Hertfordshire v Northamptonshire
October 30th 2022
Sunday saw Hertfordshire play their second match of the 2022/23 ICC season at Elm Court against Northamptonshire. During the summer our county squad have had two friendly’s against this team, both of which we lost. How would we get on now we are playing a qualifying county match? For our second match of the season the whole squad of 20 players were in their full county kit of the new top with black trousers. As the teams lined up for the initial talk at the start of the game Hertfordshire had won the fashion parade, read on to see how the slightly more important case of the match went. This match the singles and fours played first followed by the pairs and triples. This change to the running order was made to allow for a playing umpire to be free on all sessions.
Session one
Martin Nash played singles on mat one. Martin took the first end for a single, Northampton’s player, Edward Sawbridge rated No 5 singles player in the world rankings then started to get our Elm Court mat taking four singles and a double to go 6 – 1 up after six ends. Martin took end seven for a single. Edward then took a double and a single to increase his lead. Martin then took a single on end ten. Ends eleven and twelve saw both players take a double. Ends thirteen and fourteen saw both players take a single. Northampton’s Edward took the last end for a double and the win at 14 – 6 which despite the score was actually a closely fought match.
Darren Brown played the second singles on mat two. Darren started well, taking the first three ends for doubles. Northampton then took a double followed by a hotshot four to make it level at 6 all after five ends. Ends six and seven went for a single apiece, then Northampton took two further singles and a 9 – 7 lead after nine ends. Ends ten and eleven also went for a single apiece, so Northampton maintained their two shot lead after eleven ends. Darren now took control taking the last four ends for two doubles and two singles, taking the win at 14 – 10
Audrey Fowler, Toni Gearing, Trevor Knight and Bill Gearing played fours on mat three. Our four took the first end for a single. Northampton’s four then started a short run taking three singles and a three to go 6 – 1 up after five ends. Our four then held a triple and they followed this with a single to be only one shot behind at 5 – 6 after seven ends. The last four ends all went Northampton’s way, with them taking two singles, a triple and finishing with a six, they had a good win at 17 – 5.
Tony Gayler, Denise Moores, Carol Still and Darren Stanford played the other fours match on mat four. Starting well, they took the first end for a four. They followed this with a triple to be 7 – 0 up after only two ends. The next two ends saw Northamptonshire take two singles. This was followed by both teams taking a single, giving our four the lead at 8 – 3 after six ends. Our four then started a run taking the next four ends for singles. The last end went Northamptonshire’s way for a single. However, our Tony, Denise, Carol and Darren had the win at 12 – 4.
At the end of session one, both teams had two wins so it was 4 all. Northamptonshire however, had the better shot difference of plus four on both disciplines.
Session 2
Mat one had Pauline Taylor, Alan Spicer and Brian McGivern playing triples. The first six ends saw our three take command of this game. Starting with a single, they followed this with a triple, two more singles then a stunning five followed by a double to be 13 – 0 up after only six ends. Northamptonshire then held end seven for a double. Our three continued their domination taking two more singles, followed by two triples. The penultimate end saw Northamptonshire take their second end of the match for three shots. With one end to play our three had the lead at 21 – 5 and repeating their earlier score on end five, took another five shots and the tremendous win of 26 – 5.
Mat two had Beverly Stevenson, Brian Fowler and Neil Rixon playing the second triples. Northampton started well taking two singles. They followed this with two triples to go 8 – 0 up after four ends. Our three now halved the deficit taking a four, only to see Northampton take a four the following end and restore their eight shot advantage. However, our three then took a triple and although Northampton took a single, our three followed it with a four, reducing Northampton’s lead to 13 – 11 after nine ends. The following two ends went for a single apiece. The penultimate end had Northampton holding a further single and a 15 – 12 lead. Bev, Brian and Neil held the last end for a double reducing Northampton’s win to one shot at 15 – 14.
Mat three had Jeanette Gayler and Mark Spalding playing pairs. Northampton took the first end for a single but with our pair following this with a single and two doubles they had a 5 – 1 lead after four ends. Northampton held end five for a double reducing our lead to 5 – 3. The following two ends went for a single apiece and with Northampton holding end eight for a single they had reduced our lead to one shot at 6 – 5. Our pair then took a double, with Northampton holding on for a single. The next four ends saw this pattern repeated so, going into the last end our pair had a 12 – 8 lead. Jeanette and Mark took the last end for a double and the win at 14 – 8.
Mat four had Jeff Branch and Dennis Mack playing the second pairs. Northampton took the first two ends for singles. Our pair then levelled it taking end three for a double but Northampton took the lead back taking a single. Our pair then started a run taking two doubles and three singles to go 9 – 3 up after nine ends. The Northampton pair held end ten for a double. Our pair came straight back for a single, although with Northampton taking a second double, they had reduced our lead to 10 – 7 with three ends to play. Jeff and Dennis took the last three ends for a double and two singles giving them a good win at 14 – 7.
Winning on three mats and only losing the forth by one shot now put Hertfordshire in front. Not only had the score improved to 10 – 6. We had a 20 shot lead in the triples and a 13 shot lead in the pairs. The possibility of those bonus points looked good.
Session 3
Mat one had our four of Tony, Denise, Carol and Darren playing their second fours game. They started well taking the first end for a triple. Northampton then took the second end for five shots however our four took the lead back by taking a second triple. Northampton then took end four for a single making it all square at 6 all. Taking end five for a double and end six for a four Tony, Denise, Carol and Darren then took a 12 - 6 lead after six ends. Northampton then started a short comeback taking a single and a double to reduce their deficit to 12 – 9. However, our four took the last three ends for singles giving them a 15 – 9 win.
Mat two had our four of Audrey, Toni, Trevor and Bill. Northampton started strongly taking the first end for five shots, they followed this with two singles and a triple to go 10- 0 up after four ends. Our four then started a run taking three singles, reducing Northampton’s lead to seven shots. Northampton’s reply was to take a five on end eight and they followed this with a triple to go 18 – 3 up. Audrey, Toni, Trevor and Bill took the last two ends for a double and a single. However, Northampton had the win at 18 – 6.
Mat three had Darren Brown playing Northampton’s Edward Sawbridge. Darren started with a single and he followed that with a triple. Edward held end three for a double but with Darren taking end four for a single followed by a double, he was 7 – 2 up after five ends. Edward then took end six for a hotshot four followed by a double giving him the lead at 8 – 7 after seven ends. Darren then held end eight for a single to level the game at the half way stage at eight all. Edward held end nine for a single but with Darren taking a double he had regained the lead at 10 – 9 after ten ends. Edward then took the lead back, holding end eleven for a triple. Darren took end twelve for a single. However, Edward then finished the game taking the last three ends for a triple followed by a four and a single giving Northampton the win at 20 – 11.
Mat four had Martin Nash playing the final single of the day. Northampton started well taking the first end for a double. Martin held end two for a single, with Northampton replying by taking a double. Martin took end four for single. With Northampton holding end five for another double, they had extended their lead to 6 – 2. With the following two ends going for two shots apiece, Northampton retained their four shot lead. Martin then took the following two ends for singles. However, Northampton replied taking end ten for a triple and the lead at 11 – 6. Martin then took control, holding end eleven for a three followed by a hotshot four, he had the lead at 13 – 11 with three ends to play. Martin continued his run, taking a further double and another hotshot four to go 19 – 11 up with one end to play. Northampton held the last end for a double however, Martin had a good win at 19 – 13.
Winning two and losing two gave both teams four more points. However Northampton had the positive shot difference in both the singles and the fours giving them the four available bonus points. With one session to play the score was now 14 – 14.
Session 4
Mat one had Jeff Branch and Dennis Mack playing their second pairs game. Northampton took the first end for a single, with our pair then taking ends two and three for singles. They followed this with two doubles to go 6 – 1 up after five ends. Northampton won end six with three shots and followed this with three doubles to go 10 – 6 up after nine ends. Our pair then took the following three ends for a double and two singles. It was all square at 10 all after twelve ends. End thirteen and Northampton held on for a double and a two shot lead. Jeff and Dennis took the last two ends for singles leaving the game all square at 12 all.
Mat two had Jeanette and Mark playing the last pairs of the day. Northampton started well taking the first end for a triple. Our pair took a single which was followed by each pair taking a double to make the score 5 – 3 to Northampton after four ends. Our pair then held on for a single but with Northampton taking a triple on end six they had an 8 – 4 lead after six ends. Jeanette and Mark then took a single followed by a triple and it was all square at 8 all after eight ends. The following two ends went for a single apiece as did ends eleven and twelve so we were back at all square 10 all. End thirteen and Northampton took a single and the lead. The penultimate end saw Jeanette and Darren take a one shot lead by taking a double. In this closely fought game (with the jack leaving the mat three times), Northampton took the last end for a single, leaving the score at 12 all in a repeat of Jeff and Dennis’s score.
Mat three and our triple of Beverly, Brian and Neil started well taking the first end for a single. Northampton’s reply was to take two singles, followed by a double and a further single giving them the lead at 5 – 1 after five ends. Our three then pulled back taking end six for a triple, with Northampton replying by scoring a double. Taking end eight for a single then following it with a four, Bev, Brian and Neil regained the lead at 9 – 7 after nine ends. Northampton then took a single, followed by a double and then a triple to go 13 – 9 up with one end to play. Bev, Brian and Neil held the last end for a double but Northampton had the win at 13 – 11
Mat four and the last game of the day was the triple of Pauline, Alan and Brian. Starting well our three took the first end for a triple, Northampton replied taking a single and this was followed by a single apiece. With Northampton taking end five for a further single, Pauline, Alan and Brian had a one shot lead at 4 – 3 after five ends. End six and our three took a further single. This was followed by end seven being declared a dead end. Northampton started a small run taking two singles and two doubles to go 9 – 5 with two ends to play. The last two ends saw Pauline, Alan and Brian take a single and a double. However, Northampton had a single shot win at 9 – 8.
With both pairs having draws that was 2 points for each team However, thanks to the earlier thirteen shot lead Hertfordshire also took the bonus points. Before the addition of the triples scores, Hertfordshire had edged into the lead at 18 – 16. Losing both triples at this stage gave Northampton 4 more points. However, despite losing three of the four triples the high scoring earlier win by Pauline, Alan and Brian meant that Hertfordshire comfortably held the two bonus points for the triples, making the final score a 20 - 20 draw. Total shots for the day were Hertfordshire 199 to Northampton’s 186.
Looking at the group table Hertfordshire are currently placed last. However, Hertfordshire and Cambridge are both one match behind Northamptonshire and Suffolk. The next match on the 13th of November between Hertfordshire and Cambridge will be the one to win. Watch this space.