Match Report
Match Report - 11 Feb 2017, Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association Inter County Championship Premier 2 lost to Stockport Metro
Herts Broken By Stockport
Hertfordshire 13 Stockport Metro 27
Despite winning four of their six qualifying group games, Hertfordshire could only finish third and progressed to the Inter County Championship Consolation Plate competition. Their brief campaign came to an abrupt end at the hands of a strong Stockport Metro side.
Session 1 (singles and pairs)
The day started well enough with a positive first session of play. Michael West has been on fine form all season and he led from start to finish in his opening game albeit winning by a single shot. Michael won the first five ends to open up a 6-0 lead. A 3 on the 7th end contributed to a comfortable 10-2 position after nine ends. The Stockport player scored a maximum 4 shots to close the gap and two consecutive 2s brought him within one shot of the Herts maestro. Michael scored on the penultimate end and held his opponent to a single to finish 12-11 ahead.
In the other singles game, Alan Hare took an early 3-0 lead which he extended to 7-2 after seven ends. His opponent then registered eight unanswered shots to go ahead by three. Alan responded with two singles before losing a one and was two behind with two ends to play. A tight finish saw Alan score singles on each end and come out with an 11-11 draw.
Pauline Taylor and Darren Stanford opened up with a maximum 4 count. The next four ends were decided by single shots and the score was 5-3 in Herts’ favour. Pauline and Darren then strung together a run of six positive ends to lead 15-3. The last four ends were shared and the final score was 18-7.
Jeanette and Tony Gayler won eight of their fifteen ends but two dropped 4 shot counts proved to be decisive. Jeanette and Tony trailed at one point 5-13 before coming back to just three shots behind with two ends left. They couldn’t quite complete their comeback and finished at 10-16.
Session 1 result: Hertfordshire 5 points Stockport Metro 3 points
Session 2 (triples and fours)
Jill Oakes, Audrey Fowler and Brian McGivern came storming out of the traps with 5 shots on the first end followed by six more winning ends; 12-0 up at the half way point. Stockport got off the mark with 4 shots in two ends before a 3 and another 5 put the Herts trio in an unbeatable position. They dropped five shots in the last two ends but secured a comfortable 20-9 win.
Cherry Nolan, Margaret Regan and Ted Nolan started slowly and were 0-6 behind after just three ends. They got on the scoreboard on the fourth end but were knocked further back with another 6 shot scoring streak from their opponents. At 2-12 the Herts triple scored a 4 count to give themselves a chance. They outscored Stockport on the remaining four ends but could get no closer than 9-14.
Adrianne West, Margaret Hare, John Taylor and Bill Gearing were engaged in a close game where the lead changed hands four times. A lost 4 on the third end had them trailing 1-5 before they bounced back to go 6-5 ahead. Three tight ends saw them extend their lead to 8-6 and the score was unmoved on the next end when the umpire could not separate the two nearest bowls. Stockport scored a single on the 10th end and Herts led by one going into the decider. Their hopes were dashed by a 4 shot count for Stockport who took the game points 8-11.
Marion Cooper, Rebecca Nightingale, Robin Quarterman and Gordon Burrow started strongly and were 6-0 ahead. They were then on the wrong side of a six end scoring burst and trailed 6-11 with two ends to play. The Herts four scored on both and finished at 9-11.
Session 2 result: Hertfordshire 2 points Stockport Metro 6 points
At the halfway stage of the quarter final Hertfordshire were just 2 points behind their opponents at 7-9.
Session 3 (reverse singles and pairs)
Michael West exchanged singles with his opposite number for the first four ends before scoring a maximum and then 2 more to open an 8-2 lead. The Stockport singles player struck back with a 4 of his own and a single to get within one shot at 8-7. Michael scored a single before slipping behind 9-10 with four ends left. In devastating fashion Michael finished his day’s work with 9 unanswered shots to win 18-10. Another maximum haul of 4 game points for Michael West and he finished the county season with an impressive 79% win ratio from fourteen singles games.
Alan Hare had a game to forget as his young opponent scored on thirteen of their fifteen ends. Alan could only register two singles and lost out 2-26.
Pauline Taylor and Darren Stanford came from 0-4 behind to lead 5-4 after five ends played. The Stockport pair then proceeded to score 8 shots in four ends and the score was 5-12. The Herts duo fought hard to get back into the game and won four of the next five ends. With single shot scores only, they were four shots adrift with only the last end to play. They came very close to getting something from the game with a 3, just losing out 12-13.
Jeanette and Tony Gayler were 0-5 behind after the first two ends but levelled the scores at 5-5. Five shots in three ends for the Stockport pair re-established their lead 5-10. The Gaylers got back within three shots at 8-11 with four ends to play but their opponents had the better of the run in and Herts lost out 9-16.
Session 3 result: Hertfordshire 2 game pts + 0 bonus pts Stockport Metro 6 game pts + 4 bonus pts
If the result of the opening session had been repeated, the match position at this point would have been tied. However, Hertfordshire were left needing a maximum return from the final session of play to remain in the competition.
Session 4 (reverse triples and fours)
Jill Oakes, Audrey Fowler and Brian McGivern scored another early 5 count and led 6-2 after three ends. Stockport scored two singles before a 3 for Herts extended the lead at 9-4. The Herts trio were knocked back on their heels by 8 shots in three ends for their opponents who were ahead 9-12 after nine ends. A single for each side and the score was 10-13 with two ends to play. A 3 for Herts and the scores were level. A keenly contested final end went to Hertfordshire and the game was won 14-13.
Cherry and Ted Nolan, together with Margaret Regan were briefly level with their opponents at 1-1 after two ends. Nine shots dropped saw the Herts triple fall 1-10 behind. They stopped the Stockport charge for three ends; 5-12 after eight ends. From there on it was all Stockport who went on to win the game 5-20.
Adrianne West, Margaret Hare, John Taylor and Bill Gearing were ahead at 5-1 and 7-2 with half of their game played. The Stockport foursome then won four ends to tie the scores 7-7 with the final end to come. The Hertfordshire quartet squeezed home with a single shot and an 8-7 win.
Marion Cooper, Rebecca Nightingale, Robin Quarterman and Gordon Burrow were involved in a very tight game. With only single shots scored on the first six ends, Hertfordshire trailed 2-4. A 2 for Stockport was countered by a 3 for Hertfordshire and the teams were separated by one shot at 5-6. Herts were unable to score again and the final result was a 5-12 loss.
Session 4 result: Hertfordshire 4 game pts + 0 bonus pts Stockport Metro 4 game pts + 4 bonus pts
Match summary
After a positive start to this match, Hertfordshire’s county season rather fizzled out as a very strong Stockport Metro side came back to progress to the semi-finals of the Consolation Plate.
Hertfordshire performed well throughout the qualifying campaign and it was only because of some unusual results for the other counties in their group that they were not competing in the main draw for the Inter County Division A Championship.
Stockport Metro 27 - 13 Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association Inter County Championship Premier 2
| 1 |
Gordon Burrow |
9-11, 5-12 |
| 2 |
Marion Cooper |
9-11, 5-12 |
| 3 |
Audrey Fowler |
20-9, 14-13 |
| 4 |
Jeanette Gayler |
10-16, 9-16 |
| 5 |
Tony Gayler |
10-16, 9-16 |
| 6 |
Bill Gearing |
8-11, 8-7 |
| 7 |
Alan Hare |
11-11, 2-26 |
| 8 |
Margaret Hare |
8-11, 8-7 |
| 9 |
Brian McGivern |
20-9, 14-13 |
| 10 |
Rebecca Nightingale |
9-11, 5-12 |
| 11 |
Cherry Nolan |
9-14, 5-20 |
| 12 |
Rosemary Followell |
9-14, 5-20 |
| 13 |
Jill Quarterman |
20-9, 14-13 |
| 14 |
Robin Quarterman |
9-11, 5-12 |
| 15 |
Margaret Regan |
9-14, 5-20 |
| 16 |
Darren Stanford |
18-7, 12-13 |
| 17 |
John Taylor |
8-11, 8-7 |
| 18 |
Pauline Taylor |
18-7, 12-13 |
| 19 |
Adrianne West |
8-11, 8-7 |
| 20 |
Michael West |
12-11, 18-10 |
| 21 |
Roy Duke |
|
| 22 |
A.N. Other |
|