Herts lost their unbeaten record in the Inter Counties "A" Competition when they could only draw at home against a strong Bucks team. Although Herts won three of the four triples, unfortunately they didn't manage to bag the triple bonus points which would have given them the match. As a consolation Herts took a shots victory by 193 shots to 182, and remain in second place in their Group!
Session 1
Herts started well winning three of the four games in the first session. Both singles players were on top form with big wins in their first games. Michael West dominated his game taking a 12 - 1 lead before his opponent started to fight back but Michael held out to win by 14 shots to 8. Bill Gearing took an early lead in his game and never looked in any trouble, extending his lead to win 18 - 10. The Pairs games were shared. Dennis Mack and Jeanette Gayler overwhelmed their opponents to win by 14 shots to 4 but Brian and Audrey Fowler had a much tougher game; going behind 7 - 0 after four ends, they began to find their form but went on to lose 18 - 6.
Hertfordshire 6 Buckinghamshire 2
Session 2
Another good session for Hertfordshire again winning three of the four games. Herts won both the Triples matches. Pauline Taylor, Robin Quarterman and Tony Gayler had a comfortable win over their opponents. Down 7 - 5 after seven ends, they then had a purple patch taking 12 shots from the next 3 ends to win 17 -10. Jeff Branch, Jill Quarterman and Brian McGivern had a very close game, going behind 7 - 0 before they pulled themselves together to force a narrow win by 13 shots to 12. The fours were shared with Bill Durham, Mike Eccelestone, Ros Lewison and their Skip, Ken Murray, comfortably winning their match while Carol Still, Julia Bruce, Mick Thrush and Alan Hare lost theirs. Ken's Four just wore their opponents down, taking a single on each of the first 6 ends before finishing with a flourish, scoring 7 on the final 3 ends to win 13 - 2. Alan's team had a much tougher game and were always behind, only winning on 3 ends, they lost by 19 shots to 6.
Hertfordshire 12 Buckinghamshire 4
Session 3
Honours were even in the third session with Herts again taking both the Singles games while losing both the Pairs. Michael continued his good form with another big win; he quickly established a 7 -1 lead before his opponent fought back fiercely to go ahead 11 - 7, Michael then dug deep to win the last 6 ends and the game by 19 shots to 11. Bill had a very tough game which was evenly matched throughout; down by 2 shots, Bill drew on all his reserves to take the final three ends and win 13 - 11. Unfortunately Dennis and Jeanette couldn't reproduce the form of their first game and were always behind, losing 6 - 19. Brian and Audrey fought hard in a very close match and were level going into the last end, but dropped a single shot to go down 10 - 9. Bonus points were shared with Herts taking the singles and Bucks the pairs points.
Hertfordshire 18 Buckinghamshire 10
Session 4
This session belonged to Buckinghamshire, winning three of the four matches and taking all the bonus points to draw the match overall. The Triples were shared with Brian's team winning their match and Tony's losing theirs. Brian's Triple took an early lead and went on to win comfortably 17 - 10. Unfortunately Tony's team seem to have lost their previous form and were 10 - 0 down after only three ends. This was too big a hurdle to overcome and they lost by 23 - 6! The fours were even less successful losing both matches. Although Ken's team were well in the game with a slender lead after six ends they lost four of the final five ends to do down 13 - 8. Alan's team were always behind and, despite changing their order and making Carol skip, they were well beaten by 15 shots to 4. Bucks took all the bonus points to draw the match.
Hertfordshire 20 Buckinghamshire 20