It was a (Cam)Bridge Too Far for Hertfordshire as they made their exit from the Inter County Championship at the hands of their near neighbours Cambridgeshire.

The day didn't start well when Darren Stanford fell victim to Network Rail weekend maintenance and Peter Regan had to be roused from his Sunday lie in to rush to Brentwood as an emergency substitute.

The only point from the first session of play came from Pauline Taylor and Jeanette Gayler who drew their pairs game 11-11.  Both Michael West and Tony Gayler faced tough opposition in the singles, Michael losing 8-15 and Tony going down 2-27. In the remaining pairs game, Audrey and Brian Fowler came second at 9-14.

The second session had a similar feel.  Both fours games were lost; Margaret Hare, Peter Regan, Sam Salmon and Alan Hare 7-13 and Adrianne West, Graham Yates, John Taylor and Aaron Jones 7-12.  Margaret Regan, Peter Griffiths and Ken Murray led 10-3 after nine ends but failed to score again and ended at 10-12.  Herts did pick up two points from the other triples game with Sue Murray, Jill Oakes and Brian McGivern coming out on top at 19-5.

Michael West and Tony Gayler performed better in the third session both scoring 11 shots but still ending on the wrong side of 11-16 and 11-17 scorelines.  Pauline Taylor and Jeanette Gayler again registered points with a 13-11 win while the Fowlers lost 6-16.

In the final session of play Margaret Regan, Peter Griffiths and Ken Murray repeated their earlier score of 10-12.  Having performed well in the morning, Sue Murray, Jill Oakes and Brian McGivern decided it was time for their afternoon nap and slipped to a 8-15 defeat.  But, despite only winning one of the triples games, the big earlier win meant that Herts took the bonus points from the triples discipline.  Both fours had terrific results.  Adrianne West, Graham Yates, John Taylor and Aaron Jones won 19-11.  Margaret Hare, Peter Regan, Sam Salmon and Alan Hare did even better finishing 18-4 ahead.  These two scores secured the fours bonus points for Hertfordshire.

It was no great surprise that Cambridgeshire who won their qualifying group were too strong for Hertfordshire on the day.  However, Herts can take a lot from the fact they were more than a match for the opposition in two of the four disciplines.