Norfolk Over 60’s visited Friends of Essex at the weekend for the first leg of the annual challenge match and emerged with a 70-58 points lead, 606-486 on shots, to bring back to Hingham for the second leg scheduled to be played on Sunday 18th August. The teams comprise of eight triples and eight pairs each who play on eight mats over eight sessions. Hopes of a Norfolk win seemed bleak after Friends of Essex dominated the first session of triples winning by 13-3 on points but Norfolk’s pairs hit back in the second session by also winning 13-3 while building up a 144-116 shots lead. Back came the triples for session three which saw Essex win 10-6 on points but once again Norfolk’s pairs matched this in session four with another 10-6 win. Session five saw the Essex triples again getting on top collecting a 12-4 win but Norfolk pairs bettered this in session six which they won 14-4 to leave Norfolk Over 60’s leading 50-46 on points with two sessions remaining. Session seven saw the Essex run of wins in the triples come to a halt as Norfolk held them to an 8-8 draw. Having won the previous three pairs sessions Norfolk Over 60’s went into action for the final session full of confidence and it was merited as they won 12-4 on points to finish the match on a high. Unbeaten on the day for Norfolk were Billie & Melvyn Barker with four wins and Steve Easter & Pauline Wilson with four wins. John Jeffries also scored four straight wins in the pairs with a different sub playing with him in each game. Three other Norfolk pairs won three out of their four games. They were Elaine & Simon Willies, Teresa Goldsmith & Terry Newby and Will & Joy Townsend. In the triples Val Vardy, Pat Hall & Tony Ottewell won three of their four games.
Maximum points for Norfolk Over 60's captain Steve Easter