Sunday the 03rd December had our ICC team travel down to Ashford for the return match against Kent. Having only scored six points in our previous game against Kent at Stevenage the squad were hoping for an improved result.
Session one
Martin Nash played singles on mat one. Martin held a single on the first end. Kent then took a run of three ends to go 10 – 1 up. Martin held end five for a double but with Kent taking a further four on end six they were 14 – 3 up. Martin took a triple but by end eleven Kent had a lead of 22 – 6. Martin held end twelve for a hotshot four and followed this with two singles. Kent took the last end for a single and the win at 23 – 12.
Darren Brown played singles on mat two. Kent held the first end for a single, Darren replied by taking a triple, taking two more singles Kent made it level at 3 all after four ends. Kent now started a run of ends and by end nine they had a 14 – 3 lead. Darren then took two doubles to bring the score to 14 – 7 with four ends to play. Kent held three of the remaining four ends and with end thirteen being declared a tied end Kent had the win at 19 – 7.
James Hunt and Mark Spalding played pairs on mat three. Kent got into their stride taking the first four ends for singles followed by a double, James and Mark then got on the scorecard with a single on end six. Kent took a further run of ends and were 16 – 1 up after eleven ends. James and Mark then took a double and a single. With the final two ends going for a single apiece Kent had the win at 17 – 5.
Bev Stevenson and Darren Stanford played pairs on mat four. Our pair started with a double, Kent came straight back for a triple. Bev and Darren then evened the score by taking a single on end three. Kent took the following end for a double. Bev and Darren followed this with a single. Kent then started a short run, taking a single and two doubles they had a 10 – 4 lead after eight ends. Bev and Darren then took a double and a single. With the following two ends going for a double each, Kent had the lead at 12- 9 after twelve ends. Kent held end thirteen for a triple. With the last two ends going for a single each, Kent had the win at 16 – 10.
At the end of the first session Kent were in the lead at 8 – 0
Session two
Alan Spicer, Julia Bruce and Brian McGivern played triples on mat one. Kent held the first end for a triple. Our three came straight back for a single. Kent then held two singles to go 5 – 1 up. Alan, Julia and Brian held end five for a single but with Kent holding end six for a five they were winning 10 – 2. Our three then held a triple, Kent held a single but end nine saw our three hold a four and they followed this with a single to be only one shot behind with three ends to play. End eleven and Kent held a triple, Alan, Julia and Brian matched this to go into the last end only one shot behind. The last end saw Kent hang on for a single and the win at 15 – 13.
Audrey Fowler, Jan Rogers and Jeff Branch played triples on mat two. Our three started with a double, Kent came back for a single but our three stayed in the lead by taking a single on end three. Again Kent came back for a single but Audrey, Jan and Jeff then took a further double to go 5 – 2 up after five ends. Kent then took two singles, following this with a double they had the lead at 6 – 5 after eight ends. With end nine being declared a tied end Kent then took a single to increase their lead to 7 – 5. End eleven and Audrey, Jan and Jeff leveled the score with a double. Following this by taking the last two ends for singles, we had our first win at 9 – 7.
Tony Gayler, Doreen Andre, Mike Haslam and Alan Hare played fours on mat three. Kent started by taking a triple on the first end and they followed this with a double. Our four then took a run of three singles. Kent increased their lead by taking end six for a double and a 7 – 3 lead. End seven was declared a tied end. With the following two ends going for a single apiece Kent were maintaining their four shot lead. Tony, Doreen, Mike and Alan held the penultimate end for a triple, they followed this by holding the final end for a single getting them the draw at 8 all.
Trevor Knight, Barry Thorogood, Brian Fowler and Jeanette Gayler played fours on mat four. Our four took the first end for a single. Kent then started a run of ends which included a six on end six to go 14 – 1 up. Our four held a double on end seven which Kent matched on end eight. With the following two ends going for a single apiece Kent were maintaining their thirteen shot lead. Kent held on to the last end for a double and the win at 19 – 4.
At the end of session two Kent had the lead at 13 – 3. The Bonus points for the triples looked interesting with the shots even at 22 all.
Session three
James and Mark played pairs on mat one. Kent started well by taking a single followed by a triple and a four. Our pair held a double to see Kent follow this with a four. James and Mark held end six for a further double but Kent had the lead at 12 – 4. Kent held another run of three ends. James and Mark then held a single on end ten. With Kent taking the remaining five ends they had the win at 25 – 5.
Bev and Darren played pairs on mat two. Kent held the first four ends to go 9 – 0 up. Our pair held end five for a double. Kent then took a triple. Bev and Darren held end seven for a single. Kent held the following two ends. Our pair held another single on end ten. Kent then held two singles, Bev and Darren held end thirteen for a single but with Kent taking the last two ends for singles they had the win at 20 – 5.
Martin played singles on mat three. Martin took the first end for a single. Kent held a double and two singles for a 4 – 1 lead. With the following two ends going for a single apiece Kent had the lead at 5 – 2 after six ends. Martin then took a single, he followed this with a double to level the game and then a further double to take the lead. Kent held a single on end ten to narrow Martin’s lead to one shot. Martin then took a triple, Kent’s reply was a single on end twelve. Martin came straight back for a double and a 12 – 7 lead with two ends to play. Kent fought hard and held the last two ends for singles giving Martin the win at 12 – 9.
Darren played the last singles of the day on mat four. Kent started with a hotshot four, Darren came straight back to take a triple on end two and followed this with a single and it was evens. Kent then started a run of four ends to go 14 – 4 up. Darren held end eight for a double. The following five ends all went for singles. With Darren holding two of them it was 17 – 8 to Kent with two ends to play. Kent continued by taking the last two ends for a four and a double for the win at 23 – 8.
At the end of session three Kent had increased their lead to 23 – 5 by winning three of the four games and taking the bonus points for both the singles and the pairs.
Session four
Tony, Doreen, Mike and Alan played fours on mat one. They took the first end for a double. Kent took end two for a triple but with our four taking a single on end three it was all square. Kent then took three singles followed by a double to go 8 – 3 up after seven ends. Tony, Doreen, Mike and Alan then held a single followed by a double. Kent took a single on the penultimate end to go 9 – 6 in the lead. Our four held on to the last end for a double giving Kent the win by one shot at 9 – 8.
Trevor, Barry, Brian and Jeanette played the last fours on mat two. Kent got started with a single. They followed this by winning three further ends to go 8 – 0 up. Our four held end five for a single. Kent took the next end for a four which Trevor, Barry, Brian and Jeanette immediately matched. Kent, however, took the following two ends to go 17 – 5 up with two ends to play. Trevor, Barry, Brian and Jeanette then held their second four of this game. Kent held on to the last end for a single and the win at 18 – 9.
Alan, Julia and Brian played triples on mat three. Kent got started by taking a double and a single. Kent then had a rest, Alan, Julia and Brian started by taking two singles, they followed this with a triple and three further singles to be 8 – 3 up after eight ends. Keeping their run going our three then took two fours in succession. Following this with a single and a triple they were 20 – 3 up with one end to play. Kent came back in the last end to double their score by taking a triple. Alan, Julia and Brian had a magnificent win with the score at 20 – 6.
Audrey, Jan and Jeff played the last triples of the day on mat four. Starting well they took the first three ends for singles and followed this with a double. Kent held end five for a four and then took the lead with a double. Following this with a further double Kent increased their lead to 8 – 5 after seven ends. Audrey, Jan and Jeff then took two doubles in succession and regained the lead at 9 – 8 after nine ends. Kent then held a triple, they followed this with three singles to take the win at 14 – 9.
At the end of session four Hertfordshire had won another game, they had also taken the bonus points for the triples with a nine shot advantage. The final score was a win for Kent at 31 – 9 and also a shot advantage of 248 to our 144. Hertfordshire should be proud of this score as it is an improvement over our last match when Kent won 34 – 6. Next week sees our first match against Oxfordshire at their home ground. Look out for the match report next week.