10 Oct 2021
After a two year wait the ESMBA ICC competition is now up and running again. With a revised format and with both the home match and the away match being played on the same day it was a case of into the unknown for all competitors, especially as it was straight in with no trial ends. The home game and the away game were two separate competitions with no combining of scores or bonus points. Your reporter attended the home game where the atmosphere could only be described as nervous excitement. Although there were only half the previous number of contenders, we did also have a few spectators and we all eagerly awaited the proceedings. Following the usual team talk and line up our matches against old rivals London began.
Home Match at Elm Court
Session 1
In the new format session one comprised of two singles matches.
Mat one saw Martin Nash get off to a good start taking three shots on the first end of the fifteen end match. Martin steadily took end after end and by the sixth end martin had a 10 – 1 lead, London then started a bit of a comeback and the match was more even although they could not recover from the initial losses, Martin won 17 – 12.
Darren Brown played on mat two. Darren took the first end for two shots. London came straight back to level at two all. Darren then stormed ahead taking a four. By end six Darren was 9 – 3 in front. In the remaining nine ends Darren took a four and a three along with a few singles. Although London took four more ends for mainly singles, Darren kept his lead to win 19-8
Winning both Mats and taking the bonus points, Hertfordshire had a healthy lead of 6 – 0.
Session 2.
Session two saw the triples played out over twelve ends.
Mat one Hertfordshire triples were Pauline Taylor, Julia Bruce and Trevor Knight. The first four ends went against them and they were trailing at 0-7. The next three ends saw our Hertfordshire team come back well including taking a four to level the game on end seven at 7 all. In a tight game going back and forth saw end nine at 8 all and end eleven at 9 all, the last end was well fought, London’s skip’s last bowl of this match slid in to take a single shot giving London the win at 10-9.
Jill Quarterman, Neil Rixon and Alan Hare played the other triples match on mat two. London took the first two ends for three shots each. The remaining ten ends saw London and Hertfordshire taking five ends apiece. These ends were all much closer being mainly singles with Hertfordshire taking some ends for two. The match ended with a win for London of 12 – 8.
Winning both Mats and taking the bonus points London had levelled the match at 6 all at Lunch.
Session 3.
Session three and the pairs began, fifteen ends this time.
Neil Rixon and Alan Hare were on Mat one and started by taking a single, although London came straight back with a two, Hertfordshire instantly replied with a two and a four. At end five Hertfordshire were 7 – 3 up and by end eight they were 12 – 3 up. London now started a comeback taking the next three ends and narrowing the gap to 12 – 8. The next four ends were shared at winning two each, Hertfordshire winning the match 14 – 12.
The mat two pair were Julia Bruce and Trevor Knight. London took the first end for a single but our pair replied by taking a four followed by a single. London then took a few ends and at end six it was evens at five shots apiece. The Hertfordshire pair then stepped up the pressure taking a two a single and another four, after ten ends they were 12 – 7 up. Hertfordshire continued the pressure taking the following four ends. London won the last end for a single, however the damage had been done and Hertfordshire won 17 – 8.
Winning both Mats and taking the bonus points, Hertfordshire now regained the lead 12 - 6.
Session 4.
Session four saw the fours played over eleven ends.
Mat one had the team of Pauline Taylor, Julia Bruce, Trevor Knight and Skip Martin Nash. First blood went to Hertfordshire winning the first end by two shots. After three more closely fought ends the score was level at three all. In a game of nip and tuck the next two ends saw the score move on to four all. Two more ends and it was five all. End nine saw Hertfordshire take a two for a 7 – 5 lead, London came straight back with a three to go one in front with one end remaining. Hertfordshire triumphed taking the last end of the match for a three to win 10 – 8.
Mat two had the team of Tony Gayler, Jeanette Gayler, Neil Rixon and skip Darren Brown. Hertfordshire started well with two two’s. London came back for a single so after three ends Hertfordshire had a small lead of 4 – 1. The next five ends all went Hertfordshire’s way, so at end eight Hertfordshire had a healthy lead of 14 – 1. End nine saw a turn around for London and they took a six to reduce Hertfordshire’s lead to 14 – 7. The last two ends went for a single each with Hertfordshire comfortably winning 15 – 8.
Winning both Mats and taking the bonus points, Hertfordshire won the Home match 18 – 6.
Well, if you’ve found it exciting so far then let me tell you we are only halfway through. We now have the away match report which I am intrigued to read as I (your reporter) was not there.
The away match to London was played at The Addington Leisure Centre, Croydon. A venue Hertfordshire has not visited before.
Session 1.
The singles started and Mat one had Alan Spicer playing. London took the first end for two shots. However, Alan came straight back to take a three. London took the next two but by end five the match was level at 5 all. The following four ends saw London take a two with Alan taking a double and two singles to go 9 – 7 up. London then got a single but Alan again replied with a single a double and a three to go 15 – 8 up after 13 ends. Alan then took a further three. London won the last end of the match for a single but Alan had won with a score of 18 – 9.
Mat two saw Jeff Branch taking three of the first four ends to take a lead of 4 – 1. London came back taking two doubles followed by Jeff taking a single to level the match at five all after seven ends. Jeff then stormed in, taking the next two ends for four apiece followed by a single. Although London took end eleven for a single, Jeff then came straight back with a triple, a double and a single. London took the last end for a double. However, Jeff won with an impressive score of 20 – 8.
Winning both Mats and taking the bonus points, Hertfordshire had a healthy lead of 6 – 0.
Session 2.
The Triples. Mat one comprised Jan Rodgers, Darren Stanford and Brian McGivern. Hertfordshire got off to a good start by taking a three followed by two singles and two doubles, so at end five Hertfordshire were 9 – 0 up. London then got a single, Hertfordshire then took a double followed by London taking another single. Hertfordshire won three of the remaining four ends with London managing a double on end fourteen. Hertfordshire taking another good win of 15 – 4.
Mat two comprised of Audrey Fowler, Liz Bradley and Brian Fowler. Hertfordshire took the first end for a single with London coming straight back with a single of their own. Hertfordshire won the following three ends to go 6 – 1 up after five ends. London took the following two ends however, Hertfordshire replied taking the next three and at end ten they were 14 – 4 in the lead. With two ends to go London turned the tables on Hertfordshire taking them both for five apiece earning a draw with the scores at 14 all.
Winning one mat and drawing the other ensured that we also took the bonus points, increasing Hertfordshire’s lead to 11 – 1 at Lunch.
Session 3.
The pairs. Jan Rodgers and Brian McGivern played on mat 1. After losing the first two ends to go 0 -3 down our pair then started to come back and the match was level at five all after seven ends. Hertfordshire then took two singles to take a small lead. London took end ten for a single to close the gap to 7 – 6 to Hertfordshire. Our triple then took the following four ends for a double and three triples to have a healthy lead after fourteen ends. Although London took the last end for a double, Hertfordshire had a good win of 18 – 8.
Audrey and Brian Fowler played on mat 2. Audrey and Brian started with a single, Although London replied with a double our pair came straight in with a four to take a 5 – 2 lead. Of the following twelve ends London only managed to take one single and two doubles. With Brian and Audrey taking singles, doubles and two more fours they had a comfortable win of 22 - 7.
Winning both Mats and taking the bonus points, Hertfordshire increased their lead to 17 -1.
Session 4.
Hertfordshire’s fist four on Mat 1 were Audrey Fowler, Liz Bradley, Jeff Branch and Skip Brian Fowler. Taking the first three ends to go 7 – 0 up saw our first four get of to a good start. London then took a double however, our four continued their winning streak taking the next four ends. So after eight of the eleven ends Hertfordshire had a healthy lead of 16 – 2. London then took ends nine and ten for two shots apiece. Hertfordshire then won the last end with two shots winning the game 18 – 6.
Our second four on mat 2 were Alan Spicer, Jan Rodgers, Darren Stanford and skip Brian McGivern. Well what a start. Our four took the very first end for a six. London then took the next two ends to narrow the gap to 6 – 3. After that our four just kept winning and by end eight the score was 19 – 3. London managed to take a single on end nine, however our four continued their winning streak taking the last two ends to win 23 – 4.
Winning both Mats and taking the bonus points, Hertfordshire increased their lead and won the match 23 -1
What an exciting start to the first stage of this competition, with two wins under our belt we are all looking forward to round two which is against West Sussex on the 31st October. This will again be two matches. The away game will be at Six Villages Sport Centre near Chichester. The home game will again be at Elm Court with play starting at 10.00 if you are not playing then why not come along to support. Bring your own cup for tea and sit and watch some excellent games.