HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY

SHORT MAT BOWLING ASSOCIATION

Hertfordshire County Short Mat Bowling Association News story


Barnet League Week five

15 Oct 2024

This week saw four mats in use at Hatfield for our Barnet League competition.

Mat one had Shillington Red’s Derek, Michelle and Trevor playing Greenwood Hawks Barry, Val and Darren. Hawks started this game by taking a triple, they followed this with a double and a second triple to go 8 – 0 up. Reds replied by taking end four for a double only to see Hawks start a further run of ends. Taking three singles and two doubles Hawks were 15 – 2 up after nine ends. Reds got their heads down, they reduced their deficit by taking a four on end ten, following this with a second four on end eleven they had reduced Hawks lead to 15 – 10 within two ends. Hawks went on the attack again but Reds held it tight and only went down for a single. Hawks followed this with two further singles to be 18 – 10 up with one end to play. Reds rallied on the last end to take a double but Hawks had the win at 18 – 12.

Mat two and our league leaders, Northiam East’s Mike, Jeff and Martin took on St Margaret’s Mercury’s Rebecca, Steven and Darren. East got going by taking the first two ends for singles. End three and Mercury took the lead with a triple and followed it with a single. East took end five for a single but with Mercury following this with a double they had stretched their lead to 6 – 3 after six ends. East came back for their fourth single of the game. Mercury matched this and then pulled a little further in front with another single to go 8 – 4 up after nine ends. East then got stuck in, they held end ten for a four and levelled the score. They followed this with a double to take the lead on end eleven. Mercury pulled back by taking a single but East matched this and took another single on the penultimate end to be 12 – 9 up. The last end went Mercury’s way but only for a single giving East a close win at 12 – 10.

Mat three had one of our new teams, Potters Bar Kestrels Pam, Dave and Steve playing the well-established Letchworth Lions Lisa, Alan S and Margaret. The first six ends saw Kestrels keep it close. Lions held four singles and two doubles to be 8 – 0 up. Kestrels held on for a single on end seven only to see Lions attack again. They now held two triples, a four and a single to stretch their lead to 21 – 1 after twelve ends. End thirteen and Kestrels held the mat for the second time, scoring another single. Lions matched this on the penultimate end and then finished with a flourish by taking a four on the last end for a 26 – 2 win.

Mat four and St Margaret’s Mars team of Jeanette, Paul and Derek played Greenwood Peckers Wendy, Sue and Mark. Mars got on the scorecard first by taking a double. Peckers replied by taking two singles to go level and then taking a double on end four for a 4 – 2 lead. Mars replied by going level with a double on end five then regained the lead with their third double of the game on end six. End seven and Peckers crept back by taking a single, they followed this with a game winning five to be 10 – 6 up after eight ends. Mars came straight back in for a single but with Peckers pushing again on end ten for a four they were 14 – 7 up.  Mars went on the attack again. They started with a single and followed this with a triple to be only three behind. Continuing their run they took a four on end thirteen to regain the lead at 15 – 14. End fourteen and Peckers attacked to take a double for the lead. They followed this with a four on the last end to take the win at 20 – 15.

Well, what a week. With our two table leaders winning again they are maintaining their unbeaten record. Letchworth Lions substantial win sees them climb two places to take third spot. The rest of the table remains unchanged. Next week sees another four games scheduled. Our two top teams have a rest next week so could that top spot change? Look out for next week’s results.