Our county squad all assembled back at Stevenage for our second home game of the season. This time we were playing Suffolk who had travelled down from Stowmarket to get revenge following our win in October when we beat them at their home ground 27 – 13.
Session one
Mat one had Darren Stanford playing singles. This was Darren’s first outing for the county squad playing singles. Suffolk took the first end for a single and followed that with a double. Darren got on the scorecard on end three with a single. He followed this with a double and it was all square at three apiece. Suffolk got stuck in and held another single followed by another double for a three-shot lead. Darren’s reply was to level the game again with a triple. He then pulled in front with a single, following this with two doubles and another single Darren had pulled out a lead of 12 – 6 in a very hard fought and exciting game. Suffolk got going again with a double on end twelve. End thirteen saw all bowls vying for that shot position but it was Darren’s last bowl that took the end advancing Darren’s score to 13 – 8 with two ends to play. The last two ends were extremely close, Suffolk just got the upper hand by taking each of them for a single but Darren had our first win of the match at 13 – 10 in a very competitively fought singles competition.
Mat two had Darren Brown playing the second singles match. Yes two Darren’s playing singles. Suffolk got started on mat two by taking a single. Darren pushed and levelled it on end two with his own single and took the lead with a second. Suffolk then pulled level with a single on end four and then took the lead with a double. Darren matched this double on end six and took the lead with a triple on end seven. In some closely fought ends it was now Suffolk’s turn to hold a single, which Darren matched on end nine for a 8 – 5 lead. End ten saw Suffolk hold a double, he followed this with a single and it was all square at eight all with four ends to play. Darren pulled back in front with a single and followed this with another single. Darren continued his run by taking the penultimate end for a double and finishing with a triple for a 15 – 8 win.
Mat three and the new pairing of Jeff Branch and Martin Nash were playing pairs. They started strongly with a triple. Suffolk came back for a double then levelled the game with a single. They followed this with a triple for the lead. End five and Jeff and Martin reduced their deficit by taking a double. Suffolk then matched this on end six for a 8 – 5 lead. Jeff and Martin then held a single but end eight saw Suffolk hold another double and extend their lead to 10 – 6. Jeff and Martin then held a double and followed this with a single to reduce Suffolk’s lead to just one shot. End eleven saw Suffolk hold their second triple of the game. Jeff and Martin then held a double but Suffolk held another triple to extend their lead to 16 – 11 with two ends to play. End fourteen and Jeff and martin pulled it back with a hard-won triple. The last end saw Suffolk hold on for a double and the win at 18 – 14.
Mat four and our established pairing of Bill Gearing and Mark Spalding got the game started with a hotshot four. Suffolk struck back by taking a double followed by a single. Bill and Mark took the mat back on end four by taking a double, they followed this with a single for a 7 – 3 lead. Suffolk held onto end six for a single but Bill and Mark then extended their lead with a double on end seven. Suffolk pushed again and took their third end of the game for a double. Bill and Mark came back for a double of their own the following end. They followed this with another double and a single and had extended their lead to 14 – 6 after eleven ends. With the following two ends going for a single apiece Bill and Mark were maintaining their eight-shot lead. End fourteen saw Suffolk hold on for their third double of the game but the writing was on the wall. Bill and Mark took the last end for a single and Hertfordshire had another win on the scoresheet.
At the end of session one Hertfordshire had won three mats and had an early lead of 6 – 2.
Session two
Mat one had Alan Spicer, Julia Bruce and Brian McGivern back together again in their regular spot playing triples. Suffolk got on the scorecard first with a single on the first end. Alan, Julia and Brian then started their campaign with a four and followed this with a single. Suffolk came back to the mat for a single and then levelled the score at five all with a triple. Following this with a single Suffolk had a short lead at 6 – 5 after six ends. Alan, Julia and Brian came straight back for a second four and followed this with two singles for an 11 – 6 lead after nine ends. End ten and Suffolk held a single but Alan, Julia and Brian made sure that it was the last end that Suffolk held. Taking the last three ends for a double and two singles Alan, Julia and Brian had given Hertfordshire another win at 15 – 7.
Mat two and Barry Thorogood, Bev Stevenson and Jan Rogers were playing the second triples of the session. As with the first triples game Suffolk got on the scorecard first with a single. This game however, Barry, Bev and Jan replied by taking a phenomenal five. Suffolk attacked and took end three for a single, they followed this with a double and a third single and it was five all after five ends. With the following two ends going for a single apiece it was now six all after seven ends. Suffolk then regained the lead with a single. Barry, Bev and Jan pushed hard on end nine and held a four, they followed this with a double and now had a 12 – 7 lead after ten ends. Suffolk came back on end eleven for a single but Barry, Bev and Jan matched this on end twelve. The last end saw Barry, Bev and Jan hold their second four for a comfortable 17 – 8 win and another two points on Hertfordshire’s scorecard.
Mat three and Doreen Andre, Malcolm Warwick , Susan Knight and Neil Rixon were playing our first fours game of the day. They got on the scorecard first with a single. Suffolk took the lead with a double on the second end but Doreen, Malcolm Susan and Neil took a second single to draw level after three ends. Suffolk took the lead again with a single on end four. Doreen, Malcolm, Susan and Neil now pushed harder and took two doubles for a 6 – 3 lead at the halfway point. Suffolk pushed for a single on end seven but Doreen, Malcolm, Susan and Neil held their third double of the game to increase their score to 8 – 4 with three ends to play. Suffolk came back to hold their fourth end of the game for a single but Doreen, Malcolm, Susan and Neil made sure it was the last end that Suffolk won. Taking a single and finishing with a double there were more points for Hertfordshire with an 11 – 5 win.
Mat four had Trevor Knight, Andrew Miles, Margaret Hare and Alan Hare played the last fours of session two. Suffolk came to the mat and held the first end for a single. Trevor, Andrew, Margaret and Alan took the lead with a double on end two. Suffolk attacked and drew level with another single on end three. Trevor, Andrew, Margaret and Alan took the lead back with a single then went into overdrive by taking two triples for a 9 – 2 lead after six ends. Suffolk attacked again but in some very close heads only managed to hold two singles. In two more close heads Trevor, Andrew, Margaret and Alan pushed and took two singles leaving them 11 – 4 up going into the last end. Suffolk pushed again, this time they held on for a double their best end of the game but it was all over as Trevor, Andrew, Margaret and Alan had won 11 – 6.
Well what a good session for Hertfordshire, winning all four mats we had increased our lead to 14 – 2 at the halfway stage. With an eye on those bonus points we had a positive shot difference in all four disciplines. Keen to get on there was only a short break to give our umpires a rest before session three began. With the umpires being called many times, Darren Stanford, Susan Knight and Mark Spalding had already been kept very busy.
Session three
Mat one and our pairing of Jeff and Martin were playing pairs again, this time on mat one. Suffolk started with a double which Jeff and Martin matched on end two. Suffolk came back to the mat and, in four very close ends managed to take them all for singles. End seven and Jeff and Martin held a single and pulled themselves back into the game with a double on end eight to be only one shot behind. Suffolk then held a single but Jeff and Martin stayed within striking distance with a single on end ten. Suffolk then took a run of ends, they started with a triple and followed on with two doubles and a single for a 15 – 6 lead going into the last end. Jeff and Martin held onto the last end for a single but Suffolk had taken their second game of the match with a score of 15 – 7.
Mat two and Bill and Mark were playing the last pairs match of the day. Suffolk started this game by holding a triple. They followed this with seven singles and two doubles and were 14 – 0 up after ten ends. Bill and Mark then started to turn this game around. They held end eleven for a triple. Suffolk came back for a double on end twelve. The last three ends all went Bill and Mark’s way holding three final doubles they had greatly reduced their deficit. Suffolk had improved their position on the scorecard with another two points from a 16 – 9 win.
Darren Brown played his second singles of the match on mat three. Suffolk took an early lead with a double. Darren held a single on end two but Suffolk matched this on end three. They then continued with two more singles a double and a hotshot four to be 11 – 1 up after seven ends. Darren held onto end eight for a single only to see Suffolk hold the next two ends for more singles and go 31 – 2 up after ten ends. Darren put together a short run of two doubles and a single to reduce his deficit to 13 – 7 with two ends to play. The last two ends saw Suffolk hold two final singles and clock up another win at 15 – 7.
Mat four and Darren Stanford was playing the last singles of the day. Darren got on the scorecard with a single on the first end. Suffolk took the lead with a double but Darren matched this on end three to regain the lead. Suffolk drew level with a single then regained the lead with a second. In a close game of backwards and forwards Darren held another single and it was four all after six ends. Suffolk then took the lead with a double. Darren came back and drew closer with a single, drew level with a second and took the lead with a third. Darren continued his run with a triple for a 10 – 6 lead. Suffolk went on the attack and held a double. They followed this with a second and it was ten all with two ends to play. The penultimate end saw Darren hold onto a game winning three, he followed this with a single for a 14 – 10 win.
In a reversal of fortunes Hertfordshire only had one win this session. Hertfordshire’s lead had been reduced to eight shots at 16 – 8. We can now add the bonus points for the singles and pairs. With plus six points we had the singles bonus points but Suffolk had the pairs bonus points with a twelve-shot advantage. The score was now 18 – 10 to Hertfordshire going into the last session.
Session four
Mat one and Trevor, Andrew, Margaret and Alan were playing their second fours game of the day. They started well with a double and followed that with a triple. Suffolk got into gear and held a double and followed that with a single. Trevor, Andrew, Margaret and Alan then started a short run. They held a single followed by their second triple and continued the run with two more doubles for a 13 – 3 lead after eight ends. Suffolk pushed and pulled back a bit with a triple. Trevor, Andrew, Margaret and Alan then held a single on the penultimate end to have a 14 – 6 lead. The last end went Suffolk’s way, they held a double but Hertfordshire has their first win of session four at 14 – 8.
Mat two and Doreen, Malcolm, Susah and Neil played the last fours game of the match. Suffolk started well with a triple and followed that with a single. Doreen, Malcolm, Susan and Neil held a single on end three but Suffolk matched this on end four for a 5 – 1 lead. Doreen, Malcolm, Susan and Neil started to pull back with two singles but end seven saw Suffolk hold another single and they followed this with two more for an 8 – 3 lead with two ends to play. Doreen, Malcolm, Susan and Neil pulled themselves right back into the game with a wonderful four to be only one shot behind going into the last end. Suffolk came back and managed to hold a single on the last end for the win at 9 – 7.
Mat three and Barry, Bev and Jan were playing their second triples game. They started with a spectacular four. Suffolk fought back, they got closer with three singles then overtook with a double on end five for a 5 – 4 lead. Barry, Bev and Jan then pulled back level with a single on end six. Suffolk pulled ahead with a single of their own on end seven. End eight and Barry, Bev and Jan took the lead with a double only to see Suffolk draw level with a single on end nine. They then took the lead with another double on end ten. Barry, Bev and Jan pulled closer with a single then regained the lead with a double. The last end saw Suffolk hold on to a single and get the draw at ten all in this very evenly matched game.
Mat four and the last game of the match was Alan, Julia and Brian playing another triples game. They started well with a double and followed this with a triple. They then held a run of three singles followed by a double and a further single for an 11 – 0 lead after seven ends. End eight saw Suffolk hold the mat and get on the scorecard with a double. Alan, Julia and Brian instantly matched this on end nine to retain their eleven-shot lead. With the following two ends going for a single apiece that eleven shot lead looked pretty safe. Alan, Julia and Brian held the penultimate end for yet another hard won single. With Suffolk holding to the last end for (yes you’ve guessed it) the eight single of this game Alan, Julia and Brian had held onto that eleven shot lead, taking the win at 15 – 4.
So at the end of session four Hertfordshire had two wins and a draw and Suffolk had one win and a draw. This improved Hertfordshire’s score to 23 – 13. What about those bonus points I hear everyone asking. With a shot of fifteen points Hertfordshire had the fours bonus points. Not only with a massive shot difference of twenty-eight they had the triples bonus points as well. This gave the final score as a win for Hertfordshire at 27 – 13 the same as when we visited Stowmarket seven weeks ago for the first match of the season. For those that wish to know the total shots were Hertfordshire 195, Suffolk 158. Looking forward our next match is against Essex on the 14th December when we will be travelling to Falcon bowling club in Chelmsford. As this is only three weeks away then I am sure the team for this match will be published soon. Keep an eye on this website to see who gets picked and see you all again in the not too distant future.