Norfolk Premier have reached the final of the Inter-County Championships after defeating West Mids Premier at Solihull today. With the venue situated in the Midlands, while Norfolk faced an early start and a long journey, the omens did not look good as Norfolk set out on a frosty and icy morning. But this disadvantage was evened out as West Mids fielded a somewhat depleted side for this match and Norfolk made a tremendous start winning all four games in the opening session. In the singles Halvergate’s Ryan Fox won 22-6 and Wymondham’s Chris Mann won 20-11 while the Norfolk pairs also both won with Wymondham’s Jack Marshall & Chris Willies of Watton Expendables winning 12-11 and Wymondham’s Debbie Sparham & Jack Pye winning 15-14. The second session saw Norfolk increase their lead slightly as both fours won. Sid Burton, Karl Newby, Keith Cooke & Jon Sparham won 17-8 and Jack Gray, Chloe Suffolk, David Lamb & Gary Best won 15-5. West Mids edged the triples with Gavin Gray, Simon Willies & Jason Woods losing 12-10 while Kacy Suffolk, Morgan Warnes & AJ Brown drew their game 11-11. Back came the singles and pairs for the third session and Norfolk did enough to clinch the match, and a place in the final, with the fourth session not needed. Ryan Fox completed a brilliant day winning 23-11 while Chris Mann drew his game 14-14. Debbie Sparham & Jack Pye won their second game of the day by 15-8 with the only loss a 12-11 defeat for Jack Marshall & Chris Willies. The final score was 22-6 to Norfolk on points, 185-123 on shots. Player-Manager Jack Pye can now look forward to the final with the aim of being the third Manager to lead Norfolk Premier to Inter-County Championship glory following George Clarke’s success in 1995/96 and Selwyn Goldsmith in 2015/16. Norfolk Premier will face Dorset Premier in the final, they beat Shropshire 26-10 in the other semi-final played today.
A brilliant day for Halvergate's Ryan Fox in the singles
Player-Manager Jack Pye led by example with 2 wins
Maximum points for Debbie Sparham in the pairs