This Sunday, the 03rd November our ICC Squad travelled to Solihull to play West Midlands at their home ground for our first ICC match of the current season. We had all arrived by 09.30 ready for the 10.00 start. We were playing the West Midlands Premier team which includes three England Senior players and one England Ladies player. We were all looking forward to a tough match against possibly the best team in this year’s ICC competition.
Our Singles and pairs competitors approached the mats for session one.
Our ICC manager Darren Brown played singles on mat one. The West Midlands player took first blood with a double on the first end and he followed this with a single. Darren got started taking a double on end three and a second double for the lead on end four. Darren then held a hotshot four on end five only to see it matched by West Mids with their own hotshot on end six. Darren then held a single for a 9 – 7 lead after seven ends. West Mids then held a single and took the lead with a double, following this with a further single they were 11 – 9 up after ten ends. Darren fought back taking a single followed by a double for the lead at 12 – 11 with three to play. West Mids then attacked taking a hotshot four on end thirteen and followed this with a double on the penultimate end. Continuing their run West Mids took a further double on the last end for the win at 19 – 12.
Neil Rixon played singles on mat two. West Mids took the first two ends for doubles before Neil got in for a double on end three. West Mids then pulled further in front with three singles. Neil came back on end seven for a triple, he followed this with two singles and it was 7 all after nine ends. West Mids took a single on end ten which Neil matched then took a further single on end twelve for the lead at 9 – 8. West Mids came back to level it with a single which they followed with a further single. Finishing with a triple on the last end West Mids had their second win at 13 – 9.
Martin Nash and Jeff Branch played pairs on mat three. They started by taking a double. West Mids pulled level with two singles but our pair pulled back in front with two singles of their own. Now West Mids took another two singles and it was four all after seven ends. West Mids then took the lead with a triple on end eight. Martin and Jeff instantly matched this and it was all square again at seven all after nine ends. Our pair then pulled a little in front with a single followed by a double. West Mids held end twelve for a triple and it was all square again at ten all. Pushing again Martin and Jeff held a single followed by a double to be 13 – 10 up going into the last end. In a tight end West Mids held a double but we had our first win at 13 – 12.
Bill Gearing and Mark Spalding played pairs on mat four. They also started by taking a double. West Mids pulled level with two singles but our pair took the lead again with a single on end four. West Mids then held a triple, they followed this with two singles and a double for a 9 – 3 lead after eight ends. Bill and Mark held a single on end nine but West Mids replied by taking a double on end ten for an 11 – 4 lead. Bill and Mark then started a comeback. They took a single and followed this with two doubles to reduce West Mids lead to 11 – 9. The last two ends saw West Mids push hard and they held on for two final singles and the win at 13 – 9.
Session one came to an end and West Mids had the upper hand as they were 6 – 2 up on the scoreboard. Playing against three England Senior Squad members our six had fought hard and done themselves proud.
Our Triples and Fours came onto the mats and session two began.
Mat one had Wendy Hunt, Bev Stevenson and Jan Rogers playing our first triples mat. Out three started well with a single. West Mids matched this and took a second single on end three. Our three came back, taking a single it was all square at two all after four ends. West Mids came back for the fifth single of the game and followed this with a triple. Wendy, Bev and Jan then held end seven for a single. With West Mids holding their second triple on end eight they started to pull out a lead. They followed this with two more singles and a third triple to take a 14 – 3 lead with two ends to play. Wendy, Bev and Jan then took a tremendous four on the penultimate end. West Mids finished this game with a triple and the win at 17 – 7.
Mat two and our second triple of Alan Spicer, Julia Bruce and Brian McGivern saw West Mids take the first end for a double. Our three came straight back by taking a double of their own and followed it with a triple for the lead. West Mids then took a single but our three matched that to be 6 – 3 up after five ends. West Mids then got a bit closer with a double on end six. Our three then increased their lead by taking a single followed by a double and a further single to be 10 – 5 up after nine ends. West Mids then pushed, they took a single and followed it with a double. Alan, Julia and Brian then held the penultimate end for a single and an 11 – 8 lead. The last end saw West Mids push hard but they could only manage a double giving our three the second win of the day at 11 – 10.
Mat three had our first fours team of Doreen Andre, Michelle Conlon, Jeanette Gayler and Darren Stanford. West Mids got started with a triple and followed this with a single. Our four then got going, they caught up by taking three singles in a row. West Mids then held a double and a single to restore their four shot lead at 7 – 3 after seven ends. Doreen, Michelle, Jeanette and Darren then reduced their deficit with a double. West Mids held a single but our four took a second double to be only one shot behind at 7 – 8 going into the last end. West Mids attacked the last end and finished as they started with a triple for the win at 11 – 7.
Mat four had our second four of Trevor Knight, Sue Knight, Alan Hare and Malcolm Warwick. West Mids took control of this game from the start and despite our four’s best effort they had pulled out a 12 – 0 lead after four ends. End five saw our four hold on for a double but it was to be the only end they held. West Mids got their heads down and continued to push. By the end of all eleven ends they had the win at 22 – 2.
At the halfway stage West Midlands were pulling in front, they were 12 – 4 up and were looking to be in a good position for all the bonus points.
We rolled straight into session three.
Mat one had Martin and Jeff playing their second pairs. They started well by taking three singles. West Mids then started by taking a single, they then pulled level with a double and took the lead with two further singles. Martin and Jeff came back for a single and regained the lead with a triple on end nine to be 7 – 5 up. West Mids then took a hotshot four and the lead at 9 – 7 on end ten. With the following two ends going for a single each West Mids were maintaining their two-shot lead. Martin and Jeff them restored their lead by getting their own hotshot four on end thirteen. The penultimate end saw West Mids pull back into the lead at 13 – 12 with a triple. The last end was hard fought with Martin and Jeff holding on for a single and the draw at 13 all.
Mat two and Bill and Mark saw West Mids pull out a lead with two doubles and a single to be 5 – 0 up. Bill and Mark went on the attack, starting with a triple followed by two singles they were level. They followed this with a second triple to be 8 – 5 up after seven ends. West Mids started pulling back with two singles but end ten saw Bill and Mark hold a single. With the following two ends going for a single each Bill and Mark still had a lead at 10 – 8 after twelve ends. They reinforced their position with a further single to be 11 – 8 up with two to play. West Mids then held a double to catch up and then regained the lead on the last end with a triple for a 13 – 11 win.
Mat Three had Darren Brown playing his second singles. West Mids just managed to hold each of the first seven ends for singles and a few doubles. Darren then held a single on end eight and the following two ends went for a single each. West Mids then took another two singles for a 12 – 2 lead after twelve ends. Darren held on for a further single which west Mids matched on the penultimate end. The last end went Darrens way for a double but West Mids had the win at 13 – 5.
Mat four and Neil Rixon was playing his second singles game of the day. Neil started with a single but West Mids started a run, with one single and four doubles they were 9 – 1 up after six ends. Neil took end seven for a triple but West Mids maintained their eight shot lead by taking a single and a double. Neil held a single on end ten but the last five ends all went West Mids way with them winning 21 – 5.
At the end of the third session Hertfordshire had increased their score to five points but West Mids had taken seven points and the bonus points for both the singles and the doubles to give them a good lead of 23 – 5.
Session four began with Hertfordshire aware that they had lost the game but good spirits ensued.
Mat one had our fours team of Doreen, Michelle, Jeanette and Darren S playing their second fours game. Our four started well, they took a single and followed this with a triple. West Mids took the third end for a double but our four got back on the mat and took two more singles, they followed this with a triple, another single and a double to be 12 – 2 up after eight ends. West Mids got going, they took a double and followed this with a four. The last end saw Doreen, Michelle, Jeanette and Darren take their fifth single for a great win at 13 – 8.
Mat two had our other fours of Trevor, Sue, Alan and Malcolm play their last game of the day. They started by taking the first end for a single. West Mids then took the lead with a double and followed this with a single. Our four pulled back with a second single. West Mids then took two singles and followed this with a five and a double for a 12 – 2 lead after eight ends. Trevor, Sue, Alan and Malcolm then held a single and a double to reduce their deficit to 5 – 12 with one end to play. West Mids held the last end for a single and the win at 13 – 5.
Mat three had our all-ladies triple of Wendy, Bev and Jan start well by taking two singles. West Mids came straight back on end three for a six and followed this with a double for an 8 – 2 lead after four ends. Our three pushed and took a double on end five but West Mids fought again, taking a four on end six for a 12 – 4 lead. Our three ladies then made a comeback, they started with two singles and followed this with a triple, a double and a single and it was all square at twelve all after eleven ends. West Mids took the mat and the lead with a double on the penultimate end. With determination Wendy, Bev and Jan went into the last end fighting and managed to take a triple and the win at 15 – 14 in this exciting recovery.
Mat four and our triple of Alan S, Julia and Brian started with a double and continued with a single. West Mids then matched this with their own double and a single and it was 3 all after four ends. The next four ends saw our three take them all for singles, they followed this with a double and another single to be 10 – 3 up after ten ends. West Mids attacked, taking a double followed by a triple they had reduced our lead to 10 – 8 with one end to play. Alan, Julia and Brian fought hard on the last end, West Mids played heavy to try and ditch the Jack with their last bowl but only succeeded in knocking all their bowls of the mat. Brian gently rolled his last bowl over the line for a resounding five and the win at 15 – 8.
Well what a successful fourth session, winning three of the four mats we increased our score to eleven. Frustratingly despite winning three of our four triples games we missed out on the bonus points by one shot. The final score showed that West Midlands had won 29 – 11. Hertfordshire should be proud of their play, although we lost we had made double figures and some of the mats that we lost were fairly close. Special mention should go to our triples team of Alan Spicer, Julia Bruce and Brian McGivern who won both their games.
Next week sees us at Stevenage for our second game of the season when we will be playing Oxford. Look out for next weeks report.