Norfolk County Short Mat Bowls Association

                                 East Coast Triples Cup winners Arthur Jackson, Paula McCallum & Mac McCallum with Richard Beare

                                                           Runners-up Gerry Russell, Gill Kent & Tony Kent with Richard Beare

                                                                              Third placed Margaret Barley, Sue Fox & Derek Barley

                                        Fourth placed Mike Boswell, Val Vardy & Di Boswell with Potters entertainer Richard Beare

                                                                       East Coast Pairs winners Arthur Jackson & Paula McCallum

                                                                                      Runners-up John Jarvis & Mike Boswell

                                         Third placed David Knights & John Poynter                               

                                                                                   Fourth placed Paul Whitcombe & Terry Thorpe

 

Potters entertainer Richard Beare 

BOOKINGS ARE NOW BEING TAKEN FOR THE EAST COAST OVER 50s WEEK WHICH BEGINS ON MONDAY 2nd MAY 2016. BOOKING FIGURES ARE ALREADY HIGH DUE TO SO MANY SHORT MAT BOWLERS WHO ATTENDED THIS YEARS "POTTERS EAST COAST OVER 50s WEEK" ALREADY BOOKING IN FOR THE EVENT. PLEASE CONTACT TERESA A.S.A.P IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COMING AS NUMBERS ARE LIMITED. PLEASE REFER TO DETAILS BELOW AND PHONE TERESA ON 01603-403628 FOR AN ENTRY FORM FOR YOU OR YOUR CLUB. IF YOU ARE COMING AS AN INDIVIDUAL OR AS A COUPLE TERESA WILL ENSURE YOU HAVE A TRIPLE TO PLAY IN.

100% Halvergate in Tens League

Halvergate have clinched the Tens League title with a maximum 4-0 on points, 78-39 on shots, win against Bradwell. That gave Halvergate impressive stats of fourteen wins from fourteen games that they can be proud of. The visitors, who have finished bottom of the table, had little hope of competing at Halvergate and the game was as good as over by halftime after Ray Lamb, Roy Walker & Simon Warnes stormed to a 30-7 win against Mike Harvey’s triple and Donna Lamb & Keith Cooke won 15-9. Two more wins followed after the break as Robbie & David Lamb won 20-13 in the pairs and Michael Savage, Steven Lamb & Morgan Warnes won 13-10. Bob Carter finished as runners-up.

                                                                                                                                                                         Posted 3-5-15

One of Halvergate's winning skips Morgan Warnes

Melly Woods stars in Carter’s County Cup triumph

The County Cup Final between holders Bob Carter & Bradwell was held at Hevingham where Carter maintained their stranglehold on the trophy winning it for the fifth year in a row. Once again the entry numbers for the competition dropped but this did enable finalists Bradwell to field a number of guest players from non participating teams such as Halvergate & Horsford BC to strengthen their side in the absence of unavailable regulars. These included England regulars David Lamb & Keith Cooke of Halvergate and Morgan & Simon Warnes of Horsford BC. Following the loss of Trevor Brown & Kim Bridge, who have moved out of Norfolk, Bob Carter sprang a surprise of their own by naming former England international Steve Bridge who played his first game for around four years. It was obvious when the first half triples were announced that Carter had every intention of starting on the front foot. On mat one Carter’s Jean Woods, Nigel Willard & John Turner were named to play Anne Baker, Keith Baker & Keith Cooke while on mat two Frank Edy, Steve Bridge & Melly Woods were playing Margaret Newcombe, Shirley George & Robbie Lamb. Melly Woods’ triple drew first blood taking a single on the first end but Robbie Lamb impressively ditched the jack to give Bradwell a 2-1 lead on the second end. Bradwell’s Margaret Newcombe opened with a toucher on the third end but Frank Edy then drew shot in reply. A superb backhand by Melly Woods with his first bowl took shot and Carter moved into a 3-2 lead. On the next end a great backhand shot by Robbie Lamb took shot but Melly Woods had the last laugh taking shot for a 4-2 lead. The fifth end saw Melly Woods’ triple turn the screw on Bradwell. With his triple in terrible trouble Robbie Lamb elected to fire with both his woods but he missed with the first and hit the block with his second as Carter took a full house to move 10-2 up. Robbie Lamb’s triple pulled a single back on the sixth end but Melly Woods, in brilliant form on the night, produced another superb last bowl on the seventh end to stop Bradwell scoring another and Carter moved 11-3 up. Two more shots to Carter on the next end saw Lamb’s triple becoming to lose touch in the game. Frank Edy was winning the battle of the leads, Steve Bridge was becoming more and more influential with each end played after his long absence from the sport and Melly Woods was in sparkling form. Robbie Lamb drew in a perfect backhand bowl to save his triple on the ninth end and it was declared shot wood after the umpire was called in to measure. The pressure from Carter continued unabated on the tenth end as Frank Edy drew in a toucher and Steve Bridge drew in behind the jack. Robbie Lamb drew a wood in for Bradwell but Melly Woods again produced two great bowls to move his triple into a 15-4 lead. Carter were flying now and another four shots followed on the next end to make it 19-4. It was the same story on the next end as Bridge sent down two more fine woods forcing Robbie Lamb to attack again but to no avail as the score moved to 23-4 with the resulting damage to Bradwell’s fading cup hopes. A good wood by Shirley George sat in behind the jack on the thirteenth end and stayed for a while until Melly Woods again produced a bowl of quality to take his triple 25-4 ahead. Woods took shot with his final bowl on the next end and Robbie Lamb’s last wood dropped short leaving Carter 26-4 up. On the last end Shirley George drew in behind the jack and for once Carter failed to remove it and the match finished at 26-5 delivering a massive blow to Bradwell’s giant killing dream. On the other mat a drawn wood by Nigel Willard earned Carter a 1-0 lead on the opening end. After a somewhat loose start to the second end John Turner consolidated Carter’s position with his final wood to hold five shots. Keith Cooke’s last wood hit the block and Carter moved 6-0 up. Cooke’s triple got on the scoreboard with a single on the third end after a Keith Baker wood held on for shot. Two good opening bowls by Jean Woods kept the pressure on but it was Bradwell who took another single on the fourth but Carter did likewise on the fifth to lead 7-2. The umpire was called in to measure on the next end and Bradwell earned another shot to reduce the deficit to 7-3. When Carter skip John Turner stepped up to play his final wood on the next end Bradwell held two shots but he failed to change anything and Bradwell were now just two shots behind at 7-5. Keith Cooke played a weight shot to hold one on the eighth end but Turner drew in a perfect bowl to move 8-5 up but a single to Bradwell on the ninth reduced the lead to 8-6. Carter picked up singles on the next two ends but moved 12-6 up after scoring two shots on end twelve. With the shots mounting in Carter’s favour on the other mat John Turner was content to see his triple over the finishing line and with an end to go they led 13-7. Keith Cooke at least finished in style for Bradwell playing a great attacking wood on the final end to take three shots and reduce the score to 13-10 in Carter’s favour. This left Bob Carter 4-0 up on points and 39-15 up on shots at the interval leaving Bradwell a mountain to climb in the second half. The make-up of the triples looked more evenly matched with Carter’s Sue Hunt, Jamie Forster & Robert Howlett playing Bradwell’s Derek Humpheys, Morgan Warnes & Simon Warnes on mat one while on mat two Margaret Reynolds, Malcolm Reynolds & Jason Woods were playing Bradwell’s Donna Lamb, Mike Harvey & David Lamb. There was a rather loose start to the game on mat one until Morgan Warnes drewin on her back-hand for shot and Bradwell built on this to take three shots on the first end. Carter’s Sue Hunt delivered two good lead bowls on the second end but they had to settle for one shot by the finish of the end. Two excellent woods by Morgan Warnes forced Rob Howlett to attack and he took one of them out to hold second wood. This in turn was promptly removed by Simon Warnes with his next bowl. Howlett again attacked and forced the jack back between a Carter bowl and a Bradwell bowl. Simon Warnes elected not to play his final wood and the umpire was called in for a measure which went Bradwell’s way for a 4-1 lead. On the fourth end a Sue Hunt toucher sat near the jack early on while a Derek Humphreys bowl sat at the side of the jack. A good last wood by Simon Warnes took shot and Howlett’s final wood on the back-hand stayed straight and Bradwell moved 5-1 ahead. Both Humphreys’ bowls on the fifth end dropped short while Sue Hunt drew around them to put Carter in a good position which they held until a fluke bowl by Simon Warnes, followed by a much better second wood, added to Carter’s woes. Rob Howlett had to resort to an attacking wood with his final delivery of the end and it gave his triple shot wood to reduce the deficit to 5-2. Good bowling by Derek Humphreys & Simon Warnes earned two shots for Bradwell on the next end and it took an attacking wood by Howlett to restrict Bradwell to a single on the seventh. On the next end a good effort by Howlett with his last wood got him less than it actually deserved and Warnes’ triple moved 10-2 up. Despite two excellent woods by Morgan Warnes on the next end Robert Howlett, with one attacking shot and a great drawn bowl, earned Carter three shots and a single for Carter on the tenth end reduced Bradwell’s lead to 10-6. Morgan Warnes drew in behind the jack on the eleventh end and there it remained for an 11-6 lead but Howlett’s last wood on the next end made it 11-7. A surplus of short woods on the next end left Carter in trouble and Simon Warnes took full advantage as his triple increased their lead to 15-7. On the penultimate end Sue Hunt & Jamie Forster drew in good woods. With shots crucial if Bradwell were to stand any chance of an upset Simon Warnes decided to fire with his last wood but failed to stop Carter collecting three shots. On the last end, with Carter holding three,  Simon Warnes was somewhat fortunate with his last bowl to take shot as his triple completed a well earned 16-10 win against Rob Howlett’s triple. On mat two Jason Woods’ triple scored two on the opening end after David Lamb’s attacking last wood failed to stop them winning the end. On the next end though David Lamb produced a stunning last bowl to take shot. The umpire was needed on the next end to decide shot after Lamb hit the block with his last wood and the measure went Carter’s way to give them a 3-1 lead. The lead changed over the next two ends as Bradwell took a three followed by a single. David Lamb ditched the jack on the sixth end to hold two shots. After Jason Woods hit the block with his next bowl David Lamb drew in for a three and an 8-3 lead. Woods would have been more pleased with his efforts on the next end as he drew in to take two shots with his last bowl to cut Bradwell’s lead to 8-5. Margaret Reynolds put down two good bowls on the next end to give Carter the advantage but it all went sour as David Lamb’s triple scored four shots to move 11-5 up. Another three shots followed for Bradwell on the ninth end to give them a 14-5 lead and suddenly the possibility of Bradwell overhauling Carter’s first half lead seemed realistic. That was all to change though on a dramatic tenth end that turned the tide back in Carter’s favour. A super bowl by Malcolm Reynolds left Carter holding three shots but Mike Harvey played a solid wood to take shot for Bradwell. A great last wood from David Lamb left Bradwell holding three shots and appeared to leave Carter skip Jason Woods with little chance of retrieving the situation. Woods though had other ideas and he played a remarkable attacking shot that took Bradwell’s bowls out of the head while leaving Carter’s bowls all intact for four shots and cutting Bradwell’s lead to 14-9. Bradwell got back on track on the next end scoring two shots and moving 16-9 ahead but the heat was now off with them standing little chance of catching Carter up on shots. After Donna Lamb drew close to the jack on the next end Margaret Reynolds drew even closer to take shot for Carter. A tight end developed with David Lamb drawing in just behind the jack but Jason Woods countered by drawing onto the jack. David Lamb was wide with his last wood and Woods decided to take the shot without playing his final bowl. On the next end Jason Woods sent his final wood flying down the mat but Bradwell scored two shots to move 18-10 ahead. On the penultimate end the umpire was called in to measure and Carter scored two shots leaving Bradwell 18-12 up. Two more shots went to Carter on the final end leaving David Lamb’s Bradwell triple winning 18-14 on shots. The match was therefore level at 4-4  on points but Carter retained the cup with a shot advantage of 63 to 49. NCSMBA Chairman Selwyn Goldsmith presented Bob Carter captain Melly Woods with the cup and congratulated both teams on their performances. He also thanked Hevingham SMBC for hosting the final and Peter Smart for umpiring.   

                                                                                                                                                                            Posted 29-4-15       

County Cup winners Bob Carter

 

Carter Captain Melly Woods - Man of the Match

 

Wymondham end wait for Norwich Cup glory

Wymondham’s long wait to get their hands on the Norwich Cup finally came to an end as they beat Hempnall in a hotly contested two legged final. In truth the damage was done in the first leg at Hempnall where Wymondham enjoyed a fabulous first half. Both opening games went to the visitors with Pat Saunders, Melvyn Barker & Debbie Sparham beating Paul Baker’s triple 10-3 and Billie Barker, Andrew Jackson & Jon Sparham winning by 7-4 against Richard Harrowing’s triple. The pairs games saw Brian Saunders & Jack Pye winning 6-5 against Rob Cranston & Charlie Archer while Roger Steele & Chris Mann drew 9-9 with Roger Parker & Neil Davidson to leave Wymondham 7-1 up on points at the break. The second half was shared with Jon Sparham’s triple & Jack Pye’s pair winning for Wymondham while Richard Harrowing’s triple and Charlie Archer’s pair scored Hempnall’s only wins of the night. This left Wymondham defending an 11-5 points lead going into the second leg on their own mats but thoughts of an easy win were quickly dispensed with after a great start by Hempnall. Wins of 10-7 for Owen Cranston, Lewis Cranston & Paul Baker against Debbie Sparham’s triple and 8-4 by Bernie Cudden, Mike Pearce & Richard Harrowing against Jon Sparham’s triple narrowed the deficit to 11-9. The second session of pairs games saw two titanic battles as Hempnall attempted to build on their great start. Wymondham’s Brian Saunders & Jack Pye faced Rob Cranston & Charlie Archer and Pye made the difference on the first end as his pair took two shots. Rob Cranston produced three excellent woods on the second end to put Pye under pressure but the young Norfolk star responded well to take shot and make it 3-0. On the next end Charlie Archer drew in a good second bowl to restrict the home pair to another single. The Hempnall pair finally broke their duck on the fourth end. Charlie Archer produced a superb final bowl to complete an excellent end for him and Rob Cranston to cut the deficit to 4-3 and followed it up with a single on the fifth to level the game. Having done all the hard work disaster struck on the sixth end for Hempnall as Saunders & Pye put themselves in the driving seat taking four shots for an 8-4 lead which became 10-4 on the penultimate end. On the last end Rob Cranston drew in three good bowls while Brian Saunders failed to reach with his bowls. Even then the danger looked minimal for the Wymondham pair but Charlie Archer took full advantage of the situation. When he stepped up to play his final bowl Hempnall held five shots and Charlie drew in a sixth for a full house to earn an extraordinary and unexpected 10-10 draw and spark celebrations among watching Hempnall players. In the other pairs game Roger Steele & Chris Mann faced Hempnall’s formidable pairing of Roger Parker & Neil Davidson. The Hempnall pair took a single on the first end courtesy of a superb drawn wood by Parker. Mann drew to the jack with the last bowl of the end but it touched the jack and then fell away. Mann was forced to attack on the second end as Parker was winning the battle of the leads but could not stop Hempnall moving 3-0 up. The second end saw Parker again outdrawing Steele and Chris Mann was forced to attack and he killed the end to get the Wymondham pair out of trouble. On the replayed end Mann played three superb bowls to level the game and disrupt the visitor’s momentum. Roger Parker & Neil Davidson hit back with some great bowling on the next end to immediately restore their three shot lead and again put Steele & Mann on the back foot. The fifth end saw Steele finally get the upper-hand against Parker as he drew in two perfect backhand bowls. Davidson was three shots down when he played his last wood but kept a cool head to cut it down to just one while Mann’s final wood failed to change the head. The sixth end proved to be a big one as the jack was moved into a tempting position. Chris Mann elected to try and ditch the jack and he did so to perfection. Neil Davidson failed to improve the situation for Hempnall as his next bowl hit a short Wymondham toucher pushing it towards the ditch as well. As Mann drew in his other woods to the ditch line Davidson faced a very difficult situation that he found impossible to retrieve and the Wymondham pair collected five shots and moved into a 9-6 lead. On the penultimate end Neil Davidson took shot with his final bowl to leave Steele & Mann just 9-7 up going into the last end. The Hempnall pair got the early advantage on the last end as they attempted to save the game. After Mann’s last bowl of the end the Hempnall pair held one shot with a measure for two. Hempnall realized the importance of this measure and must have been deflated as the tape showed that Wymondham held the second bowl and had held on to win by just 9-8. In terms of the bigger picture this left Wymondham 14-10 up on points and now just three points from cup glory. This result appeared to boost Wymondham’s confidence in the next session which proved to be the last. On mat one Billie Barker, Andrew Jackson & Jon Sparham took four shots on the opening end against Paul Baker’s triple and never looked back as they stormed to a 13-1 win. On mat two Debbie Sparham’s triple started more conservatively taking a 4-1 lead after four ends but maintained the lead throughout to win 9-3 and end Wymondham’s long wait for Norwich Cup glory. With Wymondham now in an unassailable 18-10 aggregate lead Hempnall conceded and the presentations were made by NCSMBA Chairman Selwyn Goldsmith who presented the coveted Norwich Cup to Wymondham captain Melvyn Barker.

                                                                                                                                                                            Posted 28-4-15

Wymondham - Norwich Cup winners

Hempnall - Norwich Cup runners-up

 

 

 

Norfolk County Team Trials

Norfolk County Team Trials for the 2015/16 season are being held at Hingham Sports & Social Club on Sunday 10-5-15 and players are asked to arrive at 9-15am for a 9.45am start. Any NCSMBA registered bowler who wishes to trial on that day should contact the CountyTeam Manager, Selwyn Goldsmith, a.s.a.p by phoning 01603-403628. All squad players from the 2014/15 season should have already received details and do not need to contact the manager unless they are unable to attend.

                                                                                                                                                                          Posted 27-4-15

 

 

Halvergate win Bure for third time

Halvergate have won the Bure League title for the third time in a row after a 10-0 home win against Horsford Heroes. They started the match needing eight points to take the title with a match still to play and did so in style taking maximum points. Simon Warnes’ triple scored the night’s biggest win of 29-5 while young Morgan Warnes won 12-10. Keith Cooke’s triple won their game 19-13 while his England colleague David Lamb skipped his triple to a 19-5 win. The result means the top three are the same as last season with East Tuddenham finishing as runners-up two points ahead of third placed Kirby Bedon. Thorpe Marriott have made progress this season finishing fourth up from seventh last season.

 

Sprowston SSC look for new players

Sprowston SSC are looking for experienced players to join their club. They have struggled at times to put out a full team this year in the City of Norwich League and have decided that a recruitment drive is needed for the long term benefit of the club. Any player interested should contact George Munford on 01603-263874 or e-mail him on g.munford41@btinternet.com.  

                                                                                                                                                               Posted 23-4-15

 

Horsford BC top City League

Horsford BC look to be on their way to a successful defence of the City of Norwich League title. A 12-2 win away to Taverham has moved them fourteen points clear at the top after a remarkable late season run of success. Second placed Costessey won 14-0 at home to Taverham but had to be content with a 10-4 away win at Sprowston SSC. Other results saw Sprowston win 12-2 at Framingham Earl, Windows win 8-6 at Felthorpe and County Council record an 11-3 home win against Horsford Heroes.

Halvergate on brink of first Tens title as Carter slip up

Tens League leaders Bob Carter were well beaten at Hempnall where the home side won by thirty shots. The first half was tight with Rob Cranston’s Hempnall triple beating Jason Woods’ Carter triple 16-13 with the away side replying with a 14-13 win for Frank Edy & Melvin Woods against Roger Parker & Neil Davidson. The second half though saw Carter’s title hopes take a massive hit as Chris East & Charlie Archer stormed to a 23-5 win against Chrissie & John Turner while Paul Baker’s triple beat Nigel Willard’s triple 17-7 for a maximum 4-0 home win. The result leaves Halvergate needing just one point from their remaining match at home to bottom of the table Bradwell. With a superb record of thirteen wins from thirteen games so far Halvergate look certain to complete a magnificent season by lifting the Tens title for the first time. A close match at Coltishall saw Hempnall slip to defeat by just two shots. Wins for Roly Sargant & Margaret Harman in the pairs and Peter Barnett, Les Harman & Vic Woods in the triples earned Coltishall a 2-0 win.

                                                                                                                                      Posted 21-4-15

 

Norfolk’s Jack Pye wins Plate in SMPT World Masters

Hempnall’s Neil Davidson & Wymondham’s Chris Mann & Jack Pye flew the flag for Norfolk in the SMPT World Masters in Belfast at the weekend. Playing in groups of six on a round robin basis a top two place was required to qualify for the knockout stages of the World Masters. A third or fourth place would qualify bowlers into the Plate Competition while the rest would be consigned to the Wooden Spoon section. With Ireland’s Mark Beattie starting the day as World Number One in the SMPT World Rankings followed by fellow Irishmen Jal Richardson, Andrew Morrison & Cecil Dillon in second, third & fourth respectively these were the four expected to set the pace. Hempnall’s Neil Davidson found himself in Group 18 and with Mark Beattie also in the group Neil knew he had little margin for error. Neil had the perfect start beating Ireland’s Ian Irwin 18-6 and remained unbeaten after drawing his second game 10-10 against Sweden’s Tommy Dahlgren ranked World number 21 prior to the event. The third game saw Neil score his biggest win in the group beating James Stewart of Ireland 21-6 but his fourth game was not to be so easy against Mark Beattie. Nevertheless it proved to be no walkover for the Irish ace as Neil kept in touch before going down by just 14-9. It was back to winning ways in Neil’s last group game as he beat Derek Shanks of Ireland 17-6 to finish runner-up in Group 18 behind Mark Beattie who took maximum points winning all his five games. Wymondham’s Chris Mann, drawn in Group 15, has tasted success at a major SMPT event and started the day ranked number 15. His day started poorly with a 13-6 defeat against Sam Harvey of Wales but he recovered well to win his second game by 22-4 against Moira McAdam who was one of four Irish players in the group. After that Mann reeled off three straight wins beating Andrew Robinson 10-6, Finbarr Boyle 13-4 & Phil McKeown 13-9 to earn the runner-up spot in Group 15. Wymondham’s Jack Pye began at number 17 in the rankings and was drawn in Group 25 that included World Number 7 Pauline Beattie. With Nicky Garvey of Ireland a non-starter the other five players were each awarded a 12-0 walkover for that particular match. Jack Pye did not have the start he hoped for as he went down 12-10 to Shane Roberts of Ireland and then lost his second game 14-8 to English bowler Peter Roberts. His third game was his toughest on paper against Pauline Beattie and it proved to be his third defeat of the day losing 10-8. Jack finally got a win in his last group game beating Ireland’s Brendan McCabe 18-4 and it proved enough to earn him a place in the Plate section while Pauline Beattie & Shane Hand finished first and second to qualify for the Main Competition. A major shock in the group stages was the failure of Irish aces Jal Richardson & Cecil Dillon to qualify through their groups, in fact their results left the World’s number 2 & number 4 both in the Wooden Spoon section. Richardson & Dillon would eventually meet in the quarter-finals of the Wooden Spoon where Cecil Dillon won their game by 10-4 before going on to win the Wooden Spoon event beating Ryan Cavan in the final.

After his good form in the group stage three time Norfolk Singles champion Neil Davidson would have been confident in his first knockout section game against Ireland’s George Crothers but that was to be as far as Davidson would get as he suffered a one shot defeat going down by just 10-9. Chris Mann’s first knockout round opponent was Ireland’s Alan McCombe and the Wymondham player emerged the winner by 13-9. Another Irish opponent came his way in the next round in the shape of Jackie Erskine and a 9-6 win kept Mann in the hunt for another major title. World number 8 Joseph Beattie of Ireland now stood in the way of Mann’s progress and a tremendous game ended all square forcing a tie break to settle the issue which Mann won. In the Last 16 Mann faced Chris Davies of Wales and itwas the Welsh bowler who came out on top beating Mann 10-5 to reach the last eight. Davies exited the competition in the next round in a quarter-final defeat to Paul Canning the eventually runner-up who lost the final by 14-4 to Mark Beattie. It was Mark Beattie’s third SMPT title which earned him the Henselite Order of Merit trophy for this season and a cheque for £250. The award is made to the player that finishes top of the rankings after the six ranked events are completed.

Having found himself playing in the Plate Competition instead of the Main World Masters young Jack Pye began a run of wins that were to make the day memorable for him. An easy 16-4 win against Ireland’s Sara Johnston was followed by a 14-5 win against Paul Duff also of Ireland. Joel Hager of Sweden was the next bowler in Jack’s sights and the young Wymondham star soon disposed of him by 13-5. Jack then met Ireland’s Gary Moore in the Plate quarter-final and earned himself a semi-final place winning 12-7. William Morrison of Ireland was Jack’s next victim as he reached the final with a 13-9 win. In the Plate Final Jack Pye met Derek McCann of Ireland and Jack continued his superb run with an 8-7 win to complete a great day on Irish soil.  

On 21-8-15 the SMPT are launching a SMPT World Cup event at Bromsgrove IBC. The top four players in the SMPT Rankings from each of England, Belgium, Ireland, The Netherlands, The Isle of Man, Wales, Norway & Sweden will be invited to represent their countries. A Rest of the World team will also be invited based on the rankings. The top four English bowlers following the World Masters in Belfast are Chris Mann ranked 9, Dom Reed ranked 11, Jack Pye ranked joint 12 & James Trott ranked number 17.

For those readers unfamiliar to the SMPT it stands for the Short Mat Players Tour. Bowlers taking part in six specified SMPT events over the course of the season earn ranking points in the SMPT World Rankings. Obviously these rankings are not recognised by the official National Associations as they only relate to players who take part in SMPT events which are currently held in England, Ireland, Belgium & Sweden. The six ranking events are the UK Open and the English Masters both played at Bromsgrove IBC, the Irish Open and the World Masters both played at Belfast IBC, the European Masters played in Belgium and the Swedish Masters played in Sweden.   

                                                                                                                                    Posted 20-4-15

 

Craig Burgess of the SMPT presents Jack Pye with the Plate award in Belfast

Ireland's Paul Canning & Mark Beattie after Beattie's 14-4 win in the World Master's Final

Bob Carter finish third in Torquay

Bob Carter finished in third place in the Top Club Competition in Torquay at the weekend. The players who took part for Carter were Melvin Woods, David Lamb, George Clarke, Jean Woods, Jason Woods & Jamie Forster who are pictured below.

                                                                                                                                                             Posted 20-4-15

Bob Carter pictured after finishing third in the Top Club Competition Weekend in Torquay

Bure AGM at Woodbastwick

The Bure League AGM will take place at Woodbastwick on Tuesday 23-6-15 at 7.30pm. Any club not presently playing in the Bure who wish to apply for membership to join the league for the 2015/16 season should notify the Bure League Secretary Lianne Mills as soon as possible. Contact details can be found for Lianne by clicking on the Management Committee tab on this website.

                                                                                  Posted 17-4-15

Halvergate retain Bure Cup

Halvergate retained the Bure Cup after a repeat of last season’s thrilling final against East Tuddenham but only after a late recovery in the second leg. Halvergate travelled to East Tuddenham with a massive 19-5 points lead from the first leg but if they thought it was as good as over they soon found out otherwise as East Tuddenham took twelve of the first fourteen points to drastically cut Halvergate’s lead. The match started well enough for the visitors as the first session was shared. Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & Peter Smart scored a 6-5 win for the home side against Morgan Warne’s triple while David Knights, Ray Lamb & Simon Warnes replied with a heavy 8-1 win against Chris Mann’s triple. Halvergate then saw their lead disappearing before their eyes as East Tuddenham moved into top gear. Gillian Amos, John Jefferys & Robin Amos beat Keith Cooke’s triple 9-4 and followed that up with a 7-2 win against David Lamb’s triple. Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner & John Turner beat David Lamb’s triple 5-3 while Madge Meachen, Gerald Potter & Chris Mann returned to winning ways beating Morgan Warnes’ triple 6-1. Peter Smart’s triple then won their second game of the night beating Simon Warnes 6-2. But just as East Tuddenham were thinking a remarkable comeback was on the cards Halvergate hit back with a vengeance and it was England international Keith Cooke and his triple that did the damage. Cooke’s triple brought Tuddenham’s superb winning sequence to a sudden halt as they beat former England bowler John Turner 9-4 and immediately added a 7-1 win against Peter Smart’s triple while a 6-4 win for sixteen year old star Morgan Warnes against Peter Smart took Halvergate over the finishing line. In the last session East Tuddenham took three of the four points leaving Halvergate Bure Cup winners by an aggregate score of 28-20. Keith Cooke was without doubt the most influential player over the two legs skipping his triple to five wins out of six games while Morgan Warnes eight points contribution was a vital ingredient in Halvergate’s victory.

                                                                                            Posted 16-4-15

Keith Cooke - Man of the match

Horsford BC surge continues as they move top

Horsford BC surged to the top of the City of Norwich League after beating Horsford Heroes 13-1, Sprowston SSC 12-2 and Framingham Earl 14-0. The defending champions disappointing start to the season left them looking completely out of the title race but a superb run of success has seen them surge up the table. Thorpe Marriott won 14-0 at home to County Council and are fourteen points behind Horsford BC but have a game in hand. Costessey did not have a game this week and with three games still to play are still in the battle. In the week’s other games Horsford Heroes won 11-3 at home to Windows while Felthorpe bear Framingham Earl 12-2.  

                                                                                                              Posted 13-4-15

 

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Terry Newby’s triple reach Last 16 in National Triples

The last day of the National Championships saw the triples in action but it proved another difficult day for Norfolk’s entries. Trish Taylor of Diss and Karl & Terry Newby of Carleton Rode were the last Norfolk triple to go out. Playing in Group 10 they opened with a fabulous 18-4 win and followed that up with wins of 13-7 & 8-6 to win the group with ease and qualify for the knock-out stages. Norfolk’s only other triple to reach this stage were Ollie Allen of Carleton Rode, Lee Fallows of Connaught & Neil Davidson of Hempnall. They won their opening Group 7 game 12-10 and then faced the top Essex triple consisting of Barry Hedges, Adam Sultana & Matt Dillon in a game that finished all square at 7-7. Davidson’s triple won their last group game 11-7 to finish level on points with the Essex triple but with an inferior shot difference. Unfortunately this meant that the two qualifying Norfolk triples would meet in the Last 32 stage, a replay of this season’s Norfolk County Triples Final with the prize a place in the Last 16. The result was a reverse of the Norfolk Triples Final with this time Terry Newby’s triple coming out on top with a 10-7 win. In the next round Newby’s triple had no luck with the draw with their opponents the highly rated West Midlands triple of Michael Tandy, Simon Willies & Chris Willies. The West Mids triple, none of them strangers to playing in the final stages of National Championships, proved too strong on the day winning by 9-1. Simon Warnes & Morgan Warnes of Horsford BC, playing with Halvergate & England player David Lamb, won their second game in Group 5 by 5-4 but lost their other games 8-7 & 11-4 to make an early exit. In Group 16 Chrissie Turner of East Tuddenham leading for Wymondham’s Jack Pye & Chris Mann had a tough group to contend with. They drew their first game 8-8 against Suffolk’s Derek Adams, Jo Clements & C Grabham but lost 9-6 to AJ Brown’s Oxfordshire triple and then lost 8-6 against Richard Payne’s Worcestershire triple to finish bottom of the group with one point. Oxfordshire's Roger Wiggins, Geoff Davies & AJ Brown were the eventual winners beating Gloucestershire's Ryan Knight, Jack Knight & Stephen Holdsworth 8-7 in the final. In the semi-finals Oxfordshire beat Chris Willies' West Mids triple 12-3 while Gloucestershire beat Barry Hedges, Adam Sultana & Matt Dillon of Essex 11-10. 

                                                                                                                                                                          Posted 10-4-15

Wymondham rink make it to Fours quarter-finals

Wymondham’s Jack Pye, Debbie Sparham, Jon Sparham & Chris Mann made it through to the quarter-finals of the National Fours Championships before going down by just two shots against West Mids. Mann’s rink started well winning Group 13 with three straight wins of 13-10, 9-6 & 16-6 before beating Kent 1 10-7 in the last 32 knock-out match. That earned them a match against Surrey 2 in the last 16 and they comfortably won that by 10-5. In the quarter-final they came up against a West Mids rink who were on a superb run of wins that had included scorelines of 22-1, 18-1, 17-3 & 13-0. The Wymondham rink gave West Mids plenty to worry about and the match went down to the last end before West Mids emerged with a modest 7-5 win. The West Mids rink went on to reach the final in which they were beaten 10-7 by Karen Watson, Luke Jolly, Ed Dyer & Tom Westlake of Cornwall. Norfolk’s other three rinks all failed to qualify out of the group stages. Ted Redwood’s Thorpe Marriott rink won two of their three Group 2 games but exited on shot difference when three rinks all finished level on points. Di Quadling, Dave Quadling, Elaine Oatway & Bob Oatway of Connaught won one game and lost two in Group 15. In Group 14 Jason Woods & Melvin Woods of Bob Carter, playing with East Tuddenham’s Chrissie & John Turner, lost their three games by 12-4, 17-1 & 9-5.

                                                                                                     Posted 11-4-15   

Bad day for Norfolk pairs in Nationals

Despite starting the day with high hopes Norfolk pairs made speedy exits from the National Pairs Championships in Derbyshire. Norfolk Pairs champions Mikey George & Jon Sparham of Wymondham successfully negotiated Group 14 as runners-up after losing their opening game 9-6 to Howard Cave & Keith Patrick. A 12-9 win against Alan Whiteleg & Fred Mills and a 13-4 win against Cliff Smedley & Brenda Mellor earned them a Last 32 place but a 13-5 defeat to Paul Goodman & Jason McLean of Hampshire ended their day. Ian Mills of Halvergate & Jean Woods of Bob Carter won Group 5 with identical 10-5 wins against Dave Coultas & Steve Danby as well as Dave Grout & Alan Walters. Their day also came to an end in the Last 32 with an 11-5 loss against Chris Kearns & Glyn Berrisford. Talented young bowlers Ollie Allen of Carleton Rode and Jack Pye of Wymondham & England were expected to do well but they lost all three games in a tough Group 6 that included Allan Williams & Alan Jones of Shropshire who had won the title for the past two seasons. The defending champions beat Ollie Allen & Jack Pye by 10-4 and a 12-10 defeat against Essex stars Craig Burgess & Mitchell Young and a 12-6 loss to Ellen & Ivan Lunn made it a less than perfect day for the young Norfolk pair. Halvergate’s Michael Savage & Ray Lamb were drawn in Group 8 and a 12-5 win against Linda & Peter Coker was their only success as they were eliminated early. Hopes of a third successive title for Williams & Jones came to an end in the Last 32 stage when they were beaten by Paul England & Ben Pay. The same round also saw the surprise defeat of Oxfordshire’s Roger Wiggins & AJ Brown who lost 11-7 to John Burton-Gow & Richard Jeffrey. In the Last 16 round Devon’s fancied pairing of Bronagh & Lee Toleman hammered Burton-Gow & Jeffrey 11-2. Two of the other favoured pairs clashed on mat 10 with Hampshire’s Paul Goodman & Jason McLean beating Craig Burgess & Mitchell Young of Essex 14-4. Another big game saw Phil Warr & Malcolm Follis beat Somerset’s Andy Cowling & Chris Shakeshaft 10-6. In the quarter-finals Devon’s Toleman pairing kept on course beating Richard Payne & Ian Davis 8-6 while Phil Warr & Malcolm Follis beat Ben Haulkham & Chris Page 9-3. Simon White & Grant Soller reached the semi-finals with a 12-5 win against Goodman & McLean and Paul England & Ben Pay scored a decisive 13-4 win against Gill Johnson & Stewart Minchew. The Toleman wagon kept on rolling in the semi-finals but it was a close thing as they reached the final with a 9-8 win against Paul England & Ben Pay. Cheshire’s Simon White & Grant Sollar claimed their place in the final with a 12-7 win against Phil Warr & Malcolm Follis. The Cheshire pair started well in the final leading Bronagh & Lee Toleman 5-1 after three ends. The next three ends saw a change though as the Devon pair came from behind to establish an 8-5 lead after six ends to set their sights on the title. After eight ends they still led by three shots on their way to the National Pairs title eventually winning 10-7. It was the second time Lee Toleman had won this particular title, he previously won it in 2010, while it was the first time for former North Yorks bowler Bronagh. There was one great example of sportsmanship during the game that will be remembered when Simon White declared that one of his pairs bowls had gone over the fender, something that Bronagh Toleman had apparently missed. The Tolemans were not the only winners in this game, the sport of short mat bowls will have been enhanced by Simon’s action.

                                                                                                                  Posted 10-4-15

   

Davidson goes out by one shot in National Singles

Hempnall’s Neil Davidson made it through to the last 16 in today’s National Singles Championships at Church Gresley IBC in Derbyshire before going out by just one shot against 2010 champion Lee Toleman of Devon. Starting the day in Group 4 Norfolk Singles Champion Davidson beat Somerset’s Keith Hawkins by 11-10 and Northant’s Chris Hopkins by 8-7 after opening with an 11-6 win against Anita Lambert. Hawkins qualified for the knockouts by beating Chris Hopkins 13-6 and snatching the runner-up spot in the group. Wymondham’s Jon Sparham won Group 7 with five points after beating James Clarke 9-6 & Andrew Pinkawa by 10-9. Jon drew his other group game 10-10 with Derek Coates. Norfolk’s other two singles qualifiers, Robin Amos of Deaf Sports & Melvin Woods of Bob Carter, failed to make it through the group stage. Robin Amos lost by 19-5 to 2012 champion Craig Burgess of Essex and by 9-8 to Brian McGivern but beat 1987 champion Malcolm Follis 9-5. Melvin Woods drew 10-10 with Derek Coates but lost 10-8 to James Bucknall & 14-5 to Chris Page.  In the first knock out round Jon Sparham went out by 13-6 to Ian Davies but Neil Davidson claimed a big scalp taking out Oxfordshire & England star AJ Brown with a stunning 13-6 result. Among other big names still in at that stage were Craig Burgess of Essex who beat Mark Jones 10-9, Lee Toleman of Devon who beat Jo Clements of Suffolk 14-2, Gloucestershire brothers Ryan & Jack Knight, Cornwall’s Nigel Nicholls & Allan Williams of Shropshire. Neil Davidson then faced his biggest test yet against Lee Toleman who as well as previously winning the Singles title has also collected the Pairs title in 2010, the Triples title in both 2005 & 2014 and the Mixed Fours title in 2006 & 2007. A narrow 8-7 defeat to Toleman saw Neil Davidson’s impressive run come to an end but one thing for sure is that Norfolk’s singles specialist, who has won the Norfolk Singles title in 2011, 2012 & 2015, will be back another year. In the quarter-finals Lee Toleman’s hopes of a second National Singles title came to an end as he suffered a 10-6 against Ben Pay of Hampshire. Ryan Knight progressed to the semi-finals beating Ian Davies 9-6, Allan Williams beat Josh Towey 8-6 and John Skelding beat Richard Nicholl 13-7. In the semi-finals Ryan Knight moved into top gear beating Allan Williams of Shropshire 13-4 while John Skelding beat Ben Pay 11-6. In the final Ryan Knight of Gloucestershire became the new National Singles Champion defeating Staffordshire's John Skelding 11-5 in the final.

                                                                                                                Posted 9-4-15

Melvin Woods & Neil Davidson after the Norfolk Singles Final

 

Halvergate take big lead in Bure Cup Final first leg

Halvergate made home advantage count big time in the first leg of the Bure Cup Final against East Tuddenham. Jackie Smith, Steven Lamb & Morgan Warnes were in great form beating John Turner’s triple 9-3, Chris Mann’s triple 6-3 & Robin Amos 9-3. Michael Savage, Roy Walker & Keith Cooke also collected maximum points beating Chris Mann 8-4, John Turner 10-1 & Peter Smart 10-2. Gillian Amos, John Jeffrey & Robin Amos were the pick of Tuddenham’s team beating Simon Warnes’ triple 4-3 and drawing 4-4 with David Lamb. East Tuddenham face a massive task to pull themselves back into this game in the second leg on Tuesday evening.

Tens League title battle continues

Bob Carter took a maximum 4-0 points win at home to Hempnall to move top of the Tens League. A massive 35-3 win for Sue Hunt, Jamie Foster & Kim Bridge against Rob Cranston’s triple wrapped this one up while Jason Woods’ triple beat Jack Pye’s triple 18-10 and Jean Woods & Trevor Brown beat Roger Parker & Neil Davidson 13-9. Hempnall’s only joy was an 18-15 win for Debbie & Jon Sparham against Frank Edy & Melvin Woods.

 

Hempnall complete another perfect season

The last fixtures of the South Norfolk League have now been played and Hempnall’s 6-4 home win against Horsford made it twelve wins from twelve games for the champions. In fact their domination of the league is such that they have only lost one match in the last six seasons, an 8-2 loss at Connaught at the back end of last season. Yet again Connaught finished in the runner-up spot, their final match saw them overpower Hingham 10-0.  Last season’s top three remained the same as Horsford took third place with a 6-4 home win against Watton.

                                                                                                                                                                                      Posted 8-4-15 

 

 

Norfolk Committee sets date & venue for Norfolk AGM

The Norfolk CSMBA Management Committee have set the date for this year’s NCSMBA Annual General Meeting. It will take place at North Wymondham Community Centre, Lime Tree Avenue, Wymondham, NR18 0HH at 10am on Sunday 28-6-15. No proposals for any Constitutional changes were received prior to the closing date. The Management Committee discussed correspondence received from the ESMBA relating to the ESMBA Annual General Meeting scheduled to take place on Sunday 26-7-15. After discussing proposals tabled by the West Sussex SMBA, and agreeing that the aim of the West Sussex proposals should be supported,  the Committee agreed on submitting five amendments to the West Sussex proposals which they hoped would improve the chances of the success of the proposals at the ESMBA AGM. The meeting also discussed various Constitutional changes put forward by the ESMBA. The meeting heard that only one ESMBA Officer position has more than one member proposed for the post and a vote was taken on which candidate should be supported for the Umpires Director role. Since the committee meeting though the ESMBA Administration Officer has informed all County Secretaries that John Hurst has now decided not to stand for the position of Umpires Director at the AGM. A long discussion took place on the subject of the Inter-County Championships following the decision of the ESMBA to reduce groups to three teams for the 2015/16 season. The financial implications for Norfolk were discussed and the increased travel costs now that Church Gresley IBC in Derbyshire is being used for most knockout rounds as the ESMBA equipment is stored there. The addition of West Mids to the Premier group was also discussed and with the loss of the Essex “double header” games from Norfolk’s groups the constant battle to balance the books will be more difficult to achieve. Following these discussions a decision was made to limit Norfolk’s expenditure by not competing in either optional Consolation competition or the new optional double rinks. Despite continued falling interest in the Norfolk County Cup it was decided to once again send out entry forms for the 2015/16 season and see how many entries the competition attracted this time around.  

                                                                                                                                               Posted 7-4-15

 

                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                       

                                 Tens League title race reaches fever pitch at Halvergate

The battle for the Tens League title reached fever pitch at unbeaten Halvergate who entertained title rivals Bob Carter. Jamie Forster & Melvin Woods of Cater were level at 9-9 with Robbie & David Lamb after nine ends but the Carter pair won the last six ends for a 17-9 win but Halvergate hit back with Robin Amos’ triple winning 16-11. Morgan Warnes’ triple added an 11-9 win for the home side in the second half leaving the result of the last pairs match to decide the issue. Jean Woods & Trevor Brown scored a three on a replayed penultimate end to level the game against Donna Lamb & Keith Cooke and leave Carter 49-48 up on shots over-all. The outcome was decided on the final end as Lamb & Cooke picked up two shots to give Halvergate a 2-0 win, 50-49 on shots, and maintain their unbeaten record. Halvergate are now four points clear of Carter with one game left to play against bottom of the table Bradwell. Carter have two games to play, home & away against Hempnall. Carter will almost certainly need to score maximum points to take the title as Halvergate are unlikely to let any points slip against Bradwell.

                                                                                                                                                                                                       Posted 5-4-15

Morgan Warnes loses on extra end in National semi-final

Morgan Warnes of Horsford BC was in great form in the National Under 18s Championships at Church Gresley IBC in Derbyshire where she reached the semi-finals before losing on an extra sudden death end to Devon’s Georgina Cleave after they finished level at 11-11. 16 year old Morgan won her group before defeating Jack Baker 16-2 and Ben Riley 12-8 to reach the last four. County Council’s Owen Cranston and Halvergate’s Ryan Fox also reached the knock-out stages before going out in the Last 32 stage.

Halvergate stumbles give Tuddenham a chance

After looking firm favourites to retain the Bure League title for much of the season defending champions Halvergate are struggling to cross the finishing line. Recent weeks have seen them go down by 8-2 at both East Tuddenham and Kirby Bedon but Halvergate’s 8-2 defeat at Horsford Heroes this week puts East Tuddenham in the driving seat. Horsford’s Lynn Frank, Peter Fox & Roger Frank opened with an 18-10 win against Robbie Lamb’s triple while Sue Fox, Russell Hubbard & ex Cromer skip Jane James inflicted a 16-10 defeat on England’s David Lamb. Nicky James, Carol Kemp & Mark “The Marvel” Tuttle added a 16-11 win against Simon Warnes while Keith Cooke’s triple scored the visitors only win beating Chris Woodhouse 20-6. The result leaves Halvergate one point behind East Tuddenham with both clubs having two games to play.   

                                                                                                                                                                       Posted 26-3-15

Roger Frank - 18-10 win

 

Wymondham close to perfect day

Last Sunday the Breckland Dennis Moore Tournament took place at Hingham with Wymondham once again winning the Dennis Moore trophy scoring 156 shots in total over four disciplines of singles, pairs, triples and fours. Each Breckland club can enter only one team in each discipline but disappointingly did not see every club represented in all of them. Wymondham reached all four finals with Jon Sparham beating Banham's John Williamson 9-6 in the singles final. Roger Steele and Chris Mann won all five of their matches as they too beat Banham in the final 9-4. In the fours Wymondham's Hayley Stratton, Mary Fisher, Brian Saunders and Melvyn Barker met Steven Hall's Connaught “A” four in a gripping final that saw Wymondham win a close measure on the last end! The triples final saw Wymondham lose their only match of the entire day as Michael White's Hingham triple beat Pat Saunders, Billie Barker and Debbie Sparham by a comfortable margin to agonisingly see Wymondham miss out on what would have been an incredible feat.

                                                                                                                                               Posted 24-3-15

Dennis Moore Trophy Champions again Wymondham!

Close contest in the fours final between Wymondham and Connaught A

Wymondham's Jon Sparham overcomes Banham's John Williamson in singles final

Strong finish by Northants sinks Norfolk Over 60s

Despite Norfolk Over 60s making a bright start in their Eastern Over 60’s League match at home to Northants at Hingham the home side suffered a second half collapse and went down 14-20 on points. The Norfolk team won three of the opening four triples games to give themselves a 6-2 points lead. Reg Wilson, Pauline Wilson & Jock Pollock scored a 20-12 win, Margaret Poynter, Shirley George & John Poynter won 17-9 and David Knights, Janet Pinchen & Trevor Pinchen won 12-10 while Will Townsend, Graham Tweed & Peter Fox were drawing 10-10 with three ends to go before going down by just 14-10. Norfolk maintained their four point lead in the pairs session where both teams picked up two wins apiece. John Jarvis & Colin Coman were trailing 13-10 with two ends to go before scoring three shots on each of the last two ends to win 16-13. Keith Halford & Sheila Bragg were also losing 12-10 with two ends remaining before taking three shots over the remaining ends to win 13-12. Norfolk suffered defeats on the other two mats with Trish Taylor & Terry Newby going down 11-19 and Kerry Greenacre & Mike Boswell suffering a surprise 8-17 defeat. Things began to unravel for Norfolk in the next triples session as Northants turned the tables on their hosts. John Poynter’s triple scored their second win of the day with a 19-18 victory but Norfolk went down on the other three mats. Jock Pollock’s triple found themselves 14-0 down after nine ends eventually losing 19-4. Trevor Pinchen’s triple also found the going tough trailing 12-5 after eleven ends and finished up losing 16-8. Peter Fox’s triple looked on course to win leading 11-2 after eight ends but after conceding ten shots over the final three ends they will be disappointed with a 16-14 defeat. This left the teams level on points at 12-12 with a session of pairs remaining although Northants were now well on course to collect the two bonus points for shots leading that particular race 175-152. Fielding four strong pairs Norfolk were confident of winning the last session but instead it was Northants who finished in style winning three of the four games. John Jarvis & Colin Coman delivered the goods for Norfolk winning their second game of the day by 21-9 but that was as good as it got for the home team. Keith Halford & Sheila Bragg found themselves 10-1 down after seven ends on their way to an 18-6 defeat. Kerry Greenacre & Mike Boswell were also suffered a bad start trailing 11-1 after eight ends and they went on to lose 21-11. Trish Taylor & Terry Newby’s game was level at 12-12 with four ends to go but lost their way as their Northants opponents picked up eight shots over the last four ends to win 20-12.

 

                                                                                                                                        Posted 20-3-15

Opposing Over 60s Managers Elernor Winters of Northants and Teresa Goldsmith of Norfolk

   

John Turner beats Mann in Bure Singles Final

John Turner won the Bure League Singles Championship title for the sixth time after beating East Tuddenham team-mate Chris Mann in an excellent final played at HorsfordBC. A great start to the final saw both players immediately surrounding the jack as would be expected with players of this class. A highly competitive end of bowls finished with John Turner taking one shot as spectators settled back to enjoy the final. The second end also went Turner’s way as he played a running wood with his last bowl to hold two shots while Chris Mann’s reply could only remove one of them leaving Turner 2-0 up. John Turner was looking at his most dangerous on end three as he drew in two superb opening woods to put Mann under further pressure. Mann decided to attack and took one of Turner’s bowls out which JT promptly replaced with his next bowl. Back came Mann to again take one of Turner’s woods out with his third bowl but yet again Turner replaced it with his final bowl of the end to hold two. With his last wood Chris Mann decided on a draw shot and it looked a certain winner as it rolled in to the jack but then, agonisingly for Mann, dropped away leaving Turner to collect another shot and a 3-0 lead. John Turner again got the upper hand at the start of the fourth end but left his two opening bowls side by side with the jack giving Chris Mann an attacking opportunity he did not squander. By the time John Turner stepped up to play his last bowl of the end Mann held one shot and it remained in place as Turner’s attacking wood missed its target. Chris Mann’s attempt to draw in his last bowl for two shots failed and he had to be content with at least getting on the scoreboard with a single. A poor opening bowl by Chris Mann on the next end dropped short which left perfectionist Mann less than pleased with his effort but John Turner was too tight with his reply and failed to make him pay for his error. Mann then drew in a toucher which encouraged Turner to attack but he missed the target. Mann quickly drew in a second and once again John Turner attacked and missed. Chris Mann’s last wood of the end mirrored his first in that it failed to achieve anything of significance. Turner again elected to attack with his last bowl and this time hit the head, this resulted in cutting Chris Mann down to just one shot and Turner’s lead was down to 3-2. Chris Mann’s two opening bowls on the sixth end left JT a target and he took full advantage sweeping the jack into the ditch to hold two shots but Chris Mann produced a great last wood to restrict Turner to just one shot. Turner drew in behind the jack with his opening bowl on the seventh end while Mann dropped short before John Turner generously pushed Mann’s bowl up towards the jack with his second bowl of the end. Mann did nothing with his next two bowls while Turner failed to improve his situation by pushing his best bowl away. Chris Mann took full advantage of this rare slip by JT to draw in a perfect bowl to take two shots and level the game at 4-4. The eighth end began with both players leaving their opening woods either side of the jack although Turner’s was a toucher. Chris Mann attacked and ditched the jack but Turner replied with a bowl of perfection sending his opening toucher arrowing into the ditch beside the jack which earned him a 5-4 lead in this intriguing final between two of Norfolk’s finest bowlers. John Turner played to a maximum length jack on the penultimate end. Chris Mann decided to attempt to ditch the jack and did so but to his dismay the jack went to the left of the ditch and his bowl went to the right. This left the players competing to draw to the ditch line and by the time Chris Mann stepped up to play his last bowl of the end John Turner held three shots. To Mann’s utter despair his bowl slipped through between Turner’s woods and into the ditch leaving Turner still holding three shots and taking an 8-4 lead into the last end. This left Mann needing a full house of four  if he was to force an extra end but against a player of the calibre of Turner this was a big ask. With both players down to their last bowl Chris Mann held two shots but John Turner drew in a great wood that ultimately proved fatal to Chris Mann’s hopes. Mann’s effort to remove two Turner bowls and force an extra end always looked to be a hopeless cause and so it proved as Turner’s bowl remained in place to give him a 9-4 win in a memorable Bure Singles final. In the semi-finals John Turner beat Peter Smart, also representing East Tuddenham, by 12-8 after a great comeback by Smart proved to be in vain. Turner led 9-4 with three ends to play but Smart proved to be a stubborn opponent scoring a pair of twos to cut the deficit to 9-8 with an end to play. Peter Smart had the opportunity to attack and inflict serious damage after Turner left him a clear target but on the difficult straight side of the Horsford mat Smart failed to cut his attacking bowl in enough and saw it sail through missing its intended target. In the other semi-final Chris Mann was always in control against Woodbastwick’s ormer Norfolk Premier bowler Peter Jablonowski as he won by a comfortable 16-2 margin. In the quarter-finals former Bure Singles champion Mike Boswell of Windows struggled to get into the game against John Turner and eventually went down 15-2.  Meanwhile the highly anticipated game between Chris Mann and Halvergate’s David Lamb turned out to be totally one sided as Mann cruised into a 14-1 lead with two ends still to play when the England & Halvergate player conceded and made his exit. Defending champion Gerald Chilvers of Kirby Bedon failed to produce the form that brought him title glory last season and went out by 10-7 to Peter Jablonowski. In the remaining quarter-final Peter Smart moved into an 8-1 lead after five ends against Woodbastwick’s Lianne Mills eventually winning by 12-3. The Presentation Ceremony was conducted by Bure League Chairman Selwyn Goldsmith who thanked Horsford BC for being excellent hosts for this event and providing markers as well as the interval refreshments.

                                                                                                                                          Posted 20-3-15

Bure Singles finalists Chris Mann & John Turner

                                                                                                                                 

Halvergate pair lift Bure Pairs title

Simon Warnes & David Lamb of Halvergate won the Bure Pairs Championship title at Coltishall after a one sided final against Sylvia & Tony Turner of Thorpe Marriott. Simon Warnes drew in three good woodson the opening end and when David Lamb drew in a fourth the Thorpe Marriott pair found themselves in trouble right from the start. After Turner hit the block with his second wood David Lamb took full advantage adding a fifth bowl into the head. Tony Turner managed to take out one wood with his final bowl but Warnes & Lamb were 4-0 up after just one end. Sylvia Turner got the better of Simon Warnes on the second end to hold at least two shots and David Lamb elected to attack the head but missed everything. Tony Turner was short with his next bowl and David Lamb drew in for shot. Turner was not finished yet though and a lovely drawn wood left the Marriott pair holding two. With his final wood David Lamb fired again and managed to get shot wood out of it. Turner also used weight with his last wood and forced a measure for shot which Halvergate won to lead 5-0. Sylvia Turner again won the battle of the leads on the third end but short woods made life difficult for the skips when it was their turn to bowl. A superb forcing wood played by David Lamb with his last bowl of the end left his pair holding four shots and Turner’s attempt to rectify the situation ended with his wood hitting the block and Warnes & Lamb led 9-0 after just three ends. With such a big early lead Warnes now began to play with more confidence from the lead position getting three touches on the fourth end. Despite a gallant effort by Tony Turner with his last bowl of the end the Halvergate pair moved 11-0 up. After Warnes was short with his opening wood on the fifth end Sylvia Turner drew shot. That didn’t last for long though as Warnes played a perfect forehand attack shot to ditch the jack. Sylvia Turner replied by pushing her toucher near the ditch line to give Tony Turner the opportunity of trying to clip it into the ditch for shot. He was unlucky with his attempt though sending the bowl into the ditch but the wrong way and Halvergate now led 13-0. A brilliant third wood by Warnes on the sixth end drew right in behind the jack to continue to make life difficult for the Turners. Tony Turner managed to force a change in the head with his second bowl but Halvergate still held one shot and that is how it stayed to give them a 14-0 lead and whatever happened now Warnes & Lamb had clinched the championship. The players elected to play the seventh end but of course the tempo now fell with the match effectively over. The Marriott pair finally looked like they were going to pick up a couple of consolation shots but Tony Turner’s last wood clipped a Halvergate bowl over for shot and the score was 15-0 and at that point the Marriott pair conceded so the final end was left unplayed. In the semi-finals Warnes & Lamb played Jan Hewitt & Selwyn Goldsmith of Kirby Bedon. The Kirby pair drew first blood taking two shots on the opening end. Five more tight ends followed in a tense battle with the Halvergate pair leading 4-3 after the sixth end when the Kirby skip was unable to remove Halvergate’s holding wood with his pair holding the next four woods nearest the jack. The penultimate end ultimately decided the game when Halvergate took three shots to move 8-3 up and added another shot on the last end. In the other semi-final Sylvia & Tony Turner were involved in a close game against Kirby Bedon’s Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers up to the fifth end when the score was 3-3. Then the Marriott pair scored five shots to lead 8-3 and two singles followed to give them a solid 10-3 win. In the quarter-finals Simon Warnes & David Lamb beat Woodbastwick’s  former Norfolk Premier players Norma & Peter Jablonowski 13-5. The score was level at 4-4 after four ends but a couple of twos and a five on the penultimate end sealed victory for Halvergate. Sylia & Tony Turner beat fellow Thorpe Marriott players Kath Frost & Richard Perkins 8-5 in their quarter-final clash while Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers overcame Alan Bunn & Maurice Kemp 9-4 after trailing 4-1 after three ends. In the other quarter-final Jan Hewitt & Selwyn Goldsmith edged past Bob Burrage & David Claxton 7-5 after winning five of the opening six ends. Former Bure League Vice-Chairman Peter Jablonowski   presented the trophies to the winners & runners-up and Bure League Chairman Selwyn Goldsmith thanked Coltishall for hosting the finals night.

                                                                   Posted 19-3-15

Simon Warnes & David Lamb - Bure Pairs Champions

 

Turner triumphs in all Tuddenham final

Chrissie Turner, Melvin Woods & John Turner came from behind to win the Bure Triples Championship on the last end of a riveting final against the fellow East Tuddenham triple of Geraldine Potter, Gerald Potter & Chris Mann. On the first end a forcing wood played by Melvin Woods opened up the end and with John Turner adding two good bowls his triple took two shots. Both leads lost a bowl off the mat in a messy start to the second end before Gerald Potter drew in two good bowls. John Turner missed the head with an attacking final bowl leaving Chris Mann to draw in another wood to take a 3-2 lead. The third end was a strange one with both leads and number twos failing to get anywhere near the jack before a fortunate wick by Chris Mann took shot. But lady luck was again in evidence and came to the aid of John Turner to help spring the jack for two shots and a 4-3 lead to Turner’s triple. The lead in this topsy turvy final changed once again on the fourth end after a good final wood by Chris Mann earned his triple three shots and a 6-4 lead. It was left to Gerald Potter  to get his triple out of trouble on the next end as they increased their lead to 7-4. An odd sixth end saw both triples drawing in their woods in a line about a foot behind the jack before Chris Mann drew in his last bowl for an 8-4 lead with two ends remaining.  Geraldine Potter opened with two good bowls on the penultimate end before Chrissey Turner drew in for shot but by the time the skips came to play the jack had been knocked out in the open. John Turner got the better of the battle of the skips playing two good woods to take three shots and reduce the deficit to 8-7 going into the last end. Chrissie Turner drew in an important wood on the deciding end while Geraldine Potter’s bowls sat just behind. Gerald Potter lost his wood off the mat while Melvin Woods drew in another good bowl to put Mann’s triple under increased pressure. Gerald Potter clipped the side of the jack with his second bowl but it left the jack in the head while his bowl ran through into the ditch. John Turner drew in a third bowl with his opening wood while Chris Mann missed the head with his first wood. With his eyes firmly on another title John Turner drew in yet another wood leaving Chris Mann in deep trouble with one wood left to play. Mann made a great effort to save the match with his final wood but only managed to cut Turner’s triple down to two shots leaving John Turner’s triple the new Bure Triples Champions with a 9-8 win. Both semi-finals were expected to produce tight games with Turner’s triple facing Halvergate’s Morgan Warnes, Ray Lamb & Simon Warnes and Chris Mann’s triple facing Halvergate’s Jason Woods, Robbie Lamb & David Lamb. The opposite happened though as the East Tuddenham triples blew away their opposition in both games. John Turner’s triple led 8-0 after three ends against Simon Warnes and despite Morgan Warnes moving to skip they could not stem the flow of shots as Turner’s went on to win 17-3. Defending champion David Lamb also found himself on the end of a heavy defeat against Chris Mann’s triple as the Halvergate three were well beaten by 15-1. In the quarter-finals John Turner saved his triple with a winning last wood against Brenda Sizer, Diane Boswell & Mike Boswell of Windows. Turner went into the last end just 7-6 ahead but by the time he stepped up to play the last bowl of the mat Windows were holding four shots. Turner then played a perfect forehand delivery to take shot and an 8-6 win to the relief of his triple. In the other quarter-final games David Lamb’s triple beat Les Harman, John Aggas & Margaret Harman of Coltishall by 12-6 while Simon Warnes’ triple beat Piero Cognetti, Terry Raisbury & Bob Burrage of Horsford BC 14-2. Chris Mann’s triple received a bye due to the withdrawal of Donna Lamb’s Halvergate triple through illness.

                                                                                                                                Posted 18-3-15

Bure Triples Champions 2014/15 John Turner, Chrissie Turner & Melvin Woods

 

Defending champions reach final

Current County Cup holders Bob Carter breezed into the final yet again with a heavy win against visitors First Bus. The City of Norwich League side knew their chances of getting a win at Drayton were slim and despite their best endeavours all four games went Carter’s way by some margin. Melvin Woods’ triple beat Lesley Crowe 23-7, Trevor Brown beat Rex Cox 23-8, Rob Howlett beat Bob Patterson 23-8 and Jason Woods beat Colin Coman 19-6. Bob Carter will meet fellow Tens League side Bradwell in the final.  

                                                                                                                                     Posted 17-3-15

 

Hempnall are out of sight

Two maximum 10-0 away wins confirmed that Hempnall are South Norfolk Champions yet again. At Horsford Roger Parker’s Hempnall triple won by 24-4 against Mick Dale’s triple while Neil Davidson’s triple beat Keith Chapman 21-6. They continued their untroubled journey to the title with another 10-0 win at Watton where Chris Mann’s triple beat Roger Braham 22-9. Connaught also recorded two big wins to clinch the runner-up spot. Steve Hall’s Connaught triple beat Karl Bunn’s triple 24-8 as his side won 10-0 at Wreningham. A 9-1 home win against Saxlingham saw Steve Hall’s triple again leading the way beating Alan Banham 21-5 while Pat Meale’s triple secured Saxlingham’s only point drawing 12-12 with Derek Liles.

British Rail full steam ahead

British Rail head the City of Norwich League table after a hard fought 9-5 win at First Bus. Three of the title chasing clubs slipped up this week as Thorpe Marriott, title favourites, went down 13-1 at Jarrolds, Costessey were beaten 10-4 at County Council and Sprowston lost 11-3 at Felthorpe. Other results saw Horsford BC beat Deaf Sports 12-2 and Framingham Earl win 11-3 away to Taverham.

                                                                                                                                                            Posted 16-3-15

West Bletchley Short Mat Bowls team visit Potters Resort

A group of sixteen short mat bowlers from West Bletchley SMBC visited Potters Resort at Hopton-on-Sea for their first short mat bowls holiday this week where they enjoyed three days of bowling against Norfolk Over 60s teams selected by NCSMBA Over 60s organiser Teresa Goldsmith. Some confusion surrounded the booking which left the group arriving at Potters on an Indoor Bowls Week instead of a Short Mat Week but Teresa saved the day after being contacted by Potters Resort. Quickly arranging members of the Norfolk Over 60s to visit the resort she was able to provide the West Bletchley team with three days of bowls which seemed to be enjoyed by all. The West Bletchley team were inexperienced in terms of competitive bowling but the Norfolk players were glad to help them enjoy their holiday and also taught the visitors aspects of the rules that they did not know. Teresa presented the visiting team with a copy of the revised ESMBA rulebook and at the end of the holiday the two visiting rinks with the best results were rewarded with a presentation by Sally-Anne & Nathan of Potters Resort.

The West Bletchley Short Mat Bowls Team

West Bletchley & Norfolk Over 60s pose for the camera

West Bletchley bowlers at the Presentation Ceremony with Sallyanne Gooch & Nathan of Potters Resort

Rewards after a successful week of bowls!

Nathan on Presentation duties 

Action shot of Mick Boswell of Norfolk Over 60s

Back to winning ways for Halvergate as Kirby crumble

Halvergate got revenge for last week’s defeat at Kirby Bedon when they won the return Bure League fixture convincingly. A much changed Kirby side, with Les Hewitt making a rare appearance and Teresa Goldsmith playing in an unaccustomed skip position, were outgunned most of the evening. David Lamb’s triple romped to a 25-5 win against Gerald Chilvers’ triple, Keith Cooke’s triple also high scored beating Phil Watson’s triple 22-4 and Robbie Lamb’s triple beat Melvyn Barker’s triple 16-6. Teresa Goldsmith’s triple won seven of the fifteen ends against Morgan Warnes but still went down 17-11 in the closest game of the night.

Bradwell win at home

Bradwell overcame Hevingham in a tight Tens League match to gain a 2-0 home win. The biggest win of the night was scored by the pairing of Kerry Greenacre & Keith Baker who beat Alan Bunn & David Sharpe 18-8 while Mike Harvey’s triple added a 17-12 win.

                                                                                                                                                Posted 12-3-15

ESMBA Statement issued

The NCSMBA have received the following statement issued by the ESMBA in response to the previous e-mail sent to member counties by Brian Nelson. The statement appears below for the information of our membership.

ESMBA statement in response to the e-mail circulated by Brian Nelson:

Chris Hopkins has filed a County Court Judgment (CCJ) against Barry Hedges and the ESMBA claiming unpaid administration fees in the amount of £2,083, not for Chairman fees as is stated by Mr Nelson.

The papers were served on Barry and George Clarke, as the named President of the Association, and the ESMBA acknowledged service. Because we intended to file a defence and a counter claim the ESMBA was granted an extension of 28 days. Before we filed our papers defending the CCJ, we were contacted by a mediator on behalf of Chris Hopkins so the court process was put on hold.

After much prompting, Chris has finally agreed to a date for mediation with the ESMBA and this is set for Wednesday 11 March.

This matter is still subject to the court process so the ESMBA will not elaborate on all the details but we can categorically assure our member counties that the content of Mr Nelson’s e-mail is factually incorrect to the extent of being libellous and will be defended vehemently.

The ESMBA has never, as is being claimed, refused to pay Chris any amount legitimately due to him in respect of Admin fees but we do dispute the amount. These monies are not due out of the ESMBA funds but from our Insurance account, which is subject to audit by the insurance brokers and subject to FSA regulations. We have to produce an invoice for any monies paid out to keep the records in order and have requested this from Chris, with a breakdown of the work undertaken by him. To date, all of our requests, both by letter and e-mail have been ignored.

Our defence and counter claim have now been filed by our solicitor and, if mediation is unsuccessful, will be pursued.

                                                          Posted 11-3-15

Brian Nelson of Northants calls for EGM

Northamptonshire bowler Brian Nelson has circulated an e-mail to member counties of the ESMBA calling for an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held regarding the current situation involving former ESMBA Chairman Chris Hopkins and the ESMBA. Since the Special Meeting was held late last year that appointed Keith Hawkins as Administration Officer, and therefore brought to an end the joint Administration duo of Hawkins & Hopkins, much appears to have happened behind the scenes. The suspension of Chris Hopkins from the England team that competed in the British Isles Championships was an indicator of the breakdown of relationships between people that had previously worked together and many had wondered just how this sorry saga would develop. The NCSMBA at this point in time do not intend fuelling the situation by commenting on the contents of the e-mail but the image of the ESMBA could well suffer if a solution is not found that brings this matter to a satisfactory conclusion. With the uncertainty that has been caused by next season’s revamped I.C.C, which appears to have resulted in some counties considering leaving the Competition,   the Association could well do without a long and protected legal battle further distracting them from the business of improving our National Competitions and events.

                                                                                                                                Posted 10-3-15

Wymondham prepare for another final

Wymondham have claimed their place in the Norwich Cup Final with a semi-final win against Coltishall. Following difficulties arranging what should have been a two leg home and away semi-final the cup organiser arranged for the tie to be played at the neutral venue of HorsfordBC. Breakland League giants Wymondham made the perfect start winning both opening games. Debbie Pye, Andrew Jackson & Jon Sparham beat Les Harman’s triple 7-5 while Pat Saunders, Melvyn Barker & Debbie Sparham beat Malcolm Reynolds’ triple 9-6. Roly Sargant & Margaret Harman scored Coltishall’s first win beating Brian Saunders & Jack Pye 12-3 but Wymondham maintained their four point lead as Roger Steele & Chris Mann beat Carol & John Aggas 9-6. The third session was also shared as Les Harman’s Coltishall triple won 8-6 and Jon Sparham’s Wymondham triple won 15-4. Wymondham finished as they started winning on both mats with Brian Saunders & Jack Pye notching up a 12-6 win while Roger Steele & Chris Mann collected an impressive 15-1 win. They will now face either Halvergate or Hempnall in the final.

                                                                                                                  Posted 10-3-15

Halvergate’s title push falters at Kirby Bedon

Defending Bure League champions Halvergate saw their push for the title take another knock as they went down 8-2 at Kirby Bedon. Wendy Tweed, Jan Hewitt & Selwyn Goldsmith were a new look triple for the home side and faced Donna Lamb, Jason Woods & Simon Warnes in the first half. The visitors found it difficult to get a foothold in the game as Wendy Tweed drew in a host of touchers at lead, Jan Hewitt put in some key woods when needed at number two and Selwyn Goldsmith kept the pressure on the opposition throughout. Jason Woods was in good form for the visitors at number two but that was not enough to stop the Kirby triple winning by 15-6. On mat two Kirby’s Billie Barker, Graham Tweed & Melvyn Barker found themselves involved in an excellent game against Mike Tate, Steven Lamb & Morgan Warnes. They went into the last end level on shots but Morgan Warnes played the winning bowl to win the game 15-14. After the break both games went Kirby’s way as Shirley Brown, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown beat Mike Harvey, Keith Baker & David Lamb 18-11 while Peter Johnson, Joan Costello & Gerald Chilvers beat Ryan Fox, Ray Lamb & Robbie Lamb 12-10.  In their other game last week Kirby Bedon went down 2-0 at Coltishall in the Tens League. In the first half Les Harman’s triple drew 16-16 with Selwyn Goldsmith’s triple after recovering from a slow start. A change of playing position paid off for Coltishall with Derek Sheldrake’s move to skip heralding a revival of home fortunes. In the other first half game Jean Barnett & Vic Woods won 13-8 and after the break Peter Barnett, Norma Jablonowski & Peter Jablonowski added a 14-12 win. Shirley & Joe Brown won the remaining pairs game 13-11 but that was not enough to save the visitors from defeat.

                                                                                                                                                      Posted 9-3-15

Norfolk “A” triumph in Daventry

Norfolk “A” won the I.C.C “A” Team Consolation Final in Daventry with a 28-12 victory against Gloucestershire “A”. A cagey first session was shared with David Dewing of Sprowston winning his singles game 15-9 while captain Mike Boswell of Windows lost by an identical score-line against the impressive Gill Johnson. The pairs were also shared with Halvergate’s Ian Mills & County Council’s Rob Cranston winning 10-8 and Halvergate’s Ray & Steven Lamb going down 15-8. This pattern was continued as the triples & fours played their opening games with Ted Redwood, Graham Tweed & John Jarvis winning 10-7 and Wymondham’s Roger Steele, Melvyn Barker & Andrew Jackson losing 8-6. Jean Woods of Carter, Gerald Chilvers of Kirby Bedon, Trevor Pinchen of Marriott and George Clarke of Marriott were in great form winning their game 13-5 while Sheila Redwood, John Jeffrey, Karl Newby & Terry Newby pulled back from a disappointing start to lose by just 11-9. Just as in last week’s win against Oxfordshire the Norfolk “A” side grew in confidence after the interval and took the lead. Both pairs games went Norfolk’s way with Ian Mills & Rob Cranston scoring their second win of the day by 12-10 while Ray & Steven Lamb added a 14-10 win to clinch the pairs bonus points. In the singles Gill Johnson was again the thorn in Norfolk’s side beating David Dewing 13-8 but Mike Boswell won his game 13-11 but Johnson’s wins gained the singles bonus points for Gloucestershire. This left Norfolk needing five points from the final session to win the match and the triples & fours responded to the pressure in admiral fashion winning all four games. John Jarvis’ triple won for the second time, this time by 12-9, while Melvyn Barker skipped the Wymondham triple to a 10-6 win. In the rinks George Clarke’s four never looked in any danger as they scored their second win by 12-8 and Carleton Rode’s Karl Newby skipped the other rink to an 11-5 win. The team were presented with their trophies by ESMBA Chairman Barry Hedges. The choice of venue was certainly better for Norfolk in terms of distance when compared to the semi-final venues of Bromsgrove & Church Gresley and efforts were certainly made by the venue to cope with the 160 players plus officials, assorted wives & husbands and supporters. Unfortunately the quality of food fell well below the standard provided at both Bromsgrove IBC & Church Gresley IBC and one hopes that lessons will be learned if the venue is to be used again for large ESMBA events.

Norfolk "A" at Daventry after winning the I.C.C Consolation Final against Gloucestershire

Shock defeat for Cheshire as proud run comes to an end

After an incredible eight year long run of Inter-County Championship success Cheshire Premier finally suffered defeat at the hands of Hampshire Premier at Daventry Eagles Indoor Bowls Club in this year’s final and sent a wind of change blowing through the sport of short mat bowls. Cheshire had built up a lead and looked on their way to make it nine years in a row but just like against Norfolk in the semi-finals and against West Mids in the quarter-finals Hampshire Premier roared back to send their supporters ecstatic in a breath-taking final session. Just like grass is green and ice is cold it seemed just normal for Cheshire to be I.C.C Champions but their reputation as being invincible in this competition is now at an end. Never-the-less it should be recognized that their achievement in winning the title for so many years may never be surpassed and they should be congratulated on taking the sport to a new level. But Hampshire will be jubilant in finally ending Cheshire’s stranglehold on the title and their celebrations are well deserved.

                                                                                                                                                               Posted 8-3-15

Halvergate lose at Tuddenham

The top of the table clash in the Bure League saw defending champions Halvergate go down 8-2 at East Tuddenham. Keith Cooke’s Halvergate triple were the only winners for the visitors beating John Turner’s triple 17-11 but the home side won the other three games with Peter Smart, Gerald Potter & Robin Amos the winning skips. Halvergate had to settle for a 5-5 draw at Hevingham where Keith Cooke & Robbie Lamb both won for them while Maurice Kemp & David Sharpe skipped the winning Hevingham triples. East Tuddenham needed to win at Horsford Heroes to keep their title bid on track but instead went down by 6-4. Peter Smart’s Tuddenham triple opened with a 13-10 win against Vic Webster but Chris Woodhouse replied for the home side beating John Jeffrey 20-12. Melvin Woods scored a second half 19-9 win for the visitors but Peter Fox made sure of the match points for Horsford Heroes with a 17-7 win against John Turner’s triple. Horsford Heroes also beat Coltishall 8-2 with Vic Webster’s triple beating Margaret Harman 21-7 and Peter Fox beating Malcolm Reynolds 19-8. Coltishall scored a 6-4 home win against Woodbastwick but a  17-6 win for Peter Jablonowski against George Munford’s triple earned the visitors their four points despite losing on the other three mats. HorsfordBC won 8-2 at home to Woodbastwick and also beat Windows 8-2 with Piero Cognetti’s triple beating Keith Halford 15-8. In the weeks other match Thorpe Marriott took maximum points at home to Horsford Heroes.

                                                                                                                         Posted 6-3-15

Warnes' triple save the day

Despite losing on three mats at Hevingham Tens League title chasers Halvergate snatched a 2-0 away win after a superb 24-5 win for David Knights, Robin Amos & Simon Warnes. The home side won both pairs games with Rex Cox & David Sharpe beating John Jefferys & David Lamb 16-11 and Betty Cox & Maurice Kemp beating Jackie Smith & Keith Cooke 17-13 while Aleck Haynes’ triple added a 17-13 win against Robbie Lamb’s triple.

                                                                                                                  Posted 5-3-15

Woodbastwick Owls make it ten out of ten

Woodbastwick Owls are now 137 points clear at the top of the Coastal Cup table after winning 11-7 at Hemsby Harvesters. Their nearest rivals, Hemsby Beachcombers, kept up the chase beating Martham 13-5. Third placed Bradwell Beacons achieved a double over South Walsham beating them 11-7 at home and 14-4 away. Other results saw South Walsham win 16-2 at home to Bradwell Dynamos and then win 12-6 away to Woodbastwick Eagles. The Eagles achieved a better result at home to Bradwell Dynamos scoring a 15-3 win. Dynamos fared better at home to Hemsby Harvesters winning 17-1.

Cambs announce Roy Everitt Trophy

Cambridgeshire CSMBA has announced a new annual event to be held in memory of their former Chairman Roy Everitt. The triples competition will be held at their county venue, March Indoor Bowls Club, on Sunday 12^th April. An annual challenge trophy will be presented to the winners in addition to cash prizes of £60, £45 & £30 for the first three triples. Entry fees will be £19.50 per triple and an entry form can be found on the Open Competitions web page of this website.

                                                                                                               Posted 4-3-15  

British Rail win top of the table clash

British Rail won 14-0 at home to Thorpe Marriott in their top of the table clash in the City of Norwich League. Marriott are one point ahead though with three games in hand after beating Old Bonds 12-2. British Rail did their title hopes no good at all going down 12-2 at the tricky County Council venue. Third placed Costessey lost ground losing 10-4 at Felthorpe. Sprowston went down 12-2 at old rivals Horsford Heroes while Jarrolds beat HorsfordBC 12-2. There were mixed fortunes for First Bus who won 12-2 at home to County Council but lost 12-2 at Windows.

No change in Breckland

With the leading pack all winning there is little change in the Breckland League this week. Leaders Wymondham collected maximum points while significantly increasing their shot difference at home to Harling Unicorns. Hayley Stratton, Brian Saunders & Jack Pye were the nights biggest winners by 40-2 while Mary Fisher, Roger Steele & Chris Mann won 30-4, Pat Saunders, Melvyn Barker & Debbie Sparham won 31-10 and Debbie Pye, Andrew Jackson & Jon Sparham won 19-15. Carleton Rode won 9-1 at Banham Jill Davidson, Michael Newby & Neil Davidson won 32-8 aided and abetted by Morris Taylor, Karl Newby & Terry Newby who won 25-14. Connaught “A” won at home to Hingham but dropped points in a 6-4 result. Chris Musk, Mike Parsons & Lee Fallows led the way winning 27-5 and Sylvia Parsons’ triple won 13-12 but Hingham hit back with Wendy Tweed, Graham Tweed & Keith Thomas winning 16-12 and Pat Roache, Colin Short & John Higgs winning 18-15. Other results saw Watton beat Banham 6-4 with Daphne Braham’s triple beating Will Hoggan 20-8 and Roger Braham’s triple winning 34-10. Hingham beat visitors Connaught “B” 6-2 with John Higgs’ triple winning 23-12.

Halvergate, Hempnall & Kirby win at home in Tens

Hempnall romped to an easy 4-0 home win against struggling Bradwell. Roger Parker & Neil Davidson won 28-8 in the pairs while Richard Harrowing’s triple won 28-6. Kirby Bedon won 3-0 at home to Connaught with Jill Watson, Brian Saunders & Melvyn Barker winning 20-9. Halvergate beat Connaught 2-0 in a tight match thanks mainly to an 18-9 win for Michael Savage, Ray Lamb & Keith Cooke.   

All roads lead to Daventry for I.C.C Finals

Daventry Eagles Indoor Bowls Club in Browns Road, Daventry is the destination next Sunday for the eight county teams who have reached the finals of the Inter-CountyChampionships this season. Obviously for Norfolk the “A” Team Consolation Final is the only one that matters for local bowlers following their win against Oxfordshire “A” at the weekend. Hopes of both NorfolkCounty teams being involved were crushed on Sunday when the Premier team suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of Hampshire Premier. Norfolk Manager Selwyn Goldsmith has named an unchanged Norfolk “A” team for the final against Gloucestershire. He said that he had used a big squad again this season and could understand the disappointment of those left out but the performance of the team that beat Oxfordshire in the semi-finals made his team choice inevitable. In the final of the Premier I.C.C Cheshire will start favourites to win the title for an incredible nine years in a row. Their opponents, Hampshire Premier, will go into the final with confidence though after coming from behind at the halfway stage to beat Norfolk in the semi-finals and West Mids in the quarter-finals. Somerset Premier will play Dorset in the Premier Consolation final. In the main “A” Team final Essex will play Devon.

                                                                                                                                                       Posted 3-3-15

Norfolk Premier’s great run ended by Hampshire

After enjoying their best Inter-CountyChampionship season in years Norfolk Premier suffered defeat against Hampshire Premier in their semi-final clash in Derbyshire. Hampshire took a narrow 5-3 lead in the first session of singles & pairs. Wymondham’s Jack Pye lost a close encounter 11-10 while Hempnall’s Neil Davidson was beaten 15-8. Connaught’s Sheila Bragg & Halvergate’s David Lamb scored Norfolk’s first win taking the last five ends to win 16-10 while Horsford’s Simon Warnes & Norfolk Captain Jon Sparham drew their game 13-13 scoring three shots on the last end. Norfolk then moved into a halftime lead as the all Bob Carter triple of Jamie Forster, Jason Woods & Melvin Woods won 13-5, Kerry Greenacre, Debbie Sparham & Keith Cooke won 8-6 and Owen Cranston, Teresa Goldsmith, Phil Watson & Selwyn Goldsmith won 9-6. Hampshire’s only win in that session was a 10-6 result against Lewis Cranston, Brian Saunders, Peter Walker & Robbie Lamb. Norfolk opened the second half leading 9-7 but Hampshire regained the lead once again in the singles & pairs session. Simon Warnes & Jon Sparham’s pair drew once again, this time 12-12, and that was Norfolk’s only point from a session that saw Hampshire move into a 13-11 lead. The final session of rinks & triples was Norfolk’s last chance to save the match but it was not to be as a 13-5 win for Keith Cooke’s triple was their only success leaving Hampshire earning a place in the final against defending champions Cheshire by winning 24-16 on points. Manager Selwyn Goldsmith praised his team’s efforts throughout a great season but said the loss of former European Masters champion Chris Mann through illness and the unavailability of regular rinks skip Bob Oatway damaged the team’s chances of reaching the final.

Norfolk “A” beat Oxfordshire to reach the final

There was success for Norfolk “A” in the I.C.C Consolation semi-finals at Bromsgrove against Oxfordshire “A” as they recovered from a poor start to win the match 28-12 and earn a place in the final against Gloucestershire on Sunday at Daventry. “A” team captain Mike Boswell of Windows was the only winner in a bad first session winning his singles game by 17-8. Norfolk “A” were level at 8-8 by the interval though after a great second session. Thorpe Marriott’s Ted Redwood, Hingham’s Graham Tweed & Marriott’s John Jarvis won 18-7, Wymondham’s Roger Steele, Melvyn Barker & Andrew Jackson won 13-9 & Bob Carter’s Jean Woods, Kirby Bedon’s Gerald Chilvers, Marriott’s Trevor Pinchen & George Clarke won 16-4. This seemed to instil much needed confidence into the singles & pairs as Norfolk forged a 14-10 lead to take into the final session. Horsford’s David Dewing won his singles game 19-12 while Halvergate’s Ian Mills & County Council’s Rob Cranston won 15-8 and Ray & Steven Lamb of Haalvergate won 12-11. Norfolk “A” finished in style as Andrew Jackson’s triple won 23-2, John Jarvis’ triple won 10-7, George Clarke’s rink won 16-4 and Thorpe Marriott’s Sheila Redwood, Deaf Sports John Jeffrey, Carleton Rode’s Karl Newby & Terry Newby joined in the fun winning 15-2.

                                                                                      Posted 1-3-15

Norfolk "A" pictured after their superb victory

Mann’s triple lead the way at Banham

Breckland League leaders Wymondham won at Banham as they appear to be on their way to another title. Top triple were Hayley Stratton, Roger Steele & Chris Mann who won 23-7 as the visitors won 8-2. Second placed Carleton Rode won 10-0 at Connaught “B” with Neil Davidson’s triple winning 24-11 and Ollie Allen’s triple winning 22-11. Connaught “A” are in third place eleven points behind the Rode but with a game in hand. They won 9-1 at Harling Unicorns with Lee Fallows notching up a 28-7 win and Sylvia Parsons winning 22-7. Other games saw Watton win 6-4 at Harling Griffins, Forncett beat Harling Griffins 8-2 and Connaught “B” beat Forncett 6-4. The South Norfolk League title race is as good as over as Hempnall beat Connaught 10-0. Connaught look favourites to finish as runner-ups after winning 7-3 at Horsford. Watton pulled off a 6-4 win at Hingham and also won 6-4 at home to Horsford. They suffered a surprisingly heavy 10-0 defeat at Saxlingham though. Hingham moved into third place beating Saxlingham 7-3.

                                                                                                                                                                Posted 25-2-15

Carter hit back with a vengeance

A couple of Tens League games played last night produced some massive scorelines with both home teams recovering from first half deficits to win their matches 4-0. Bob Carter found themselves in the unusual position of having to chase the game at home to Kirby Bedon after the visitors established a first half lead. Peter Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Melvyn Barker did the damage beating Carter’s Kim Bridge, Malcolm Reynolds & Jason Woods by 18-9. Billie Barker & Brian Saunders also won the majority of ends against Jean Woods & Trevor Brown but a dropped six contributed to the Kirby pair losing narrowly by 14-16 to leave the visitors leading by seven shots at the break. After the break though it was a different story as Carter’s Sue Hunt, Jamie Forster & Rob Howlett romped to a remarkable 43-6 win against Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Gerald Chilvers while Frank Edy & Melvin Woods beat Shirley & Joe Brown 22-8 to earn Carter a 4-0 home win. Connaught entertained Hevingham and yet again there were high scoring games. The home triple of Chris Musk, Carolina Lirocchi & Joe Lirocchi opened with a 23-5 win against Gill Bunn, Eddie Hayward & Pat Williamson but Hevingham countered with a 29-5 win for Rex Cox & David Sharpe against Bill Adcock & Tyrone Musk to give themselves a six point interval lead. This triggered a stunning Connaught comeback in the second half as Diane Quadling & Bob Oatway beat Betty Cox & Maurice Kemp 18-5 and Diana Adcock, Dave Quadling & Alison Rush beat Janet Kemp, Chris Brooks & Alan Bunn 19-5 to leave Connaught celebrating a 4-0 win.

                                                                                                                                                                     Posted 25-2-15

The “Two Gs” are Coastal Pairs Champions!

Kerry Greenacre & Shirley George of Bradwell Beacons are the new Coastal Pairs Champions after winning the title at Hemsby Village Hall. The annual Coastal Pairs event attracted sixteen pairs from Coastal League clubs who fought through the round robin rounds to find the semi-finalists. Greenacre & George found themselves outnumbered by home pairs with two from Hemsby Beachcombers and one representing Hemsby Harvesters in the semi-finals with them. Both Beachcomber pairs were beaten in the semis leaving Fred Frost’s Hemsby Harvesters pairing facing Norfolk Premier regular Kerry Greenacre and Norfolk Over 60s bowler Shirley George in the final. Fred Frost had been in good form throughout the day but found the Bradwell ladies just too good as they won the final and retained the unbeaten run they had been on all day.

Kerry Greenacre & Shirley George

Two defeats for Tuddenham spell success for Halvergate

Defending Bure League champions Halvergate are now odds on favourites to retain the title as East Tuddenham slipped up at home to Kirby Bedon before going down at Halvergate. At home to Kirby Bedon Tuddenham’s Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & Peter Smart were beaten 17-11 by Teresa Goldsmith, Jan Hewitt & Melvyn Barker in the first half. It would have been even worse for the home side if it wasn’t for a superb take out shot by Chris Mann on the penultimate end of his triples game against Phil Watson. It enabled his triple to win the game 14-10 that they had looked set to lose. After the break though Kirby kept up the pressure with Peter Johnson, Brian Saunders & Jimmy Dye beating John Turner’s triple 15-13 and Gerald Chilvers’ triple holding Robin Amos to a draw as the visitors earned a creditable 7-3 away win. After this setback East Tuddenham travelled to Halvergate in need of a big win but Halvergate were in no mood to give ground in the title race. Both first half games went Halvergate’s way with Mike Harvey, Jason Woods & David Lamb beating Chris Mann’s triple 17-10 while Keith Cooke’s triple beat Peter Smart 19-8. Mike Tate, Ray Lamb & Robbie Lamb added a 20-10 win after the break against Robin Amos leaving John Turner’s triple to record the only Tuddenham win of the night beating Simon Warnes 17-12 as Halvergate won the top of the table clash 8-2. Kirby Bedon lost ground with a poor performance at Woodbastwick. One way traffic saw Elaine Cole’s triple beat Melvyn Barker 12-9, Lianne Mills beat Phil Watson 12-7, Willie Jefferies beat Joe Brown 22-6 and Derek Sheldrake beat Gerald Chilvers 18-10. East Tuddenham returned to form with a 10-0 win at Hevingham. Chris Mann’s triple scored the biggest win of the night by 21-11 while Peter Smart, John Turner & Robin Amos all skipped their triples to wins. Horsford BC won 6-4 at home to Thorpe Marriott but Margaret McPherson, Bob McPherson & Tony Turner of Marriott scored the games biggest win beating T Flack’s triple 22-3. This win earned four points for the visitors as Horsford won the other three games by 16-11, 16-13 & 18-8 leaving the visitors to earn the bonus points for shots.  

                                                                                                                                                                            Posted 24-2-15

Norfolk Premier are the first half destroyers

Norfolk Premier blew Gloucestershire out of the water with a superb first half showing in the I.C.C Quarter-Finals in Surrey. Almost before Gloucestershire knew it the match was as good as over with Norfolk leading 16-0 on points at the break. As expected Gloucestershire played England internationals Jack & Ryan Knight in the singles. Hempnall’s Neil Davidson took on Ryan Knight and built up a 10-3 lead after ten ends and despite Ryan Knight winning four of the last five ends Davidson held on for a 12-10 win. Wymondham’s former European Masters winner Chris Mann found himself in a great battle against Jack Knight before winning 12-10. Norfolk’s pairs made it a perfect first session with David Lamb of Halvergate & Jack Pye of Wymondham winning 18-6 and Horsford’s Simon Warnes & Wymondham’s Jon Sparham winning 16-8. Things rapidly went from bad to worse for the talented Gloucestershire side as Norfolk built on their perfect first session with an equally perfect second session. Bob Carter’s Jamie Forster, Jason Woods & Melvin Woods won the last four ends of their match to win 10-6. Haddiscoe’s Kerry Greenacre, Wymondham’s Debbie Sparham & Halvergate’s  Keith Cooke added a second triples win by 12-11. The rinks joined in the fun as County Council’s Owen Cranston, Halvergate’s Robbie Lamb & Kirby Bedon’s Phil Watson & Selwyn Goldsmith came back from 7-3 down to win 13-9. The final piece of the jigsaw was added by Lewis Cranston of County Council, Sheila Bragg of Connaught, Peter Walker of Thorpe Marriott and Bob Oatway of First Bus who won 9-8. After the halftime interval Norfolk assured themselves of a place in the semi-finals in Derbyshire next Sunday as both pairs won again. David Lamb & Jack Pye stormed to an 18-9 win against an opposition pair skipped by England’s Jake Attrill while Simon Warnes & Jon Sparham were equally impressive winning 17-7. Gloucestershire finally got some points on the board as both the Knight brothers won in the singles but by then it was all over for their side. With all the adrenalin now gone from the match the final session was played out with Melvin Woods’ triple adding a superb 19-2 win while Gloucestershire won on the other three mats to give the score some respectability for them at 26-14 to Norfolk but in truth Norfolk were now focused on the next match. Their opponents at Church Gresley IBC in Derbyshire will be Hampshire who beat West Mids 21-19 in a very close match. Defending champions Cheshire finished well to beat Kent 25-15 after a great match. In the other semi-final Essex beat Cornwall in a play-off after their match finished level on points at 20-20. It will be a busy weekend for the Norfolk County Manager as Norfolk “A” face Oxfordshire “A” in the Consolation semi-final on Saturday at Bromsgrove IBC. 

                                                                                                                                                                                            Posted 22-2-15  

Norfolk Over 60s recover to beat Cambs

Norfolk Over 60s recovered from a disappointing first session to overhaul Cambridgeshire Over 60s and win 19-15 in their Eastern Over 60s league match at Hingham. Billie Barker, Keith Thomas & Mel Barker opened with a 15-11 win for Norfolk but triples skipped by Tyrone Musk, Geoff Payne & Gerald Chilvers all went down as the visitors moved into an early 6-2 points lead. The second session of pairs produced the exact opposite as Ted Redwood & Colin Coman won 18-8, Sheila Redwood & Terry Newby won 13-9 & Shirley & Joe Brown cruised to a 22-5 win. Norfolk’s only defeat was on mat two where Will Townsend & Gordon Wilcox lost 7-19. Back out came the triples looking for revenge for their first session defeat and got it as they collected seven out of the eight points available. Mel Barker’s triple recorded their second win of the day in style as they racked up a superb 23-7 win. Dave Quadling, Di Quadling & Ty Musk won their game 14-9, Alice Payne, John Jarvis & Geoff Payne won 13-12 while Sue Fox, Peter Fox & Gerald Chilvers drew their game 12-12 to leave Norfolk with a 15-9 points lead. Cambs needed to win all the final session pairs games to get something out of the match and made a brave attempt winning on three mats. Will Townsend & Gordon Wilcox saved the day for Norfolk though with a 16-9 win, and with Norfolk scoring 210 shots to Cambs 199 the home side also collected the two bonus points for shots. On the catering side Teresa’s band of ladies did an excellent job in the kitchen providing meals for all the players. I understand the jacket potatoes went down exceedingly well as Norfolk Over 60s raised the bar on the hospitality front.

                                                                                                                                                               Posted 20-2-15

Halvergate suffer first leg defeat at Hempnall

Hempnall won the first leg of their Norwich Cup semi-final match against Halvergate by 12-4 with only sixteen year old Morgan Warnes and her triple keeping the visitors in the tie. The opening session of triples saw Hempnall’s Bernie Cudden, Ollie Allen & Paul Baker beat Robbie Lamb’s triple 5-4 but Jackie Smith, Steven Lamb & Morgan Warnes replied for Halvergate with a 6-5 win against Richard Harrowing’s triple. Hempnall then established a 6-2 points lead in the first pairs session with Roger Parker & Neil Davidson beating Simon Warnes & David Lamb by 11-1 and Joan Cann & Charlie Archer beating Roy Walker & Keith Cooke 7-6. Morgan Warnes’ triple returned to the mat to beat Paul Baker’s triple 10-7 but Colin Stevenson, Mike Pearce & Richard Harrowing maintained Hempnall’s four point lead by beating Robbie Lamb’s triple 7-6. The final pairs session saw Hempnall win on both mats with Joan Cann & Charlie Archer beating Simon Warnes & David Lamb 5-4 and Roger Parker & Neil Davidson beating Roy Walker & Keith Cooke 7-5 in another close game. Despite Hempnall winning the first leg 12-4 they will be aware that they only have a 54-42 lead on shots and will need to get points on the board early on in the return leg against a Halvergate side who will fight to the bitter end.

                                                                                                                                               Posted 19-2-15

Paul Baker & Joan Cann featured in the Hempnall team against Halvergate

Thorpe Marriott take giant step towards title

Thorpe Marriott took a giant step towards the City of Norwich League title with a 12-2 away win at Felthorpe as all three clubs below them slipped up badly. Second placed British Rail won at home to Jarrolds but lost valuable ground losing 10-4 away to a Jarrolds side from the bottom half of the table. Third placed Costessey suffered a disastrous 14-0 defeat at seventh placed HorsfordBC while fourth placed Sprowston suffered the biggest shock defeat of all losing 8-6 at home to an Old Bonds side who are fourth from the bottom and had only won three games all season. Other results saw Framingham Earl win 10-4 at Deaf Sports, Horsford Heroes win 9-5 at First Bus while First Bus hit the road to win 12-2 at Old Bonds.Windows won 12-2 at home to Taverham while defending champions Horsford BC beat County Council 14-0.

Norfolk “A” will face Oxfordshire in semi-finals

Following the comfortable win achieved by Norfolk “A” against Northants “A” in Cambridgeshire the team now face a journey to Bromsgrove IBC to play Oxfordshire “A” on Saturday 28^th February. Oxfordshire earned their place in the semi-finals of the I.C.C “A” Team semi-finals by beating East Sussex “A” by the narrow margin of 22-18 at Westergate. The other semi-final will be between Gloucestershire “A” and Hertfordshire. Gloucestershire beat Shropshire 30-10    in Bristol while Hertfordshire overcame London by 22-18 in Westergate.

                                                                                                                                   Posted 16-2-15

Norfolk “A” cruise to victory against Northants “A”

Putting the disappointment of missing out on qualifying for the main I.C.C “A” Team knock-outs by such a slender margin, Norfolk “A” applied themselves to the task in hand with gusto as they swept to a 29-11 win against Northants “A” in their Consolation quarter-final tie at March IBC in Cambridgeshire. In the first session Robin Amos of Deaf Sport found himself involved in a tremendous battle against Alan Lodge in the singles. The Northants bowler made a great start moving 7-0 up after four ends. Amos then hit back winning the next five ends to establish an 11-7 lead. But once again the game turned on its head as back came Alan Lodge to win the next four ends and retake the lead by 13-11. On the penultimate end Robin Amos took two shots to level the game at 13-13. By the time the bowlers had just one bowl each to play the jack was out in the open at the back of the mat. Robin Amos drew in for shot with his final wood but his bowl went to the inside of the jack still leaving it open. Every eye was on Alan Lodge as he played his final wood which looked on course for the jack all the way. Unfortunately for the Northants bowler he brushed the jack to the right while his bowl ran away towards the ditch leaving Robin Amos holding three shots and a 16-13 win. It was a great game of singles to start the day off with. Team captain Mike Boswell of Windows added a second win in the singles beating B Smith 15-7 after a tight start which left the score tied at just 2-2 after five ends before Boswell took control. Halvergate father & son pair Ray & Steven Lamb took their club form out onto the mat winning their opening game 18-10. The only losing game for Norfolk in the first session was on mat four where Maureen & George Munford went down to a narrow 12-10 defeat against G Dormer & J Lawson. In the next session Norfolk moved further ahead as Kirby Bedon’s Joan Costello, Hingham’s Graham Tweed & Thorpe Marriott’s John Jarvis continued their great county team form winning 16-7 while Wymondham’s Roger Steele, Melvyn Barker & Andrew Jackson scored four shots on the final end of their game to snatch a 12-12 draw. In the fours Elaine Oatway & Colin Coman of First Bus and Karl & Terry Newby of Carleton Rode won their opening game by a fantastic 18-1 margin which more than compensated for a 3-15 defeat suffered by Carter’s Jean Woods, Kirby’s Gerald Chilvers and Thorpe Marriott’s Trevor Pinchen & George Clarke. This left Norfolk leading by 11-5 at the halfway stage. The third session was drawn with Ray & Steven Lamb putting in a great performance winning their second game of the day by 18-4 which secured the pairs bonus points as Maureen & George Munford lost but only by 14-10. In the singles Mike Boswell completed a brilliant day for him as he won his second game by 24-4. This clinched the singles bonus points as Robin Amos lost but only by 10-16 after B Smith won seven of the last nine ends of their match. Norfolk were well in control now and displayed their superiority over Northants by winning three of the last four games ensuring that they earned the bonus points in all four disciplines. John Jarvis’ triple won their game by 15-7 while Andrew Jackson’s triple won 13-9. In the rinks George Clarke’s four won by 15-4 with the only loss suffered by Terry Newby’s rink who went down 10-5.  
                                                                                                                                                      Posted 15-2-15

Two super wins for Ray & Steven Lamb

"A" Team captain Mike Boswell - wins of 15-7 & 24-4 in the singles

Robin Amos & Alan Lodge pictured after their tremendous singles match

ESMBA President George Clarke presented Terry Newby with his County Squad plaque prior to the match

Morgan magic sinks Carter

Another stunning result for young Halvergate star Morgan Warnes and her triple settled a titanic battle between previously unbeaten teams Bob Carter & Halvergate at Drayton. Both defending champions Bob Carter and relative newcomers Halvergate had won their opening seven games with Halvergate holding a slender one point advantage prior to this match. Carter gained what looked a match winning eight shot lead at the interval after Jean Woods & Trevor Brown had beaten Roy Walker & Keith Cooke 15-6. Robbie Lamb’s Halvergate triple had beaten home favourite Jason Woods but by just one shot. Four Norfolk Premier regulars met in the pairs game after the break and a great battle ended with Halvergate’s Simon Warnes & David Lamb beating the home pairing of Jamie Forster & Melvin Woods by 17-14. The second half triples game was to decide the match though as Jackie Smith, Steven Lamb and 16 year old skip Morgan Warnes stormed to a 23-10 win against Sue Hunt, Malcolm Reynolds & Robert Howlett to earn a vital 2-0 away win for the side that only entered the league last season. Morgan Warnes’ form this season aptly demonstrates why England manager Brandon Whittaker invited her into the England squad at the beginning of the season and why he was so disappointed when Morgan turned down the invitation to concentrate on her studies in this important year for her. This result leaves Halvergate three points clear but Carter will be keen to retrieve these lost points when they visit Halvergate later in the season.     

                                                                                                                                                          Posted 13-2-15

Tight at top of Tens

A bullish performance by visitors Coltishall restricted Bob Carter to just a 2-0 home win in their Tens League clash leaving Halvergate still occupying top spot by one point. Vic Wood’s Coltishall triple opened with a 14-9 win against Jason Woods’ triple but Carter replied with a 13-10 win for Jean Woods & Trevor Brown against Carol & John Aggas leaving Coltishall leading by 24-22 on shots at the break. Roly Sargent & Margaret Harman produced an excellent 19-11 win for the visitors after the break against Frank Edy & Melvin Woods but Sue Hunt, Jamie Forster & Rob Howlett saved the day for Carter with a 21-7 win against George Munford’s triple to leave Carter four shots up at the close of play.

Neutral venue for Wymondham v Coltishall cup clash

Following difficulties arranging the Norwich Cup semi-final clash between Wymondham & Coltishall the cup organiser has arranged for the tie to be played at a neutral venue on Monday 9-3-15. HorsfordBC have kindly offered their venue for the match and both captains have agreed to this solution to a problem that threatened to seriously disrupt the competition. Captains will toss prior to the match for the choice of being “home” or “away” and the tie will be decided over just one night instead of the two legs normally used for Norwich Cup semi-finals. Norwich Cup organiser Selwyn Goldsmith has expressed his gratitude to Dennis Seaton of Horsford BC for his assistance in arranging the match and praised the Horsford club for their assistance in resolving the issue.  

                                                                                                                                                      Posted 12-2-15

Carleton Rode shot happy at home

Carleton Rode, in second place in the Breckland League, strengthened their position with an away win at Harling Griffins and a home win against Harling Unicorns. At the home of the Griffins the visitors did not have everything their own way as Harling Griffins won two of the games. Anne Biddulph, Mike Elflain & George Cody beat Graham Mobbs’ triple 17-10 while E Talbot, Jill Hayman & Colin Hayman got themselves a major scalp beating Gill Coleman, Ollie Allen & Neil Davidson 16-12. Carleton Rode earned themselves a 6-4 away win though with wins of 19-18 & 30-13 in the remaining games. At home to Harling Unicorns Carleton Rode went “shot happy” as Jill Davidson, Ollie Allan & Neil Davidson romped to a 43-1 win while Graham Mobbs’ triple weighed in with a 33-9 win. Terry Newby added a 16-15 win while Arthur Snelling’s Unicorn’s triple beat Russell Davidson leaving Rode with an 8-2 win. Third placed Connaught “A” won 8-2 at Forncett with Steve Hall winning 23-13, Lee Fallows winning 20-10 & Bob Oatway winning 17-15. Connaught “A” would also have hoped to pick up the lions share of the points at home to Watton but instead their visitors inflicted a damaging 8-2 defeat on the Attleborough based side. Connaught found themselves without the Oatways, the Seckers and Lee Fallows for this match but even then would not have expected this disastrous result. Diana Adcock, Dave Quadling & Steve Hall were four shots up going into the last end against Doreen Paffey, Pat Groombridge & Daphne Braham but dropped five shots to lose 18-17. In the other first half game Dennis Gower, Don Paffey & Roger Braham could do no wrong beating the usually ultra reliable Sylvia Parsons 21-6. Margaret Hunter’s triple added to the home sides gloom after the break beating Ralf Ramm’s triple 24-10 leaving Sheila Bragg to collect a consolation 17-14 win for the home side. Two nights later Watton visited Forncett but could not recapture the same form. Mary Boulter, Keith Humphreys & Peter Lock beat Margaret Hunter’s triple 26-7 and Mervyn Boulter, Tony Ottewell & Martin Humphreys beat Roger Braham 28-5 to record a 6-4 home win. In the other match played Hingham beat Banham 10-0 scoring 93 shots against 44. The nights biggest win was a 32-9 result for Pat Roache, Jan Higgs & John Higgs while Keith Thomas won 22-10, Mike White won 23-15 & Eileen Herbert won 16-10.

                                                                                                                                Posted 10-2-15

Halvergate move top of Tens League after early setback

Halvergate moved top of the Tens League with a 4-0 home win against Kirby Bedon after pulling back from five shots down at the interval. The opening game between the home pairing of Donna & David Lamb and Kirby’s Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson was a close affair for the first eleven ends with the Kirby pair leading 10-7. The home side then suffered a shock as Hewitt & Watson scored full house sixes on both the twelfth and thirteenth ends to move 22-7 up before the home pair pulled back four shots to limit the damage to a 22-11 defeat. Things went better for the home side in the triples game as Ryan Fox, Ray Lamb & Robbie Lamb finished well to beat Wendy Tweed, Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers 17-11. The second half pairs game was tight up to the eleventh end with Roy Walker & Keith Cooke leading Kirby’s Shirley & Joe Brown by one shot but a spirited finish by Walker & Cooke earned them a 17-11 win. The real damage was inflicted on the visitors in the closing triples game where David Knights, Steven Lamb & Morgan Warnes carved out a big 32-9 win against Graham Tweed’s triple to secure the 4-0 home win and a top of the table place. Bradwell remain at the foot of the table after losing 4-0 at Hevingham after a heavy second half defeat in the triples. A close first half saw the visiting pair of Kerry Greenacre & Keith Baker hold Hevingham’s David Sharp & Rex Cox to a 16-16 draw but David Young, Pat Hall & Aleck Haynes gave the home side a four shot interval lead beating Shirley George’s triple 15-11. After the break Betty Cox & Maurice Kemp increased Hevingham’s lead beating Mike Harvey & John Sargent 18-14 but the biggest win of the night, a 32-7 result for Eddie Hayward, Alan Bunn & Pat Williamson against Jackie Fortesque’s triple, saw Hevingham safely over the finishing line with maximum points.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Posted 9-2-15

Bure League action - Kirby beat Marriott

Kirby Bedon scored an 8-2 home win against Thorpe Marriott. The opening session saw Peter Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Melvyn Barker beat Richard Perkins’ triple 18-7 while Phil Watson’s triple beat ex Kirby bowler George Clarke and his triple by 14-12. Joe Brown’s triple scored the home sides third win of the night beating Tony Turner’s triple 13-7 while Ted Redwood’s triple earned Marriott their only win beating home captain Gerald Chilvers by 19-16. Horsford Heroes had to settle for a 6-4 win at home to Hevingham despite winning on three mats as visiting triple David Young, Ian MacLean & David Sharpe beat Andy Drummie’s triple 17-9. Horsford skips Chris Woodhouse & Vic Webster both won by one shot while Mick Dale’s triple won 13-6.

                                                                                                                                                                                       Posted 9-2-15

Tight at the top in City League

Its tight at the top of the City of Norwich League with half a dozen clubs still in contention. League leaders Costessey beat Horsford Heroes 12-2 to overtake Thorpe Marriott who were not in action this week. British Rail are still on track after taking all fourteen points at home to struggling Windows. Sprowston SSC, with games in hand, continue to look serious contenders after beating First Bus 12-2 while Deaf Sports beat bottom of the table Old Bonds 14-0. Framingham Earl’s recent excellent results against the top teams seem to have given them more confidence and they won 10-4 away to Jarrolds and 10-4 at home to Taverham. Fifth placed County Council won 14-0 at home to Taverham. Felthorpe continue to struggle losing 14-0 away to Horsford Heroes.

                                                                                                                                           Posted 7-2-15  

Jon Sparham tops Norfolk rankings

An excellent year in the Norfolk  County Championships has propelled Wymondham & Norfolk bowler Jon Sparham to the top of the Norfolk rankings. With a win in the County Pairs, a runner-up spot in the County Fours and third place finishes in both the County Singles & Mixed Fours Jon Sparham has taken over the coveted top spot after moving up from number eight in the County Points Table. Bob Carter’s former England player Melvin Woods moved up two places to number two thanks to a CountyTriples title and a great run in the CountySingles where he finished runner-up. Just one point behind Woods in the third spot is that talented young man Jack Pye of Wymondham who has been in superb form all season. Top lady is Debbie Sparham of Wymondham who moves up four places to number four. Players who have significantly improved their ranking places include Jason Woods of Bob Carter, who moved up eleven places to number five, and Hempnall’s Neil Davidson who moved up ten places to number eight after securing his third County Singles title. Chris Mann of Wymondham and East Tuddenham’s John Turner easily maintain their top ten places at six and seven respectively. Sprowston’s Peter Smart makes a huge leap up the Points Table from thirty-one to number nine after winning the CountyMixed Fours. Wymondham’s Mikey George completes the top ten after lifting the CountyPairs title with Jon Sparham. A place in the Top 30 guarantees players a Norfolk County Squad invite for next season and eight names join Peter Smart in earning a County call-up by either re-entering the Top 30 or forcing their way in for the first time. They are Ted Redwood of Thorpe Marrott who enters at number 13, Ollie Allen of Carleton Rode who has been tempted back to short mat bowls and enters at number 20, and Thorpe Marriott’s Janet Pinchen, Wymondham’s Debbie Pye, Halvergate’s Ray Lamb, Simon Warnes of Horsford BC, Melvyn Barker of Wymondham and Gerald Chilvers of Kirby Bedon.

Top 30 Jon Sparham, Melvin Woods, Jack Pye, Debbie Sparham, Jason Woods, Chris Mann, John Turner, Neil Davidson, Peter Smart, Mikey George, Morgan Warnes, Robert Howlett, Ted Redwood, Nigel Willard, David Lamb, Selwyn Goldsmith, Josh Baxter, George Clarke, Jean Woods, Ollie Allen, Keith Cooke, Kerry Greenacre, Janet Pinchen, Debbie Pye, Ray Lamb, Bob Oatway, Elaine Oatway, Simon Warnes, Melvyn Barker,  Gerald Chilvers.

                                                                                                                                                      Posted 6-2-15

Jon Sparham in action at the Potters Cup Weekend

East Tuddenham looking for revenge

The second leg of East Tuddenham’s Bure Cup semi-final clash at Kirby Bedon went down to the final session before the visitors pulled off two great wins to ensure a re-run of last year’s final against Halvergate and a chance of revenge for their shots defeat when the teams finished level on points. Tuddenham went to Kirby Bedon holding a 16-8 first leg lead but a 6-2 win for Joe Brown’s triple against John Jeffery’s triple and a 5-5 draw between Phil Watson and Peter Smart saw the deficit shrink to 17-11. East Tuddenham dug in though and shared the next three sessions to maintain a six point lead until the fifth session. Kirby Bedon gave themselves a great chance of snatching the tie on the penultimate session as Joe Brown’s triple beat John Turner’s triple 5-2 and Melvyn Barker’s triple beat John Jeffery’s triple 8-3. This left East Tuddenham leading by only 23-21 with just the final session to play and as neither Tuddenham triple taking to the mats had scored a point up to now the home side must have felt an upset was on the cards. Kirby failed to take their chance though while the triples skipped by Robin Amos and Peter Smart both stepped up to the mark to seal victory for East Tuddenham. Gillian Amos, Madge Meachen & Robin Amos stormed to an 11-2 win against Phil Watson’s triple while Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & Peter Smart beat Gerald Chilvers’ triple 6-4. On the night Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner & John Turner were the top Tuddenham triple collecting four points while Kirby Bedon’s Shirley Brown, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown were the evening’s best triple with five points out of six. 

Wymondham stroll on to semi-finals

Framingham Earl entertained Wymondham in the CountyCup quarter-finals but found their visitors, despite fielding a below strength side, too hot to handle. Wymondham’s Hayley Stratton, Mikey George & Chris Mann led 10-0 after six ends against Ethel Pash, Glenda Kidd & Debbie Bunn and went on to win 19-5. In the other first half game Mary Fisher, Brian Saunders & Jack Pye also opened strongly against Ron Pash, Brian Sayer & Glenda Adcock and were 14-1 up after eight ends on their way to an eventual 17-5 win. Wymondham made sure of a semi-place after the break with Melvyn Barker’s triple winning 17-11 against Karl Bunn and Andrew Jackson’s triple winning 17-7 against Colin Emms. Wymondham will travel to Bradwell in the semi-finals while Bob Carter entertain First Bus.  

                                                                                                                                  Posted 5-2-15

Framingham Earl shock the title contenders!

Despite being positioned in the lower half of the City of Norwich League table Framingham Earl have inflicted painful defeats on the top two in the table. Title favourites Thorpe Marriott suffered an 11-3 home defeat against Framingham Earl and not content to damage just  the league leaders title hopes they went on to win 10-4 at home to second placed Costessey. Thorpe Marriott achieved a much better result away to First Bus where they collected all 14 points and are seven points clear of Costessey in the table. Third placed British Rail won 12-2 at home to Felthorpe but have played one game more than the leading pair. Other results saw Horsford Heroes win 12-2 at home to County Council, Jarrolds win 12-2 at home to Felthorpe and County Council beat Felthorpe 12-2. Windows won for just the third time this season in the City League beating Jarrolds 12-2. Runaway Breckland League leaders Wymondham suffered their first league defeat of the campaign away to second placed Carleton Rode where they went down heavily on two mats in a 6-4 loss. Pamela Rush, Karl Newby & Terry Newby gave the home side a great start beating Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher & Debbie Sparham 27-5 but the visitors won on the other mat with Debbie Pye, Andrew Jackson & Melvyn Barker beating Russell Davidson’s triple 17-13. After the break Rode’s Jill Davidson, Ollie Allen & Neil Davidson made sure of a home win beating Hayley Stratton, Roger Steele & Chris Mann 21-11 but Billie Barker, Brian Saunders & Jon Sparham limited the damage beating Graham Mobbs 20-17. Third placed Connaught “A” kept the pressure on Carleton Rode by winning 6-4 at Harling Griffins but will be disappointed not to have picked more ponts up away to the bottom club. Bob Oatway’s triple won 22-10 and R Ramm’s triple won 18-11 but Sheila Bragg’s triple lost 15-12 to Gerald Palframan’s triple and Steve Hall lost 17-15 to Colin Hayman. Hingham took maximum points at home to Harling Griffins while Watton beat Connaught “B” 6-4 and Forncett won 9-1 at home to Harling Unicorns. Coastal Cup action saw leaders Woodbastwick Owls win 16-2 at home to Martham and 12-6 at home to Bradwell Beacons. Hemsby Beachcombers are in second place after away wins at both South Walsham and Bradwell Dynamos and a 9-9 draw at Martham. In the Tens League Coltishall’s visit to Hevingham produced four big wins, two for Hevingham in the triples games and two for Coltishall in the pairs games. Hevingham won the match by just five shots for a 2-0 win. For the home side Rex Cox skipped his triple to a 23-6 win and Pat Williamson’s triple won 23-8. Coltishall replied with pairs wins of 21-6 for Roly Sargent & Margaret Harman and 22-10 for Carol & John Aggas. In the South Norfolk League Hempnall are running away with the title again and have now won eight games out of eight. Hempnall beat Saxlingham 8-2 with Geoff Briggs' triple earning the visitors two points. Hempnall then won 6-4 at Hingham where Roger Parker's triple won 19-5. The league leaders then won 10-0 at home to Wreningham with Neil Davidson's triple winning 21-5. Connaught look on course for the runner-up spot after beating Watton 10-0. Horsford beat Hingham 6-4 with Ken Buller's triple starring for Hingham with a 19-7 win. 

                                                                                                                                                                             Posted 2-2-15

Welsh wizard Williams wins English Masters

The SMPT English Masters, held at Bromsgrove IBC, attracted a strong entry which included Wymondham’s Chris Mann & Jack Pye as well as Hempnall’s Neil Davidson. Former European Masters champion Chris Mann was again in impressive form and reached the quarter-finals before going out by just 10-9 against Irish ace Mark Beattie. Mann led 9-8 going into the last end but Beattie scored two shots to win the match. In the knock-out stages Mann beat Robert Martin 16-9 and Chris Davies of Wales 12-10. Beattie lost his semi-final clash against Stephen Williams of Wales who went on to lift the title beating Essex bowler Paul Bax in the final while Devon’s Bronagh Malone won the third place play-off beating Mark Beattie. Jack Pye made it to the last 16 before losing 12-6 to Dom Reed of Essex. In the group stage Pye played defending champion Cecil Dillon of Ireland and made a remarkable comeback from 10-1 down to draw 10-10 and win his group after beating Lars Hilton of Sweden 18-8. Neil Davidson failed to qualify through his group into the Main Competition but made it into the Plate event where he enjoyed a great run of wins to reach the Plate Final before being beaten 13-7 by Nigel Nicholls of Cornwall. Davidson’s run included an 18-3 result against Bent Nielson of Denmark and a 12-10 win against Sweden’s Tommy Dahlgren. The results leave Mark Beattie still top of the SMPT World Rankings well clear of fellow Irishman Jal Richardson in second place. Irish bowlers also fill the next two places with Andrew Morrison in third place in the rankings and Cecil Dillon fourth. Jonathan Payne of Belgium is fifth with Dimitri Payne of Belgium sixth. Pauline Beattie of Ireland is seventh with Joseph Beattie of Ireland ranked number eight. Sweden's Joel Hager is ninth with Dom Reed of Essex the top ranked English player at number ten. Wymondham's Chris Mann is ranked number fifteen with his team-mate Jack Pye at number seventeen.

                                                                                                                           Posted 2-2-15

Craig Burgess of the SMPT with Neil Davidson, Plate runner-up at the English Masters

Will 3 of Norfolk’s brightest stars shine in Bromsgrove?

This weekend a selection of Europe’s best short mat bowls players will be heading to Bromsgove where the SMPT English Masters is being held. Norfolk hopes will rest on the shoulders of three time Norfolk Singles Champion Neil Davidson of Hempnall, talented young Wymondham star Jack Pye and former European Masters Champion Chris Mann also of Wymondham. Looking at the draw former England international Chris Mann seems to have come out best of the Norfolk threesome and he will start as hot favourite to win his group which includes Martin Craig & Diane Bell of Ireland and Royston Lewis, Brian Baker & Brad Hallowes.  

Jack Pye’s group includes the brilliant Irishman Cecil Dillon who won the Swedish Masters and is currently ranked number 5 in the SMPT World Rankings. Lars Hilton makes the trip from Sweden to play in this group as does Isle of Wight’s Bernie Durcan. Richard Ivings of Devon & James Corns of Somerset will also provide strong competition for Pye.    

Neil Davidson will face a stiff test in his group which includes Nick Evans of Wales & Montgomery, a player who has tasted success in the British Isles Championships. Talented Devon bowler James Trott will also fancy his chances as will experienced West Sussex player Marc “Bomber” Lancaster, a Beatle fan who will try his best to send Davidson on the long and winding road back to Norfolk at the earliest opportunity. Neil “Sheep” Davidson though has built a fearsome reputation as a singles specialist in Norfolk over the past three or four years and need fear no-one. Victor Andersson of Sweden and Somerset’s Pauline Mannell complete the group.

There is certainly no shortage of talent in the other groups. Group 5 will see a mighty battle between Jonathan Payne of Belgium, John Manley & Martin Simcock while Bronagh Toleman will be looking to progress from Group 4. Malcolm Follis & Lee Toleman will meet in Group 8 while Chris Page & Michael Ivings are both in Group 13. Group 14 should be one to provide plenty of thrills with SMPT World ranked No 1 player Mark Beattie, Joseph Beattie who is ranked No 6 and Robert Ivings all included. Irish star Jal Richardson, who is ranked number 2, should dominate Group 16. Scotland’s Lawrence Moffatt is in Group 6 as is John Lax. But whoever the winner turns out to be one thing for sure is that we are set for a great weekend of short mat bowls in Bromsgrove.

                                                                                                                            Posted 29-1-15

Halvergate into the final

Taking an 18-6 lead into the second leg of their Bure Cup semi-final at Coltishall made life easier for cup holders Halvergate. Coltishall needed to make up ground early on if they were to stand any chance of reaching the final. The determined visitors though had other ideas and shared both opening sessions with Jason Woods & Keith Cooke’s triples both winning while Vic Woods & Malcolm Reynolds replied with wins for Coltishall. The result was put beyond doubt in the third session as Jason Woods & David Lamb both won for Halvergate and at that point Coltishall conceded the tie.

Bradwell win at last in Tens

After six defeats in six games Bradwell finally registered their first Tens League win of the campaign at home to third placed Kirby Bedon. With the visitors fielding a much depleted side Bradwell still struggled to build a good first half lead. Bradwell’s Anne Baker, Derek Humphreys & Shirley George beat Peter Johnson, Eddie Costello & Jimmy Dye by 13-10 but Kirby’s Jan Hewitt & Teresa Goldsmith beat John Sargent & Mike Harvey 13-11 when Teresa Goldsmith, playing in a unaccustomed skip position, earned three shots with the last bowl of the final end. This left Bradwell just one shot up at the interval and after the break Claire Baker, Margaret Newcombe & Jackie Fortiscue were held to a 13-13 draw by Carol Johnson, Joan Costello & Gerald Chilvers. The home victory was finally secured by Kerry Greenacre & Keith Baker who beat Shirley & Joe Brown by 19-13 when they pulled away on the closing ends of what had been a close game.

                                                                                                                    Posted 29-1-15

Halvergate book Challenge cup final with Wymondham

Halvergate are through to the first Challenge cup final after making short work of the six points required at Bob Carter which they achieved after the first two sessions 9-1 (39-26). In the singles David Lamb produced a solid 10-6 win against John Turner while Keith Cook recovered well from a dropped four on the first end to draw 9-9 with Trevor Brown. The tie was made sure of when both Halvergate fours produced wins. Michael Savage, Mike Tate, Ray Lamb and Roy Walker beat Margaret Reynolds, Frank Edy, Malcolm Reynolds and Melly Woods 11-5 while Donna Lamb, David Knights, Steven Lamb and Simon Warnes beat Sue Hunt, Jean Woods, Jamie Forster and Jason Woods 9-6. Some of the Halvergate team would of been a little surprised by how quickly they managed to get their target which now see's Carter only left in the County Cup. For Halvergate they are still currently in contention for every league and cup this season but Wymondham stand in their way for the first name to be put on the Challenge cup!

Sexism row erupts in Shropshire Premier Crown Green League