Norfolk Premier beat Hampshire Premier by 24-16 on points, 203-173 on shots, at Wey Valley Indoor Bowls Club on Sunday to secure their place in the I.C.C Semi-Finals. Norfolk produced a perfect start winning on four mats. In the singles Halvergate’s Ryan Fox was level at 12-12 after twelve ends but scored eight shots over the final three ends to beat Ryan Knight 20-12. Hempnall’s Neil Davidson led from the second end onwards in his singles game to beat D White 16-9. The pairs produced two contrasting games. Halvergate’s Ray Lamb & Watton Expendables player Chris Willies were 12-2 up after eight ends and were never under serious threat as they won their game by 20-8. In the other pairs game Wymondham’s Debbie Sparham & Jack Pye found themselves in trouble at 11-2 down after seven ends against M Wright & J Bucknall. But the Wymondham stars produced a magnificent comeback by winning every remaining end to finish the game 16-11 winners. Hampshire hit back in the second session winning both fours games and one of the triples games. The only winners for Norfolk were Gavin Gray, Simon Willies & Jason Woods who collected two vital points with an 11-10 win to keep Norfolk in front by 10-6 on points at the halfway stage. The third session saw Norfolk extend their lead to 20-8 on points as Ryan Fox completed his second singles win by 12-11 with a great last bowl, Debbie Sparham & Jack Pye won 18-7 & Ray Lamb & Chris Willies won 14-12. These results earned Norfolk the bonus points in both disciplines. The experienced Halvergate bowler Ray Lamb, a late replacement for Jack Marshall, will be delighted with his form on the day. These results left Norfolk needing just one point from the last session of triples and fours to win the match. It had not proved a great day in either of these disciplines for Norfolk but Jack Gray, Chloe Suffolk, David Lamb & Gary Best produced the goods with a heavy 20-8 win against S Puttock’s rink which also earned the bonus points for Norfolk in the fours despite losing the other three games.
Maximum points for Halvergate's Ryan Fox
Gary Best's rink produced a vital last session win