Following the success of the inaugural tournament in Kent last year. Norfolk played hosts to Essex, Kent and Northamptonshire at Hingham Sports & Social Club. All rinks games were played over 15 ends with two points awarded for each win plus 8 points for the overall team win. The first round saw Norfolk play Kent which turned out to be a very close affair. Norfolk gradually began to take control as the ends ticked by but were only 4 shots up after 10 ends. John Jeffrey, Ryan Fox, Jamie Forster & David Lamb picked up 9 shots over the last 5 ends which saw them finish as the best rink for Norfolk. Kent countered and Gary Allard’s rink secured 8 shots over the last 5 ends. Neil Davidson’s rink ran out winners by 6 shots and Jason Woods’s rink won by 3 shots. This gave Norfolk 14 points and Kent 2 points. The other game in round one saw Essex take on Northamptonshire which resulted in a comfortable win for Northamptonshire. Fred Pearson, Thelma Hopkins, Chris Terry & Edward Sawbridge were Northants best winners 22 shots to 10. Chris Hopkins’ rink took a 7 on end 11 to take them into the lead after being 9-8 down. John Pye’s rink gave Essex a consolation win by 15-10. This meant Northamptonshire ran out 14 points to 2 winners.
Round two saw Norfolk take on Essex with Essex looking to fightback after their first game. After 5 ends it looked like Norfolk were in control being 9 shots up overall and only down in one rink. Over the next 5 ends Essex fought back and went into an 8 shot lead with John Pye’s rink picking up a 7 on end 6 against Jason Woods’s rink. The game took another turn as Norfolk staged a late comeback with Robin Amos, Jack Marshall, Simon Willies & Neil Davidson picking up 13 shots over the final 5 ends and David Lamb’s rink picking up a 7 against Keith Paxman’s rink on end 13. Elaine Willies, Robbie Lamb, John Turner & Jason Woods picked up 9 shots over the last 3 ends while Barry Hedges’s rink ran out comfortable winners against Keith Cooke’s rink by 25-9. This meant Norfolk ran out winners by 4 shots collecting 12 points and Essex 4 points. The other game in round two saw Kent play Northamptonshire and this again proved to be a very tight game. After 5 ends Northamptonshire had moved into a 10 shot lead heading towards a comfortable win. However, Kent fought back strongly over the next 5 ends with Matt Harwood, Tony Friel, Nicky Tresaden & Gary Allard taking 13 shots off Chris Weston’s rink and Pat Ellis, Pauline Friel, Tim Harwood & Thomas Cole taking 12 shots off Martin Watts rink. At the 10 end stage this gave Kent a lead of 11 shots. It was Northamptonshire’s turn to stage a comeback with Martin Watts’s rink picking up 6 shots on the last 3 ends. However, going into the last end, it looked likely that Kent would secure a hard fought victory but Northamptonshire decided otherwise. On the last end Northant’s 10 shots to Kent’s 1 give them victory by 3 shots earning them 12 points to Kent’s 4.
Going into the last round of the tournament both Norfolk and Northamptonshire were on 26 points and Kent and Essex on 6 points each. Therefore it was all to play for in the last session with Norfolk taking on Northamptonshire and Kent playing Essex. After 5 ends there was not much to separate Kent and Essex with 1 shot in it. After 10 ends Essex had moved into a 6 shot lead. Essex’s Paul Bax’s rink proved to be decisive running out 23 shots to 9. The other 3 rinks were very tight affairs. The highlight being a 15 all draw between Gary Allard’s Kent rink and Barry Hedges’ Essex rink. This gave Essex victory by 13 points to 3. But the big clash was between Norfolk and Northamptonshire as that would decide the ultimate winners of the tournament. Norfolk started strongly and raced into a 11 shot lead after 5 ends and never looked in danger of losing their grip on the game. After 10 ends Norfolk were 31 shots ahead despite Chris Weston’s rink taking a 7 off Kerry Greenacre, Robert Howlett, Melvin Woods & Keith Cooke although the Norfolk rink went onto win 22-13. Norfolk maintained their lead and ran out comfortable winners by 14 points to 2. Edward Sawbridge’s Northamptonshire rink and Neil Davidson’s Norfolk rink were involved in a very close game with Northamptonshire running out 12-10 winners. This left Norfolk as winners of the 4 Team Tournament with 40 points and +44 shots, Northants second on 28 points and -9 shots, Essex third with 19 points and -7 shots and Kent last with 9 points and -28 shots. It turned out to be a very long day with play finishing about 6.00pm however everybody had a good days bowling. All games were played in a competitive manner with good spirit and this event may become an annual tournament. The Norfolk County Team Management sends a big thankyou to everyone that helped with the equipment and also special mention to Gillian Amos for all her hard work and efforts over the day.
The Norfolk Rinks team who won at Hingham