Norfolk Over 60’s opened their East of England League campaign with a trip to Cosgrove for the tricky away fixture against Northants. Several last minute changes had been made to the team as player after player called off through illness with Organiser Teresa Goldsmith having several places to fill in the twenty-four hours before the match. As if that was not enough the day of the match brought more problems for Teresa as players waited for a coach that failed to appear. With Teresa trying in vain to get anyone from the coach company to answer their phones it seemed at one point that the whole day would be lost. Finally contact was made and it became clear that an administration error had been made resulting in the coach booking not having been entered into the Coach Companies diary despite a confirmation email having been sent. A coach was immediately dispatched but by then nearly two hours had been lost and the Norfolk bowlers and their organiser were understandably not impressed and left feeling that the gods were conspiring against them in their defence of the title they won last season. After finally being picked up by the coach they got on their way and eventually arrived at Cosgrove and the match got underway although considerably later than planned. Northants Seniors gained a narrow 5-3 points advantage in the opening session with Norfolk’s points earned by Billie Barker, Steve Easter & Melvyn Barker with an 11-5 win and a 6-6 draw for Brian Turner, Geoff Payne & John Jarvis. The second session was drawn with two wins apiece, Norfolk’s winners were Richard Broad, David Blundell & Tony Ottewell who won 10-7 and Trevor Pinchen, Janet Pinchen & Marjorie Hall who won by 11-10. Norfolk got back on terms in the third session and levelled the match at 12-12 on points. Teresa Goldsmith, Andy George & Sheila Bragg won 9-5, Brian Turner, Geoff Payne & John Jarvis won 7-4 and Lesley Turner, Sue Fox & Tony Oram drew 7-7. The fourth session was shared with Norfolk’s wins coming from Richard Broad, David Blundell & Tony Ottewell who won 13-6 and Kerry Greenacre, Mike Greenacre & Mike Boswell who won 10-6. But the fifth session saw Northants regain their lead with only an 11-3 win for Teresa Goldsmith, Andy George & Sheila Bragg to show for their efforts as the home side moved 22-18 ahead on points. The final session produced an identical scoreline with only Richard Broad, David Blundell & Tony Ottewell winning for Norfolk by 12-6. With the two bonus points added for shots Northants won the match by 30-20 on points. Its interesting to note that Norfolk’s only defeat in the East of England League last season was at Northants and that was also by ten points.
Tony Ottewell - maximum points for Norfolk Over 60's