Taverham put up good fight against Wymondham

: Selwyn; 21 December 2023; Hits: 1288

Taverham put up good fight against Wymondham

Wymondham came away with a 37-24 Norwich Cup win at Taverham but the home side emerged with their honour intact after putting up stout resistance against the Breckland League giants. With teams still coming to terms with the innovative new format Wymondham captain Jon Sparham obviously decided to turn the pressure on Taverham early on as he sent on Jack Pye, Melvyn Barker & Chris Mann for the first end of the 30 end game. The away team found themselves behind though as the last bowl of the end played by Taverham skip Jane James picked up the jack for two shots. Taverham captain Michael Pitcher played the first of his wild cards on the second end, before the Wymondham triple adjusted to Taverham’s heavy mats, but it back fired as Chris Mann’s excellent last bowl scored three shots for the visitors. With Taverham using Lesley Turner, Brian Turner & Jane James as their opening triple both captains stuck to the same players for the first four ends with Wymondham leading by just one shot. On the fifth end Taverham brought on Carol Bullard, Nigel James & Christine Pitcher and played their second wild card end but it failed to pay off as Mann earned two shots for the visitors with his last wood. Wymondham switched all three players on the sixth end as Billie Barker, Trevor Brown & Debbie Sparham joined the action but Taverham lead Carol Bullard started well with two good bowls and Taverham scored three shots to level the game at 6-6. On the seventh end Taverham held five shots when Wymondham skip Debbie Sparham stepped up to play the last wood of the end, Debbie reduced the damage but failed to stop Taverham taking three shots and a shock 9-6 lead. The next end saw Taverham take a single to move 10-6 ahead and Wymondham knew they had a game on their hands against the City of Norwich League side. On the ninth end saw Taverham bring on Lesley Turner, David Riches & Brian Turner on the mat but Debbie Sparham’s last bowl left her triple holding two shots to reduce Taverham’s lead to 10-8. The tenth end proved to be crucial as Wymondham captain Jon Sparham played his first wild card end. A superb backhand draw by Trevor Brown put the visitors in control of the end. They went on to score three shots which counted as six on the first of their three wild card ends and they took a 14-10 lead. Wymondham again switched their triples for the eleventh end with Jack Marshall at lead, Steve Easter at two and Chris Mann skipping while Taverham switched their skip bringing on Marjorie Hall for her first game in place of Brian Turner. Wymondham then took a single to move 15-10 up and added three more on the next end to lead 18-10. The thirteenth end saw Marjorie Hall move to lead with Christine Pitcher at two and the on form Jane James back at skip. The changes paid dividends as two super bowls by Jane James earned them three shots and cut the deficit to 18-13 and the following end another single cut it to 18-14. The fifteenth end saw the visitors second wild card being used to good effect as their count of two shots was doubled to four and Wymondham moved 22-14 ahead. After nineteen ends Wymondham led 26-15 and they palyed the final of their three wild card ends on end twenty. For once it did not pay off as Taverham scored a single shot to leave Wymondham 26-16 ahead. On end 21 Marjorie Hall, Nigel James & Jane James were on the mat against Wymondham big hitters Debbie Sparham, Trevor Brown & Jack Pye. With Taverham holding Pye killed the end and then took two shots when it was replayed. Superb play by all three Taverham bowlers left them holding four shots on the next end but Debs Sparham saved the day with a perfectly drawn last wood to take shot. The twenty-fourth end saw Wymondham end any hopes of a Taverham comeback as Wymondham collected four more shots to lead 33-18 which by end 28 had become 37-19. The last two ends went Taverham’s way with the home side taking a four on the final end to cut Wymondham’s lead to 37-24. All in all it was a brave performance by the City League side against the powerful Wymondham outfit and they finished the match with their heads held high while Wymondham take their place in the Norwich Cup semi-finals. The full line-up of the teams were Taverham – Brian Turner, Lesley Turner, Jane James, Nigel James, David Riches, Carol Bullard, Marjorie Hall & Christine Pitcher. Wymondham’s team were Debbie Sparham, Melvyn Barker, Billie Barker, Jack Marshall, Jack Pye, Steve Easter, Trevor Brown, Chris Mann.

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