Match Report
Match Report - 25 Nov 2017, Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association Inter County Championship Premier 2 beat Buckinghamshire
With both teams virtually assured of qualification for the main knockout stage of the Inter County Championship, Herts versus Bucks (aka the Venison Derby) was to decide the top two positions in the qualifying group. Hertfordshire came very close to snatching top spot but finished as runners up.
Session 1 (singles and pairs)
Michael West scored a maximum 4 count on the 3rd end of his singles game to take an early 5-1 lead. He extended that lead to 8-2 before a spirited fightback from the Buckinghamshire player turned the game on its head. Michael was 8-9 behind with five ends to play. He levelled the scores on the next end and dominated the final stretch, scoring on each of the remaining ends to close out a 14-9 win. Jeanette Gayler leapt out to a 6-0 lead in the first three ends. Her opponent rallied with five scoring ends and the lead at 6-7. Jeanette regained the advantage with 2 shots before falling behind again at 8-11 with three ends left. Scoring singles on each end, Jeanette finished with a drawn result of 11-11.
Pauline Taylor and Alan Hare were tied with their opposition at 4-4 after five ends. They scored on four of the next five ends to lead 9-5. However, a dropped 4 followed by another 3 shots away had the Herts pair behind. At 9-13 with just two ends remaining, Pauline and Alan couldn’t close the gap enough and finished 11-13. Husband and wife Brian and Audrey Fowler started with 3 shots on the opening end, a score which was to be decisive. The rest of the game was evenly contested and was level three times at 3-3, 6-6 and 8-8. Scoring singles on the last three ends, the Fowlers finished with an 11-8 win.
Session 1 result: Hertfordshire 5 points Buckinghamshire 3 points
Session 2 (triples and fours)
Adrianne West, Mary Chadd and Brian McGivern opened up with a 5 shot first end and dominated their game, winning eight of the thirteen ends. Their opponents strung together two scoring ends only once to close the score to 10-6 before a 3 for the home trio restored a seven shot lead which they added to on the last two ends to finish 17-7 ahead. The other Herts triple of Jill Oakes, Alan Spicer and Tony Gayler were also in control of their game throughout. 7-0 up after four ends, they held the same margin at 10-3 before a 4 and a 2 put them into a winning position with two ends to spare. The last ends were shared and the final score was 17-4.
Jeff Branch, John Taylor, Peter Griffiths and Sam Salmon were 3-5 down after four ends and dropped a 5 on the next end. They continued to be outscored and trailed 5-15 with two ends left. A final end 4 shots narrowed the deficit to 10-15. For six ends Sue Murray, Margaret Regan, Ted Nolan and Ken Murray struggled to hold their opponents and the score was 2-9 in Bucks’ favour. Then a remarkable 7 shot count for Herts suddenly levelled the scores. However, Herts’ hopes were dashed by a final four end losing streak and a 9-18 loss.
Session 2 result: Hertfordshire 4 points Buckinghamshire 2 points
At the halfway point of the match Hertfordshire led by 4 points.
Session 3 (reverse singles and pairs)
Michael West trailed 3-5 after five ends before a maximum 4 shot count put him ahead, a lead he would not relinquish. Michael widened the gap to 11-5 and poured on the pressure to end with a 20-7 score line. Jeanette Gayler’s game was fiercely contested. At 1-4 down she had three scoring ends and led 5-4. An exchange of 3s made the score 8-7 before the Bucks player retook the lead at 8-10. Another 3 shots for Jeanette and she was once more ahead only for the scores to be tied at 11-11 with three ends remaining. These ends were very close, each ending with a single shot to Herts and a 14-11 win. With three wins and a draw and an overall winning aggregate score the Herts singles players gained 2 bonus points.
Pauline Taylor and Alan Hare impressed with an opening burst of 12 shots without reply in six ends. Their opponents matched them for four ends before a 3 had the Herts duo at 18-3 ahead. Despite losing the remaining ends, Pauline and Alan came out 18-9 on top. With the Herts pairs carrying over a 1 shot overall lead from the morning’s play, there was a strong chance that the bonus points from this discipline would go to Herts. But, in an almost mirror image of the other pairs game, Audrey and Brian Fowler couldn’t register a score on the first six ends and trailed 0-11. They went further behind to 2-17. They managed to hold their own in the last four ends, losing by 4-19.
Session 3 result: Herts 6 game pts and 2 bonus pts Bucks 2 game pts and 2 bonus pts
With a match lead of 8 points, Hertfordshire needed to win three of the remaining four games for the 10 point winning margin necessary to finish top of the qualifying group.
Session 4 (reverse triples and fours)
Adrianne West, Mary Chadd and Brian McGivern dropped two 3s in their opening five ends and were 5-8 behind after six. They scored two singles to narrow the gap and went ahead with a 4 shot 9th end. At 11-9 with three ends to play, the Herts trio struck with a maximum 6 shot count and were suddenly clear at 17-9. They finished comfortably 20-9 ahead. Just as in their morning game, Jill Oakes, Alan Spicer and Tony Gayler opened up with a scoring flourish and were 10-0 up with just four ends played. They were still ten shots in front at ten ends (14-4) and, despite dropping 3 shots on the 11th end, they went on to complete a 16-8 win. That meant a maximum 8 game points and 2 bonus points for Herts from the Triples discipline.
Sue Murray, Margaret Regan, Ted Nolan and Ken Murray scored a 3 on their 3rd end to lead 3-2. But they were to score only once more and, on the wrong end of a Bucks onslaught, they lost 5-24. The final fours game involving Jeff Branch, John Taylor, Peter Griffiths and Sam Salmon was poised at 3-3 after four ends. A setback with 5 shots dropped on the next end made the score 3-8. That 5 shots lost proved to be decisive with the two teams equally matched for the remainder of the game. The final result was a 7-12 loss for Herts.
Session 4 result: Herts 4 game pts and 2 bonus pts Bucks 4 game pts and 2 bonus pts
Match summary
Hertfordshire came very close to pulling off the 10 point win they needed to lead the qualifiers from their group. This second placed finish still means that they qualify for the knockout phase of the Inter County Championship but they will need to come through a preliminary round match to gain a place in the quarter finals. The preliminary round will be on the weekend of 3/4 February.
Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association Inter County Championship Premier 2 23 - 17 Buckinghamshire
| 1 |
Michael West |
14-9, 22-7 |
| 2 |
Jeanette Gayler |
11-11, 14-11 |
| 3 |
Pauline Taylor |
11-13, 18-9 |
| 4 |
Alan Hare |
11-13, 18-9 |
| 5 |
Audrey Fowler |
11-8, 4-19 |
| 6 |
Brian Fowler |
11-8, 4-19 |
| 7 |
Adrianne West |
17-7, 20-9 |
| 8 |
Mary Chadd |
17-7, 20-9 |
| 9 |
Brian McGivern |
17-7, 20-9 |
| 10 |
Jill Quarterman |
17-4, 16-8 |
| 11 |
Alan Spicer |
17-4, 16-8 |
| 12 |
Tony Gayler |
17-4, 16-8 |
| 13 |
Jeff Branch |
10-15, 7-12 |
| 14 |
John Taylor |
10-15, 7-12 |
| 15 |
Peter Griffiths |
10-15, 7-12 |
| 16 |
Scot Salmon |
10-15, 7-12 |
| 17 |
Sue Murray |
9-18, 5-24 |
| 18 |
Margaret Regan |
9-18, 5-24 |
| 19 |
Rosemary Followell |
9-18, 5-24 |
| 20 |
Ken Murray |
9-18, 5-24 |
| 21 |
Eileen Prior |
|
| 22 |
Elizabeth Bradley |
|