This Sunday saw the Suffolk I.C.C. Squad travel to Stevenage for their return match against Hertforshire. When we travelled to Suffolk we took the win at 28 – 12. Could we win at home? lets read on to see how the day went.
Session 1
Session one started with Neil Rixon playing singles on mat one. Neil started with a single and followed that with two doubles and another single for a 6 – 0 lead. Suffolk came back for a single on end seven but Neil instantly replied with another double. Suffolk upped their game and held a triple the following end but Neil continued with another single to be 9 – 4 up after eight ends. Suffolk then held their third end for a single but Neil came straight back for three singles and a double for a 14 – 5 lead with two ends to play. Suffolk attacked and held a hotshot four and finished with a final single but Neil had our first win at 14 – 10.
Mat two and Darren Brown was playing our second singles game. Darren got up and running with a double, Suffolk came back for a single but Darren replied for a second double and a 4 – 1 lead. End four and Suffolk held a triple and it was all square. Darren then held two singles to which Suffolk replied by taking three singles and the lead at 7 – 6 after nine ends. He followed this with a double for a three-shot lead. With the following two ends going for a single apiece Suffolk were maintaining that three-shot lead. Darren fought back and took a single followed by a double and it was ten all going into the last end. After all eight bowls had travelled down the mat a measure decided that Suffolk had a single shot and the win at 11 – 10.
Mat three and our pairing of Bev Stevenson and Julia Bruce got their first game under way. Bev and Julia our two ‘England Ladies’ were playing Ali and Donna, two of Suffolk’s ‘England Ladies’. Bev and Julia started with a triple and followed on with two singles. Suffolk held a single on end four but Bev and Julia increased their lead to 9 – 1 with two more singles and a double. Suffolk’s Ali and Donna then held a triple and two singles to reduce their deficit to 6 – 9 after ten ends. The following two ends went for a single apiece. Bev and Julia held end thirteen for a single then Suffolk’s Ali and Donna held a double to be within two shots with one end to play. The last end saw Bev and Julia hold a final single for a 12 – 9 win.
Mat four the last of the first session had our pairing of Bill Gearing and Mark Spalding playing the second doubles game. Bill and Mark started with a single and followed that with a second. The Suffolk pair then held a single, took the lead with a double and continued by taking three more singles for a 6 – 2 lead after seven ends. Bill and Mark then held a single, they followed that with a second and then drew level with a double. Suffolk came back for a single on end eleven but Bill and Mark held a double and took the lead. End thirteen and Suffolk regained the lead with a triple. Bill and Mark fought back for a double making it ten all going into the last end. (Haven’t we seen that before?). Bill and Mark continued their run by taking a final double for the win at 12 – 10.
At the end of session one Hertfordshire had won three of the four mats and had the lead at 6 – 2.
Session 2
Mat one and our first triples of the day were Barry Thorogood, Ruzmilla Haque and Jan Rogers. Suffolk started this game with a single and followed on with a double, a triple and a second single for a 7 – 0 lead. Our three then took a single followed by a double. Suffolk replied by taking two more singles for a 9 – 3 lead after eight ends. Barry, Ruzmilla and Jan then held a massive five and followed this with a single to draw level at nine all with three ends to play. They then took the lead with an impressive four. Suffolk came back on the last two ends holding a double and a single but Hertfordshire had their first triples win at 13 – 12.
Mat two and our second triple of Alan Spicer, Jeff Branch and Val Thorogood got their game under way. They started with two singles and a triple. With the following two ends going for a single apiece our three had a 6 – 1 lead after five ends. Suffolk then started a run of ends they took a double then drew level with a triple and followed that with two singles and a double for a 10 – 6 lead after ten ends. Alan, Jeff and Val then got a massive five of their own to regain the lead at 11 – 10, they followed this with a double. The last end saw Suffolk hold on for a final single but Hertfordshire had a second win in the triples at 13 – 11.
Mat three and our first fours of Doreen Andre, Margaret Hare, Andrew Miles and Alan Hare started their game by dropping a single to Suffolk. They soon recovered and took the lead with a triple and followed that with Hertfordshire’s third five of the match and continued with a double for a 10 – 1 lead after just four ends. Suffolk then held their second single but our four matched that and followed on with a triple. Suffolk revived themselves and held two doubles to reduce our fours lead to 14 – 6. Not to be outdone, Doreen, Margaret, Andrew and Alan held a four and finished with a single for another good win at 19 – 6.
Mat four had our second four’s team of Trevor Knight, Malcolm Warwick, Suesan Knight and Brian Fowler. Suffolk held the first end for a single and followed that with a triple and a second single for a 5 – 0 lead. Our four then reduced their deficit by taking two singles. The following two ends went for a single apiece and Suffolk were maintaining that three shot lead at 6 – 3. They then pulled further ahead with a double on end eight. Our four then held a single but Suffolk matched this the following end. Trevor, Malcolm, Susan and Brian then held a n impressive four to reduce Suffolk’s win to one shot at 9 – 8.
At the end of session two Hertfordshire had won another three three mats and the running score was now Hertfordshire 12 to Suffolk’s 4. All four disciplines had a positive shot difference and things were looking good for Hertfordshire.
Session 3
Mat one and our pairing of Bill and Mark got their second outing of the day. Bill and Mark held a single on the first end but those Suffolk ‘England Ladies’ came to the mat and took a succession of six ends to go 11 – 1 up. Bill and Mark then took a triple and a double to reduce their deficit to 6 – 11 after nine ends. The remaining six ends were fairly evenly matched with both pairs winning three ends. Suffolk took the win with a score of 16 – 9.
Mat two and our ‘England Ladies’ (Bev and Julia) were playing their second pairs game of the day. Suffolk started with a single. Bev and Julia then took the lead with two doubles. Suffolk took end four for a double but this was matched by our pair holding two singles. Suffolk held their third end by taking a single but Bev and Julia extended their lead with a double. Suffolk came back for another single but our pair upped the stakes with a triple and a double for a 13 - 5 lead with four ends to play. Suffolk held on for one final single but our ’England Ladies’ held two more singles and finished with a triple for an 18 – 6 win.
Mat three and Darren Brown started well with a double and a single. Suffolk came back on end three for a double, drew level with a single then took the lead with another double. Darren fought back and held a single on end six. Suffolk then took a run of four ends for six more shots to lead 11 -4 after ten ends. Darren came back and held a triple the following end. Suffolk held the next two ends for another four shots before Darren could take a triple on the penultimate end. Taking a single on the last end Suffolk had another win at 17 – 10.
Mat four and our final game of session three had Neil playing his second singles of this I.C.C. match. Suffolk started strongly with a hotshot four. Neil came straight back and took a triple. Suffolk then increased their lead with two singles. Neil came back again, taking his second triple it was all square at six apiece. Suffolk then edged in front with two singles but Neil took the lead with his third triple of this game. The lead swapped again when Suffolk held a double but Neil instantly took it back again with a double of his own followed by a single for a 12 – 10 lead after eleven ends. Suffolk pulled back with a single then took a one-shot lead with a double. Neil then held a single and it was thirteen apiece going into the last end. The last end was hard fought but Suffolk ended up with three of his bowls closest to the jack for a 16 – 13 win.
At the end of session three Suffolk had added three wins to their total. They also had taken the bonus points for the singles, however our pairs teams had pulled out a ten-shot lead and took the bonus points for this discipline. The score going into the final session now stood at Hertfordshire 16, Suffolk 12. With all to play for session four began.
Session four
Mat one and our four’s team was now Trevor, Malcolm, Susan and Darren Stanford. Suffolk held the first end for a single which our four matched on end two. In a run of closely run ends Suffolk took four singles. Trevor, Malcolm, Susan and Daren then held a single on end seven. Suffolk then held a double, Our four held a third single but Suffolk came back for a triple ands a final single for an 11 – 3 win.
Mat two and Doreen, Andrew and Alan were joined by Michelle Conlon. Suffolk started with a double but our four’s reply was to take a four the following end. Suffolk pulled closer with a single but Doreen, Andrew, Michelle and Alan matched this on end four. Suffolk then took the lead with a triple and followed that with two singles to be 8 – 5 up after seven ends. Our four then took the lead back with a ‘magnificent’ four. Suffolk then pulled level with a single and then regained the lead with a second. The last end and Doreen, Andrew, Michelle and Alan held another single to get the draw at ten all.
Mat three and our triple of Alan, Jeff and Val played their second game of the match. They started with a single and followed that with a triple. Suffolk then halved their deficit with a double on end three. Alan, Jeff and Val then took a run of three singles. Suffolk doubled their score with a second double on end seven. Our three took two more singles and they were 9 – 4 up after nine ends. Suffolk then held a single but Alan, Jeff and Val held a triple. Suffolk pushed again and held a triple on the penultimate end. Alan, Jeff and Val took the final end for a double and took the win at 14 – 8.
Mat four and the last game of the day was Barry, Ruzmilla and Jan playing their second triples game. Suffolk started well with a triple. With two bowls on the jack end two was declared a tied end. Suffolk then held a second triple for a 6 – 0 lead. Barry, Ruzmilla and Jan then took a run of three doubles to pull level at six all. Suffolk then pulled back in front with a double, they followed on with a second double and a single for an 11 – 6 lead after nine ends. Barry, Ruzmilla and Jan pulled right back with a triple on end ten but Suffolk held the final three ends and took the win at 15 – 9.
At the end of session four Hertfordshire had a win and a draw this bought their points total to 19. With a shot difference of plus three in the triples and plus four in the fours we had also taken both sets of bonus points giving Hertfordshire the win at 23 – 17. The total shots were 187 to Hertfordshire and 177 to Suffolk showing how close this game was. We are now all looking forward to our next game in two weeks time when we will all be travelling to Chelmsford for our first game against Essex. Look out for the report in the following days.