Sunday the 10th December and our ICC squad were travelling again, this time to Oxfordshire. Looking for our first win of the season read on to see how the match went.
Session one
Our last season’s singles champion Neil Rixon played singles on mat one. Neil started by taking a single and followed this with a double. Oxford then held a single and also followed it with a double and it was all square at 3 all after four ends. Neil now had a run of four close ends, taking them all for singles he was 7 – 3 up. Oxford then came back for a double, with the following two ends going for a single apiece Neil was maintaining a two-shot lead. Neil then took end twelve for a hotshot four. Oxford came back for a triple on end thirteen. With the last two ends also going for a single each Neil had the win at 13 – 10 and our first two points were on the scoresheet.
Martin Nash played singles on mat two. Martin started with two singles and followed this with a double. Oxford then held a hotshot four and it was all square after four ends. Martin instantly replied getting his own hotshot four and followed this with a single and was 9 – 4 up after six ends. Oxford took two singles, Martin held end nine for a single only to see oxford hold two doubles and it was all square again at ten all after eleven ends. Martin then took a run of three doubles to go 16 – 10 up with one end to play. The last end saw Oxford hold a triple but Martin had our second win at 16 – 13.
Darren Brown and Mark Spalding played doubles on mat three. Oxford got on the scorecard first with a single and a double. Our pair held end three for a triple and followed it with a single to go 4 – 3 up after four ends. Oxford then drew level with a single and went ahead with a second single. Our pair leveled it with yet another single in this closely fought game. Oxford pulled in front with a triple on end eight. Darren and Mark then held a double, Oxford held a single and end eleven saw our pair take a second double and it was all square at 9 all. The following two ends went Darren and Mark’s way, taking two doubles they were 13 – 9 up with two ends to play. Oxford closed the gap by taking a triple, following this with a double Oxford had their first win at 14 – 13.
Bev Stevenson and Darren Stanford played their doubles on mat four. Oxford took the first end for a single. Bev and Darren then took two doubles and a single for a 5 – 1 lead. Oxford then took two doubles to level the game at 5 all after six ends. Our pair regained the lead with another double on end seven. Oxford came back on end eight for a hotshot four and the lead at 9 – 7. Instantly replying, Bev and Darren regained the lead with a triple and followed this with a single. Oxford held the following end for a double and it was all square at eleven all after eleven ends. Our pair took the lead with a single but Oxford took a double and followed this with a second hotshot four for a 17 – 12 lead on the penultimate end. Bev and Darren took the last end for a double but Oxford had their second win at 17 – 14.
At the end of the first session us spectators had been treated to some high-class bowling. With the score at 4 points all it couldn’t be closer. The shot difference for the singles was Hertfordshire plus six and for the pairs it was Oxfordshire plus four. All to play for as the second session commenced.
Session two
Alan Spicer, Julia Bruce and Brian McGivern played triples on mat one. They started well by taking the first end for a four. They followed this with two singles and two doubles to be 10 – 0 up after five ends. Oxford then took their first end for a triple. Our three followed this with two singles and a 12 – 3 lead after eight ends. Oxford then held their second end for a single, Alan, Julia and Brian came straight back for a triple followed by a single and were 16 – 4 up with two ends to play. Oxford then took their third and last end for a double. With our three matching this by taking a double on the last end they had the win at 18 – 6.
Audrey Fowler, Malcolm Warwick and Jeff Branch played the second triples on mat two. Oxford started with a double, our three came back for a single but with Oxford taking end three for a triple they had a 5 – 1 lead. Our three held a single and the following two ends went for a single apiece. Oxford had the lead at 6 – 3, they then pulled further in front with a double on end seven. Audrey, Malcolm and Jeff held a forth single. End nine saw the overworked umpire declare it a tied end with both bowls on the Jack. Oxford then started a short run, taking two singles and a triple they were 13 – 4 up with one end to play. Our three held the last end for a single but Oxford had the win at 13 – 5.
Brian Fowler, Margaret Eccleston, James Hunt and Alan Hare played fours on mat three. Oxford started with a triple and followed it with a single and a double. Our four held end four for a double, the following two ends went for a single apiece then Brian, Margaret, James and Alan took a second single reducing Oxford’s lead to 7 – 4. Oxford then held two singles and followed this with a five. Our four held the last end for a single but Oxford had the win at 14 - 5 .
Trevor Knight, Mike Eccleston, Margaret Hare and Jeanette Gayler played fours on mat four. Oxford started with a double and followed this with two singles. Our four took end four for a single. End five and that busy umpire appeared and declared it a tied end. Our four then pulled it back to 3 – 4 with a double on end six. Oxford held the following end for a double. With the following two ends going for a single apiece, Oxford had the lead at 7 – 4 after nine ends. The last two ends saw both teams score a further single giving Oxford another win at 8 – 5.
As the teams started their lunch the scores were quickly checked. Oxford were now in the lead with the score at 10 – 6. Hertfordshire had the shot difference in the triples at plus four however Oxford had a good lead in the fours at plus twelve.
Session three
With everyone refreshed, Mark Spalding and Darren Brown played doubles on mat one. Oxford started with a double and followed this with a triple. Mark and Darren then held a triple and a single to get back in the game. Oxford held a single but with our pair holding a double on end six it was level at six all. Our pair edged the lead with a single, Oxford took it back with a double, then Mark and Darren took a single and it was all square again at eight all after nine ends. Oxford then started a short run taking three successive doubles, they had a 14 - 8 lead with three ends to play. Mark and Darren then held a double followed by a single to be three shots behind with one end to play. The last end saw them hold on for a hot shot four and the win at 15 – 14.
Bev Stevenson and Darren Stanford started their second match by taking a single followed by a double. Oxford replied with a single on end three but our two started a run. Taking two singles, a double and a triple they had a 10 – 1 lead after seven ends. Oxford then took three ends for singles, Bev and Darren held end eleven for a single but Oxford came back for a triple to reduce our lead to 11 – 7 with three ends to play. Oxford held a double but with Bev and Darren taking two singles they maintained their four-shot lead and the second win of the session at 13 – 9.
Neil Rixon played singles on mat three. Neil started well with a double and two singles. Oxford came back for a hotshot four and it was all square after four ends. Neil regained the lead with a single but Oxford then took it back with a double. Neil then leveled the match with a single, taking two more singles Neil had the lead at 8 – 6 after ten ends. The last five ends all went Oxfords way. Taking four doubles and a triple they had the win at 17 – 8.
Martin Nash played the last singles of the day on mat four. Martin started well taking three doubles. Oxford then held a double and a single only to see Martin hold a hotshot four for a 10 – 3 lead after six ends. He followed this with five singles and a double to take a 17 – 3 after twelve ends. Oxford came back on end thirteen for a triple and followed this with a double. Martin took the last end for a single and the win at 18 – 8.
At the end of this third session having won three of the four mats Hertfordshire had levelled the match at 12 all. They then took the lead as they had taken the bonus points for the singles at plus seven shots and the pairs at plus one. With the scores now 16 – 12 to Hertfordshire we all waited in anticipation for the last session.
Session four
Bill Durham, Brian Fowler, Alan Hare and James Hunt played fours on mat one. Oxford started well with a triple. Our four started a short run, taking two singles, a triple and a further single they were 6 – 3 up after five ends. Oxford held end six for a double but with our four holding two singles they were maintaining their three-shot lead at 8 – 5. The following two ends went for a single apiece. Although Oxford held the last end for a single Bill, Brian, Alan and James had the win at 9 – 7.
Trevor Knight, Mike Eccleston, Margaret Hare and jeanette Gaylor played their last fours on mat two. Our four started with a triple, they followed this with a single and a four. Continuing their run they took three more singles and a double to be 13 – 0 up after eight ends. Oxford then held their first end for a single. Our four matched this on end nine. Oxford then held the penultimate end for a triple. The last end saw Trevor, Mike, Margaret and Jeanette hold a single and a good win at 15 – 4.
Alan Spicer, Julia Bruce and Brian McGivern played triples on mat three. Oxford started well with a double and they followed this with a four. Our three took a single but by taking a double Oxford had an 8 – 1 lead after four ends. Alan, Julia and Brian then held two singles. End seven and Oxford took another single for a 9 – 3 lead. Alan, Julia and Brian then took control, taking two singles, a triple, a double, a four and a final single they had gone from 9 – 3 down to a 15 – 9 win.
Audrey Fowler, Jeff Branch and Malcolm Warwick started the last triples of the day by taking a double. Oxford matched this on end two. The third end was declared a tied end then Oxford took a single and the lead at 3 – 2. Audrey, Jeff and Malcolm then retook the lead with a spectacular hotshot six. Although Oxford held a double our three took two further singles to be 10 – 5 up after eight ends. Oxford then held two singles of their own. With the following two ends going for a double each Audrey, Jeff and Malcolm had the lead at 12 – 9 going into the last end. Taking a final single on the last end Hertfordshire had their fourth win of the session at 13 – 9.
With Hertfordshire taking all four mats they had increased their lead to 24 – 12. The bonus points for the triples also went our way with a shot difference of plus fourteen. The bonus points for the fours had been turned round from being twelve shots down to being one shot in the lead. The final score being a resounding win for Hertfordshire at 28 – 12. With our last match in the first stage round robin being the return against Oxford at Stevenage in January all is looking good for Hertfordshire finishing second in our group and progressing to the cup knockout draw. Watch this space for the next instalment in 2024.
Merry Christmas everyone from your ICC selection committee.