Herts lost their last game of the first round of the Inter Counties “A” Competition against Cambridgeshire, 19 points to 21 in a tightly fought match. Herts won seven and drew one of the sixteen games and took half of the available bonus points. It was a close-run thing, as Herts actually took more shots at 189 to 184. Losing this match puts us second in our group, Cambridgeshire coming first. As the first two in the group go through, we are now waiting for the draw to be made, to see where we will be playing on either the 15^th or 16^th of February.

Session 1

Herts made a good start, winning three of the four games in the first session. Michael West took the first end by 1 shot but then lost the next two ends and was down 1 – 4. Michael then fought back, taking nine of the remaining twelve ends, to comfortably win 17 – 9. Dennis Mack took the first three ends to go 7 – 0 up. Dennis only lost five of the remaining ends, to easily win 16 – 6. Julia Bruce and Bill Gearing had a close game drawing level at end six and again at end eleven. However, they lost three of the remaining four ends to lose 10 – 13. Brian Fowler and Audrey Fowler won the first three ends to go 3 – 0 up. Although they lost 7 of the remaining ends, five were only by 1 shot. The five ends they did win were all by 2 shots, giving them a win of 13 – 9.

Cambridgeshire 2 Hertfordshire 6

Session 2

In a reversal of fortune, Herts only won one of the four games in the second session. Jeff Branch, Alan Spicer and Brian McGivern started well and were 5 – 0 up after two ends. They then lost the next four ends and unfortunately, never really recovered, losing 11 -16. Pauline Taylor, Robin Quarterman and Martin Nash only lost four ends in their game and had a good win 15 – 6. Sue Murray, Jill Quarterman, Trevor Knight and Ken Murray had a tough game, only winning two ends and finally lost 5 - 18. Jan Rodgers, Margaret Hare, Alan Hare and Carol Still were 7 – 1 up after five ends. By the penultimate end their lead had been reduced, but they were still ahead 9 – 7. The last end - well I am sure they would rather forget - as they went down for 7 shots, losing 9 – 14.

Cambridgeshire 8 Hertfordshire 8

Session 3

Session three was even, winning two and losing two. However, thanks to some good wins, we managed to take the bonus points for the singles and the pairs. Michael won six ends but was unfortunate and lost the other nine, losing 7 – 16. Dennis started slowly and was 1 – 6 down after four ends. However, the game then turned around and Dennis took eight of the remaining eleven ends to comfortably win 19 – 12. Julia and Bill won the first end by three shots and were ahead for the whole game, finally winning 17 – 9. Audrey and Brian had a very close match, with the scores being within 2 points for the whole game. At end fourteen they were winning 10 – 9 but unfortunately, they went down for three shots on the last end to lose 10 – 12.

Cambridgeshire 12 Hertfordshire 16 (Including Bonus Points 0 - 4)

Session 4

This session was tough for Hertfordshire. Jeff, Alan and Brian lost the first five ends and were 0 – 8 down and although they started a comeback, they couldn’t quite recover and lost 7 – 11. Pauline, Robin and Martin took the first two ends to go 4 – 0 up but then lost the next three and were 4 – 10 down after five ends. They won a further four ends but lost 10 – 14. Jan, Margaret, Alan and Carol lost the first end by one shot and then took the second by four shots. In a close fought game where most ends were only won by one shot, they managed a win 10 – 6. Sue, Jill, Trevor and Ken lost three of the first four ends and were losing 1 – 7. They then pulled it back including taking one end for five. By end ten they were winning 13 – 11. In a nail-biting finish to a hard-fought game they lost the final end by two shots, resulting in a tied game 13 – 13. Unfortunately, Hertfordshire did not manage to take the bonus points for the triples or the fours.

Cambridgeshire 21 Hertfordshire 19 (Including Bonus Points 4 - 0)