Norfolk took a strong side to Stowmarket looking for revenge for their home Inter-County Championship defeat by Suffolk earlier in the season and got it with interest. Manager Selwyn Goldsmith called for a positive showing from his players before the game and the players responded by inflicting a heavy 29-11 home defeat on their local rivals. Neil Davidson was a surprise late addition to the side and opened his account with a 19-7 win against David Baker but Michael Rice hit back for Suffolk beating Mike Boswell 18-13. The pairs was also shared with Lesley Crowe & George Clarke winning 13-11 for Norfolk while Colin Coman & Sheila Bragg went down 15-9. Norfolk moved into a 10-6 halftime lead with Jenny Walker, Elaine Oatway, Melvyn Barker & Peter Walker winning 12-5, Jean Woods, Graham Mobbs, Karl Newby & Terry Newby winning 15-7 & Billie Barker, Graham Tweed & John Jarvis winning 10-9. Suffolk’s only win in this session was a 14-4 result for J Paddy’s triple against Trevor Pinchen. After the break Neil Davidson won his second game beating Michael Rice 18-13 while Mike Boswell drew 13-13 against David Baker. With the bonus points earned Norfolk’s singles players had seven out of the ten points on offer in the bag. In the pairs Lesley Crowe & George Clarke won their second game of the match by 12-10 but the other pairs game went Suffolk’s way with the home side also collecting the two bonus points. The final session put the icing on the cake for Norfolk though as they won right across the board. In the triples a nine shot deficit was wiped away as Billie Barker, Graham Tweed & John Jarvis raced to a 17-4 win and Janet Pinchen, David Blundell & Trevor Pinchen won 15-9 meaning Norfolk had earned eight out of ten triples points. The fours started their games already fifteen shots to the good but made it a perfect ten points scored as Terry Newby’s rink, with Jean Woods putting on an accomplished show at lead, won 17-8 and Peter Walker’s rink held their nerve to score a single on the last end to win 10-9. Before the match David Blundell was presented with a plaque by NCSMBA Vice-President Bob Oatway to mark his third match for Norfolk.
