and Jeanette Gayler got off to a poor start. Unable to trouble the scorers for the first five ends, they trailed 0-10. They limited the scoring of their opponents for the remainder of the game but trailed in 5-17.
Session 3 result: Northants 4 game pts + 2 bonus pts Herts 4 game pts + 2 bonus pts
Session 4 (reverse triples and fours)
Jill Oakes, Mary Chadd and Brian McGivern led from start to finish in their game. Five shots up after just two ends, they scored on nine of their thirteen ends, including two 3s and three 2s, to produce a 19-5 score line.
Adrianne West, Liz Bradley and Brian Fowler also started brightly with 4 shots in two ends. They led 5-3 after six ends, were briefly behind after eight before levelling with four ends left. Northants had the stronger finishing run and the Herts triple lost out 6-13. The combined score from all four triples games was 49-37 and the 2 bonus points were Herts’.
Rebecca Nightingale, Margaret Hare, Sam Salmon and Bill Gearing were 4 shots behind with two ends played. They reduced the deficit to just one shot but kept slipping behind and recovering. A 2 on the 10th end put them within one shot with the remaining end to go. They dropped a final single and lost out 8-10.
In the remaining game, David Richards, Eileen Prior, Alan Spicer and Ted Nolan were knocked back by a 2 and a 4 to trail 0-6. They closed the gap to three shots before slipping again to 3-11. The four of Herts couldn’t make much of a dent in the lead and came home 6-13 behind. The bonus points for the fours went to Northants by just 3 shots.
Session 4 result: Northants 6 game pts + 2 bonus pts Herts 2 game pts + 2 bonus points
Match summary
It was great to see three new players in the Hertfordshire team all making a positive impact on the match outcome. With an 8 point lead after the first two sessions of play, Hertfordshire would probably have hoped for a bigger winning margin but shouldn’t be disappointed with an away win against Northamptonshire.
In the other group game, London had a thumping 30-10 victory at home to Buckinghamshire and look like the team to beat in this qualifying phase of the competition.
Northamptonshire 18 - 22 Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association Inter County Championship Premier 2
| 1 |
Elizabeth Bradley |
8-11,6-13 |
| 2 |
Mary Chadd |
16-8,19-5 |
| 3 |
Brian Fowler |
8-11,6-13 |
| 4 |
Jeanette Gayler |
17-13,5-17 |
| 5 |
Tony Gayler |
17-13,5-17 |
| 6 |
Bill Gearing |
13-8,8-10 |
| 7 |
Alan Hare |
12-6,7-11 |
| 8 |
Margaret Hare |
13-8,8-10 |
| 9 |
Brian McGivern |
16-8,19-5 |
| 10 |
Rebecca Nightingale |
13-8,8-10 |
| 11 |
Rosemary Followell |
8-7,6-13 |
| 12 |
Jill Quarterman |
16-8,19-5 |
| 13 |
Eileen Prior |
8-7,6-13 |
| 14 |
David Richards |
8-7,6-13 |
| 15 |
Scot Salmon |
13-8,8-10 |
| 16 |
Alan Spicer |
8-7,6-13 |
| 17 |
Darren Stanford |
10-17,14-13 |
| 18 |
Pauline Taylor |
10-17,14-13 |
| 19 |
Adrianne West |
8-11,6-13 |
| 20 |
Michael West |
13-12,16-8 |
| 21 |
John Taylor |
|
| 22 |
Cherry Nolan |
|