Playing at Bristol Indoor Bowls Club, Hertfordshire managed to beat Cornwall 21 - 19 in a last minute thriller to win their preliminary round match in the Inter Counties 'A' Competition. The overall match was decided on the very last end of the final Fours game, With the skips on the mat, Hertfordshire were one down needing 2 shots to draw the game and win the match. Although Herts clearly held one shot, the umpire was called in to adjudicate, and the second shot was decided in Herts favour by the merest tip of his measure! The game was drawn and the match won!
Hertfordshire will now meet Hampshire in the quarter-finals.
Match Report
Session 1
Hertfordshire got off to a great start in Session 1, winning all four games and gaining maximum points. Both singles players were in good form. Dennis Mack recovered from being 10 - 7 down after 11 ends to win the final 4 ends and the game by 14 shots to 11. In his game, Bill Gearing went into the lead on the first end and never lost it. Although his Cornish opponent pressed him hard, Bill fought him off to win 12 - 10. In both Pairs games, Hertfordshire took an early lead and went on to win. Jeanette Gayler and Martin Nash winning comfortably 19 - 7. Audrey and Brian Fowler's game was closer, with Brian and Audrey winning by 14 shots to 10.
Score: Herts 8pts Cornwall 0pts
Session 2.
Session 2 didn't go so well, with Cornwall winning 3 of the 4 games. The Triple of Brian McGivern, Jill Quarterman and Pauline Taylor never looked like losing and gave Herts their only win of the session by 14 shots to 5. Tony Gayler, Margaret Hare and Julia Bruce had a very tight game. Although they took an early lead and were still one shot up going into the final end, they unfortunately dropped 2 shots and lost 13 - 12. Both Fours were rather one-sided in favour of the Cornishmen. Sue Murray, Mick Thrush, John Taylor and skip Ken Murray went down 10 - 5. Similarly Jeff Branch, Robin Quarterman, Barry Thoroughgood and their skip Sam Salmon were always behind losing by 12 shots to 5.
Score: Herts 10 Cornwall 6
Session 3
Dennis continued his excellent form going into the lead from the start and pulling away from his opponent to win by 14 shots to 7. In his game, Bill Gearing started well and was 6 - 3 up after 7 ends. Unfortunately Bill's run ended there and he didn't win another shot, losing 15 - 6. In the Pairs, Audrey and Brian continued in spectacular fashion winning easily by 25 shots to 5. However, Martin and Jeanette couldn't continue their winning form and were always chasing their game, losing 15 - 5. However, Hertfordshire took all 4 bonus points.
Score: Herts 18 Cornwall 10
Session 4
Cornwall again had the best of the the fourth session, winning 2 games, losing 1 and with one drawn. Tony Gayler's Triple won an exciting game 16 -13. Taking an early lead, Herts dropped a 4 on end 12 to go behind, fortunately they won the final 2 ends to clinch the game. Brian's triple didn't seem to get into their game and lost 18 - 6. In the Fours, Ken Murray's team, with Toni Gearing substituting for Sue Murray, came across a very determined Cornish team and after dropping a 5 on the second end were always behind, losing by 13 shots to 5. Similarly Sam's team looked like going the same way being 9 - 4 down after 6 ends. However after being warned that they needed a least a draw for Herts to win overall, they dug deep and finally caught up on the final end to level the score 10 shots all and win the match! Cornwall took all the bonus points from this session.
Final Score: Hertfordshire 21pts Cornwall 19pts