It was another good weekend for Norfolk Premier and Norfolk “A” as their journeys away in the I.C.C ended in success. A few years ago, when Kent Premier ruled supreme in English short mat bowls, a 22-18 home defeat would have been looked upon as a failure but dynamics have changed a lot since then and the home team will now probably look upon this result with some satisfaction. But for Norfolk it will simply mean that four wins on the trot keep them right on target to repeat last season’s achievement of winning all of their six group games. Leading the way for the Premier team were the singles and fours who both collected seven out of ten points in their disciplines. Former Kent star Gary Best of Bob Carter again inflicted serious damage on his old county as he produced wins of 21-7 & 17-9. Jason Woods of Carter was the choice to replace Neil Davidson in the other singles slot and drew his opening game 14-14 against Tim Rycraft before losing his second game by 16-13. Ryan Fox, Karl Newby, John Turner & David Lamb drew their first game by 11-11 and won their second by 10-8 while Melvin Woods’ rink won their first game 11-8 before narrowly losing their second half game by one shot. The triples won a game apiece but their second half scores clinched the all-important bonus points as Steve Easter, Morgan Warnes & Simon Warnes won 10-9 and Jack Marshall, Debbie Sparham & Jon Sparham won by a resounding 16-6. The pairs did not have their best of days although a first session win of 24-5 by Owen Cranston & Keith Cooke promised more. They lost their second game by 18-7 while Nigel Willard of Bob Carter and Simon Willies of East Tuddenham went down 16-10 in the first half and by 14-7 after the break. Gaining the bonus points in three disciplines proved vital as Norfolk Premier secured victory. Norfolk “A” will be delighted to have won heavily away to local rivals Suffolk for the second year in a row. The fours dominated proceedings picking up a maximum ten points. Peter Walker, George Clarke, David Sharpe & David Blundell won by 12-10 & 9-7 while Angela Bond, Steven Lamb, Mick Boswell & Bob Oatway won 13-6 & 15-13. Wymondham’s John Jeffery had a good day in the singles winning both his games by 12-11 while Robin Amos of Deaf Sports added a 15-10 win in his opening game against Derek Adams. Both pairs won a game apiece but earned the bonus points for shots as Kerry Greenacre & Lewis Cranston won their second heavily by 20-2 and Jenny Walker & John Jarvis won their opening game 13-10. A 20-10 second half win in the triples for Jean Woods, Ray Lamb & Terry Newby was vital in grabbing the bonus points in the triples which also saw Janet Pinchen, Steve Hall & Melvyn Barker draw 10-10 against Bob Cousins in the first half. This insured that both teams collected five points apiece in the triples as Norfolk “A” won the match by 28-12 on points and 199-175 on shots.
Norfolk "A" singles bowlers Robin Amos & John Jeffery