Latest News

On Saturday Norfolk Premier took on the long trip to Guildford to take on Surrey Premier and a fighting performance saw them emerge with a 22-18 away win although their long unbeaten record in the I.C.C came under extreme threat. Norfolk made a solid start winning the first session 6-2 with Gary Best & Chris Mann both winning in the singles while Morgan Warnes & Jack Pye added a 15-10 pairs win. It was very nearly a clean sweep as Simon Warnes & Jon Sparham recovered from a 10-2 deficit to lead their game 14-12 with two ends remaining. The Surrey pair though levelled the game at 14-14 and scored a single on the last end to win by one shot. Surrey narrowed Norfolk’s lead to 9-7 in the second session with Jack Marshall, Jason Woods & Melvin Woods scoring Norfolk’s only win by 10-9. It was young Jack Marshall’s debut in the Premier team, due to Nigel Willard’s illness, and the Connaught bowler continued to show great promise and is a name to watch out for in the future. Laura Hawksworth, Rob Cranston, Jamie Forster & David Lamb drew their fours game 7-7. With the singles & pairs on next Norfolk were hoping to increase their lead but instead it proved to be a great session for Surrey. Both pairs games were lost with Surrey’s L Gillam & T Alexander in excellent form beating Warnes & Pye 17-9 and Simon Warnes & Jon Sparham again losing by just one shot. Sparham’s final wood of the game looked a winner all the way but the Surrey bowl he attacked rolled forward just enough to hold shot position as the jack entered the ditch. Chris Mann had a poor start against R Edwards and trailed 9-1 after seven ends with the Surrey bowler winning 17-11. Norfolk’s only win of the session was due to a sensational performance by new boy Gary Best who stormed his way to a 24-8 to secure the singles bonus points. This left Surrey in the lead going into the final session but Norfolk dug deep to clinch victory. Kerry Greenacre, Debbie Sparham & Keith Cooke took control early on in their game and secured a 15-7 win. Lewis Cranston, Phil Watson, Bob Oatway & Simon Willies beat Derek Johns’ rink 13-3 with Willies having his best game yet since transferring to Norfolk from the West Mids. Melvin Woods’ triple looked on course for their second win of the day but dropped three shots on the last end to lose 14-12 but David Lamb’s rink held on for a 9-9 draw in their game and Norfolk could relax knowing they were over the finishing line with bonus points earned in the singles, triples & fours. Gary Best, Jack Marshall & Simon Willies were presented with plaques by NCSMBA Vice-President Bob Oatway to mark their third match for Norfolk