On a windy Sunday in December twenty-one county players and four supporters battled their way to Sandy Lane West to play Oxfordshire. Despite the atrocious conditions we all arrived safely and our return match began on time.
Session one
We all settled down to watch session one. Our ICC manager Darren Brown was on mat one playing singles. He took the first end for a single and followed this with a second single and a double before his opponent managed to hold end four for a double. Darren then held a single but Oxfordshire started to pull back with two singles, at the halfway stage Darren had a slim lead of 5 – 4. Darren applied some pressure and held a double followed by two singles for a 9 – 4 lead. Although Oxfordshire now held a single, Darren held end twelve for a double. Oxfordshire pushed again for two singles. Darren came back and took the last end for single and the first win of the day at 12 – 7.
Neil Rixon was on mat two. He started his singles game well with a double and a single. Oxfordshire then fought back taking two singles, Neil then matched this with two singles of his own. Oxfordshire then narrowed Neil’s lead to 5 – 4 with a double. Neil pulled further in front with two more singles but Oxfordshire pulled straight back with a double on end ten. Neil increased his lead to two shots with a single on the following end. Oxfordshire pushed hard on end twelve and took the lead at 9 – 8 with a triple. Following this with two singles they had an 11 – 8 lead gong into the last end. Neil held on to the last end for a final single but Oxfordshire now had their first win at 11 – 9.
Mat three had Jeff Branch and Martin Nash playing pairs. They started with a single and followed that with a double. Continuing their run they took another single and a triple to be 7 – 0 up after four ends. Oxfordshire then held the mat for two successive singles. Jeff and Martin came straight back by taking two doubles and increasing their lead to 11 – 2 after eight ends. The Oxfordshire pair now pushed harder and reduced their deficit by taking a triple and a double. Jeff and Martin came back to the mat and took a run of four singles to be 15 – 7 up with one end to play. Although Oxfordshire held the last end for a double Jeff and Martin had our first pairs win at 15 – 9.
The last game of session one was Bill Gearing and Mark Spalding playing pairs on mat four. They took the first end for a single and followed this with a double and a triple. Oxfordshire then got going by taking a single on end four. Bill and Mark pushed again, taking three singles in a row they had a 9 – 1 lead after seven ends. Oxfordshire increased their score with a triple, our pair took another single but Oxfordshire took a second triple on end ten to reduce our lead to 10 – 7. Bill and Mark fought back for another single but Oxfordshire crept a bit closer with a double they then took a second double and it was all square at 11 all with two ends to play. Bill and Mark attacked the penultimate end and went back in the lead with a triple. The last end saw Oxfordshire hold on for a single but we had our third win of the session at 14 – 12.
At the end of the first session Hertfordshire had a healthy lead of 6 – 2, we also had a shot difference of plus 3 in the singles and plus 8 in the pairs. The day had started well. Our triples and fours approached the mats and session two began.
Session two
Mat one had our first triple of Bev Stevenson, Andrew Miles and Jan Rogers. They got the bowls rolling and took a triple on the first end. Oxfordshire came straight back for the lead with two doubles. Our three then took pulled level with a single. With the following two ends going for a single apiece it was five all after six ends. Oxfordshire then took the lead with a triple. Bev, Andrew and Jan fought back taking a single on end seven and following that with a double it was now eight all after nine ends. Our three pulled in front with a single, Oxfordshire regained the lead with a double and reinforced their position with a second double on end twelve. The last end also went Oxfordshire’s way for a single and the win at 13 – 9.
Our second triple of Alan Spicer, Julia Bruce and Brian McGivern were on mat two. They started well with three singles and followed this on end four with a triple. Oxfordshire held end five for a single but our three came straight back for a double and a single for a 9 – 1 lead after seven ends. Oxfordshire now pushed harder, they took two doubles and a single to reduce our lead to 9 – 6 after ten ends. Alan, Julia and Brian pulled back with a single. Oxfordshire then took end twelve for a double and were only two shots behind. The last end was hard fought but Oxfordshire managed to hold a four and won this mat at 14 – 12.
Mat three had our first fours of Lisa Miles, Michelle Conlon, Alan Hare and Darren Stanford. They started with a single which Oxfordshire matched on the second end. Our four then went into overdrive, holding a massive seven on the third end they had an 8 – 1 lead after three ends. With the following two ends going for a single apiece we had a 9 – 2 lead after five ends. End six and it was Oxfordshire’s turn for a good end, they held a five and it was game on. They followed this with two singles and it was all square at 9 all with three ends to play. Lisa, Michelle, Alan and Darren regained the lead with a single. The penultimate end saw Oxfordshire take the lead for the first time in this game with a double. The last end saw the last bowl roll in for a single and we had pulled back a draw at 11 all.
Our second four of Audrey Fowler, Val Thorogood, Jeanette Gayler and Brian Fowler played the fourth game of the session on mat four. They started with a double, Oxfordshire pulled back with a single on end two then levelled the game with another single on end three. Our four dug deep and held a triple, Oxfordshire replied by taking a single but Audrey, Val, Jeanette and Brian came back for a double and a 7 – 3 lead after six ends. Oxfordshire pulled back with a single, they then held end eight for a triple and it was all square at 7 apiece. Our four pushed and took two singles in a row to go into the last end with a small lead. The last end saw Oxfordshire hold on for a double and the draw at 9 all.
Session two saw Oxfordshire pull back as the score was now level at 8 all. Oxfordshire had a shot difference of plus 6 in the triples. With it all square in the fours there was everything to play for in the afternoon sessions. We all now had a thirty-minute break to enjoy our preordered lunches.
Session three
With everybody refreshed Session three started with Jeff Branch and Martin Nash playing pairs on mat one. They started with a single which Oxfordshire matched and then took the lead with a triple. End four and our two held another single but Oxfordshire came back for a double and a 6 – 2 lead. Jeff and Martin then matched their double and added a single to be back within one shot. Oxfordshire held a single, but on end nine our two held a double and it was all square at 7 all. Oxfordshire pulled back in front with two singles, Jeff and Martin held another double and yes it was all square at 9 all after twelve ends. Oxfordshire then pushed hard, taking the last three ends for singles they had the win at 12 – 9.
Bill Gearing and Mark Spalding were on mat two. Oxfordshire started this game with a single. Our two took the lead with a double but Oxfordshire regained the lead with two more singles. Bill and Mark levelled it with a single and took the lead with a double. With the next two ends going for a single apiece we were retaining our two-shot lead. End nine and Oxfordshire pulled back with a double and it was evens again at six all. In this very close game after two more singles it was seven all. Yet another two singles and it was eight all with two ends to play. The penultimate end saw Oxfordshire hold their seventh single of this game. Bill and Mark pushed hard and broke the sequence by holding their third double of the game for the win at 10 – 9.
Our manager Darren Brown was playing singles on mat three. He started well with a hotshot four, he followed this with a second and then a third hotshot four for a 12 – 0 lead after only three ends. Continuing his run Darren held two triples, three doubles and a single for a 25 – 0 lead after nine ends. Darren then held his fourth hotshot four and followed it with a double for a 31 – 0 lead after eleven ends. Oxfordshire finally got into this game by holding a double and following this with two singles. Darren then held the last end for a single and a dominating win at 32 – 4.
Neil Rixon was playing alongside Darren on mat four. Neil started well with two singles. Oxfordshire then matched this with two singles and took the lead with a double on end five. End six was declared a tied end but Neil followed this with a double and it was 4 all after seven ends. Neil then took a run of four very close ends. Taking three singles and a double he had pulled out a 9 – 4 lead with four ends to play. Oxfordshire then started to pull it back, taking three singles in a row they had reduced Neils lead to 9 – 7 going into the last end. Neil held the last end for a single and the win at 10 – 7 in this hard-fought match of eleven singles and three doubles.
The end of session three saw Hertfordshire pull back in the lead, winning three mats and taking the bonus points for the singles and the pairs we had an 18 – 10 lead with one session to play.
Session four
Session four began with Lisa Miles, Barry Thorogood, Alan Hare and Darren Stanford on mat one. Oxfordshire held the first end for a single. Our four took the second end for a double only to see Oxfordshire level it at two all with their second single. Lisa, Barry, Alan and Darren then took control and two triples for an 8 – 2 lead after five ends. Oxfordshire then took their third and (spoiler alert) final single of this game. Lisa, Barry, Jeanette and Darren took a run of the last five ends. They started slowly with a double and a single. They followed this with a stunning five and a game winning six. Lisa, Barry, Jeanette and Darren held the last end for a single and the win at 23 – 3.
Mat two had Audrey, Val, Jeanette and Brian playing their second fours of the day. Oxfordshire started with a single, Our four pulled into the lead with a double. End three and Oxfordshire made it all square at 2 all with a second single. Following this with a double they took the lead. Our four came back on end five for a single but Oxfordshire matched this on end six to retain their lead at 5 – 3. Audrey, Val, Jeanette and Brian took the lead with a triple on end seven. They followed this with two singles for an 8 – 5 lead with two ends to play. Oxfordshire matched our fours singles on the last two ends but we had another win at 8 – 7.
Mat three and Bev Stevenson, Andrew Mikes and Jan Rogers were playing their triples game. Oxfordshire started with a triple. Our three came back for a single but Oxfordshire turned up the pressure. They started with a single and followed this with a second triple and a further single for an 8 – 1 lead after five ends. Bev, Andrew and Jan held a single which Oxfordshire matched, they then held a double followed by a single reducing Oxfordshire’s lead to 9 -5 after nine ends. However the last four ends all went Oxfordshire’s way, holding a triple, two doubles and a final single they had the win at 17 - 5.
Our final game of the day on mat four had our triples team of Alan Spicer, Julia Bruce and Brian McGivern. This game started with our three holding a good four. This was immediately matched by Oxfordshire who followed this with a triple and a double for a 9 – 4 lead after four ends. Our three then held a single but Oxfordshire came back for a triple and a single increasing their lead to 13 – 5 after seven ends. Alan, Julia and Brian then held two singles but with Oxfordshire following this with a triple, a double and a single they had increased their lead to 19 – 7 with one end to play. The last end saw our three regroup, they held on for a triple but Oxfordshire had their fourth triples win at 19 – 10.
With the end of play the scores were added up. With two wins for the fours we had taken both the four points and the bonus points. Oxfordshire had done the same to us in the triples. However this gave us the win at 24 – 16. The total shots difference for the day was also in our favour at 196 – 162. This win puts Hertfordshire top of our group. Next Sunday sees Oxfordshire travel to Sollihul for their game against West Midlands. We now have to wait until 05th January for our last group game when West Midlands will be coming to Stevenage. Can either of us get a win? Watch this space. Merry Christmas to all our ICC followers.