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Summer Season Under Way
Defending
Division One champions Bob Carter are looking for their third
successive title this summer and opened with a 6-2 home win against
newly promoted Thurton. Peter Walker’s triple scored the visitors only
win of the night beating Nigel Willard 13-9 and Carter will be
disappointed with the two home points dropped. Carter visited Hevingham
for their second match and were forced to settle for a 4-4 draw. Melvin
Woods’ triple scored wins of 18-13 & 27-8 for Carter but Hevingham
replied with a 19-7 win for Maurice Kemp and a 17-5 win for David Sharpe
against George Clarke’s triple. Kirby Bedon “A” top the table after two
wins against Kirby Bedon “B” which under league rules have to be played
before any other league games. Diss opened their Division Two campaign
with a 6-2 home win against Watton Green with Colin Smith, Gill Coleman
& Keith Buck winning by 19-15 & 19-14. Division Three saw both
new teams winning. County Council won 6-2 at home to Deaf Sports with R
Cranston’s triple winning both their games. Halvergate have started with
two good away wins. Ray Lamb’s triple won by 21-3 & 17-13 at
Framingham Earl where Halvergate won 6-2. Four days later Halvergate won
6-2 at Watton Yellow where Ray Lamb’s triple repeated their feat
winning by 14-13 & 23-3. Other games saw Thorpe Marriott “B” held to
a 4-4 draw at home to Deaf Sports while Hingham Green beat Hingham
Yellow 6-2. In the Summer Cup Thurton won by 6-2 at home to Hingham
Green with J Pidgen’s triple winning twice.
23-5-12 Marshall defeats Moffat in latest Long Mat v Short Mat clash For
a series billed as “The Greatest Short Mat Challenge” in history the
standard of play fell as short as many of the woods played in this clash
between flat green legend Alex Marshall MBE and Scotland Short Mat
Singles champion Lawrence Moffat. A seven end match leaves little time
for either player to settle and one has to feel some sympathy for Moffat
who went on without a roll-up against a player who had just played a
seven end match. In a game played at breakneck speed too many loose
woods littered a match for it to be satisfying to watch. On the first
end Lawrence Moffat had two great chances to take shot with his third
and fourth bowls but missed both opportunities and Alex Marshall took a
two shot lead. Moffat’s second bowl on the second end proved to be the
first decent wood of the end. A take-out bowl by Marshall with his final
wood resulted in a count of three as Moffat fell short with his last
wood leaving Marshall leading 5-0. Marshall set a middle jack and drew
to it with his opening bowl to keep the pressure on Moffat who failed to
respond with his opener. Marshall then covered the back but Moffat took
shot with his third wood after playing a forcing shot. Alex Marshall
was fortunate to take shot with his final bowl after playing slightly
heavy but Moffat will be disappointed with his final effort of the end
and Marshall moved 6-0 up. Moffat opened the fourth end brightly and
held two shots forcing Marshall on the attack. He took the jack off the
mat to kill the end but disappointingly the end was declared as having
been played instead of resetting the jack and Marshall was now 6-0 up
after four ends. The decision appeared to confuse marker Bob Barr who
had already begun to send the bowls back down the mat for a replay of
the end. The Scottish short mat champion began to play as we know he can
on the next end playing two good woods in an attempt to cut the
deficit. Marshall though produced an excellent wood to hold two shots
which Moffat could do nothing about and he found himself 8-0 down. Both
players will be disappointed with their bowling on the penultimate end
but Moffat finished with a forcing shot that earned him his first
scoring end of the day. This left Marshall leading 8-1 and the last end
was now meaningless. Two good opening woods by Moffat and two short
woods by Marshall encouraged the flat green champ to walk up to the head
to have a look, with his bowl in his hand, before playing a forcing
shot that left him holding shot. A lovely forehand draw by Moffat took
shot and Marshall fired with his last bowl but missed. This left the
final score standing at 8-2 in favour of Alex Marshall.
Posted 23-5-12
Marshall beaten by Williams in first clash of the codes The
much anticipated first game of the five match Champion of Champions
series between long mat legend Alex Marshall and the five short mat
champions has been screened on the web with current World Short Mat
Singles Champion Stephen Williams beating Marshall 7-3 on the new
Greengauge Punch short mat surface. Marshall had indicated that he would
win at least three of the five games but now faces a tough task after
losing the first match. After taking a single on the opening end
Williams sought to take advantage of Marshall’s lack of experience at
short mat by setting a minimum length jack. To Marshall’s credit he
responded in style drawing in perfect length second and third bowls to
put the pressure on the Welsh star. Williams was forced to attack with
his final wood and cut Marshall down to one shot. Another single was
taken by Alex Marshall on the next end as his last bowl blocked out
Williams and Alex Marshall moved 2-1 up. The fourth end saw Stephen
Williams demonstrating why he is such a force in the game. After
Williams had played three good bowls Alex Marshall was forced into
attacking with his final wood but was never tight enough to give his
bowl a chance. Stephen Williams saw his opportunity and took it by
playing a great last bowl that moved the jack just enough to earn a full
house of four shots and a 5-2 lead. The fifth end saw a poor third bowl
by Williams leave Marshall with a chance but he failed to take
advantage. Williams then went off the side attempting to get a back wood
leaving another chance for Marshall which this time he took to score a
single. The penultimate end saw Marshall holding shot with a bowl on the
jack and Williams had to be careful with his final wood as he had no
back bowls. A perfectly weighted backhand shot saw Williams chip his
second wood onto Marshall’s bowl and take shot and a 6-3 lead into the
last end. The final end saw Marshall attack the jack and ditch it to
hold shot but good woods from Stephen Williams limited the damage to
just a single as Marshall played his third bowl into the ditch and
overcompensated to leave his final bowl horribly short. Stephen Williams
was left celebrating a 7-3 win with Alex Marshall contemplating the job
he now has on his hands to win three of the remaining four games in the
Champions of Champions challenge. Davidson, Brown, Clarke & Mann named in bold new County Team Set-Up Neil
Davidson of Carleton Rode has been appointed as Norfolk County Team
Assistant-Manager at a meeting of the N.C.S.M.B.A Management Committee.
Newly appointed County Manager Selwyn Goldsmith nominated Davidson for
the role and this was endorsed by the meeting. The manager announced
that he has also appointed two-time National Singles Champion Trevor
Brown of Bob Carter as Norfolk County Squad Captain for the 2012/13
season, Brown previously played for Oxfordshire before moving to
Norfolk. Goldsmith also told the committee that he had appointed Chris
Mann of Wymondham as Under 25 Liaison Officer and George Clarke of
Hevingham as Code of Conduct Liaison Officer with a particular emphasis
on uniform & appearance. It looks increasingly likely that Norfolk
will follow the popular trend of moving away from the blazer & tie
culture and switching to a new polo shirt playing strip for the 2012/13 winter
season. It was obvious at this year’s National Championships that the
image of short mat bowls is changing fast with coloured bowls and polo
shirts in team colours becoming the order of the day. The manager,
assistant manager & captain also met to discuss squad invitations
following the Norfolk County Team Trials held on the 29th April at Lakeside and letters are expected to go out to the trialists over the next ten days.
17-5-12  Neil Davidson has been appointed new Norfolk Assistant-Manager
New East Coast Triples & Pairs a roaring success at Potters The
inaugural Potter’s East Coast Triples & Pairs event took place at
Potter’s Leisure Resort in Hopton-on-Sea with entries from Norfolk,
Suffolk, Essex & Kent taking part in the week long competition. With
varied entertainment, ranging from an appearance by Leanne Mitchell of
“The Voice” fame to a stunning performance by Queen tribute band Gary
Mullen and the Works, short mat bowlers found plenty to keep them
occupied when they were not engaged in battle in the International
Arena. Bowlers arrived on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon and after
booking in and getting settled in they attended a welcome meeting with
organizers Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith in the International Arena
where the formats were explained. Bowlers then enjoyed a 5-course dinner
in the Garden Restaurant followed by a stunning performance by Queen
tribute band Gary Mullen and the Works. They had just returned from
touring in the USA and entertained a packed theatre with classics such
as “We Are The Champions” and all the other Queen hits. After breakfast
on Tursday bowlers headed into the International Arena for the start of
the East Coast Triples. By the end of the days play Essex triple Audrey
Johnson, Derek Coates & Dave Ashpole had reeled off five straight
wins to lead the field. Three triples were hot on their heels winning
four games out of five. They were Mick Harris of Felthorpe who was
leading for Diane & Mike Boswell of Anglian Windows, Margaret
Barley, Paul Swain & Derek Barley of Carlton, Suffolk and Richard
Stevens of Hingham who was playing with Debbie Phillips of Wymondham and
Jon Sparham of Hempnall. After dinner bowlers who had decided to enter
the evening East Coast Pairs event returned to the Arena to play three
sessions. Linda & Geoff Hall of Whitstable in Kent produced three
wins as did Debbie Phillips & Jon Sparham of Wymondham &
Hempnall, Diane & Mike Boswell of Anglian Windows and Moira &
Richard Stevens of Hingham. Bowlers then headed to the Atlas Theatre for
another evening of great entertainment with Potter’s Resident Team
putting on an Abba night. Wednesday morning overnight triples leader
Dave Ashpole opened with a crunch match against Jon Sparham’s triple and
made it six wins in a row with a 10-4 victory. By lunchtime Ashpole’s
triple were still clear leaders on 14 points after completing a 14-6 win
against Avril Walker’s Anglian Windows triple. In the penultimate
session of the day Ashpole’s triple suffered their first defeat losing
by 8-6 to Margaret Steele, Roger Steele & Graham Tweed. By the end
of play Ashpole’s triple were still leaders with 16 points from 18.
After dinner battle recommenced in the East Coast Pairs but Mike Boswell
was unfortunately unable to play and his pair had to concede their two
games and were out of contention to qualify for the semi-finals. Group
One winners were Lynn & Geoff Hall of Kent who finished on maximum
points with Audrey Johnson & Dave Ashpole of Essex in second place.
The Essex pairs total points turned out to be the best of the
runners-ups so they also qualified for the semi-finals. In Group Two
Margaret Hastings & Bob Cousins of Suffolk finished winners after a
remarkable battle. Three pairs all finished level on points so shot
difference was used to determine the winners. Brenda Neil & Derek
Coates dropped out of the running at this stage with just +6 but the
Essex pair and Debbie Phillips & Jon Sparham were both on +23 shots.
This kicked in the “most shots for” rule but both pairs had scored 42
shots and conceded 19. The match between the two pairs was looked at to
determine the group winners but this had also finished level on shots.
This kicked in the “ends won” rule and all their scorecards to brought
out and checked. This resulted in the Suffolk pair having won 21 ends
while the Norfolk pair had won 20 so Hastings & Cousins were
through. Group Three winners were Moira & Richard Stevens of Hingham
and the four pairs would play the semi-finals & final on Friday
morning. Wednesday evening’s entertainment started with a surprise
appearance by Leanne Mitchell of “The Voice” fame. With BBC cameras
filming, Leanne sang “I Put A Spell On You” which she will sing on
Saturday night’s “The Voice” on BBC. This was followed by the advertised
show which was a great mixture of music & comedy which finished
with a tribute to Potters legend Andy Feet whose funeral took place a
short time ago. After another hearty breakfast on Thursday morning it
was back to the International Arena for the final day of East Coast
Triples action. After a busy morning of bowls Dave Ashpole’s triple were
on 18 points as were Tony Hayes’ triple. Derek Barley’s triple were
also on 18 points but had played one game more than the other two
triples. Two Norfolk triples were just one point behind them with Jon
Sparham and Mike Boswell both on 17 points. The afternoon session saw
points dropped by some of the contenders as Tony Hayes lost a game 10-4
and drew their following fixture while Derek Barley’s triple lost two in
a row. Ashpole’s pacesetting triple also lost two in a row. With one
session remaining Mike Boswell & Jon Sparham led the pack on 21
points apiece with Dave Ashpole on 20, Tony Hayes on 19 and Derek Barley
on 18. The key match in the last session saw Boswell and Sparham meet
on mat 6 with the winners sure to lift the cup. Ashpole’s triple were
playing Loddon’s Roy Wigg and if they beat Wigg and the Boswell-Sparham
match ended level on points they would win the cup on shot difference.
Richard Stevens, Debbie Phillips & Jon Sparham got the better of
Boswell’s triple on the early ends and led 6-2 after six ends before
holding on to clinch a 6-5 win and the East Coast Triples title. This
left Audrey Johnson, Derek Coates & Dave Ashpole in the runners-up
spot and Brenda Neil, Kerry Greenacre & Tony Hayes in third place.
Thursday evening’s entertainment was a highly enjoyable “Rule Britannia”
night in the theatre followed a midnight feast for anyone who could
maintain the pace! On Friday morning Potter’s East Coast Pairs saw four
counties represented in the semi-finals. Margaret Hastings & Bob
Cousins of Pauls Sports Club in Ipswich faced Audrey Johnson & Dave
Ashpole of Stonyhills in Essex. In the other semi Lynn Hall & Geoff
Hall of Whitstable in Kent were up against Hingham’s Moira & Richard
Stevens of Hingham. Both games produced heavy wins with the Halls
winning by 12-1 and Hastings & Cousins winning 10-3. In the final
Margaret Hastings & Bob Cousins were quick off the blocks and led
5-0 after two ends. Two great bowls by Geoff Hall on the next end drew
appreciative applause from spectators and the deficit was cut to 5-2 but
after that Margaret Hastings & Bob Cousins moved up a gear to win
the final by 10-2. In the third place play-off Audrey Johnson & Dave
Ashpole led Moira & Richard Stevens by 5-0 after four ends but the
Stevens took six shots off the final three ends to win 6-5. Following
the East Coast Pairs final the Presentation Ceremony was conducted by
Potter’s own Graham Adams who presented prizes to the first three
triples & pairs and this was followed by a Photocall. Event
organizer Teresa Goldsmith closed the event by wishing all bowlers a
safe journey home with many bowlers saying that they were already
looking forward to next year’s event.
East Coast Triples & Pairs Photo-call
East Coast Triples Champions Richard Stevens, (Hingham) Debbie Phillips (Wymondham) & Jon Sparham (Hempnall)
East Coast Triples Runners-Up Derek Coates, Audrey Johnson & Dave Ashpole (Stonyhills, Essex)
East Coast Triples 3rd place Brenda Neil, Tony Hayes (Stonyhills, Essex) & Kerry Greenacre (Haddiscoe, Norfolk)
East Coast Pairs Winners Bob Cousins & Margaret Hastings of Pauls Sports, Ipswich, Suffolk
East Coast Pairs Runners-Up Lynn & Geoff Hall of Whitstable, Kent
East Coast Pairs 3rd Place Moira & Richard Stevens of Hingham, Norfolk
Winning skip John Sparham in action in his vital last game against Mike Boswell
Lynn Frank of Horsford Heroes
Decisions, decisions!
Carol Kemp of Horsford Heroes
Jon Sparham & Debbie Phillips - celebrating success
Just when co-organizer Selwyn Goldsmith thought it was safe to relax in the bar Basil Fawlty & Manuel arrive from Torquay
With Sybil in hospital with ingrowing toenails Basil has designs on Debbie
David & Avril Walker of Anglian Windows waiting for the show to start
In the Garden Restaurant at Potters Leisure Resort
East Coast Triples action in the International Arena 
Mick & Val Harris of Felthorpe in the Atlas Theatre 
Roger Frank of Horsford Heroes
A busy day in the Arena
Summer League Action
Norfolk
Summer League newboys County Council opened their campaign with a 6-2
home win against Deaf Sports in Division Three with R Cranston’s triple
winning both their games. Other games in that division saw Hingham Green
draw at home to Thorpe Marriott “B” while Framingham Earl won 6-2 at
home to Hingham Yellow. Division One champions Bob Carter won 6-2 at
home to newly promoted Thurton with Melvin Woods winning twice while
Peter Walker’s triple picked up two points for the visitors beating
Nigel Willard 13-9. Posted 12-5-12
Eva Medler - Rest in Peace
The
N.C.S.M.B.A is saddened to learn of the death of Eva Medler, former
Hevingham & Horsford Heroes bowler. With her husband, the late Eddie
Medler, Eva was a member of Hevingham SMBC in the early days of the
sport and a well known and loved figure in short mat circles. She
regularly attended the Eddie Medler Pairs, an event that was held for
twenty years in memory of her husband. The funeral service will be held
at St Faith's Crematorium on Wednesday, May 23rd at 11am. Family flowers
only please, all mourners to carry a single rose, as requested by Eva.
No black to be worn. Donations, if desired, made payable to East Anglian
Air Ambulance may be sent c/o Gordon Barber Funeral Home, 317 Aylsham
Road, Norwich, NR3 2AB.
Posted 12-5-12 Short Mat Players revealed for Alex Marshall matches The
names of the short mat stars who will feature on the Greengauge website
playing against Alex Marshall in the Champions of Champions series have
been named. England's 2011 Singles Champion Dom Reed, Welsh 2011
National Singles Champion Ceri Jones, Scotland's 2012 Singles Champion
Lawrence Moffat, Ireland's 2011 National Singles Champion Dessie
Hamilton & 2012 World Singles Champion Stephen Williams from Wales
will represent short mat bowls against flat green legend Alex Marshall
M.B.E on Greengauge Punch short mats. The first match will be available
to view from Sunday 13th May 2012. You can click on the following link
for details. http://www.shortmats.com/challenge/contenders.php
Posted 11-5-12
Showdown Day as Alex Marshall takes on Short Mat Bowls Champions A
remarkable series of matches is about to be screened on the web with
flat green legend Alex Marshall M.B.E taking on National Short Mat Bowls
Singles Champions from England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland, as well
as a World Short Mat Singles Champion. The series of five matches has
been launched under the banner of The Champions of Champions Challenge
by Greengauge Sports in association with Henselite. Greengauge have
already filmed the matches at a secret location with all five games
played on Greengauge Punch short mats and they intend showing the games
at weekly intervals on their website. This startling news was revealed
on Greengauge’s web site where they have set up a poll for bowlers to
vote on who they think will win each game in this battle of the codes.
It is believed that West Sussex & England star Dom Reed will
represent England while Irish legend Dessie Hamilton will also take on
five times World Indoor Singles Champion Alex Marshall. Short mat bowls
has long been regarded with a certain amount of condescension by some
elements in the older bowling codes and the prospect of seeing a player
of Marshall’s status playing five leading short mat bowlers is bound to
attract plenty of interest in the world of bowls. Marshall started
bowling at the age of eight and collected Commonwealth Games Pairs Gold
medals in 2002 & 2006. Marshall, known by his fans as Tattie,
believes that he will prove that flat green players can master the best
that the world of short mat bowls has to offer by winning at least three
out of the five games on the Greengauge Punch short mat surface. Former
Essex star Dominic Reed, and the other four short mat bowling giants,
will be looking to prove otherwise. Click on this linkhttp://www.shortmats.com
Alex "Tattie" Marshall M.B.E in action
Norfolk Summer Season Commences The
Norfolk Summer season got under way with a predictable 8-0 home win by
Bob Carter in the Summer Cup against Hingham Yellow. They will now
entertain Thorpe Marriott “B” in the next round. In their Summer League
Division One match Kirby Bedon “A” defeated Kirby Bedon “B” 5-3 in a
local derby. Carol Aggas, Neil Davidson & Selwyn Goldsmith picked up
three points for the “A” team with a 22-3 win against Gerald Chilver’s
triple and a 13-13 draw against Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Joe
Brown. Three points were also collected by Brown’s “B” team triple who
beat Phil Watson’s triple 19-11 in their second game.
Posted 6-5-12
Norfolk Over 60’s see off Cambs challenge Norfolk
Over 60’s secured the runner-up spot in the Eastern England Over 60’s
League with a home win against Cambridgeshire at Lakeside after a
successful final session. The first three sessions were all drawn as
home advantage failed to help Norfolk. This left the match level at
12-12 on points, with Norfolk leading on shots by just 160-158, with one
session remaining. Norfolk knew that they needed to beat their visitors
by four points to pip them for second position behind Northants.
Norfolk players rose to the occasion and broke the deadlock as
Costessey’s Shirley & Joe Brown won 19-11, Keith Halford & Mike
Boswell of Anglian Windows won 16-11 and Jenny Walker of Thorpe Marriott
& Sprowston’s John Poynter won by 9-7. Cambs only last session win
was claimed by Gill & Tony Kent who won by 19-11. This left Norfolk
celebrating a 20-14 win as their 215-205 shots advantage earned them the
two bonus points. 20-4-12
Andy Feet - A Potter's Legend
The
N.C.S.M.B.A is sad to hear of the death of Andy Feet. He will always be
remembered by those who visited Potters Leisure Resort over the years
on bowling holidays as a true comedy legend. R.I.P Andy.
Andy Feet
Watson win clinches Bure Cup for Kirby A memorable Bure Cup Final
clash went down to the last bowl as Kirby Bedon held on to win the cup
defeating Coltishall 25-23 on aggregate. After their emphatic 16-8 away
win in the first leg Kirby Bedon were hoping to quickly consolidate
their position at home but their visitors had other ideas. Coltishall’s
Martin Edridge, Eddie Edridge & Willie Jefferies opened in style
with a 9-3 win against Leonora Chilman, Neil Davidson & Brian
Saunders but Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson countered
for Kirby with a 6-4 win against Brian Bunting, Carol Aggas & John
Aggas. Then Coltishall turned up the heat on a strangely out of sorts
Kirby side reeling off three wins and a draw in the next two sessions.
Vernon Bunn, Peter Barnett & Les Harman beat Alistair Hunter’s
triple 8-4, Willie Jefferies’ triple beat Phil Watson’s triple 7-2 &
John Aggas beat Brian Saunders by 13-3. Syd Harman, Jean Barnett &
Margaret Harman looked on course to add another win when they led Jan
Hewitt, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith by 6-0 after three ends
but the home triple fought back to force a draw and Kirby led by just
19-17 on aggregate at the halfway stage. Coltishall were now fully aware
that what had looked a lost cause after the first leg was now anything
but. Margaret Harman’s triple continued the onslaught beating Alistair
Hunter’s triple 6-3 but Coltishall’s bid to draw level was thwarted as
Selwyn Goldsmith’s triple beat Les Harman’s triple 8-3. Kirby Bedon
continued to stubbornly hold on as Jackie Tunmore, Jimmy Dye &
Alistair Hunter scored their first win of the night at a vital stage
beating Willie Jefferies 8-4 as the two team captains came up against
each other. Coltishall could not afford another loss if they were to
keep this tie alive into the last session and Les Harman’s triple duly
obliged beating Leonora Chilman, Brian Saunders & Neil Davidson 9-2.
With Coltishall now ahead on shots Kirby needed to win one of the last
session games to lift the cup and their chances were not helped as they
were forced to replace Teresa Goldsmith with substitute Dot Dawson. The
Bunting-Aggas-Aggas triple took full advantage with a solid performance
inflicting the first defeat of the night on home skip Selwyn Goldsmith.
The match was finally decided on mat two where Kirby’s Phil Watson was
playing Margaret Harman, the bowler who had saved Coltishall from total
disaster in the first leg. Harman’s triple led 3-2 with two ends to go
but the Coltishall skip was forced to go on the attack on the
penultimate end. However she was unable to prevent Watson’s triple
scoring three shots to lead 5-3 going into the final end. Good bowls
from Jill Watson & Gerald Chilvers left Harman’s triple in deep
trouble but Jean Barnett was able to spring the jack into the open
although Kirby still held shot. With Coltishall bowls waiting at the
back the Coltishall skip needed to force the jack back towards the ditch
to snatch a last gasp victory but finished up scoring just a single to
leave Watson’s triple with a 5-4 win and Kirby Bedon celebrating a Bure
Cup victory. This was a remarkable two leg final in which both teams
played superbly away from home yet were disappointing on their own mats.
Halvergate areThurne League
champions after winning their last match of the season 7-3 at Bradwell.
Woodbastwick have finished in second place eight points behind them. RG
Carter retained the City of Norwich League
title after winning 10-4 at Thorpe Marriott and by 13-1 at home to Old
Bonds in their last two league games. They achieve the double after
beating Deaf Sports 8-0 in the City Shield Final.
Posted 17-4-12
England Duo win Norfolk Memorial Pairs
The
inaugural Norfolk Memorial Pairs took place at Lakeside in Lyng with an
entry of forty two pairs from various clubs across the county from
Barroway Drove in the Fens to Cromer on the coast. The event is to
remember the many short mat bowlers who the sport has lost over the
years and to raise money for charity in their memory. England stars
David Lamb of Halvergate & Chris Mann of Wymondham started as
favourites and did not disappoint reeling off five straight wins for ten
points and a shot difference of +40 to become the first holders of the
shield. Pushing them all the way were Thorpe Marriott’s Jenny &
Peter Walker who also won all their games but finished in second place
with +36 shots. The future of Norfolk short mat bowls looks bright after
an unbeaten performance by young bowlers Jack Barrett of Costessey
& Josh Baxter of Halvergate who won four games and drew their other
one to score nine points. Norfolk President Brian Saunders presented the
trophies and the winning pair elected to donate the profits of over
£200 to an arthritis charity.
Posted 15-4-12
David Lamb & Chris Mann - Memorial Pairs Winners 
Jenny & Peter Walker - Memorial Pairs Runners-up 
Jack Barrett & Josh Baxter - Memorial Pairs third place
Connaught "A" win Norwich Cup
Connaught
"A" went to Coltishall for the second leg of their Norwich Cup Final
clash protecting a big lead from the first leg and wasted little time in
delivering the killer punches. In the first session Diana Adcock, Mike
Parsons & Bill Adcock beat Carol Aggas, Brian Bunting & John
Aggas 7-3 & Rita Secker, John Winup & Owen Secker beat Willie
Jefferies’ triple 5-4. The second session brought the night to an early
end as Chris Musk, Lee fallows & Sylvia Parsons beat Margaret
Harman’s triple 5-4 and Ty Musk, Ollie Allen & Sheila Bragg drew 5-5
with Les Harman’s triple and Coltishall conceded. Connaught "A" has
achieved a good level of success in recent years in the Norwich Cup,
this being their fourth appearance in the final in the last six years.
They beat Hempnall in the 2006/07 final, lost to Hempnall in 2008/09 and
to Bob Carter in 2010/11 but can now celebrate success once again.
NCSMBA President Brian Saunders conducted the presentation ceremony. .jpg)
Connaught "A" - Norwich Cup Winners
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Connaught "A" captain Sheila Bragg presented with the Norwich Cup by NCSMBA President Brian Saunders
.jpg)
Coltishall - Norwich Cup Runners-Up
Posted 12-4-12
Great First Leg for Kirby in Bure Cup Final
Coltishall
entertained Kirby Bedon in the first leg of the Bure Cup Final with a
league & cup double firmly in their sights but saw their hopes take a
major blow as Kirby Bedon raced to a 16-8 points victory. The visitors
won both opening games as Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson
raced to a 9-3 win against home captain Willie Jefferies while Shirley
Brown, Janice Hewitt & Selwyn Goldsmith snatched a 4-3 win against
John Aggas on a replayed last end. Syd Harman, Jean Barnett &
Margaret Harman earned Coltishall’s first win in the second session
beating Alistair Hunter’s triple 8-1 but a 5-2 win for Leonora Chilman,
Joe Brown & Brian Saunders against Les Harman’s triple took Kirby
into a 6-2 points lead. The third session saw the visitors secure a 10-2
interval lead as Watson’s triple beat John Aggas 9-2 while Goldsmith’s
triple beat Willie Jefferies 10-4. After the break the home side’s
results improved but not enough to eat into the visitor’s lead. Margaret
Harman’s triple won again, this time by 8-2 against Brian Saunders’
triple, but Jackie Tunmore, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter replied for
Kirby with an 8-3 win against Les Harman. The fifth session saw Alistair
Hunter’s triple straight back on to record a 6-5 win against John Aggas
but Margaret Harman’s triple came to Coltishall’s rescue with a
dramatic 6-5 win against Goldsmith’s triple on a replayed last end. The
sixth session was again shared as Brian Saunders’ triple beat Willie
Jefferies triple 8-5 while Les Harman beat Phil Watson 6-4. It was a
real team performance by the visitors with all four Kirby Bedon triples
earning four points apiece. Coltishall have Syd Harman, Jean Barnett
& Margaret Harman to thank, who won all their three games, for still
having any chance going into the second leg at Kirby Bedon on 16th
April. Without their six points the second leg would have been a
forgone conclusion. Norfolk County Team Manager Selwyn Goldsmith has
announced that the preparations for next season’s Inter-County
Championships will begin with a Norfolk County Squad Trial that will
take place at Lakeside Country Club in Lyng on Sunday 29th
April. All players that appeared for Norfolk during the 2011/12 season
will be invited to take part along with a number of trialists. Any
bowlers not currently in the Norfolk Squad who wish to trial are asked
to contact the team manager on 01603-403628. The full Norfolk Squad for
the 2012/13 campaign is expected to be announced in early June. The
I.C.C fixture list has handed Norfolk Premier two early season matches,
an away game at Northants on September 16th followed by a home game against Essex Premier on September 23rd. Norfolk “A” will begin their I.C.C group matches with a home game against Essex “A” on September 23rd.
Posted 6-4-12 
Shirley & Joe Brown featured in Kirby Bedon's win at Coltishall
Norfolk Crash & Burn in National Championships
Just
like wine the National Championships have good years and bad years and
for Norfolk the 2012 Nationals at Kempston B.C will certainly go down as
unpalatable. It was more like a supermarket bought Lambrusco than a
2005 Bordeaux that Norfolk tasted as all four days ended in
disappointment for Norfolk’s finest. In the National Singles Neil
Davidson of Hempnall & Robbie Lamb of Halvergate reached the Last 16
stage before Davidson went down 11-9 to Mark White of Dorset and Lamb
lost by 13-5 to Eric Pavey of Devon. David Lamb of Halvergate reached
the last 32 stage. Craig Burgess of Essex emerged as the new England
Singles champion beating Bronagh Malone of North Yorkshire 12-6 in the
final ending a long wait for his first National title for the England
star. Little did we know it at the time but Davidson & Lamb’s last
16 place in the singles was to be the height of Norfolk’s achievements
over the four days. In the National Pairs Championships on Friday only
Jon Sparham of Hempnall & David Lamb of Halvergate made it through
the groups beating Copp & Ivings of Devon and Roberts & Gander
of Bucks and adding a draw against the Puttocks of Hampshire. The last
32 stage saw them lose 13-5 to Derbyshire’s Ellen & Ivan Lunn and
exit the competition. The National Pairs title was won by Nick Tideswell
& Chris Williams of Shropshire who beat Malcolm Rollings &
Peter Whale of West Sussex in the final. It was Tideswell’s second pairs
title, he previously won it in 2009 playing with Gareth Stanway. The
National Fours on Saturday saw Norfolk hit a new low as all four rinks
crashed out in the group stages. In the final it was again Nick
Tideswell of Shropshire celebrating success as he lifted the title with
Chris Kearns, Martin Simcock & Glynn Berisford. They beat
Oxfordshire’s G Cross, G Davies, T Cross & A Brown 10-5. The
National Triples on Sunday saw two of Norfolk’s entries progress through
the group stage. Wymondham’s Andrew Stratton, Debbie Phillips &
Chris Mann opened in style thrashing J Metson, K Wood & P Shoesmith
of East Sussex 17-1. A 9-5 win against two times National Singles champ
Dave Coultas of Humberside followed and a 10-6 win against a London
triple left Mann’s triple group winners. Jenny & Peter Walker of
Thorpe Marriott, playing with Haddiscoe’s Kerry Greenacre, also opened
strongly with a 13-3 win against a Wiltshire triple before producing a
giant killing 10-6 win against Dom Reed’s West Sussex triple that proved
enough to see them through. Unfortunately the Last 32 stage saw both
Norfolk triples exit as Mann lost 14-3 against Ben Pay’s Hampshire
triple while Walker lost 8-6 to the Beard-Seaman-Beard triple of East
Sussex. In the final Chris Weston, Ed Sawbridge & Chris Hopkins of
Northants beat D Glennerstar, D Redfern & R Martin of Dorset by
11-3. As usual the Nationals produced its share of talking points. One
was the policing of the dress code that seemed to be applied to some
entrants but not others. Much comment was raised concerning a Northants
rink with three of its players in one colour top while the fourth played
in another colour top. It will not help the creditability of the ESMBA,
or their efforts in enforcing the dress code, that one of its top
officials was skipping the rink.
Posted 1-4-12
Connaught “A” on song in Norwich Cup Final First leg Connaught
“A” entertained Coltishall in the first leg of the Norwich Cup Final
and built up a big lead to take into the away leg. Ty Musk, Ollie Allen
& Sheila Bragg piled up the points and shots for Connaught with wins
of 14-4, 8-1 & 7-3 and were ably supported by Rita Secker, John
Winup & Owen Secker who also won all their three games by 8-6, 5-3
& 6-4. Chris Musk, Lee Fallows & Sylvia Parsons picked up two
wins while Bill Adcock’s triple won their opening game. For the visitors
Willie Jefferies, Les Harman & John Aggas all won a game apiece to
keep Coltishall’s hopes alive.
Posted 1-4-12 
Lee Fallows - two wins in Norwich Cup Final
Turner wins showdown with The Quiet Man Two
of the giant figures of Norfolk short mat bowls over the last 25 years
went head to head in the Bure Singles Championship final at Horsford
SMBC. John Turner of East Tuddenham, without doubt the most successful
Norfolk player in the history of the Association, was defending the
title. Vic Woods of Hevingham, six times a county champion, was
determined to take it off him. Turner drew first blood with a single on
the first end but the Hevingham star they call “The Quiet Man” won the
next three ends to lead 4-1. Then Turner upped his game scoring a three
on the fifth end followed by a single to lead 5-4. Woods replied with a
single to level the game but three more shots to Turner over the next
two ends left him defending an 8-5 lead going into the final end.
Despite Woods best efforts he could only score two shots and John Turner
was the worthy champion yet again by an 8-7 score-line. In the
semi-finals John Turner played another former England bowler, Margaret
Harman of Coltishall, and got off to a great start leading 6-0 after two
ends. Harman fought back though but Turner held on to win 12-10. In the
other semi-final Vic Woods faced Kirby Bedon’s Joe Brown and a hard
fought game was level at 5-5 after seven ends before Woods edged his way
to an 8-6 win. In the quarter-finals Turner almost saw his title slip
away in a great match against Mike Boswell of Anglian Windows. Boswell
scored four shots over the last two scheduled ends to level a match that
Turner won on an extra end. Woods defeated Horsford BC bowler Dennis
Seaton by 12-8 in his quarter-final match.
Posted 27-3-12 
John Turner & Vic Woods
South-East Championships
The
South-East Championships were hosted by Essex this weekend and the home
county won all four titles. Peter Fautley, Dave Sifford & Matt
Sifford of Essex won the South-East Triples on Saturday with Norfolk's
Andrew Stratton, Debbie Phillips & Chris Mann in the runner-up spot.
Steve Killington retained his South-East Singles title.
World Pairs title for North Yorkshire pair The
World Championships were held at the Ballybrakes Stadium in Ireland and
the England pairing of Dave Newsome & Ben Render of North Yorkshire
lifted the World Pairs title. A good first day saw Newsome & Render
unbeaten with a 15-5 win against Holland giving them valuable shots.
They reached the final on the second day despite suffering their only
loss of the round when they went down 14-6 against Ireland. England’s
other pair, Steve Proctor of Cheshire & Andrew Beard of East Sussex,
beat Holland 22-3, Scotland 13-5 & Isle of Man 16-3 but lost to
both Sweden & Wales in the group stage. Dom Reed of West Sussex had a
terrific run in the group stages of the World Singles winning all eight
games but had to settle with the runner-up position after losing to
Steve Williams in the final. Reed’s wins included a 25-1 win against
Italy, a 13-1 win against Scotland and a 13-4 win against Holland. Jon
Pitcher of Warwickshire suffered a surprise 17-4 defeat against Belgium
that marred a generally good set of results that included a 14-3 win
against Holland. In the World Triples Gareth Townend & Bronagh
Malone of North Yorks & Allan Williams of Shropshire finished as
runners-up. A great run of seven wins and a draw took them through their
group with a win of 21-3 against Germany their biggest of the day.
England’s other triple, Mitchell Young of Essex, Mark Jones of Surrey
and Chris Hopkins of Northants, failed to get through after an 18-9 loss
to Ireland, a 9-7 defeat to Sweden and an 11-4 defeat to Wales spoiled
their chances. Michael Hand, Fra Dillon, Billy Taffe & Kevin Conroy
of Ireland won the World Fours after recovering from 9-5 down against
Ben Hadden’s Welsh four to win the title on an extra end. Roger Wiggin’s
England rink had a massive 26-1 win against Germany but defeats against
Belgium & Sweden put them out of contention. England’s other rink,
skipped by Shropshire’s Chris Williams, lost by 16-8 to Ray Stubbs Irish
four of Lisburn in a costly rare defeat.
Posted 25-3-12Woods & MacLean Clean up in Bure Pairs Ian
MacLean & Vic “Quiet Man” Woods of Hevingham lifted the Bure Pairs
Championship title at Woodbastwick with an accomplished performance
against Kirby Bedon’s Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith. In the
quarter-finals the Hevingham pair defeated Mally Kemp & Keith
Chapman of Horsford Heroes by 8-7 while the Kirby pair defeated Alan
Bunn & David Sharpe of Hevingham by a 13-3 margin. In the
semi-finals East Tuddenham’s Gillian & Robin Amos trailed MacLean
& Woods by just one shot after five ends but the Hevingham pair
pulled away to win 10-6. In the other semi-final the Goldsmith’s enjoyed
another heavy win beating David Knights & Simon Warnes of Horsford
BC by 12-3. In the final the Kirby pair scored a single on the opening
end but the Hevingham pair hit back with a vengeance scoring a four on
the second end. With the Kirby lead visibly struggling with knee
problems that have restricted her performances this season Hevingham
pulled away to lead 10-1 after four ends with both MacLean & Woods
plauing well. The Kirby pair staged a mini comeback winning the next two
ends to cut the deficit to 10-4 but conceded with two ends remaining
with the Kirby lead unable to continue.
Posted 23-3-12 
Vic Woods & Ian MacLean - Bure Pairs winners
2 out of 3 ain’t bad Wymondham
won the Breckland League 5 Pairs title for the second time in three
seasons when they defeated an illness ravaged Watton side at East
Harling. Melvyn Barker & Chris Mann top scored with an 11-3 win
while Roger Steele & Brian Saunders won 13-6 & Pat Saunders
& Jack Barrett won 10-4 against a Watton side short of three
regulars because of illness. Billie Barker & Debbie Phillips drew
7-7 with Watton’s Diane Quadling & Daphne Braham while Watton’s only
win was earned by Jacqueline Capell & John Hunter who beat Mikey
George & Andrew Stratton by 10-7.
Posted 21-3-12 
Jack Barrett - on form for Wymondham
Roger Steele - winning for Wymondham
Carter County Cup Winners again Bob
Carter retained the Norfolk County Cup after the repeat of last year’s
final against formidable Breckland League side Wymondham ended in an 8-0
win for the Drayton side. Carter’s Sue Hunt, Jean Woods & Robert
Howlett opened with a 13-10 win against Roger Steele, Melvyn Barker
& Brian Saunders. A tight game swung Carter’s way when they scored
four shots on the twelfth end to move 13-6 up and Saunder’s triple could
not make up the lost ground. Frank Edy, Jason Woods & Melvin Woods
made sure of a 4-0 interval lead as they beat Mikey George, Andrew
Jackson & Andrew Stratton by 15-10. Yet again it was the twelfth end
that proved costly for Wymondham as Carter took a five to move 13-8 up.
Wymondham knew that they needed to start the second half well if they
were to have any chance of getting themselves back into the game and
hopes were raised as Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher & Chris Mann scored a
full house on the third end against Margaret Reynolds, Kim Bridge &
Trevor Brown to lead 7-4. Brown’s triple though hit back winning seven
consecutive ends on their way to an emphatic 24-15 win. The remaining
game could not have been closer as Wymondham’s Billie Barker, Jack
Barrett & Debbie Phillips and Carter’s Malcolm Reynolds, David Lamb
& Nigel Willard were locked together at 15-15 with one end remaining
but once again it was the Drayton triple who triumphed winning by just
16-15 to put the finishing touch to another great night for Carter. Posted 20-3-12 Powerhouse Turner triple win Bure Triples Crown Chrissie
Turner, Robn Amos & John Turner of East Tuddenham put on a classy
performance to win the Bure Triples Championship title at Horsford BC. A
riveting final saw them overcome Hevingham’s Gill Bunn, Marjorie Hall
& George Clarke by 10-2 when they gradually wore down their
opponents after a tight opening three ends. An attacking wood by George
Clarke won the first end for Hevingham and they looked like winning the
second end as well until Hevingham number two Marjorie Hall
inadvertently hit their own holding bowl to pop the jack back to a
waiting Tuddenham wood. Chrissie Turner & Robin Amos began to turn
up the heat on the third end drawing woods into the head leaving
Hevingham skip George Clarke with little other option than to go on to
the attack with both his woods. He will have been delighted to concede
just one shot after slicing the jack with his second bowl. The fourth
end saw the first big breakthrough as Chrissie Turner opened with two
good woods and was aided and abetted by Robin Amos as he added two more
leaving Hevingham in major trouble. George Clarke again elected to
attack with both his bowls but surprisingly hit the block with both
attempts and Turner’s triple moved 6-1 up. Another shot was added on the
next end after a perfect bowl by Amos again kept Tuddenham in the
driving seat. The sixth end was closely contested with good bowls from
both triples ending with Hevingham winning a measure to reduce the
deficit to 7-2. On the penultimate end Clarke was again forced to go on
the attack but to little effect as Turner took two shots to lead 9-2 and
seal victory. Another single on the last end left Chrissie Turner,
Robin Amos & John Turner celebrating a comprehensive 10-2 victory.
Turner’s triple reached the final by beating Coltishall’s Les Harman,
Margaret Harman & Willie Jefferies 5-4 in the semi-finals following a
7-4 quarter-final win against Anglian Windows’ Avril Walker, Diane
Boswell & Mike Boswell. Clarke’s triple beat Ken Dease, Maureen
Dease & Keith Halford of Anglian Windows 6-4 in the semi-finals
following a 9-8 win against Kirby Bedon’s Jan Hewitt, Teresa Goldsmith
& Selwyn Goldsmith in the quarter-finals.
Posted 20-3-12
 
John Turner, Chrissie Turner & Robin Amos of East Tuddenham
Wymondham Breckland Champs Again Wymondham’s
pulsating 10-0 home win against Connaught “B” demonstrated just why
they are Breckland League champions for the third year straight. Another
massive shots total of 101 against just 29 blew the visitors out of the
water and this followed Wymondham’s 103-35 shots win against Banham in
their previous match. Despite losing two matches this season Wymondham
have accumulated an impressive 1,445 shots while conceding just 746.
Rivals Connaught “A” have won 15 games and only lost once but it’s the
shots difference between the two sides that tell a story. While
Connaught “A” have a very healthy +358 shots difference Wymondhams shot
difference is a mighty +699. Worryingly for the rest of the league sides
Wymondham are also continuing to build their team. For the Connaught
match they introduced young Abbey Jackson who made an impressive debut
in Andrew Stratton’s triple who won 18-8. Another relative newcomer,
Hayley Stratton, appeared in Brian Saunders’ triple who won 25-6. Other
Breckland games saw Watton win 8-2 at Carleton Rode with Roger Braham’s
triple winning 19-8. Connaught “B” & Forncett finished level at 5-5
on points and 60-60 on shots.
Posted 20-3-12 Bradwell Red Alert Bradwell
Red are looking firm favourites to win the Coastal Cup after a decisive
13-5 home win against South Walsham. Woodbastwick Owls still lead the
table after a 12-6 home win against bottom club Hemsby but Bradwell Red
are just nine points behind with two games in hand.
Posted 20-3-12 Parker Power fuels Hempnall win machine Hempnall
legend Roger Parker won 33-1 and former Mulbarton star Paul Baker added
a 31-6 win as Hempnall swept aside Wreningham by 10-0 on points and
82-18 on shots. This was Hempnall’s fourteenth win from fourteen games
and the South Norfolk League title was long ago secured. There is little
danger of any other South Norfolk League side troubling Hempnall who
are way out in front of the rest in terms of playing ability. The only
question now is whether Thurton or Horsford finish in the runners-up
spot. Horsford are finishing the season in style after reeling off three
successive heavy wins. They beat both Mulbarton & Wreningham by
10-0 and added a 9-1 win against Saxlingham. They are still seven points
behind Thurton though who beat Connaught 8-2 and both teams only have
one match to play. In the other game played this week Saxlingham beat
Framingham Earl 6-4.
Posted 20-3-12
Baxter & Barrett reach quarter-finals In
the National Under 18s Jack Barrett of Costessey & Josh Baxter of
Halvergate both reached the quarter-final stage. Edward Elmore of Cambs
retained the title beating another previous winner, Matt Sifford of
Essex, in a classic final that had to be decided by an extra end.
Posted 18-3-12
Bob Carter rink reaches National Mixed Fours final Sue
Hunt, Margaret Reynolds, Jason Woods & Melvin Woods of Bob Carter
reached the National Mixed Fours final at Kempston before losing by 12-4
against David Wiggins’ Oxfordshire rink. The Carter rink, winners of
the Norfolk Mixed Fours title earlier in the season, did Norfolk proud
as they progressed through the championship knocking out Marc
Lancaster’s rated West Sussex four on the way in a game that they led by
8-1 after only four ends. Jenny Walker of Thorpe Marriott, Jean
Woods of Bob Carter, Jon Sparham of Hempnall & David Lamb of
Halvergate reached the quarter-final stage.
Posted 17-3-12
The Bob Carter rink pictured when they won the Norfolk Mixed Fours title at Lakeside Country Club.
Coltishall new Bure Champions Coltishall
are Bure League champions for the first time since 2006 after Kirby
Bedon failed to take the maximum points they needed at Horsford Heroes.
It has been an incredibly tight race for the title this season with
either Woodbastwick or East Tuddenham looking the likely winners in the
closing stages until both teams slipped up. Coltishall’s late surge of
form carried them into the reckoning but defending champions Kirby Bedon
still had the opportunity of winning the title again if they won their
final game 10-0 at Horsford. As it was a first half win for Horford’s
Lynn Frank, D Nixon & Roger Frank against Phil Watson’s triple left
Coltishall celebrating their fifth Bure League title.
Posted 17-3-12
Death of Arthur Foster
The
N.C.S.M.B.A is sad to learn of the death of Woodbastwick stalwart
Arthur Foster. A regular in the Woodbastwick team, Arthur reached the
Norfolk County Triples final in both 1992/93 & 1996/97 playing with
Norma & Peter Jablonowski. The funeral will take place at St Faiths
at 9-30am next Friday. Rest in Peace Arthur.
Wymondham turn on the style Wymondham
looked every inch champions as they swept to a 10-0 win at Hingham
Yellow in the Breckland League. Roger Steele, Melvyn Barker & Brian
Saunders scored two full house sixes as they powered their way to a
terrific 32-6 win. Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher & Chris Mann added an
18-11 win with Pat Saunders having a good game at lead. Billie Barker,
Jack Barrett & Debbie Phillips led throughout in a game they won by
20-8 against Ken Thomas. The Wymondham whitewash was completed by Mikey
George, Andrew Jackson & Andrew Stratton who beat top Hingham skip
Jane Frary by 23-15. With Stratton’s triple leading 9-2 after six ends
Frary’s triple scored a five to put pressure on the visitors and then
moved ahead by 11-10 after ten ends. Stratton’s triple scored a single
on the next end to level and then scored a full-house on their way to a
23-15 win. Connaught “A” slipped three points behind Wymondham as they
won 8-2 at home to Carleton Rode. Neil Davidson’s triple scored
Carleton’s only win beating Bill Adcock’s triple by 18-12. Chris Musk,
Lee Fallows & Sylvia Parsons were Connaught’s top triple winning
32-8 while Sheila Bragg’s triple won 24-18 and Owen Secker’s triple won
15-12. John Higgs’ triple won 24-12 as Hingham Green won by 7-3 at
Banham and Joyce Hazell’s triple won by 32-10 as Connaught “B” beat
Harling Rec 8-2. Coastal Cup leaders Bradwell Blue won by 12-6 at home
to Martham following their 10-8 home defeat at the hands of title rivals
Woodbastwick Eagles. Third placed Woodbastwick Owls won 12-6 at bottom
club Hemsby. The Owls also won 13-5 at home to Martham.
Posted 12-3-12 
32-6 win for Wymondham skip Brian Saunders
Chris is the main Mann again Hingham
hosted the Dennis Moore Trophy where Wymondham’s young England star
Chris Mann won the Singles title for the second time beating John
Williamson 14-2 in the final. Chris Musk & Sylvia Parsons of
Connaught “A” won the Pairs with Banham’s Val Hambling & Jim Delaney
in the runners-up spot. Pat Saunders, Jack Barrett & Debbie
Phillips are Triples champions with Rita Secker, Owen Secker &
Sheila Bragg of Connaught “A” finishing second. The Fours title went to
Heather Winup, Jack Marshall, Alison Rush & Joe Li Rocchi of
Connaught “B” who beat Diana Adcock, Mike Parsons, Ray Wells & Bill
Adcock of Connaught “A” into second place in a surprise result.
Posted 12-3-12 
Chris Mann of Wymondham won the Dennis Moore Singles for the second time
Cheshire all smiles as they make it a straight 6
Cheshire
are I.C.C champions after beating Essex in the final. A good start saw
Cheshire lead 6-2 after the first session but Essex hit back to level
the match at 8-8 at the break. Cheshire made sure of retaining the title
with a good second half performance winning by 26-14 to make it six
straight I.C.C titles in a row. In the Premier Consolation final
Cornwall beat Dorset by 26-14 and added the “A” Team Consolation title
as Cornwall "A" won 22-18 against Cambridgeshire. In the I.C.C "A" Team
final Devon "A" beat Buckinghamshire 21-19.
Posted 11-3-12
Giant Killers Forncett finally fall
After
shock wins against Hempnall & Kirby Bedon the Norwich Cup giant
killers Forncett finally fell at the semi-final stage but pushed Bure
League giants Coltishall all the way losing by just 26-22 on aggregate
over the two legs. In the first leg at Coltishall the home side built up
a commanding 17-7 points lead after a maximum six points were earned by
former England players Carol Aggas, Jean Barnett & Margaret Harman.
Willie Jefferies & Les Harman skipped their triples to two wins
apiece while John Aggas picked up three points. Top Forncett triple on
the night were Joan Rumsby, David Girling & Dennis Rumsby who beat
Willie Jefferies by 7-4 & John Aggas by 5-3. In the second leg
Forncett faced a huge task in trying to overhaul the big Coltishall lead
but began in determined fashion. Winning five of the opening six games
left Forncett just two points behind on aggregate and when Rebecca
Humphreys, Martin Humphreys & Peter Lock beat Martin Edridge, Brian
Bunting & John Aggas by 7-2 & Mary Boulter, Keith Humphreys
& Merv Boulter drew 5-5 with Vernon Bunn, Peter Barnett & Les
Harman, in a dramatic fourth session, the scores were tied at 20-20 with
four games to play. Forncett now looked firm favourites to reach the
final on a night when Coltishall had so far picked up just three points
from a possible sixteen but if there is one thing Coltishall possess in
abundance it is the ability to dig deep when the chips are down.
Forncett’s hearts were broken as Carol Aggas, Jean Barnett &
Margaret Harman achieved a 9-3 win, their first points of the night,
against Dennis Rumsby’s triple while Mally Catchpole, Brian Bunting
& John Aggas beat Merv Boulter’s triple 6-0 to gain their first
points after two defeats. This put Coltishall 24-20 up on points with a
session to play but even if Forncett won both games to level the match
on points the game was effectively over as Coltishall possessed a
massive shot advantage. As it was the teams shared the final session to
leave Coltishall celebrating a 26-22 points win and a place in the
Norwich Cup final against Breckland League giants Connaught “A”.
Forncett can look back with pride on a tremendous cup run in which they
have conjured up some real cup magic to mesmerize both Hempnasll &
Kirby Bedon as well as taking Coltishall to the wire. 
Two wins for Coltishall by John Aggas proved vital at Forncett
Windows smash Tuddenham title hopes In
the Bure League East Tuddenham’s title hopes suffered a massive blow in
a shock 8-2 home defeat against Anglain Windows. The visitors had only
won two games all season in the Bure but produced a gutsy performance
against title chasing Tuddenham to virtually end their title challenge.
Brenda Sizer, David Walker & Avril Walker beat Peter Smart’s triple
16-7 and Pat Curchin, Maureen Dease & Ken Dease beat Russell Harris
15-13 to give them a 4-0 interval lead. After the break Tuddenham’s
number one triple of Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner & John Turner
suffered a rare home defeat going down by 17-12 against Diane Halford,
Keith Halford & Alan Williamson. Robin Amos secured Tuddenham’s only
win beating Mike Boswell 11-8. Coltishall’s push for the title was kept
on course with a maximum 10-0 win at Horsford BC where Vernon Bunn,
Peter Barnett & Les Harman beat K Warnes’ triple 21-5.In the
Tens League Kirby Bedon won on two mats at Coltishall and drew on
another but a massive 24-5 win for Coltishall’s Martin Edridge &
John Aggas against Kirby’s Carol & Peter Johnson earned the home
side a 3-0 points win. In the South Norfolk League champions Hempnall
reeled off their thirteenth straight win beating Horsford 10-0 while
Thurton beat Framingham Earl 10-0. Saxlingham won 7-3 at Mulbarton. Sprowston
SSC strengthened their position as league favourites with a 14-0 home
win against Framingham Earl. RG Carter had the chance to put the
pressure on with two home wins but although they won both they dropped
valuable points in beating Deaf Sports 9-5 & County Council 12-2.
Thorpe Marriott moved up to second with a 14-0 home win against Horsford
BC. Despite their defeat at Sprowston the Framingham Earl side managed a
10-4 home win against County Council and a 14-0 home win against
Felthorpe. British Rail continue to fall down the table after their
early season promise, this week they lost 13-1 at Old Bonds who also won
11-3 at Taverham. A busy week for County Council saw them win 14-0 at
home to Deaf Sports as well as winning 10-4 at Felthorpe. In their
remaining match they lost 11-3 at Jarrolds.
Posted 11-3-12
Will Cheshire hit Essex for six? This
weekend sees the final of the Inter-County Championships being played
with Cheshire Premier facing Essex Premier in the main event. Cheshire
start as firm favourites to lift the title for the sixth time and move
one step nearer to emulating Kent’s record of seven titles. Despite
their impressive record, Cheshire have at times shown that even they are
not immune to having the poor session here and there. If there is a
team who have the ability to exploit that it is Essex. They have match
winners in their side and will not let Cheshire’s awesome reputation
frighten them. The “A” team I.C.C final will be contested by Devon “A”
& Buckinghamshire. Devon ”A” last won the title back in 1999/2000
while Buckinghamshire have never won it. Bucks are one of the counties
allowed to put their only team into the “A” section instead of the
Premier. Another county who enter only the “A” event is Cambridgeshire
who for years entered the Premier I.C.C. Their team will compete in the
“A” Team Consolation Final against Cornwall “A”. In the Premier
Consolation Final Dorset face Cornwall.
Posted 09-3-12
Carter Wensum Champs Again Bob
Carter clinched the Wensum League title for the sixth year in a row,
and the fourteenth time in seventeen years, with a maximum 10-0 away win
against Halvergate who finish in the runners-up spot. To the credit of
Halvergate they made the defending champions fight all the way. Another
classic encounter between young England ace Chris Mann of Halvergate and
former England Singles Champion Trevor Brown saw Brown’s triple edge
home by just one shot. Another close game saw Carter’s Jackie Bridge,
Kim Bridge & Jason Woods beat Michael Savage, Steve Lamb & Keith
Cooke 16-15. Carter won the other games more comfortably with Sue Hunt,
Jamie Forster & Melvin Woods beating David Lamb’s triple 16-9 and
Frank Edy, Malcolm Reynolds & Nigel Willard beating Robbie Lamb’s
triple 16-8.
Posted 04-3-12
16-9 win for Carter's Melly Woods who has had a great season
Woodbastwick to face Carter in Wensum Cup Final Woodbastwick
are through to the final of the Wensum Cup after defeating Thorpe
Marriott. In their away leg at Woodbastwick the Thorpe Marriott team
achieved an excellent 4-4 draw on points as well as drawing 55-55 on
shots. On the difficult Woodbastwick mats this is never an easy task.
Unfortunately for them Thorpe Marriott were unable to do quite as well
on their own mats as Woodbastwick clinched their place in the final
against Bob Carter with a 6-2 away win to finish winners by 10-6 on
aggregate. Coltishall continued their superb late season run in the Bure
League with a 7-3 win at Hevingham. Vernon Bunn, Peter Barnett &
Les Harman led the way with a super 23-8 win against David Sharpe’s
triple while Margaret Harman’s triple weighed in with a 14-9 win. Four
teams are now involved in an incredibly tight title race and East
Tuddenham’s visit to Woodbastwick could well decide the issue. In the
Thurne League Halvergate kept up the pressure in their bid for a third
title with an 8-2 win at Hemsby. Mike Tate, Josh Baxter & Robbie
Lamb stormed to a 21-6 win in a team that also included England
international Melly Woods and Jean Woods.
Posted 03-3-12 
Woodbastwick star Peter Jablonowski
Coltishall enter home straight with 10-0 win With
no less than four teams still in with a chance of the Bure League title
Coltishall effortlessly moved into second place with a thumping 10-0
home win against Anglian Windows. Captain Willie Jefferies inspired his
troops with a 21-10 first half win against Ken Dease’s triple while
Margaret Harman’s triple romped to a 29-9 win against Avril Walker.
Knowing that every point was vital Coltishall kept up the pressure after
the break with John Aggas beating Keith Halford 22-4 and Les Harman
beating county regular Mike Boswell by 18-8.
Posted 02-3-12 
22-4 win for former England ace John Aggas
Bob Carter v Wymondham final again Norfolk
County Cup holders Bob Carter brushed aside Kirby Bedon to reach the
final of the County Cup where they will face last year’s beaten
finalists Wymondham. An away match at Carter, on their Verde mats, would
not have been Kirby Bedon’s idea of a perfect draw but they managed to
win one of the first half games to keep it level at 2-2 at the break.
Leonora Chilman, Shirley Brown & Selwyn Goldsmith enjoyed a good
start moving into an 8-3 lead after seven ends against Malcolm Reynolds,
Jean Woods & Rob Howlett. The home triple twice changed playing
order as they attempted to get a foothold in the game, finally
succeeding as Reynolds found line & length from the lead position
over the closing ends. A three on the thirteenth end put the home triple
into the lead for the first time but Goldsmith’s triple replied with a
three of their own on the penultimate end to lead 12-10. Reynolds drew
an early wood onto the jack on the last end but Kirby were content with a
close second bowl and saw the end out to win 12-11. On mat one Jill
Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson started well winning two of the
first three ends to lead 3-2 against Margaret Reynolds, Kim Bridge &
Trevor Brown but that was as good as it would get for the visitors.
Brown’s triple took control winning all but one of the remaining ends to
win 24-4 and give the home side a huge shots advantage. Kirby went into
the second half knowing that a win & a draw, regardless of shots,
was their target if they were to produce an upset. Kirby’s Peter
Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter opened strongly against Glynis
Willard, David Lamb & Nigel Willard to lead 6-1 after four ends.
Willard’s triple hit back with a four on the next end and a close game
followed. Unfortunately for Kirby the game was up on the other mat as
Carter’s Sue Hunt, Jason Woods & Melvin Woods were on their way to a
big win against Kirby’s Carol Johnson, Gerald Chilvers & Joe Brown.
Leading 13-3 after eight ends, the Carter triple eventually won by 26-5
to claim a place in the final. Meanwhile on mat two Hunter &
Willard continued their battle that ended in a narrow 13-12 win for the
Carter triple to leave them 8-2 winners on points. Last year’s final
between Carter & Wymondham at Anglian Windows was a terrific match
and many will be keen to see this year’s final at Sprowston on Monday 19th
March. It is unfortunate that the final will clash with the Bure League
Triples Championship final being held at Horsford BC on the same
evening. Bure League action saw East Tuddenham edge to a 6-4 win at
fellow title contenders Coltishall. Both teams won two games each but
East Tuddenham grabbed the bonus points after Gillian Amos, Gerald
Potter & Robin Amos beat Carol Aggas, Brian Bunting & John Aggas
20-9. In their previous match Coltishall won 6-4 at home to Horsford
Heroes after Willie Jefferies’ triple had won 20-6 & Margaret
Harman’s triple had won 25-7. Horsford Heroes also lost by 6-4 at home
to Hevingham with David Sharpe’s triple winning 20-6 for the visitors.
In the Breckland League Connaught “A” visited Harling knowing that
maximum points were badly needed if they were to keep the pressure on
leaders Wymondham. Connaught skips Owen Secker & Sheila Bragg
delivered the goods with wins of 28-8 & 23-12 but defeats on the
other two mats left Connaught “A” having to settle for a 6-4 away win.
In the remaining Breckland games Hingham Yellow won 6-4 at Banham,
Forncett won 8-2 at Hingham Green while Watton slipped to a surprise 8-2
home defeat against Harling Rec.
Posted 29-2-12 
Bob Carter pictured after winning the County Cup last season
Heroes to a man as Horsford move second Both
Horsford clubs took advantage of Sprowston & RG Carter not playing
to move nearer the top of the City of Norwich League. Horsford Heroes
are second after beating County Council 13-1. Horsford BC beat Jarrolds
14-0 and Felthorpe 12-2 to move up to third. Jarrolds also lost 13-1 at
Costessey. Thurne League leaders Woodbastwick went down by 8-2 at
Bradwell but won 8-2 at bottom side Stalham. Runaway Wensum League
leaders Bob Carter made it eight wins out of eight by winning 8-2 at
Coltishall. Coltishall also went down 10-0 at Woodbastwick. East
Tuddenham won 6-4 at Kirby Bedon in the Bure League where a big 22-5 win
for Russell Flint, Jason Woods & Melly Woods against Alistair
Hunter’s triple made sure of the match points for the visitors.
Hevingham won 6-4 at Anglian Windows where a 20-7 win for David Sharpe’s
triple was the significant result. Bob
Carter’s win at Halvergate in the first leg of the Wensum Cup
semi-final was enough to see them through but Halvergate made them fight
all the way in the second leg at Carter. The prospect of going into the
second leg of a cup match at Bob Carter already 6-2 down on points is
not one that most sides would relish but Halvergate’s rise in status in
recent years has made them a hard side to beat. Halvergate enjoyed a
dream first half to level the score at 6-6 on points although Carter
still held a 13 shot lead. Jackie Smith, Josh Baxter & David Lamb
dropped a five on the opening end against Carter’s Sue Hunt, Jason Woods
& Melly Woods but trailed by just 14-13 with an end remaining. The
home triple was stunned as Lamb’s triple scored a three on the final end
to snatch a 16-14 win. On the other mat Halvergate’s Keith Cooke,
Herbie Smith & Chris “The Blazer” Mann also triumphed beating Frank
Edy, Jean Woods & Robert Howlett. The second half produced two more
great games as David Lamb’s Halvergate triple beat Robert Howlett 12-10
but Carter claimed a place in the final thanks to a tight 12-10 win for
Melly Woods’ triple against Chris Mann. England international Chris Mann
narrowly failed to pull off an audacious reverse bias shot with his
final wood. Carter will go on to face the winners of the Woodbastwick v
Thorpe Marriott semi-final tie.
Posted 25-2-12
Connaught “A” into Norwich Cup Final Breckland
League giants Connaught “A” have reached the final of the Norwich Cup
once again after a convincing win against City League side Sprowston
SSC. In the first leg at Sprowston the home side were rocked back on
their heels as Connaught “A” won five of the six first half games to
lead 10-2. The home side started the second half slightly better but
Connaught “A” finished strongly winning three of the last four games to
establish a 17-7 first leg lead to take back to Attleborough. Diana
Adcock, Ray Wells & Bill Adcock enjoyed a great night winning their
three games by 5-3, 4-3 & 5-3 for maximum points. The following
evening Sprowston travelled to Connaught knowing that an exceptional
performance would be needed to pull this tie around but it was not to
be. Connaught “A” were quickly into their stride winning five of the
opening six games and at that point Sprowston called it a day and
conceded, leaving Connaught winners by 27-9 on aggregate with three
sessions to spare. Connaught “A” will play either Coltishall or Forncett
in the final. Coltishall crash at Wymondham Wymondham
crushed visitors Coltishall 8-0 to reach the final of the Norfolk
County Cup. In the first half Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher & Chris Mann
gave Wymondham a great start moving 9-0 up after four ends against
Vernon Bunn, Peter Barnett & Les Harman. Barnett & Harman
switched positions in an attempt to change things round but failed to
reduce the deficit as Mann’s triple completed a 20-5 win. The other
first half game was a close one with Wymondham’s Roger Steele, Mervyn
Barker & Brian Saunders facing Martin Edridge, Jean Barnett &
Margaret Harman. A solid performance by the Coltishall skip put the home
triple under pressure but Saunders managed to restrict Margaret
Harman’s triple to one shot on the final end to snatch an 11-10 win. 4-0
down on points at the break was not the position Coltishall wanted to
be in and the situation did not improve in the second half. Mikey
George, Andrew Jackson & Andrew Stratton moved into an 11-0 lead
after six ends against Willie Jefferies’ triple and went on to win 19-7.
In the remaining game young Jack Barrett was in outstanding form as
Billie Barker, Jack & Debs Phillips ran out 22-6 winners against
Carol Aggas, Brian Bunting & John Aggas. Wymondham will face either
Bob Carter or Kirby Bedon in the final at Sprowston on Monday 19th March. Change of manager for Norfolk The
Norfolk CSMBA Management Committee, with President Brian Saunders in
the chair, has appointed Selwyn Goldsmith of Kirby Bedon as Norfolk
County Manager from the 1st
April for a two year term of office. Earlier in the meeting current
manager Lianne Mills gave her final manager’s report where she reported
on Norfolk’s success in the South-East Rinks Championship as well as
both Norfolk teams qualifying for the knock-out stages of the I.C.C. She
thanked Assistant-Manager Bob Oatway for his help, support &
encouragement during their term of office. A vote of thanks was proposed
for Lianne & Bob for all the work that they have put in on behalf
of the county during the last two years and the committee gave them a
rousing round of applause. The appointment of an Assistant-Manager was
deferred until a later date.
Posted 23-2-12 
Selwyn Goldsmith - takes up new role as Norfolk County Manager on 1st April
The only way is Walker! Thurton’s
chances of grabbing the runners-up spot in the South Norfolk League
were helped by two good wins. Peter Walker’s Thurton triple reeled off a
thumping 19-3 win at Saxlingham earning the visitors a 6-4 win. Thurton
made home advantage count against strugglers Wreningham as they took
all ten points and scored 85 shots against just 17. Watton won by 8-2 at
home to Connaught with John Hunter’s triple winning 20-4. Connaught
held on to second place though with a 7-3 home win against Horsford the
following night. In the Breckland League Connaught “A” beat Hingham
Yellow 8-2 with Russell Hales, Ty Musk & Sheila Bragg winning 22-15
& Diana Adcock, Derek Liles & Bill Adcock winning 21-13 to keep
their title push on course. Forncett will be delighted with a 6-4 away
win at Banham where Tony Ottewell’s triple won by 27-6. Hingham Yellow
won by 6-4 at home to third placed Carleton Rode with M White’s triple
winning 28-7 & K Thomas winning 26-6. Tens League action saw both
title contenders win away. Robert Howlett’s Bob Carter triple won 19-3
at Connaught earning them a 4-0 win. Hempnall will be thankful for Chris
Mann scoring on the last end against Kirby Bedon’s Joe Brown as they
snatched a one shot victory to record a 2-0 points win. Posted 20-2-12 
19-3 win for Thurton's Peter Walker
Sheila Bragg & Russell Hales won for Connaught "A"
I.C.C giants Cheshire beat Norfolk A
superb second half comeback by Norfolk Premier could not stop I.C.C
giants Cheshire Premier completing a 25-15 victory in Northants to bring
Norfolk’s interest in the competition to an end. Cheshire enjoyed a
great first half to build up a 14-2 points lead and the deficit proved
too much for Norfolk to overcome. It was a good day at the office for
Norfolk’s singles players as Trevor Brown won his games by 15-11 &
18-13 and David Lamb won his second game by 18-9 as they collected eight
of the ten points on offer. Brown trailed former England singles
champion Gareth Stanway by 9-0 in his second match before storming back
to win. Norfolk’s other points were earned by Nigel Willard & Chris
Mann with a 20-9 pairs win, Keith Cooke, Mike Boswell & Sheila Bragg
with an 11-6 triples win, Robbie Lamb, George Clarke & John Turner
with a 15-9 triples win & Mikey George, Jean Woods, Debbie Phillips
& Brian Saunders with a 6-6 draw in the rinks. After the match
Lianne Mills thanked the Norfolk players for their support and efforts
during her two years as county team manager. She has already advised the
NCSMBA that she has decided not to seek re-election to the post.
 Norfolk Premier fought hard but could not give Norfolk Manager Lianne Mills a win in her last game in charge
Norfolk Over 60’s on fire at Carlton Colville Norfolk
Over 60s romped to a massive 38-10 points win at Carlton Colville
against Derek Barley’s Suffolk Select in the return match of their two
game challenge. In their home match at Lakeside Norfolk had beaten
Barley’s Select by 31-17 and were expecting a much closer game in
Suffolk but on the day Norfolk Over 60’s hit a rich vein of form and ran
away with the game winning all six sessions. Four triples earned
maximum points with Ted Redwood’s triple winning by 11-3, 6-5 &
11-5, Rex Cox’s triple winning by 13-6, 10-8 & 10-9, Melvyn Barker’s
triple winning by 13-6, 9-4 & 12-5 and Mike Boswell’s triple
winning 13-4, 12-4 & 10-7. It proved to be a super day of bowls with
Suffolk providing the Norfolk team with a lovely pork & ham salad
for lunch. Mike Boswell - Three wins for Norfolk Over 60's in Suffolk
Bure Cup final date for Coltishall Coltishall
set up a Bure Cup Final showdown with Kirby Bedon after an excellent
finish in their second leg semi-final match at Woodbastwick. Defending a
17-7 first leg lead Coltishall suffered a poor first half losing five
of the first six games. This left Woodbastwick just 19-17 behind on
points and looking favourites, but a second half recovery saved the day
for Coltishall as only Peter Jablonowski’s triple were able to record a
win after the break. 14-3 & 10-1 wins for Martin Edridge, Jean
Barnett & Margaret Harman inspired the visitors and a 6-4 win for
Willie Jefferies & a 9-2 win for John Aggas saw them over the
finishing line.
Posted 15-2-12
It’s a joyride for Josh in Under 18’s 15
year old Halvergate bowler Josh Baxter underlined his potential to be
one of Norfolk’s brightest stars as he won the Norfolk Under 18’s
National Qualifier at Woodbastwick. He beat Wymondham’s talented 17 year
old Mikey George, another excellent bowler, into second place.
Costessey’s Jack Barrett, who the previous day made his county debut at
Potters Bar against West Sussex “A” aged 15, came in third while 14 year
old Lewis Cranston of County Council was fourth. With Norfolk awarded
four places in the National Under 18 Championships, set to be played on
the 18th March at Kempston I.B.C in Bedfordshire, County
Council’s 13 year old Owen Cranston & RG Carter’s 16 year old Jackie
Bridge just missed out on qualifying. Disappointment for Norfolk stars as England name World Championship team England
have named their team for the World Championships being played at
Ballymoney in County Antrim, Northern Ireland on the 24/25th
March. There was disappointment for Norfolk’s England Squad bowlers
David Lamb, Chris Mann & Melvin Woods when the team was named at the
weekend. ENGLAND TEAM Singles Jon Pitcher & Dom Reed Pairs Ben Render & Dave Newsome. Steve Proctor & Andrew Beard Triples Gareth Townend, Bronagh Malone & Alan Williams. Mitchell Young, Mark Jones & Chris Hopkins. Fours Jason McLean, Craig Burgess, Chris Shakeshaft & Chris Williams. Jacinta Townend, Ben Pay, John Manley & Roger Wiggins Across the Leagues Connaught
“A” beat Banham 8-2 to maintain their Breckland League title push.
Chris Musk, Lee Fallows & Sylvia Parsons again led the way with a
thumping 28-5 win while Bill Adcock’s triple won 22-10. J Williamson’s
Banham triple took two points off Connaught with an 18-14 win against
Owen Secker’s triple. Carleton Rode’s good form continued as they beat
Banham 8-2 with Jill Davidson, Michael Newby & Russell Davidson
winning 35-9. Bottom of the table Harling beat fellow strugglers
Forncett 10-0 with Betty Murphy, Terry Murphy & Matt Cunningham
winning 19-10. The local derby at Hingham saw the Yellows take maximum
points against the Greens. Rita Oliver, Eric Frary & Jane Frary
enjoyed a runaway 25-5 win against Pat Groombridge. Woodbastwick moved
to the top of the Bure League after an easy 10-0 home win against
Anglian Windows. Brian Frost, Norma Jablonowski & Peter Jablonowski
inflicted a 25-4 defeat on Mike Boswell’s triple while Roger Green,
Elaine Cole & Trevor Hallett beat Alan Williamson’s triple 26-11. A
21-11 win for Tony Wright & an 18-9 win for Jim Couling completed a
great night for the home side. In their previous match Woodbastwick had
suffered a 7-3 defeat at East Tuddenham which took Tuddenham into third
place. Posted 14-2-12
Carleton Rode shock for Wymondham Breckland
League champions Wymondham will be bitterly disappointed as they
dropped valuable points in their quest to fend off the strong challenge
of Connaught “A”. At Hingham Green Brian Saunders skipped his Wymondham
triple to a 28-6 win & Debbie Phillips added a 20-10 win but the
home side hit back with wins for John Higgs & Pat Groombridge as the
visitors were forced to settle for a narrow 6-4 victory. At Carleton
Rode though worse was to come for Wymondham as they crashed to a shock
8-2 defeat. Carleton Rode reeled off their sixth consecutive win with
Russell Davidson beating Brian Saunders 23-16, Terry Newby beating
Debbie Phillips 21-12 & Rod Baker beating England’s Chris Mann
16-15. Strangely the only Carleton Rode skip to lose was Norfolk singles
champion Neil Davidson, who went down 22-15 against Andrew Stratton,
and Neil Davidson was the man Wymondham feared the most in this
encounter. Bure
League action saw Coltishall beat Horsford BC 10-0, with John Aggas and
his triple winning 30-6, and beat Kirby Bedon 6-4 on successive nights.
Halvergate moved to just three points behind Woodbastwick in the Thurne
League with an 8-2 home win against Bradwell.
Posted 12-2-12
Norfolk “A” beaten at Potters Bar
Norfolk
“A” was eliminated from the Inter-County Championships after suffering a
28-12 defeat against West Sussex in Hertfordshire in the re-arranged
fixture, originally set to be played in Northants before last week’s
heavy snow played havoc with the fixture list. Norfolk made six forced
changes from their original team with players from outside the squad
having to be brought in. Fifteen year old Costessey player Jack Barrett
made his county debut as did Norfolk Over 60’s bowler Margaret Reynolds
of RG Carter while former Norfolk Premier bowlers Phil Watson &
Selwyn Goldsmith of Kirby Bedon were brought in to the action. West
Sussex opened strongly winning both singles games as Sprowston’s David
Dewing went down 18-5 against Rod McBeth & Colin Coman of First Bus
lost a close game 14-11. Steven Lamb & Phil Watson produced
Norfolk’s first win by 14-9 but with Chris Musk & Elaine Cole losing
by 22-5 West Sussex led 6-2 on points. The triples & rinks shared
the points in the second session as Shirley Brown, Elaine Oatway,
Malcolm Reynolds & Ray Lamb won 15-8 while Roger Green, Josh Baxter
& Selwyn Goldsmith snatched a 12-11 win on the final end. A good
third session was needed badly if Norfolk were to keep their hopes alive
but the singles & pairs proved to be a repeat of the opening
session with only Steven Lamb & Phil Watson winning for Norfolk by
18-12. Norfolk needed to win on four mats and score plenty of shots in
the final session if they were to turn things around but West Sussex
were in no mood to let this match slip now and only Shirley Brown,
Elaine Oatway, Malcolm Reynolds & Ray Lamb won for Norfolk as West
Sussex earned their place in the quarter-finals where they will face
Devon.
Posted 11-2-12 
Margaret Reynolds (RG Carter) & Jack Barrett (Costessey) - County debuts against West Sussex "A"
Norfolk “A” team revamped for West Sussex “A” clash The
I.C.C match between Norfolk “A” & West Sussex “A”, a victim of the
snow last Sunday, will now take place this Saturday at Potters Bar in
Hertfordshire. The usual player availability problems, that always
happen with Saturday matches, has forced Norfolk manager Lianne Mills to
make no fewer than six changes to the team originally named. The new
look team is a mixture of youth & experience with 15 year old
Costessey player Jack Barrett handed the lead spot in Ty Musk’s rink
while another talented young man, Josh Baxter of Halvergate, is also
named. R.G Carter’s Margaret Reynolds is called up to play lead in Peter
Smart’s triple. Former Norfolk Premier players Phil
Watson & Selwyn Goldsmith of Kirby Bedon, who both stepped down from
the county team some time ago, have also been asked to make themselves
available for this game with Watson skipping a pair & Goldsmith
skipping a triple. Having already announced that this will be her last
season as County Manager Lianne Mills will be keen for Norfolk “A” to
earn a place in the quarter-finals against Devon “A”. Controversy over re-arranged I.C.C fixtures Following the postponement of seven I.C.C matches, due to heavy snow, on Sunday 5th
February the E.S.M.B.A has re-arranged the Premier matches, including
Norfolk v Cheshire & Essex v Herefordshire, for Sunday 19th
February. This is on the same weekend as the unofficial South v North
charity match arranged by St Georges Cup chairman Craig Burgess of Essex
& England. This has brought criticism by some bowlers of the
E.S.M.B.A and their failure to avoid the fixture clash. On this occasion
it is hard not to feel sympathy for the national body as they already
have venues booked for the quarter-final stage on Sunday 26th
February and need to get the preliminary matches played before then. It
is a fact that the North v South game is not an official E.S.M.B.A
event and does not feature in the E.S.M.B.A diary, although the National
Body somewhat controversially subsidized it the first time it took
place last season. But it is also easy to understand the frustration of
the players chosen for the South v North match who have already booked
accommodation for that weekend and are now expected to turn out for
their county teams instead. There is a fear that some players will
choose to turn their back on their county teams to play in the charity
event instead. This could lead to a backlash from their county
associations or their county managers and even affect such players at
international level. It is known that Essex are likely to have to field a
below strength side because of this but Norfolk stars Trevor Brown
& Chris Mann have already indicated that they will put their county
side first and play against Cheshire. One
of the fundamental problems of the I.C.C in its present form is the
closeness of the knock-out rounds which in the event of postponements is
certain to cause major problems. The E.S.M.B.A announced the formation
of a Sub-Committee to look at the I.C.C but came under fire at last
year’s A.G.M when it was revealed that the sub-committee had never met
as the E.S.M.B.A did not deem it necessary. Perhaps this unfortunate
episode will cause them to revisit this issue. With the E.S.M.B.A
apparently ignoring its own rules to permit the inclusion of the
Stockport Metro League into the preliminary round knock-out stage the
I.C.C has already proved a controversial event this season. Without
doubt there is a growing feeling that the entire competition needs to be
reviewed. Posted 10-2-12
Kirby earn Bure Cup Final place Kirby
Bedon went into their Bure Cup semi-final second leg tie at Hevingham
with just eleven players but managed to clinch a place in the final with
a session to spare. Leading 16-8 from the first leg Kirby Bedon’s Jill
Watson, Jimmy Dye & Phil Watson were in great form producing wins of
8-2, 9-2 & 6-4 to spearhead Kirby’s victory. Their 6-4 win against
George Clarke’s triple in the fifth session took Kirby over the
finishing line and Hevingham conceded the match with Kirby leading 25-19
on aggregate. They will face the winners of the Coltishall v
Woodbastwick tie in the final. Posted 10-2-12
I.C.C Preliminaries savaged by weather Norfolk
bowlers were out of bed early ready to travel to Northants for the
day’s matches against Cheshire Premier & West Sussex “A” but the
overnight snow put paid to their trip as the games were called off first
thing. Only six of the thirteen matches set for the weekend took place
in the end. In the Premier section Oxfordshire pulled off a surprise
22-18 win against West Sussex at Guildford while Devon blew East Sussex
out of the water by a massive 36-4 score-line. In the “A” section Bucks
beat Essex 24-16 at Northants while Somerset beat West Midlands 30-10.
It is believed that the ESMBA is looking at the weekend of 18th/19th Feb as a possible date to play the postponed fixtures, the same weekend as the “unofficial” North v South fixture.
Posted 5-2-12 Bure, City & Thurne Latest The Bure League
title race looks to be the most open for years after another week of
mixed results. Defending champions Kirby Bedon continue to struggle and
dropped more points at home to Woodbastwick who are looking the most
dangerous side in the league. The visitors completed a league double
over Kirby with an impressive 6-4 win. Tony Wright’s triple gave
Woodbastwick a first half win of 17-11 against Gerald Chilvers while
Phil Watson’s triple kept the home side on terms at the break with a
15-13 win against Peter Jablonowski. Kirby captain Alistair Hunter
skipped his triple to a 16-13 second half win against Jim Couling but
Trevor Hallett’s triple earned Woodbastwick the match points with a 14-7
win against Joe Brown. Horsford BC earned their first win of the season
in the Bure after eight straight defeats beating Hevingham 8-2. Barbara
Diggle, Simon Warnes & Ray Ayers inflicted the most damage with a
big 30-9 win against David Sharpe’s triple. Peter Warnes’ triple added a
19-13 win against George Clarke while Piero Cognetti beat Vic Woods
18-17. Hevingham’s only win was a 14-11 score-line for Pat Williamson’s
triple. East Tuddenham are looking a side in form with the addition of
Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & Peter Smart transforming their
fortunes. Smart’s triple led the way for East Tuddenham against
Coltishall with a 17-6 win against Margaret Harman’s triple. Robin Amos
beat Willie Jefferies by 17-11 while John Turner added a 12-11 win
against John Aggas. Les Harman’s triple kept Coltishall’s flag flying
with an 18-5 win against Russell Harris but the 8-2 points win keeps
East Tuddenham in the mix. In the City of Norwich League
the two team battle for the title continued in earnest as leaders
Sprowston SSC won by 12-2 both at home to Old Bonds and away at
Jarrolds. Second placed RG Carter maintained their title push with a
14-0 maximum win at Horsford Heroes. Thorpe Marriott inflicted another
defeat on Horsford Heroes by beating them 12-2. A bad week at the office
for British Rail saw them fall down the table after three defeats. Rail
were well beaten by 14-0 at Costessey and their trip to Anglian Windows
ended in a 12-2 loss. To complete their misery they suffered a 12-2
home defeat at the hands of Thorpe Marriott. Deaf Sports also had a poor
week losing 10-4 at home to Horsford BC and going down by the same
score-line at Framingham Earl. In the remaining fixtures Felthorpe won
by 14-0 at home to Anglian Windows and lost 12-2 at Old Bonds while
First Bus won by 12-2 at Old Bonds. Thurne League
leaders Woodbastwick won by 10-0 at Stalham and by 8-2 at Hemsby.
Second placed Bradwell beat Hemsby 10-0 and also won by 6-4 at Hemsby.
Posted 5-2-12
Forncett beat Kirby Bedon in Norwich Cup thriller Forncett
& Kirby Bedon were involved in a pulsating Norwich Cup
quarter-final encounter which went down to the last bowl with Forncett
claiming a semi-final place on shots when the match finished level at
12-12 on points. Forncett had already claimed the scalp of South Norfolk
League champions Hempnall in the previous round and can now add Bure
League champions Kirby Bedon to their list of giant killings. Visitors
Kirby Bedon started well at a venue that they had not played at in
years. A surprise combination of Jackie Tunmore, Leonora Chilman &
Selwyn Goldsmith opened with a 6-5 win against Dennis Rumsby’s triple on
mat one while Peter Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Gerald Chilvers
beat Tony Ottewell’s triple 5-4 to give Kirby a 4-0 lead. Forncett
immediately hit back in the second session with Rebecca Humphreys,
Michael Humphreys & Peter Lock beating Alistair Hunter’s triple 5-3
and Mary Boulter, Linda Preece & Merv Boulter winning by 6-4 against
Phil Watson’s triple to level the score at 4-4. Selwyn Goldsmith’s
triple returned to the mat to defeat Tony Ottewell’s triple by 6-3 but
Forncett’s Joan Rumsby, David Girling & Dennis Rumsby beat Gerald
Chilvers by the same score-line to keep it all square at 6-6 at the
interval. The fourth session was again shared with Kirby’s Carol
Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter beating Merv Boulter by 9-2
while Forncett’s Peter Lock triple beat Phil Watson 5-1 to leave the
match level at 8-8. The penultimate session again failed to separate the
teams as Alistair Hunter’s triple beat Dennis Rumsby 4-3, while Peter
Lock’s Forncett triple completed their third win of the night beating
Selwyn Goldsmith 9-5 as the two previously unbeaten triples met. With
only two shots separating the teams who were now level at 10-10 the last
session was played out in a great atmosphere with every good shot being
applauded. Kirby’s Jill Watson, Janice Hewitt & Phil Watson picked
the perfect time to record their first win of the night beating Tony
Ottewell’s triple by 4-3 scoring a single on the final end to snatch two
points. The final game to finish saw Forncett’s Merv Boulter triple
facing Kirby’s Gerald Chilvers. The Kirby triple needed just a draw to
snatch victory and went into the last end just one shot behind.
Forncett’s lead Mary Boulter drew shot early on but the jack still
remained open to a drawing wood as the end progressed. Forncett skip
Merv Boulter failed to tuck in or shut the jack down leaving Kirby skip
Gerald Chilvers two opportunities to draw in and win the match for the
visitors. To the relief of the home side the Kirby skip failed to do so
and a roar went up from the home team who found themselves in the
Norwich Cup semi-final for the first time in years. They now face a two
leg match with Coltishall while Connaught “A” play Sprowston SSC in the
other semi-final.
Posted 3-2-12
Double blow for Wymondham as Linsdell is injured in cup defeat Wymondham
suffered a double blow as they were defeated 14-10 by visitors
Connaught “A” in their Norwich Cup quarter-final tie as well as seeing
Norfolk star Mark Linsdell stretchered off after suffering a knee injury
midway through the match. This will also be a blow to Norfolk who face
England’s number one county team Cheshire Premier this Sunday in a vital
I.C.C match in Northants. Connaught “A” could not have wished for a
better start as they reeled off four straight wins to lead 8-0 on
points. Even Wymondham’s England star Chris Mann failed to stop
Connaught’s early onslaught as his triple lost by 7-5. Chris Musk, Lee
Fallows & Sylvia Parsons were again in brilliant form for Connaught
as they opened with an 8-3 win against the talented Debbie Phillips. The
third session finally saw Wymondham come good with Chris Mann beating
Bill Adcock 14-0 while Mark Linsdell’s triple led 5-1 with an end to go.
Then disaster struck Wymondham as Mark Linsdell fell injuring his knee.
After receiving treatment it became obvious that for him this cup match
was over and Andrew Jackson stepped in as sub to complete a 7-1 win.
This left Connaught leading 8-4 at the halfway stage. The remaining
three sessions were all shared despite Wymondham’s best efforts to close
the gap, and Connaught “A” held on to gain a semi-final place in
Norfolk’s biggest cup competition.
City League Pairs title won by Turners Thorpe
Marriott’s Sylvia & Tony Turner defeated RG Carter’s Sue Hunt &
Frank Edy in the final of the City League Pairs Championship at
Lakeside Country Club in Lyng. It took an extra end to decide the issue
after a close match between the two pairs. Favourites Melvin Woods &
Nigel Willard of RG Carter failed to reach the knock-out stages. Posted 31-1-12
Kirby Bedon reach County Cup semi-finals Non
league side Watlington gave visitors Kirby Bedon a tough match in the
County Cup quarter-finals before losing the cup tie on shots after the
match finished at 4-4 on points. Kirby had not played at Watlington’s
West Norfolk venue before and found the home side in determined mood
from the start. Phil Watson’s triple opened with a 12-8 win against June
Bush’s triple but had to win the last four ends to clinch victory.
Keith Ablett, Peter Dagnall & M Howard ensured the tie was still
level on points at the interval after beating Alistair Hunter’s triple
14-11. Pat Faint, Terry Foster & Michael Bush produced another
Watlington win after the break beating Gerald Chilvers’ triple 13-11. It
was left up to Kirby’s Peter Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown to
avoid an upset as they cruised to a 20-5 win against Bob Scully’s triple
to leave Kirby through with 54 shots against Watlington’s 40. Wymondham win vital Breckland match The
superb unbeaten run of Connaught “A” finally came to an end at
Wymondham as the two big guns of the Breckland League met in a crunch
match. In the first half Wymondham’s Roger Steele, Melvyn Barker &
Brian Saunders beat Bill Adcock’s triple 16-12 but Connaught “A” kept on
level terms courtesy of a 20-13 win for Chris Musk, Lee Fallows &
Sylvia Parsons against Debbie Phillips’ triple. After the break Pat
Saunders, Mary Fisher & Mark Linsdell recorded a good looking
score-line of 19-9 against Ollie Allen’s triple to put Wymondham in the
driving seat. The home side had Linsdell to thank for a great attacking
shot on the penultimate end when the visitors held a full house and
threatened to bounce back into the game. The remaining game saw Sheila
Bragg’s Connaught triple push Mikey George, Andrew Jackson & Chris
Mann all the way before dropping two shots on the final end to lose
16-14. Bragg’s triple had fought back from 8-1 down after five ends to
level the game at 10-10 after twelve ends and the score was still tied
at 14-14 with an end to go. The result means that Wymondham have now
opened up a 15 point lead on Connaught "A" in the table.
Posted 30-1-12
Connaught “B” fade away in closing stages On paper it had looked an easy home tie in the Norwich Cup
for Sprowston SSC against Connaught “B” but the teams were still locked
together at 8-8 on points after four sessions. Connaught were quick off
the blocks winning three of the opening four games with Alan Marshall
winning 8-5, Alison Rush winning 6-5 & Joe Li Rocchi winning 5-3.
The home side hit back with a good third session to level the game as
David Dewing’s triple won 10-4 & John Poynter’s triple won 4-2. The
fourth session failed to separate the teams as Sprowston’s Terry
Fletcher won 10-4 while Alison Rush’s triple won by the same score-line.
The home side finally broke down the visitor’s stiff resistance winning
the last four games to complete a 16-8 victory to reach the next round.
Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & David Dewing were the star turn on
the night winning their three games by 4-2, 7-2 & 15-2. Coltishall
are through to the semi-finals of the Norfolk CountyCup
after a 6-2 away win at Connaught “A”. The Breckland League side have a
superb home record but the experienced Bure League team achieved a 6-2
away win on points although shots were level over-all. Both first half
games went Coltishall’s way with John Aggas beating Bill Adcock 15-12
and Margaret Harman winning by 16-11 against Owen Secker. Coltishall
captain Willie Jefferies clinched the tie with a 14-13 win against
Sylvia Parsons while Sheila Bragg scored a consolation 16-7 win against
Peter Barnett.Horsford BC slumped to their eighth successive defeat in the Bure League
but visitors East Tuddenham had Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner &
John Turner to thank for their victory. Tuddenham’s trusted triple
stormed to a 26-7 win to make sure of the match points on a night that
saw their other three triples struggle against the bottom club. Les
Chadwick’s triple won by just 12-11 for Tuddenham while Barbara Diggle,
Simon Warnes & Ray Ayers beat Robin Amos 14-9 and Morgan Warnes,
Christine Warnes & Peter Warnes beat Russell Harris 16-13 to earn
Horsford’s four points. Defending champions Kirby Bedon won 6-4 at
Hevingham after winning on three mats but suffering a heavy defeat in
the remaining game. Kirby won both first half games as Phil Watson’s
triple beat Maurice Kemp 17-11 & Joe Brown’s triple beat Vic Woods
17-12. Alistair Hunter continued the good work for Kirby beating George
Clarke 16-14 but a thumping 18-4 win for Hevingham’s Mervyn Williamson,
Eddie Heyward & David Sharpe against Brian Saunders’ triple earned
Hevingham a four point share of the spoils. Kirby Bedon entertained
Hevingham in their Bure Cup
first leg clash and built up a 16-8 lead to take into the second leg.
Kirby’s Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith won all
their three games all though it took a last wood attack shot sink Vic
Woods’ triple in their last game when all looked lost. Joe Brown’s
triple, with Brian Saunders in good form at number two, picked up four
points as did Alistair Hunter’s triple. The best Hevingham triple on the
night were Pat Bunn, Pat Williamson & Maurice Kemp who collected
two wins. Former Kirby Bedon star George Clarke found life difficult at
his old venue as his triple failed to score. Tens League
action saw Hevingham finally end their miserable run of defeats with a
3-0 home win against Connaught but only after a superb second half
comeback. Connaught opened well with on-form Sylvia Parsons, with Chris
Musk at lead, crushing Gill Bunn & George Clarke by 21-9. Peter
King’s triple added a 13-11 win against Maurice Kemp to put the visitors
fourteen shots up at the break. Pat Williamson & Vic “Quiet Man”
Woods turned the match around in the second half as they cruised to a
28-8 win against former County team favourites Diana & Bill Adcock.
Mervyn Williamson, Eddie Heyward & David Sharpe continued the good
work for Hevingham beating an all County team triple of Elaine Oatway,
Ty Musk & Bob Oatway by 16-6. Kirby Bedon entertained Coltishall and
also had to produce a good second half to win 2-0. Former England stars
Carol & John Aggas opened for Coltishall with a 19-12 win against
Carol & Peter Johnson but Kirby’s Jackie Tunmore, Shirley Brown
& Joe Brown reduced the arrears with a 15-12 win against Willie
Jefferies. Coltishall were unable to protect their four shot interval
lead as Dot Dawson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson beat Peter
Barnett’s triple 14-6 and Jill Watson & Alistair Hunter beat Jean
Barnett & Margaret Harman 15-14 to see the home side over the
finishing line. There appears to be no way anyone can halt the
relentless march of Hempnall towards yet another South Norfolk League
title. Watton were their latest victims as the defending champions
recorded yet another 10-0 maximum win. Bernie Cudden’s triple scored the
evening’s biggest win of 23-7 against Roger Braham. Watton also went
down 6-4 at Horsford who are looking favourites to finish in second
position. The two bottom clubs, Wreningham & Mulbarton, met with
Mulbarton ending their run of nine straight defeats with an 8-2 win. It
proved to be a bad week for Costessey in the City of Norwich League.
They were well beaten by 12-2 at bottom club Old Bonds who won for only
the second time in seventeen league games. Worse was to follow as they
slumped to an 8-6 home defeat against next to bottom Taverham. Leaders
Sprowston SSC will be pleased with a 10-4 away win at County Council
while second placed RG Carter won 13-1 at home to Horsford Heroes. The
Heroes fared better at home to Taverham as they reeled off a 14-0
maximum win. Lowly Framingham Earl were in good form beating Jarrolds
12-2 while First Bus won 12-2 on the tricky Felthorpe mats. Horsford BC
moved up to fourth position after beating Deaf Sports 10-4.
Posted 29-1-12 
Sprowston's David Dewing and Linda & Les Chadwick were Sprowston's star turn in the cup
No let-up in Breckland title battle January
has brought no let-up in the battle between Wymondham & Connaught
“A” for the Breckland League title. Defending champions Wymondham
followed up their 10-0 win at Forncett with a hard earned 8-2 win at
third placed Watton. Billie Barker, Jack Barrett & Debbie Phillips
opened with a 17-13 win for Wymondham but Watton made sure the score was
level on points at the break as Maggie Dibble, Bryan Dibble & Roger
Braham beat Brian Saunders’ triple 15-12. Roger Braham had a good game
for Watton while the visiting lead & number two struggled for
consistency. After the break Wymondham’s Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher &
Andrew Stratton produced some big ends to record a 22-17 win against
Margaret Hunter’s home triple. After opening with a four on the first
end Stratton’s triple also recorded counts of five on ends seven &
twelve. Wymondham’s biggest win of the night, which secured victory, was
a 23-8 win by Mikey George, Peter King & England’s Chris Mann.
Mikey George produced his best away performance of the season while
Peter King was in great form at number two. Chris Mann was also on song
for Wymondham which gave Watton skip John Hunter an uncomfortable night.
Connaught “A” faced Connaught “B” in a local derby and despite the “B”
teams bottom half position Connaught “A” were more than aware that too
many valuable points have been dropped against them in recent seasons.
“A” team triple Diana Adcock, Ray Wells & Bill Adcock faced Alan
Marshall’s triple and were relieved to emerge with an 18-16 win that
came so close to being a defeat. “A” team triple Mike Parsons, Lee
Fallows & Sylvia Parsons started strongly to lead 7-0 after two ends
but a good fight back by Heather Winup, Peter Hambling & Joe
Li-Rocchi leveled the game at 10-10 after eight ends. After that Sylvia
Parsons’ triple took control to ensure a 4-0 points lead at the
interval. After the break Connaught “B” earned what was to be their only
win of the night as Moira Eades, Philomena King & Alison Rush
thumped Owen Secker’s triple 18-9. Eades had a super game for Connaught
“B” at lead as they quickly moved into an 8-0 lead after five ends and
there was no way back for Secker’s triple. In the remaining game Chris
Musk, Ollie Allen & Ty Musk won 19-7 after leading 10-0 after six
ends to complete an 8-2 win for Connaught ”A”. With the intense battle
for the top spot against Wymondham the “A” team will see this result as
two points dropped. Two days later Connaught “A” visited Hingham Green
and collected another 8-2 win. Playing in a cold and noisy venue
Connaught’s only defeat came at the hands of John Higgs’ triple who
defeated Ollie Allen’s triple 23-10. John Higgs was in excellent form
for Hingham as his triple won the last eight ends for a well deserved
win. Connaught’s title challenge kept on course though as Owen Secker
won 13-12, Bill Adcock won 25-14 & Sylvia Parsons won 22-12. Posted 25-1-12 
Lee Fallows of Connaught "A"
Hempnall – 78 points out of 80! South
Norfolk League runaway leaders Hempnall took another maximum 10 points
as they beat Framingham Earl. That makes it 78 points from 80 in the
eight games so far for the defending champions. Neil Davidson’s triple
earned the nights biggest win, an 18-7 result against Karl Bunn, while
Framingham’s Colin Emms pushed home skip Jon Sparham all the way losing
by just 13-11. Thurton will be thankful for a 21-10 win by Peter
Walker’s triple against Chris Woodhouse that earned them a 6-4 home win
against Horsford. Posted 24-1-12 
Framingham Earl's Colin Emms just failed to take points off runaway leaders Hempnall
Sprowston & RG Carter battle continues The
battle at the top of the City of Norwich League continues unabated with
the top two opening up clear blue water between themselves and the
rest. Leaders Sprowston SSC won 10-4 at Anglian Windows and claimed a
12-2 home win against Deaf Sports. RG Carter visited Horsford BC and
collected a 10-4 away win. Third placed British Rail lost ground on
their title rivals after a disappointing 14-0 defeat at struggling
Framingham Earl and also lost 12-2 at First Bus. Deaf Sports won 10-4 at
bottom team Old Bonds but will be even more pleased with a 13-1 win at
Jarrolds. County Council made it a bad week for Jarrolds beating them by
12-2. Felthorpe suffered a 12-2 home defeat at the hands of Horsford BC
while Anglian Windows beat Taverham 10-4. Posted 22-1-12 Bob Carter & Wymondham into Semi-Finals
Bob
Carter are through to the semi-finals of the Norfolk County Cup after a
close 5-3 win at Thorpe Marriott. Nigel Willard’s triple beat Ted
Redwood by 17-10 to give Carter a solid start while Robert Howlett’s
triple drew 10-10 against Bob MacPherson. England’s David Lamb sealed
the tie for Carter with a second half 16-13 win against Tony Turner
while Sylvia Turner’s triple earned a consolation victory beating Melvin
Woods’ triple 16-12. Wymondham are also through after an easy 8-0 home
win against fellow Breckland League side Connaught “B” in which Brian
Saunders’ triple won 20-7 and Debbie Phillips’ triple won 21-8. Hempnall
suffered a rare 4-0 defeat in the Tens League at Coltishall. Mally
Catchpole, Eddie Edridge & Willie Jefferies inflicted the most
damage by beating Colin Stevenson, Bernie Cudden & Roger Parker 24-8
while Les Harman’s triple won 11-9 against Jon Sparham. Both pairs
games also went Coltishall’s way as Carol & John Aggas beat Chris
East & Charlie Archer 13-10 and Jean Barnett & Margaret Harman
beat Joan Cann & Paul Baker 13-12. South Norfolk League action saw
Connaught strengthen their claim for the runners-up spot by beating
Saxlingham 8-2. Geoff Payne’s triple scored Saxlingham’s only win while
Alison Rush won 18-13 for Connaught. Saxlingham fared better at
Wreningham where they won by 6-4 with Pat Meale, Shiela Hook & Geoff
Briggs leading the way with a 20-7 win. Mulbarton slumped to their
ninth consecutive defeat going down 8-2 at Watton. Woodbastwick head the
Thurne League by three points after an 8-2 home win against Bradwell
was followed by a 6-4 home win against Stalham the following night.
Stalham lost their fourth game in a row going down 10-0 at Bradwell. In
the Wensum League Bob Carter’s 10-0 home win against Coltishall just
before Christmas leaves other teams fighting to keep in touch. Thorpe
Marriott scored a maximum 10-0 home win against Woodbastwick but it
still leaves them 23 points behind Carter. Defending Bure League
champions Kirby Bedon suffered their second consecutive defeat going
down 8-2 at Woodbastwick. The home side won both first half games with
Roger Green, Brian Frost & Trevor Hallett winning 17-13 and Michael
Fox, Derek Oakes & Tony Wright winning 13-11. After the break a good
finish saw Jim Couling’s triple pull away to win 19-9 while Leonora
Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith earned Kirby’s only win
beating Peter Jablonowski’s triple 14-11 in an entertaining game.
Coltishall collected a maximum 10-0 home win against Hevingham after
beating their visitors by just one shot in three of the four games.
Willie Jefferies won 14-13 against David Sharpe, Margaret Harman beat
George Clarke by 19-18 and Les Harman defeated Vic Woods by 10-9. The
remaining game saw John Aggas win by 12-7 against Alan Bunn. The Bure
League Singles Championship heats produced a strong Final’s Night
line-up. The eight finalists are John Turner of East Tuddenham, George
Clarke, Vic Woods & Alan Bunn of Hevingham, Joe Brown of Kirby
Bedon, Margaret Harman of Coltishall, Mike Boswell of Anglian Windows
and Paul Isgate of Horsford BC. The City of Norwich League title race is
looking to be between RG Carter & Sprowston. Leaders Sprowston sit
18 points ahead of Carter after a hard earned 10-4 win at Deaf Sports
and a valuable 14-0 home win against Costessey. Defending champions RG
Carter continue to pressure Sprowston after a 14-0 home win against
Framingham Earl. British Rail continue to impress and are just three
points behind Carter after beating Jarrolds 12-2. A good week for
Horsford Heroes saw them win 12-2 at Felthorpe and add a 10-4 home win
against Thorpe Marriott. Apart from their defeat at Horsford the Thorpe
Marriott side are enjoying some good results. On their travels they won
11-3 at County Council and by a maximum 14-0 at Taverham. At home they
beat Jarrolds 10-4 to vastly improve their league position. Jarrolds won
14-0 at home to Horsford BC but had to be content with a 7-7 home draw
against Felthorpe. Horsford BC mats are not easy to play as County
Council found when they were beaten 14-0. Costessey slammed old rivals
First Bus 14-0 while bottom club Old Bonds lost by 10-4 at home to
Anglian Windows.
Posted 21-1-12
Brian Saunders won 20-7 as Wymondham beat Connaught "B"
Davidson still reigns as Norfolk Singles King Neil
Davidson of Hempnall has become only the second player to successfully
defend the Norfolk County Singles Championship title in its twenty-six
year history. In the final Davidson faced Halvergate & England ace
David Lamb who had reached the final of the Norfolk Singles for the
first time in his career. It was familiar territory though for Neil
Davidson who was playing in the singles final for the third time in four
years having won last year and been runner-up in 2009. It was the
England player who made the better start drawing onto the jack with his
opening bowl on the first end and taking two shots after Davidson missed
with a forcing shot with his final wood. On the second end Lamb was
again in control and held two shots while Davidson’s best effort had not
quite reached the head. Lamb then surprised spectators when he sent
down an attacking last wood to try and remove Davidson’s bowl. The shot
went horribly wrong and only succeeded in giving Davidson the shot. On
the third end David Lamb moved back into top gear firing the jack into
the ditch to take shot and a 3-1 lead. A superb fourth end followed with
a good first wood by Lamb countered by Davidson picking up the jack to
take shot. Lamb immediately replied with a great backhand wood to retake
shot and then put in a good second wood to put the pressure on Davidson
who had just one wood left. The defending champion rose to the occasion
ditching the jack to leave him just 3-2 behind. Davidson conjured up a
lovely first wood on the fifth end drawing onto the jack and then added a
second. For the first time the Hempnall star began to put serious
pressure on the England international as he drew in a third bowl. David
Lamb elected to attack with his final wood of the end but Davidson’s
woods survived and for the first time Neil Davidson moved into the lead
by 5-3. The sixth end proved to be a big one after Davidson set a short
jack and drew to it with his opening bowl. By the time Davidson came to
play his last wood of the end he bravely took the opportunity to take
out David Lamb’s best wood and hold a full house of four. Lamb tried to
draw into the head with his last bowl but failed and suddenly Davidson
was 9-3 up and Lamb had a mountain to climb if he was to get back into
the match. On the seventh and penultimate end David Lamb hit back with
an excellent final wood to take Davidson’s best wood out of the head to
score two shots and reduce the deficit to 9-5. This left Lamb needing a
full house to force an extra end or Davidson would retain his title. Two
good opening bowls from David Lamb gave him hope but Davidson played a
killer bowl with his third wood to leave him holding two shots. David
Lamb saw his chance of winning the title slipping away and with his
final wood used weight in an attempt to retrieve the situation. In truth
there was little chance of success with the head how it was and it was
no surprise that Davidson’s bowls survived the attack to leave him
holding two shots and an 11-5 victory. In the semi-finals Neil Davidson
had beaten Halvergate’s Robbie Lamb while David Lamb had beaten Bob
Oatway of First Bus. In the third place play-off Bob Oatway beat Robbie
Lamb by 8-6. Norfolk Chairman Selwyn Goldsmith presented the prizes and
thanked Peter Smart & Bob Oatway for organizing the event.
Posted 15-1-12 
Neil Davidson of Hempnall who retained his Norfolk Singles title
Norfolk Singles Finalists David Lamb of Halvergate and winner Neil Davidson of Hempnall
Barley's Select beaten by in-form Norfolk Over 60's
Former
Suffolk county star Derek Barley brought a Select team to Lakeside for a
match against Norfolk Over 60’s but could not stop Norfolk recording a
31-17 home win. Norfolk started well with a 6-2 points win in the first
session with Sheila Redwood, Billie Barker & Melvyn Barker leading
the way with a 14-8 win. Barley’s Select hit straight back to level the
game in the second session with only Alice Payne, Keith Halford &
Mike Boswell successful for Norfolk. In the third session Malcolm
Reynolds, Margaret Reynolds & Sue Hunt scored their second win of
the day but with only Jane Frary’s triple, who drew 6-6, adding to
Norfolk’s total Derek Barley’s team moved 13-11 up. Norfolk Over 60’s
moved up a gear in the next session sweeping the board with four wins as
Rex Cox, Marjorie Hall & Geoff Payne all skipped their triples to
their first wins of the day and Mike Boswell’s triple scored their
second win. Another good session followed with Peter Stearman, Ted
Redwood & Colin Coman winning 6-4, Geraldine Potter, Eric Frary
& Jane Frary winning 7-6 & Malcolm Reynolds, Margaret Reynolds
& Sue Hunt winning 6-3 to move Norfolk into a 25-15 lead. In the
final session another three wins were put on the board with Geoff
Payne’s triple winning 11-4, Marjorie Hall’s triple winning 7-3 &
Mike Boswell winning 8-7. A good day was had by all with players
enjoying a carvery at the interval. After the match Derek Barley invited
Norfolk Over 60’s Organizer Teresa Goldsmith to a return match at
Carlton Colville.
Posted 14-1-12 Hevingham’s nightmare run continues Hevingham
remain bottom of the Tens League without a point after their sixth
successive defeat in a row. At home to league leaders Bob Carter the
home side led by one shot at the interval after Pat Bunn, Gordon Crowe
& Maurice Kemp beat Nigel Willard’s triple 14-10 with Kim Bridge
& Trevor Brown replying for Carter with a 12-9 win against Pat
Williamson & Vic Woods. The damage was done in the second half as
Carter pair Jason & Melvin Woods ran riot beating Gill Bunn &
George Clarke 23-5 while Robert Howlett’s Carter triple won by 15-9
against David Sharpe.
Posted 14-1-12
Tough Draw for Norfolk Teams in I.C.C Stockport Metro League seeded straight into knock-out stage It
could not have been a worse draw for the Norfolk Premier and Norfolk
“A” teams who have battled through the group stages to reach the
preliminary round of the Inter-County Championships. Norfolk Premier
will face defending champions Cheshire Premier who have won the title
for the last five years, a record breaking run that has even surpassed
the feats of the legendary Ted Messer managed Kent side. Norfolk “A” has
been drawn to play four time winners West Sussex “A”. The talking point
of the publication of the draw for the knock-out stages is the
inclusion of the Stockport Metro League in the preliminary round of the
I.C.C Premier Team section. Stockport Metro has twice been denied County
status and has not taken part in any of the qualifying stages of the
Inter-County Championships which has always been limited to only County
Teams representing recognized counties. Stockport Metro bowlers
therefore have to register through recognized neighbouring County
associations such as Cheshire. The E.S.M.B.A Inter-County rules
concerning “Eligibility of Players” clearly state that “A player may
only play in the Inter-County Championships for the County in which he
or she is normally resident or any other County through which he or she
has been registered with the E.S.M.B.A during the previous year”. It is
therefore unclear how the rules of the E.S.M.B.A I.C.C competition allow
the seeding of the Stockport Metro League directly into the knock-outs,
or entry into the I.C.C, as they have no registered players of their
own because they are not a County Association. It also remains unclear
as to if this move will now lead to other leagues applying to enter the
Inter-County Championships and how the E.S.M.B.A will react to any such
applications. Social networking sites, on which short mat bowlers
exchange veiws on the sport, have already seen some well known
international bowlers critical of the decision.
Posted 12-1-12
East Tuddenham on the rise East
Tuddenham have made a great start to the New Year with an 8-2 home win
against Bure League leaders Kirby Bedon following an easy 10-0 home win
against bottom club Horsford BC. A close first half saw Tuddenham’s
Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & Peter Smart beat Phil Watson’s Kirby
Bedon triple 14-6 while Kirby’s Shirley Brown, Joe Brown & Brian
Saunders replied with an 18-8 win against Russell Harris and his triple.
After the break Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner & John Turner of
East Tuddenham had a super start against Selwyn Goldsmith’s Kirby triple
to lead 11-2 after eight ends but the visitors finished strongly
winning six of the last seven ends to cut the deficit to 13-10. A vital
final wood by John Turner on the thirteenth end, when Kirby Bedon were
holding two shots, proved to be the match winner. Tuddenham’s Gillian
Amos, Gerald Potter & Robin Amos recovered from 8-2 down to beat
Alistair Hunter’s triple 15-11 to complete the victory. East Tuddenham
found things much easier against the struggling Horsford BC side with
Russell Harris winning 27-6, Peter Smart winning 25-8, Robin Amos
winning 18-9 & John Turner winning 14-8. Coltishall also picked up
two wins to improve their position. Mally Catchpole, Eddie Edridge &
Willie Jefferies of Coltishall led the way at Anglian Windows with a
26-6 win against Avril Walker’s triple as the visitors took maximum
points. Coltishall followed this with a 6-4 win at Horsford Heroes where
Martin Edridge, Jean Barnett & Margaret Harman were in stunning
form beating Vic Webster’s triple by a massive 32-2 margin. Carol Aggas,
Brian Bunting & John Aggas clinched the win with a 12-11 victory
against Chris Woodhouse. Horsford Heroes skips Roger Frank & Mark
“The Marvel” Tuttle collected the home side’s two wins.
Posted 11-01-12
East Tuddenham's John Turner
Norfolk Qualify for I.C.C knock-out stages Both
Norfolk Premier & Norfolk “A” have qualified for the Inter-County
Championship knock-out stages following their double header against
Essex at Lakeside. Norfolk Premier failed to stop Essex Premier
recording their sixth straight win but the narrow defeat by 22-18 made
sure of the runner-up spot. Top Norfolk scorers were Nigel Willard &
Chris Mann in the pairs who won their games by 12-9 & 13-11.
Norfolk “A” scored an excellent 25-15 win against group winners Essex
“A” to also make sure of the runners-up position in their section. The
pairing of Chris Musk & Elaine Cole scored wins of 21-12 &
16-15.
Posted 08-01-12 Norfolk stun Essex to take South-East Rinks title A
brilliant performance against favourites Essex was the key factor as
Norfolk lifted the South-East Rinks Championship title at Wymondham.
Essex were forced to settle for the runners-up spot while Cambs &
Suffolk were left to contest the third & fourth places. Norfolk
manager Lianne Mills had named a strong side and it paid dividends as
the vastly experienced rink of David Lamb, Kim Bridge, Trevor Brown
& Melvin Woods powered their way to a superb 15-4 win against
talented Essex skip Anthony Fautley. Top Essex skip Barry Hedges also
found Norfolk too hot to handle as his rink lost by 11-6 to Mikey
George, Jean Woods, Debbie Phillips & Brian Saunders. Tyrone Musk,
George Clarke, Chris Mann & John Turner continued the onslaught
beating Matt Sifford’s rink 13-8. Chris Musk, Sheila Bragg, Les Chadwick
& Peter Smart drew 7-7 with Jack Shepard’s rink as Norfolk
collected seven out of the eight points on offer and a 46-25 shots win
against the highly rated Essex side. Peter Smart’s rink stormed to a
22-4 win against Gwen Siggee’s Cambridgeshire rink and John Turner’s
rink beat Jim Siggee 18-9. Brian Saunders’ rink drew 7-7 & Melvin
Woods’ rink drew 6-6 in the other games against Cambridgeshire as
Norfolk collected six out of eight points. Another six points were
earned at Suffolk’s expense as the Norfolk bandwagon rolled on with
Melvin Woods’ win of 12-6 the top score in that encounter. Essex swept
Suffolk aside in their games which included a 17-6 win for Barry Hedges
& a 15-6 win for Jack Shepard as they picked up all eight points.
Essex took six out of eight points against Cambs with three massive wins
as Barry Hedges won 18-6, Anthony Fautley won 21-2 & Jack Shepard
won by 26-2. The games between Cambs & Suffolk were effectively a
third place play-off with Cambs winning three of the four games. The
final points tally left Norfolk as champions with 19 points, Essex in
second place with 15 points, Cambridgeshire third on 10 points and
Suffolk trailing in last place on 4 points.
Posted 08-01-12
Norfolk - South-East Rinks Champions
Carter suffer knock-out blow at Coltishall Coltishall
started the New Year with a bang knocking out Norwich Cup holders Bob
Carter in the quarter-finals. The visitors conceded with a session still
to play after Coltishall has built up an unbeatable 14-6 lead.
Coltishall took an early 3-1 lead after Carol Aggas, Brian Bunting &
John Aggas opened with a 7-1 win against Melvin Woods’ triple while
Willie Jefferies drew 5-5 with Nigel Willard. Coltisall opened up a 7-1
points lead in the second session as Martin Edridge, Jean Barnett &
Margaret Harman beat Trevor Brown 6-3 and Vernon Bunn, Peter Barnett
& Les Harman beat Robert Howlett 5-3. Carter narrowed the gap to 8-4
in the third session, their first win delivered by Sue Hunt, Jamie
Forester & Nigel Willard who beat John Aggas by 7-4, while Margaret
Reynolds, Jason Woods & Melvin Woods held Willie Jefferies to a 5-5
draw. The cup holders knew that the fourth session was vital if they
were to keep in the match but it was Coltishall who rose to the
occasion. Margaret Harman’s triple powered to a 7-2 win against Robert
Howlett while Les Harman’s triple snatched a 6-5 win against Trevor
Brown to take Coltishall into a 12-4 lead. This left Carter with the
huge task of needing to win the remaining four games as well as making
up a fourteen shot deficit. This proved to be too much as Margaret
Harman’s triple made sure of a Coltishall victory by beating Melvin
Woods by 8-2 while Trevor Brown scored a consolation 7-5 win against
John Aggas before Carter conceded with a session left to play.
Posted 06-01-12 
Coltishall's Peter Barnett - Two wins against his former side Bob Carter
Big Weekend in prospect for Norfolk County Teams Norfolk’s
hopes of progressing into the knock-out stages of the Inter-County
Championships are high with just one match remaining in the group
stages. Norfolk Premier has achieved four wins from five games so far
and they have the opportunity to inflict a defeat on unbeaten Essex
Premier at Lakeside Country Club in Lyng on Sunday 8th
January. Norfolk’s attack will be spearheaded by singles specialists
David Lamb of Halvergate & England and former England Singles
Champion Trevor Brown of Bob Carter while Norfolk’s other England
internationals Chris Mann of Wymondham & Melvin Woods of Bob Carter
will skip a pair and a rink respectively. The powerful Essex side have
already made sure of top spot but Norfolk are thirty-three points clear
of third placed Northants and it would take a complete meltdown to let
Northants back in the frame. Norfolk “A” have also won four out of five
games in their section and they will be keen to avenge the 32-8
battering that they took when they visited Essex “A” earlier in the
season. Norfolk “A” are twenty-one points ahead of third placed Suffolk
but know that they need to get points on the board to hold their
position. It will be a busy weekend as on Saturday 7th
January Norfolk will compete for the annual South-East Rinks
Championship against Suffolk, Cambridgeshire & Essex. This season
the event will be held in Norfolk at Ketts Park, Wymondham where the
action will begin at 9.30am. Norfolk manager Lianne Mills has named a
strong team to represent Norfolk at Wymondham. Rink One. Mikey George, Jean Woods, Debbie Phillips & Brian Saunders. Rink Two. Bob Oatway, Kim Bridge, Trevor Brown & Melvin Woods. Rink Three. Chris Musk, Sheila Bragg, Les Chadwick & Peter Smart. Rink Four. Andrew Stratton, George Clarke, Chris Mann & John Turner. Maximum allocation for Norfolk in Nationals The
E.S.M.B.A have announced the allocations for this year’s England
National Championships and Norfolk have again received the maximum
allocation of four entries in each of the events. Kempston I.B.C in
Bedfordshire has been confirmed as the venue.
Posted 2-1-12 
Wymondham's Chris Mann & Carter's Trevor Brown - busy weekend coming up for Norfolk
The Big 2 in Breckland Showdown Connaught "A" are now the only unbeaten team in the Breckland League
after beating both Connaught “B” & Wymondham by narrow 6-4 margins.
Not for the first time Connaught “A” found themselves in difficulty
against Connaught “B” and will view this as four points lost against a
team in the bottom half of the table. In fact it could have been much
worse as with one end left on both mats in the second half the teams
were still level on shots over-all. Mike Parsons, Tyrone Musk &
Sylvia Parsons opened for title chasing Connaught “A” and when they
moved into an early 5-1 lead against Peter Hambling, Ralf Ramm & Joe
Li-Rocchi it looked as though the game would go their way. Instead the
Connaught “B” triple, with Ralf Ramm displaying great form in his
comeback game after injury, hit back to win by 14-9. Diana Adcock, Ray
Wells & Bill Adcock gave Connaught “A” a five shot interval lead as
they beat Alison Rush’s triple 20-10. After the break Heather Winup, Len
Thurston & Alan Marshall of Connaught “B” pulled off a shock 18-11
win against John Winup, Rita Secker & Owen Secker and the Connaught
“A” triple could have no complaints over the final result. Chris Musk,
Ollie Allen & Sheila Bragg were left to save the day for Connaught
“A” by beating Ron Maddern, John Mitchell & Steve Hall by 15-10.
Sheila Bragg’s all county team triple would have been expected to rack
up a heavy win but both triples won nine ends apiece and a full house on
the sixth end was the deciding factor in Bragg’s favour. Three days
later the match of the week took place as Connaught “A” entertained
Wymondham with both teams unbeaten. After Connaught “A” had dominated
the Breckland for years the transformation of Wymondham, from being
perennial also-rans to league champions, has certainly added spice to
this league. England’s precocious young star Chris “Blazerman” Mann was
in action in the first half for Wymondham with another talented young
man, Mikey George, at lead. Veteran Peter King was playing at two for
the visitors against Rita Secker, Lee Fallows & Owen Secker of
Connaught “A”. Since moving from Yaxham the Seckers have enjoyed good
form for Connaught while the polished Lee Fallows has not yet fully
realized his rich potential possibly because of his lack of mat time due
to work commitments. Mann’s triple began in style and after nine ends
had moved into a 13-2 lead. At this point Connaught made what would
prove an inspired change with Fallows moving to skip and Owen Secker
going to number two. The tempo of the game totally changed with Mann’s
triple suddenly finding themselves under pressure, and to the delight of
the home supporters Connaught stormed back to lead 15-13 with an end to
go. Mann’s triple could only manage a single on the final end to leave
Connaught celebrating a memorable 15-14 win. In the other first half
game Wymondham’s Roger Steele, Mervyn Barker & Brian Saunders faced
Chris Musk, Ray Wells & Sylvia Parsons. It has been a great season
for Sylvia Parsons so far, despite her shock defeat in their previous
home match, and it looked like normal service had been resumed as her
triple quickly built up a 12-4 lead. But again an inspired playing order
change altered the course of the game after Mervyn Barker & Roger
Steele swapped positions for Wymondham. The Wymondham triple then reeled
off six successive winning ends to turn the game on it’s head and lead
16-12. Connaught tried to counter by switching Ray Wells to skip but it
was to no avail as Saunders’ triple ground out an 18-15 win. The
excitement of the first half left the teams level on two points apiece,
with Wymondham 32-30 up on shots, and everything to play for.
Wymondham’s Debbie Phillips has been in superb form, and with Billie
Barker at lead and the enigmatic Andrew Stratton at two, much was
expected of them. Against them was the vastly experienced triple of
Diana Adcock, Derek Liles & Bill Adcock carrying Connaught hopes.
Although Connaught led 5-1 early on the match quickly tightened up with
Debbie Phillips displaying her versatility drawing and firing with equal
aplomb to drive her triple into a 10-6 lead after twelve ends. Adcock’s
triple were not ready to concede yet though as they scored a two and
then a four to retake the lead by 12-10. Back came Wymondham with a one
and then a three and they were back in front by two shots with two ends
to go. Adcock’s triple took a single on the penultimate end to cut the
deficit to just 14-13 going into the final end. Not for the first time
this season Debbie Phillips had all the pressure on her as she stepped
up to play the game’s last bowl with the opposition holding. Yet again
she proved to be more than able to take the pressure as she produced a
great wood to take two shots and a 15-13 win. The remaining game saw
Connaught field an all county team triple of Tyrone Musk, Ollie Allen
& Sheila Bragg against Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher & Mark
Linsdell. Norfolk’s tenacious county captain Sheila Bragg was in no mood
to surrender Connaught’s 100% record and, well supported by her lead
and number two, steered her way to a 20-12 win against Linsdell’s triple
and clinched a 6-4 home win for Connaught “A”. Despite now winning nine
straight games Connaught “A” have to face the uncomfortable facts that
they trail defending champions Wymondham by seven points and that
Wymondham’s shot difference is now +425 while Connaught’s is +245.
Coltishall entertained Woodbastwick in the Bure League,
and with Christmas almost here, this was only Coltishall’s second Bure
League match of the season. A tight first half saw Woodbastwick’s Brenda
Frost, Derek Sheldrake & Jim Couling go down by a narrow 12-10
margin against Vernon Bunn, John Franco & Willie Jefferies. The
other first half game was even tighter as Coltishall’s Reg Browes,
Martin Edridge & Margaret Harman were held to a 12-12 draw by
Michael Fox, Derek Oakes & Tony Wright. In the second half
Woodbastwick’s Roger Green, Elaine Cole & Trevor Hallett upped the
pace to beat Les Harman’s triple 19-9. In the remaining game Carol
Aggas, George Munford & John Aggas edged home 13-10 for Coltishall
against Peter Jablonowski’s triple to leave the match drawn at 5-5. Four
days later Woodbastwick visited Horsford Heroes and yet another close
match ensued with both teams winning on two mats. Norma Jablonowski,
Dennis Lynes & Peter Jablonowski opened with a 14-13 win for
Woodbastwick against David Woodrow’s triple but Lynn Frank, Mick Dale
& Roger Frank replied for Horsford with a 15-10 win against Jim
Couling’s triple to give the home side a four shot interval lead. After
the break Trevor Hallett’s Woodbastwick triple beat Chris Woodhouse
15-13 but Andy Drummie, Sue Fox & Mark “The Marvel” Tuttle secured a
6-4 points win by beating Tony Wright 16-11. The previous evening saw a
local derby as Horsford BC entertained Horsford Heroes. It has proved
to be a poor season so far for Horsford BC and this was no exception as
they crashed to a 10-0 home defeat making it six straight losses. Lynn
Frank, Mick Dale & Roger Frank won 24-7, Derek Gaskin, Carol Kemp
& Vic Webster won 25-10, Peter Fox, Duncan Nixon & Chris
Woodhouse won 16-10 and Mally Kemp, Sue Fox & Mark Tuttle won by
19-9 in a one-sided encounter. Hevingham enjoyed a solid start against
East Tuddenham winning both first half games. The injection of
Sprowston’s City League players Peter Smart, Les Chadwick & Linda
Chadwick into the Tuddenham side gives them a balanced look but it did
not help at Hevingham as their triple slumped to a 21-4 defeat at the
hands of Pat Bunn, Pat Williamson & Maurice Kemp. Richard Hart,
Gordon Crowe & Vic “Quiet Man” Woods faced a harder game but won by
12-10 against Russell Flint, ex England player Madge Meachen &
Russell Harris. Mervyn Williamson, Betty Richardson & David Sharpe
earned Hevingham’s third win beating Albert Palgrave, Chris Turner &
John Turner 16-10. Geraldine Potter, Gerald Potter & Robin Amos
earned East Tuddenham their only win beating George Clarke’s triple
12-11 as Hevingham recorded an 8-2 home win. Halvergate suffered their
first Thurne League
defeat of the season as they went down 6-4 at Bradwell. Bradwell also
won 10-0 at home to Hemsby. Second placed Woodbastwick are just five
points behind Halvergate with a game in hand after an 8-2 home win
against Hemsby. City of Norwich League
leaders Sprowston SSC opened up a nine point gap with a 10-4 home win
against Horsford Heroes. Second placed British Rail lost ground after
losing 14-0 at Horsford BC and by 10-4 at Horsford Heroes. First Bus
moved up the table by taking a maximum 14-0 home win against Felthorpe
and beating Anglian Windows 10-4. Costessey won 14-0 at home to Thorpe
Marriott but suffered a defeat of the same margin at Anglian Windows.
Bottom club Old Bonds lost two more games, they went down 10-4 at
Jarrolds and 12-2 at Anglian Windows. Taverham will be happy with their
second win of the campaign, a 9-5 home win against Jarrolds while Deaf
Sports slumped to a 14-0 defeat at Horsford Heroes.
Posted 25-12-11 
Horsford Heroes beat Horsford BC 10-0 in Bure League local derby
A Musk win for Connaught Connaught made home advantage count in the Tens League
beating Hevingham by just five shots at their Attleborough venue. Chris
Musk & Sylvia Parsons started well to lead 8-1 after seven ends
against Pat Williamson & Vic Woods but a change of playing order
helped the Hevingham pair to cut the deficit to 8-7. A good finish by
the home pairing though saw off the Hevingham challenge and they won
13-9. Bob Oatway’s triple added a 14-9 win and Alison Rush skipped her
triple to a tight 12-11 win. Gill Bunn & George Clarke scored the
visitors only win beating Diana & Bill Adcock by 17-12 but could not
stop Connaught picking up a 2-0 home win. Bure League
action saw Woodbastwick win 6-4 at Horsford BC with Damian Lamb, Dennis
Lynes & Jim Couling cruising to a 23-8 win. Horsford BC also went
down by 8-2 at home to Anglian Windows. Brenda Sizer, Diane Halford
& Ken Dease were the night’s biggest winners beating Karen Warnes
19-7. Connaught “A” continued their hot pursuit of Wymondham in the Breckland League
notching up their seventh straight win as they sunk Hingham Green 10-0
on points and 100-41 on shots. Russell Hales, Ollie Allen & Sheila
Bragg won by 27-6 & Diana Adcock, Ty Musk & Bill Adcock won 26-6
as the visitors found the going tough. Terry Newby’s triple won 22-10
as Carleton Rode won 6-4 at Forncett. Hingham Yellow won 6-4 at Harling
with Jenny Potton, Mary Potter & Ken Buller winning 29-5, it was the
Yellows first win of the season. Unfortunately the next evening saw the
Yellows go down 6-4 at home to Connaught “B” with the
Thurston-Hall-Marshall triple winning 18-16. David Quadling, Diane
Quadling & John Hunter were on song at Banham where they won 27-9 in
a 6-4 away win for third placed Watton. Wensum League
leaders Bob Carter are still unbeaten after a 7-3 home win against
Thorpe Marriott. Second placed Halvergate cut the gap to five points
after winning 10-0 at home to Coltishall although they will be
disappointed to have missed the opportunity to move even closer when
they lost 6-4 at Woodbastwick. Hempnall continue to walk away with the South Norfolk League
title as they recorded yet another 10-0 win. Saxlingham Nethergate were
the victims this time although the all Norfolk County team triple of
Mark Linsdell, Jon Sparham & David Lamb were forced to come from
behind to beat Geoff Briggs’ triple. In the remaining fixtures
Framingham Earl beat Horsford 8-2 but lost by the same score-line at
home to Saxlingham while Thurton went down 8-2 at Horsford. The Coastal League
completed its fixtures with Woodbastwick Eagles finishing as champions
after winning 16-2 at home to Martham. Woodbastwick Owls finish as
runners-up 16 points behind them. Bradwell Red are third after finishing
with a 16-2 home win against Martham. The draw for the Third Round of
the Norwich Cup
was made at Lakeside Country Club. E.S.M.B.A President George Clarke
and Mrs Lesley Crowe of Hevingham drew out the names under the watchful
eyes of Norwich Cup organizer Selwyn Goldsmith, N.C.S.M.B.A Chairman.
Cup holders Bob Carter were drawn away to Coltishall who will not give
their visitors an easy ride. Last season’s runners-up Connaught “A” were
drawn away to their big Breckland League rivals Wymondham in what
should be another classic. City League giants Sprowston will be
favourites to make it to the semi-finals after being drawn at home to
Connaught “B”. The remaining tie rewarded giant killers Forncett a home
tie against Bure League champions Kirby Bedon. After their tremendous
victory against South Norfolk League champions Hempnall in the last
round Forncett will be full of confidence. 
Russell Hales - 27-6 win
Lamb & Sparham lift Norfolk County Pairs crown
David
Lamb of Halvergate & Jon Sparham of Hempnall won their first ever
Norfolk County Pairs title on a dramatic extra end at Lakeside. Chris
East of Hempnall & Charlie Archer of Broome looked to have their
hands on the trophy with one end to go but they had a melt down on the
last scheduled end and conceded four shots which took the final into a
sudden death extra end on which Lamb & Sparham scored two shots. It
was the first Norfolk Pairs final for all four bowlers and after four
ends the score was tied at 3-3. Charlie Archer played a great bowl on
the fifth end to take his pair 4-3 up and, despite a super last bowl
from Jon Sparham, the next end earned East & Archer another single
and they moved 5-3 up. The seventh end saw Chris East put Lamb &
Sparham under intense pressure with a great opening wood and Charlie
Archer consolidated their position putting them 7-3 up with one
scheduled end to play. With Lamb & Sparham needing a full house to
force an extra end East & Archer just needed a good bowl in the
head. Unfortunately for them the pressure seemed to tell as they failed
to find the killer wood leaving David Lamb & Jon Sparham to draw in
the four bowls they needed. The extra end saw Lamb & Sparham now
dominating the game as they drew their woods to the jack while their
opposition overdrew to the back. Charlie Archer attacked the head with
his last bowl in an attempt to force the jack back but it was not to be
as Lamb & Sparham took two shots to win 9-7. In the play-off for
third place Jenny & Peter Walker of Thorpe Marriott beat Chris &
Tyrone Musk of Connaught 8-4. David Lamb & Jon Sparham reached the
final with a close 7-6 semi-final win over the Walkers in a game that
was tied at 6-6 with an end to go. Chris East & Charlie Archer beat
the Musks 12-1 in the other semi-final. Defending champions Andrew
Stratton & Chris Mann of Wymondham went out in the last 16 against
Jenny & Peter Walker who beat them by 9-7. Three times champion
Nigel Willard, playing with Bob Carter team-mate Trevor Brown, looked on
course for another final but they went down by 9-5 against East &
Archer in the quarter-finals. 
David Lamb & Jon Sparham - Norfolk County Pairs Champions
Chris East & Charlie Archer - lost on a dramatic extra end
Posted 15-12-11
Hempnall make shock Norwich Cup exit at Forncett Forncett
produced the shock result of the season as they fought back from 10-2
down to dump South Norfolk & Tens League giants Hempnall out of the
Norwich Cup. Forncett, struggling in the bottom half of the Breckland
League, entertained the star studded Hempnall side and the match seemed
to be out of their reach by halftime. Hempnall’s Colin Stevenson, Roger
Parker & Neil Davidson easily won their first two games by 8-0 &
15-1, Paul Baker’s triple won 8-1 & Richard Harrowing chalked up a
7-3 win. Charlie Archer’s triple added a 7-4 win against Tony Ottewell
while Merv Boulter’s Forncett triple achieved Forncett’s only first half
win beating Archer 14-0. At this point Hempnall could be excused if
they were already thinking ahead to the next round but the unthinkable
happened as Forncett staged a remarkable comeback against their
illustrious opponents. Daphne Coleman, David Girling & Keith
Humphreys began the recovery with a 7-4 win against Mick Pearce, Jon
Sparham & Richard Harrowing while Rebecca Humphreys, Martin
Humphreys & Peter Lock beat Beryl Smith, Bernie Cudden & Paul
Baker by 9-3 to cut the deficit to 10-6. The black clouds began to
gather for Hempnall in session five as David Barnes, Ethel Coleman &
Tony Ottewell stormed to an 11-2 win against Paul Baker’s triple and
Keith Humphrey’s triple snatched a 6-5 win against Charlie Archer. With
the points now level at 10-10 and only one session remaining the stage
was set for an exciting finale. Forncett were definitely on a roll now
and even the fact that Neil Davidson’s triple, who had already produced
two big wins, were in action would not stop them completing a giant
killing. Peter Lock’s triple put in a magnificent performance beating
Davidson’s triple 5-2 while Mary Boulter, Linda Preece & Merv
Boulter completed a fabulous 14-10 points victory for Forncett by
beating Richard Harrowing’s triple 4-3. The result takes Forncett into
the quarter-finals while Hempnall hold a post-mortem into how they let a
10-2 lead slip away. Deb’s Dream Display Another superb display by Debbie Phillips led the way as Wymondham collected yet another 10-0 maximum in the Breckland League
against Watton. There was just no stopping Debs as she skipped her
triple, with Billie Barker at lead & Jack Barrett at two, to a 28-8
win. Another heavy first half win saw Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher &
Mark Linsdell recover from a slow start to record a 23-11 win. Roger
Braham had played well for Watton as they held Linsdell’s triple to 7-7
after nine ends but his triple only added four more shots after that.
Daphne Braham’s triple also gave Wymondham problems as they built up a
5-1 lead after five ends against Chris Mann but an attacking wood by
Mann on the ninth end that earned five shots proved vital as Wymondham
won 16-13. Brian Saunders’ triple also had to stage a comeback to win
20-12 after trailing 8-1 against John Hunter’s triple. Derek Gray’s last
bowl earned Banham a 5-5 draw at Connaught “B”. Connaught had already
won two games, Joe Li-Rocchi by 24-13 & Alan Marshall by 19-16, and
Val Hambling had won by 20-10 for Banham. In the last game Gray played a
perfect last wood to take shot but Connaught skip Alison Rush still had
her final wood to play. If she had taken shot Connaught would have
celebrated an 8-2 win but to Banham’s relief she was unsuccessful and
the match ended in a 5-5 draw. A good week for Carleton Rode saw them
move up the table after two wins. Neil Davidson was the hero as he
skipped his triple to a 30-12 win against Harling that Carleton won 7-3.
His triple again starred in a 6-4 home win against Hingham Green where
he beat R Leverett 24-3.
Posted 15-12-11
Norfolk “A” success at the seaside Norfolk
“A” won 26-14 at Felixstowe in their vital I.C.C group match against
Suffolk despite losing both Les & Linda Chadwick prior to the start.
Les suffered a severe nosebleed on arrival and had to go to hospital
accompanied by Linda so reserves were drafted in for the game. The team
were up for this match though as they knew that a good result was needed
if they were to progress. Maximum points were earned by Chris Musk
& Elaine Cole in the pairs with wins of 21-8 & 18-8, both
players were praised by the manager who said that they displayed
outstanding form throughout. Josh Baxter, Gerald Chilvers, Joe Brown
& Tyrone Musk won both their rinks games by 10-6 & 15-11. Peter
Smart’s last wood winner gave his triple a 9-8 result in their opening
game and they followed this up with a 15-11 win. Shirley Brown, Ted
Redwood, Malcolm Reynolds & Ray Lamb were unbeaten with a 15-3 win
and a 9-9 draw. Norfolk’s final group game is at home to leaders Essex
in January while Cambs entertain Suffolk. Essex top the
group with 132 points, Norfolk are second on 104 points, Suffolk third
with 83 and Cambs at the foot of the table with 81 points. 
Ray Lamb's rink were unbeaten in Felixstowe
RG Carter win big City League clash Sprowston’s
great run of nine straight wins came to an end at RG Carter where they
lost 10-4, but a 12-2 home win against Jarrolds made sure that Sprowston
finished the week on top. British Rail’s 12-2 home win against Horsford
Heroes left them three points behind Sprowston. RG Carter won 12-2 at
home to fifteenth placed Taverham but will consider this two points
dropped. Taverham also lost 12-2 at County Council. Old Bonds finally
recorded their first win of the campaign when they beat Framingham Earl
12-2. Unfortunately their away form continues to bring them little
success, they were beaten 14-0 at fourth placed Horsford BC and again by
14-0 at Deaf Sports. Thorpe Marriott’s efforts to keep in touch with
the top group of teams were hampered by a painful 12-2 home defeat to
First Bus. Anglian Windows have performed below expectations this
season, considering the talent in their side, but maybe they have put
that all behind them with an excellent 12-2 away win at Jarrolds. A mid
table clash saw Deaf Sports win 10-4 at Felthorpe.
Posted 11-12-11 
Maureen & Ken Dease with Pam Daynes - Anglian Windows happy with 12-2 away win
Connaught get a Rush of form against Thurton Alison Rush skipped her Connaught triple to a big 27-4 win against Thurton in the match of the week in the South Norfolk League.
With runaway leaders Hempnall not playing all the emphasis was on the
clash between the sides currently sitting second & third. Steve Hall
produced his best performance of recent times while Heather Winup &
Alison Rush also hit top form which left Thurton’s Ken McClintock
struggling for shots. With experienced Thurton skip Trevor Howard
playing through the pain barrier with back problems Ken Lurcock, Russell
Hales & Alan Marshall were able to record an 18-9 win for
Connaught. The home side’s third win was gained by Tyrone Musk, Chris
Musk & Sheila Bragg who beat Andy George’s triple 17-6. John
Pidgen’s triple scored the visitors only win of the night beating Derek
Lyles’ triple 12-9 but Connaught were good value for their 8-2 points
win. After four straight wins Horsford lost for the first time this
season going down 6-4 at Saxlingham Nethergate despite scoring a total
of 53 shots against the home teams 49. David Woodrow’s Horsford triple
scored the night’s biggest win beating Alan Banham 19-10. Geoff Briggs
played a vital last wood in his game against Horsford’s Roger Frank to
snatch a 10-9 win which saved the day for the home side. Saxlingham also
won 8-2 at home to Mulbarton with Geoff Briggs’ triple leading the way
with a 27-9 victory. Framingham Earl have not had the best of seasons so
far things did not improve as they lost 8-2 at home to Thurton. Peter
Walker’s Thurton triple ran riot winning 27-2 in a game that saw only
Mervyn Blaza win for the home side as he pulled off an 18-12 result
against John Pidgen. Mid table side Watton eased their way to a 9-1 home
win against Wreningham. Defending Tens League
champions Bob Carter collected an easy 4-0 home win against Kirby
Bedon. Carter’s Kim Bridge & Trevor Brown beat Kirby’s Jill &
Phil Watson 24-4 while Robert Howlett’s triple came back from 5-1 down
to beat Selwyn Goldsmith’s triple 18-8. A big 23-4 win for Frank Edy,
Malcolm Reynolds & Nigel Willard against Joe Brown’s triple finished
off the visitors although Shirley Brown & Brian Saunders scored a
13-10 win for Kirby in the second half pairs game against Jason &
Melly Woods. Coltishall beat Hevingham 3-0 mainly due to a superb 27-4
win for Martin Edridge, Brian Bunting & Peter Barnett against David
Sharpe’s triple. Carol & John Aggas added a 13-12 win against Pat
Williamson & Vic Woods but Hevingham won the other two games. Gill
Bunn & George Clarke beat Mally Catchpole & Willie Jefferies
while Pat Bunn, Richard Hart & Maurice Kemp beat George Munford’s
triple 17-9. Kirby Bedon completed a double over Connaught but had to
fight all the way for a 2-0 home win. The pairs won the match for Kirby
with Shirley & Joe Brown beating Chris Musk & Sylvia Parsons
23-6 & Carol Johnson & Alistair Hunter winning by 16-11 against
Diana & Bill Adcock. Mike Parsons, Ty Musk & Bob Oatway struck
back for Connaught in the triples beating Gerald Chilvers’ triple 19-5
and John Winup, Joe LiRocci & Alison Rush won by 10-8 against Jimmy
Dye’s triple but could not stop Kirby picking up the points. Wymondham
continued to pile up the points and the shots in the Breckland League
as they blew away Forncett by 10-0 on points and 108-28 on shots.
Billie Barker, Peter King & Debbie Phillips opened with a 26-5 win
against Keith Humphries while Roger Steele, Melvyn Barker & Brian
Saunders romped to a 32-9 win against Tony Ottewell to leave the
visitors shell-shocked. Saunders triple had led by 11-1 after five ends
but the visitors threatened to pull off a shock as they cut the deficit
to just 13-9 after eleven ends. Saunders’ triple then took control
winning the remaining ends. After the break there was let up as Andrew
Stratton, Mary Fisher & Mark Linsdell won 30-3 and Mikey George,
Andrew Jackson & Chris Mann won by 20-11. In a busy few days for
Forncett they achieved better results in two other games. At Hingham
Yellow they collected a 9-1 away win with Rebecca Humphreys, Martin
Humphreys & Peter Lock winning 22-15. Forncett had to settle for a
5-5 draw at home to Banham where the teams finished level on 67 shots
apiece. Dennis Rumsby’s triple opened with a 19-11 win while Tony
Ottewell’s triple added a 23-13 win to leave Forncett in control. After
the break Banham made a superb comeback with John Williamson’s triple
winning 21-10 & Derek Gray’s triple winning 22-15 to grab a draw.
Connaught “A” made it six wins in a row beating Harling 10-0. Top
scoring triple were Rita Secker, Gordon Wilcox & Owen Secker who won
by 22-10 while Mike Parsons, Lee Fallows & Sylvia Parsons added an
18-10 win. Carleton Rode also took maximum points beating Hingham Yellow
10-0 with Jill Davidson, Michael Newby & Russell Davidson winning
19-11. Woodbastwick Eagles are eleven points clear in the Coastal League
after a 15-3 home win against Bradwell Red. Second placed Woodbastwick
Owls won 14-4 at home to Bradwell Blue. Hemsby continue to struggle
after losing 15-3 at Bradwell Red. Coltishall are through to the quarter-finals of the Norfolk County Cup
after winning 7-1 at home to Hevingham. Captain Willie Jefferies beat
Vic Woods 18-12, Peter Barnett beat David Sharpe 22-9 & John Aggas
won by 19-6 against Pat Williamson as Coltishall found the match
surprisingly comfortable. The remaining game between Jean Barnett &
George Clarke was drawn 15-15. Coltishall now face a trip to Connaught
“A” to face one of the Breckland League’s big guns. Coltishall also took
a step into the next round of the Norwich Cup
with a 16-8 home win against Anglian Windows. Coltishall’s John Aggas
gave nothing away all night winning his games by 8-1, 7-2 & 7-2 but
Mike Boswell picked up maximum points for the visitors winning by 6-2,
6-1 & 7-4. Posted 08-12-11 
John Aggas - top Coltishall skip in Norwich Cup match
Mike Boswell of Anglian Windows - maximum points were not enough
Dewing the business in Norfolk County Triples It
was an all Sprowston affair in the Norfolk County Triples Championship
final with Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & David Dewing defeating
Margaret Poynter, Joan Costello & John Poynter by 13-2 in a
one-sided final. It was the Chadwick’s first county title but a second
for Dewing who had lifted the County Fours title in 1999. In the third
place play-off Wymondham’s Andrew Stratton, Debbie Phillips & Chris
Mann won by 8-3 against Jenny & Peter Walker of Thorpe Marriott
playing with Haddiscoe’s Kerry Greenacre. Both semi-finals were close
with Dewing’s triple claiming their final place with an 8-7 extra end
victory against Peter Walker while John Poynter’s triple beat England
international Chris Mann 8-6. The strong looking triple of Nigel Willard
of Carter, John Turner of Tuddenham & Melvin Woods of Carter were
beaten 7-5 by Mann’s triple in the quarter-finals. Another big triple to
exit at that stage were David Lamb of Halvergate, Jon Sparham of
Hempnall & Trevor Brown of Carter who lost 8-5 to the eventual
champions from Sprowston. Posted 29-11-11
David Dewing, Linda & Les Chadwick of Sprowston are the new Norfolk Triples Champions
Carter Cruise into Wensum Cup Semi-Finals Cromer
were put to the sword by the mean machine of Bob Carter who reached the
Wensum Cup semi-finals by 14-2 on aggregate. Home advantage failed to
help Cromer as the Drayton side took a maximum 8-0 win at the seaside
and added a 6-2 win at Bob Carter. Semi-finalists are Bob Carter, Thorpe
Marriott, Woodbastwick & Halvergate. 6 out of 6 for Halvergate Halvergate
lead the Thurne League after close wins against the teams in second
& third place. They won 6-4 at home to second placed Woodbastwick
which followed a 6-4 away win at Hemsby to make it six straight wins.
The match at Hemsby could not have been closer with just one shot
separating the teams at the end. Hemsby also suffered a home defeat
against Bradwell with the visitors pulling off a 7-3 victory but they
did much better at Stalham winning by 8-2. Shock Result in City League Defending
City League champions RG Carter suffered a shock 11-3 defeat at
Felthorpe which leaves them playing catch-up behind the top two. Title
contenders Sprowston took full advantage beating fourth placed Thorpe
Marriott 12-2 to make it eight straight wins. Leaders British Rail held
on to the top spot courtesy of a 12-2 home win against County Council.
Despite their excellent win against the champions Felthorpe failed to
come up with the goods in their other games as they lost 12-2 at
Costessey and 14-0 at Deaf Sports. First Bus had a busy week but would
have hoped for better results. They did win 10-4 at struggling
Framingham Earl but went down 10-4 at Jarrolds. By far their worst
result was a surprise 12-2 home defeat at the hands of Horsford BC. Hevingham reach Bure Cup Semi-Finals After
their 16-8 Bure Cup first leg win at Horsford BC the second leg proved
to be a stroll for Hevingham as they thumped the visitors 22-2 for a
38-10 aggregate win. Three home triples picked up maximums as George
Clarke won by 10-1, 7-4 & 7-3, Vic Woods won by 10-1, 7-3 & 12-1
and David Sharpe won by 10-2, 9-2 & 13-0. The result earns them a
semi-final tie against old rivals Kirby Bedon. Posted 4-12-11
Heroes all the way at East Tuddenham A
shock result in the Bure League saw Horsford Heroes win 10-0 at East
Tuddenham. Chris Woodhouse’s triple pulled off a 20-6 win against Robin
Amos’ triple while Mark Tuttle won 13-10, Vic Webster won 19-16 &
Roger Franks won 14-10. Anglian Windows went down for the fourth time in
five games as Woodbastwick achieved an 8-2 away win. Peter Johnson,
Norma Jablonowski & Peter Jablonowski led the way with an 18-11 win
while Alan Williamson was the only home skip to win with a 13-9 victory.
 
Horsford Heroes Chris Woodhouse & Mark Tuttle
Aggas pairing spoil the party at Hempnall Tens League leaders Hempnall won at home to Coltishall but
fell three shots short of what they needed to take maximum points.
Former England stars Carol & John Aggas of Coltishall cost Hempnall
what they hope will not prove to be a vital point as they beat Mark
Linsdell & Chris Mann 11-10. The other three games all went
Hempnall’s way with Joan Cann & Paul Baker top scoring with a 19-7
win against Jean Barnett & Margaret Harman in their 3-0 home win.
Kirby Bedon won 2-0 at Connaught in a tight encounter. Both pairs games
were won by the home side with Christine Musk & Sylvia Parsons
winning 17-12 and Ty Musk & Bob Oatway winning 19-8. Kirby Bedon
earned their away victory by just three shots as Phil Watson’s triple
won 19-11 & Alistair Hunter’s triple won 20-9.
Posted 02-12-11 3 full houses for Mann as Hingham Green are crushed Wymondham
made it six wins in a row in the Breckland League as they crushed
visitors Hingham Green 10-0. Chris Mann’s triple scored three full
houses of six shots on their way to a resounding 37-4 win in a one sided
first half that also saw Brian Saunders’ triple rattle up a 30-3
score-line. After the break Andrew Stratton’s triple continued in the
same manner with a 23-6 win and the maximum 10-0 result was ensured as
Mark Linsdell’s triple won 22-9. In their previous match Wymondham had
beaten Carleton Rode by 10-0 but Brian Saunders had to pull out a great
last wood winner to snatch a 17-16 win against Neil Davidson. Carleton
Rode fared better away to Connaught “B” where they pulled off an 8-2
win. Neil Davidson’s triple inflicted a 23-8 defeat on Alan Marshall’s
triple after scoring a four on the first end. The Connaught triple were
not helped by Ken Lurcock having to retire from the game after he was
taken ill. Watton won 8-2 at Hingham Green with Margaret Hunter’s triple
winning 19-8. John Higgs’ Hingham triple achieved the evenings biggest
win of 25-9. Despite fielding just eleven players Forncett beat Harling
8-2. First Bus crash out of Norwich Cup First
Bus entertained Wymondham in the Norwich Cup and the first two sessions
were shared. Tony Gray’s triple got First Bus off to a good start
beating Peter King’s triple 7-0 but Mark Linsdell replied for Wymondham
with a 10-3 win over Maurice Kemp. Chris Mann’s Wymondham triple reeled
off a second session 11-0 win against Rex Cox but Bob Oatway kept the
points score level beating Brian Saunders 6-5. Wymondham
made the big breakthrough on the third session as Mark Linsdell beat
Tony Gray 4-3 and Peter King beat Maurice Kemp 7-5 to put Wymondham 8-4
up on points. Bob Oatway’s triple hit back by beating Chris mann 11-3 in
the fourth session but Brian Saunders ensured that Wymondham remained
four points ahead by beating Rex Cox 5-4. The fifth session proved to be
the last as Chris Mann beat Maurice Kemp 6-1 and with Mark Linsdell
drawing with Rex Cox Wymondham led 13-7 with a session to go and First
Bus conceded. Woodbastwick teams top of the tree in Coastal League Woodbastwick
Eagles remain top of the Coastal League after a 17-1 away win at Hemsby
but Woodbastwick Eagles are hot on their trail after three successive
home wins. A 13-1 win against South Walsham, a 14-4 win against Martham
followed by a 12-6 win against Hemsby leaves the Owls fifteen points
behind the Eagles in second place. In the other games played South
Walsham won 10-8 at home to Hemsby and two days later South Walsham won
12-6 at Bradwell Red. Posted 29-11-11
Norfolk’s Fab Four snatch win in the Fens After
a disappointing opening session Norfolk “A” stormed back to grab a
21-19 win against Cambs “A” at Manea. The home team began well with
singles players Joe Peters & Tony Kent both winning. Peters beat
Sprowston’s David Dewing 17-8 while Kent inflicted a 24-7 defeat on
Colin Coman. The pairs also lost their opening games with Jenny &
Peter Walker going down by just 10-9 against the Fysons while Christine
Musk & Roger Green lost by 14-6. Norfolk opened their triples
account brightly though with Sprowston’s Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick
& Peter Smart winning 12-2 and Sheila Redwood, Steven Lamb &
Robbie Lamb winning 9-7. The rinks were shared as Shirley Brown, Ted
Redwood, Malcolm Reynolds & Ray Lamb won 12-6 & Elaine Oatway,
Gerald Chilvers, Joe Brown & Ty Musk lost 11-9. This left Cambs
holding a 10-6 points lead at the interval. The second half fightback
began well with Norfolk’s singles bowlers putting their first half
defeats behind them and turning the tables on Peters & Kent. David
Dewing beat Kent 11-10 while Colin Coman won by 15-5 against Peters. Not
enough to earn the bonus points in the singles but a valuable 4 points
never-the-less. Christine Musk & Roger Green also put their first
half defeat to bed as they won by 13-9 against the Fysons. Jenny &
Peter Walker again kept things tight but lost again, this time by 16-11
but the two bonus points again went to Cambs in the pairs. In the
triples Peter Smart’s triple drew 8-8 to finish the day with three out
of four points. In the other triples game Robbie Lamb played a great
running wood with his last bowl to score two shots and snatch a 9-7 win.
With a shot difference of +16 Norfolk earned nine out of the ten
points on offer in the triples. The rinks games were shared yet again
with Ray Lamb’s four winning by 11-7 to finish the day on maximum points
while Ty Musk’s rink lost their second game of the day by 10-6. With
the shots tight in the rinks it was touch and go which team would earn
the vital bonus points. Ray Lamb’s rink took a fabulous four on the last
end to bring home the points and ensure a 21-19 away win for Norfolk
“A”.
Posted 28-11-11
Halvergate's Ray Lamb and his rink scored a vital four on their last end for Norfolk "A"
Bure Cup Action Coltishall
blew away Anglian Windows in their Bure Cup clash. In the first leg at
Coltishall it was one-way traffic as Coltishall carved out a massive
21-3 points win to make the second leg almost an irrelevancy. Willie
Jefferies’ triple won their games 7-3, 9-3 & 7-5 and Les Harman’s
triple won by 7-4, 6-5 & 8-0 while John Aggas’ triple were unbeaten
with wins of 9-4 & 6-3 & a 3-3 draw. Any hopes of a comeback in
the second leg at Anglian Windows quickly disappeared as Coltishall took
control racking up a 17-3 lead before the match was conceded. After
earning a 12-12 draw at East Tuddenham in the first leg Kirby Bedon are
through to the next round after a 14-6 second leg win with Tuddenham
conceding with a session remaining. Janice Hewitt, Jimmy Dye &
Alistair Hunter were top scorers with wins of 6-2 & 5-2 and a 6-6
draw against Robin Amos’ triple. Bure Triples Heats – Results Woodbastwick heat The
Bure League Triples Championship preliminary rounds are always hotly
contested and once again they produced some excellent games. At
Woodbastwick bowlers struggled to find the lines on the new floor but Hevingham’s Gill Bunn, Marjorie Hall & George Clarke
coped better than the rest finishing unbeaten with seven points. They
opened with an 11-5 win against East Tuddenham’s Linda Chadwick, Les
Chadwick & Peter Smart while Avril Walker, Diane Boswell & Mike Boswell of Anglian Windows
started with a 7-4 win against a Horsford BC triple comprising of N
Woodcock, J Seaton & E Mills. Both Hevingham & Anglian Windows
were unbeaten going into the last session but while Clarke’s triple beat
Gerald Chilver’s Kirby Bedon triple 9-2 Boswell’s triple suffered a 8-3
defeat against Tuddenham. These results left Clarke’s triple qualifying
for final’s night in first place and Boswell’s triple also qualifying
in second place courtesy of a better shot difference than Smart’s
triple. East Tuddenham heat At the East Tuddenham heat Kirby Bedon’s Janice Hewitt, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith
finished first with seven points. The opening game between the Kirby
triple and Mark Tuttle’s Horsford Heroes triple was a close encounter
with the Kirby triple needing a two on the last end to earn a 6-6 draw.
Wins of 5-3, 8-2 & 6-5 in their next three games saw the Kirby
triple complete a successful evening while Ken Dease, Maureen Dease & Keith Halford of Anglian Windows
earned the second qualifying spot with six points. A 6-3 win against
Bob Burrage’s seeded Horsford BC triple in their last game saw Windows
over the finishing line one point ahead of Mark Tuttle’s triple. David
Sharpe’s Hevingham triple will be disappointed to finish with just one
point as did Burrage’s triple. Anglian Windows heat The heat at Anglian Windows saw a perfect performance by Coltishall’s Les Harman, Margaret Harman & Willie Jefferies collect maximum points. Four points proved enough to earn Lynn Frank, Keith Chapman & Roger Frank of Horsford Heroes
the other qualifying place ahead of Kirby’s seeded triple of Shirley
Brown, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown on shot difference. Hevingham’s
Vic Woods has a good record in this competition but his triple suffered
three defeats and were eliminated with their only point earned in a 5-5
draw against Jim Couling’s Woodbastwick triple. Kirby Bedon heat The heat at Kirby Bedon was contested by just four triples with Chrissie Turner, John Turner & Robin Amos of East Tuddenham winning on shot difference ahead of second placed Mally Catchpole, Peter Barnett & Jean Barnett of Coltishall.
Tuddenham had beaten Coltishall 11-4 in their opening game while
Tuddenham slipped to an 8-6 defeat against John Watson’s Horsford BC
triple in their final game.
Posted 27-11-11
Hempnall Fail the Wymondham Test The
much anticipated Norfolk County Cup match between Wymondham and
Hempnall saw both teams produce a big win in the first half but after
the break it was Wymondham all the way as they scuttled their opponents
cup hopes with a scintillating show of bowls. Roger Steele, Melvyn
Barker & Brian Saunders opened for Wymondham against a strong
looking Hempnall triple of Colin Stevenson, Joan Cann & Paul Baker.
The “Bakerman” has been in great form for Hempnall this season but in
this game he was left in the unfortunate position of spending much of
his time firing at heads as the on form Wymondham triple dominated. With
Roger Steele in superb form at lead Wymondham quickly moved into a 12-0
lead after six ends and Baker’s triple were on their way to a heavy
21-2 defeat. On the other mat it was a different story as Hempnall’s
Mick Pearce, Roger Parker & Neil “The Sheep”Davidson gave the
Wymondham triple of Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher & Mark Linsdell a
beating. A count of five on the second end helped Davidson’s triple into
a 9-0 lead after just three ends and there was no way back for Mark
Linsdell’s triple. It was not a good night for the young Wymondham skip
as the vast experience of veteran Roger Parker and the talent of Neil
Davidson proved too much. With the points level at 2-2 and the shots
just 26-22 to Wymondham a great second half was in prospect but it all
proved to be an anti-climax as the home side ripped into Hempnall after
the break. Wymondham skip Debbie Phillips had another of those games
when she could do no wrong and with Billie Barker & Andrew Stratton
playing well at lead & two they cruised to a 21-5 win against Chris
East, Bernie Cudden & Charlie Archer. Mikey George, Peter King &
Chris Mann were also taking no prisoners as they beat Syd Harman, Jon
Sparham & Richard Harrowing 19-4. A change of playing order by
Hempnall during the game failed to halt the onslaught and Wymondham can
now look forward to a quarter-final match at home to Connaught “B”.
Posted 23-11-11
Posted 23-11-11
Breckland League giants Wymondham
Latest News from around the Leagues It was business as usual for Hempnall in the South Norfolk League
as they collected a 10-0 win at Connaught. Paul Baker’s triple led the
way with a big 22-7 win against Alison Rush and her Connaught triple.
Sheila Bragg, with a 27-4 win, helped Connaught to a 6-4 win at home to
Watton which keeps her team in second spot. Horsford are shooting up the
table and have now made it four wins in a row. Former Carter star Roger
Frank bagged a 19-7 win at Mulbarton as Horsford ran out 8-2 winners.
Horsford did even better at Wreningham where they won 9-1 and again it
was that man Frank who was top of the ratings with a 24-4 win. Thurton
buried Mulbarton on shots scoring 105 against 32 as they picked up an
easy 10-0 win at home. J Pidgen won 34-3 and Trevor Howard won 32-7 as
Thurton inflicted Mulbarton’s seventh straight defeat. In the Bure League
East Tuddenham won 8-2 at home to Hevingham. Linda Chadwick, Les
Chadwick & Peter Smart opened for Tuddenham with a 17-9 win against
David Sharpe’s triple but Hevingham hit back through Ian MacLean, Pat
Williamson & Vic “Quiet Man” Woods who beat Russell Harris 10-8.
After the break things went Tuddenham’s way as Gillian Amos, G Potter
& Robin Amos beat Alan Bunn’s triple 18-6 and Albert Palgrave,
Chrissie Turner & John Turner beat George Clarke’s triple by one
shot. Woodbastwick beat Horsford BC 10-0 with Trevor Hallett’s triple
recording a massive 37-3 win. Tony Wright’s triple won 21-7, Jim
Couling’s triple won 16-7 & Peter Jablonowski’s triple won 20-8 as
Horsford went down heavily. A close match in the Breckland League
saw Banham win 6-4 on points at Hingham Yellow. R Dunning, M Seagar
& J Delaney won 25-14 & C Smith, D Eastaugh & J Williamson
won 21-12 for the visitors while home points were earned by R Oliver, E
Frary & J Frary with a 22-17 win and J Baker, T Fennell & M
White with a 16-10 win.
England Triumph in British Isles Championships England
have won the British Isles Championship Team event in Scotland as well
as lifting the B.I Singles title and the B.I Triples title. The
N.C.S.M.B.A would like to congratulate the England bowlers for a superb
result. Dom Reed of West Sussex, formerly Essex, was crowned singles
champion. His wins included a 16-10 result against Ireland's D Hamilton,
a 15-7 win against Wales & a 16-13 win against Isle of Man. England
met 21 times champions Ireland in their last Team event match and
needed to win to lift the title for the first time since 1992. They did
so in style without losing on any mat.
Posted 20-11-11
Big points for Carter in Tens Bob
Carter pulled off two big away wins in the Tens League to put their
title push back on course after their defeat at Hempnall. Carter took a
maximum four points at Coltishall after two decisive victories. In the
triples Frank Edy, Malcolm Reynolds & Nigel Willard beat Les
Harman’s triple 25-9 and in the pairs Jason & Melvin Woods beat
Mally Catchpole & Willie Jefferies 21-8. At Kirby Bedon two nights
later Bob Carter looked on course for another maximum when they led by
27 points at the interval but Kirby fought back after the break to cut
the deficit to 12 shots and limit Carter to a 3-0 win.
Windows City League misery continues Anglian
Windows went down 13-1 at Sprowston and also lost 12-2 on their own
mats against Thorpe Marriott. The worrying fact for Windows is that they
have now lost seven out of eight games played. These results leave them
third from the bottom but they have played two games more than the
teams below them. The result lifts Sprowston up to second place and
their fifth win on the trot sends out a message to RG Carter that the
title race is on with a vengeance. Horsford Heroes will be disappointed
with a 12-2 defeat at Framingham Earl. A good result there would have
taken them above Carter & Sprowston.
Posted 19-11-11
First Bus crash at Connaught “B” Connaught
“B” defeated First Bus 6-2 in their Norfolk Cup first round tie. A
tight first half was shared with Maurice Kemp’s First Bus triple beating
Ken Lurcock’s triple 20-12 after having a great start moving 5-0 up
after two ends. Alison Rush’s triple replied for Connaught with a solid
14-8 win against Tony Gray’s triple and were in control for most of the
game. After the break Joe Li-Rocchi’s triple put on a good performance
beating Rex Cox 17-7 to keep Connaught on track. First Bus were hoping
that having Elaine & Bob Oatway in their side, who also play league
bowls for Connaught and therefore are at home on the mats, would give
them the edge in the last game but it was not to be. Oatway’s triple led
7-1 early on against Alan Marshall’s triple but the Connaught “B”
triple staged a great recovery to win 14-12 and clinch the match. Sylvia’s a Star as Connaught snatch 3 shot cup win
A
tremendous Norwich Cup second round clash at Horsford Heroes saw
Breckland League visitors Connaught “A” snatch a three shot win after
the match finished all square on points at 12-12. Connaught had a flying
start and led 8-2 on points after three sessions with Bill Adcock’s
triple winning 11-6 and Sylvia Parsons’ triple winning 9-4 in the
opening session to earn valuable shots that would prove vital. A great
fightback by Horsford leveled the match at 10-10 with one session
remaining when Keith Chapman’s triple won 5-2 and Vic Webster’s triple
won 7-3 in the fifth session. Going into the last session level on
points meant that shots were all important and Connaught held a narrow
four shot lead. Rita Secker, Owen Secker & Sylvia Parsons struck a
massive blow for Connaught on the third end against Roger Frank’s triple
when they scored a five and a single on the last end eased them to a
7-6 win. On the other mat Chris Woodhouse’s triple won 5-1 for Horsford
against ex Horsford Heroes star Sheila Bragg but it was not enough to
deny Connaught victory. Wensum News now in! Wensum League
defending champions Bob Carter continued their successful start to the
season with a 10-0 home win against Thorpe Marriott. Coltishall began
their campaign with a narrow 6-4 home win against Woodbastwick.
Halvergate’s season began with a 6-4 home defeat against Thorpe Marriott
but improved with a 10-0 win against Woodbastwick. Posted 17-11-11
Latest News from around the Leagues Woodbastwick Eagles won 11-7 at South Walsham and are now 34 points clear of second placed Bradwell Blue in the Coastal League.
Bradwell Blue completed a double over Hemsby winning 12-6 at Hemsby but
by just 10-8 on their own mats. Woodbastwick Owls won 15-3 at Hemsby to
move third and have two games in hand over the leading pair. Hempnall continue to blow the rest away in the South Norfolk League.
Roger Parker’s triple won 22-5 & Chris Mann’s triple won 22-7 as
Hempnall crushed Connaught 10-0. Karl Bunn’s triple won 31-8 as
Framingham Earl beat bottom team Mulbarton 8-2. Woodbastwick won 8-2 at Hemsby and are now just one point behind ThurneLeague
leaders Halvergate. Hemsby’s third defeat in a row leaves them with
just five points from three games. The good news is that Stalham have
reformed and have entered the league. Connaught “A” moved to the top of the Breckland League
with a hard fought 6-4 win at Banham. Bill Adcock’s triple won 22-15
& Owen Secker’s triple won 18-12 as Connaught “A” made it five wins
out of five to keep the pressure on defending champions Wymondham. Third
placed Watton slipped to a 6-4 defeat at Harling where V Hester, Penny
Lee & M Frost won 17-8 for the home side. Hingham Green edged up the
table with a 6-4 away win at Forncett and a 6-4 home win in their local
derby against Hingham Yellow. Hempnall are on a roll in the Tens League
and a big 33-3 win for Richard Harrowing’s triple against Gerald
Chilver’s triple helped them to collect a maximum 4-0 home win against
Kirby Bedon. The other three games were all tight with Joan Cann &
Paul Baker winning 12-11, Debbie Phillips & Chris Mann earning a
last end 15-13 win & Neil Davidson’s triple winning 16-10. Bure League
leaders Kirby Bedon won 8-2 at Anglian Windows where Jill Watson,
Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson pulled off an excellent 23-7 win. Joe
Brown’s triple were also on song winning 20-6 while Alistair Hunter’s
triple finished well to win 16-14. Posted 16-11-11
Second Norfolk Mixed Rinks Title for Sue Hunt
Sue
Hunt, Margaret Reynolds, Jason Woods & Melvin Woods of Bob Carter
are the new Norfolk Mixed Fours Champions after they defeated Shirley
& Joe Brown of Costessey, Lesley Crowe of First Bus & George
Clarke of Hevingham in a close game at Lakeside. It was the second
Norfolk Mixed Fours title for Sue Hunt but the first time any of the
others in the rink had lifted the title. Jenny Walker of Thorpe
Marriott, Jean Woods of Bob Carter, Jon Sparham of Hempnall & David
Lamb of Halvergate snatched a third place play-off win with a great last
end against Colin Coman, Maureen Munford, Elaine Oatway & Bob
Oatway of First Bus.
Melvin Woods, Sue Hunt, Margaret Reynolds & Jason Woods - new Norfolk Mixed 4's Champions
British Rail Top of the City League A
convincing 14-0 home win against Old Bonds has sent British Rail to the
top spot in the City of Norwich League despite losing their other match
10-4 at Deaf Sports this week. They took advantage of
defending champions RG Carter not playing a match while third placed
Costessey went down 9-5 at Horsford BC. Horsford Heroes won their fourth
game out of five beating Old Bonds 12-2 while Sprowston remain unbeaten
after a 10-4 away win at Felthorpe. Anglian Windows lost again, this
time 12-2 at Framingham Earl, and have only gained one win in six games. Posted 13-11-11 Hevingham lose three in a row Hevingham’s
early season Tens League form remains a disappointment as they crashed
to their third defeat in a row. The highlight of their visit to Kirby
Bedon was a superb 18-6 win for Mervyn Williamson, Alan Bunn & David
Sharpe against Dot Dawson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers but
Kirby Bedon won the other three games to earn a 2-0 win. In the pairs
Bob Pattison & Brian Saunders defeated Gill Bunn & former Kirby
player George Clarke by 12-10 while Carol Johnson & Joe Brown beat
Ian MacLean & Vic Woods by 16-11. Jackie Tunmore, Janice Hewitt
& Jimmy Dye scored an excellent 17-8 win against Pat Bunn, Pat
Williamson & Maurice Kemp. Connaught won 3-0 at home to Coltishall
with a big 21-9 win for Chris Musk & Sylvia Parsons against Carol
& John Aggas gaining valuable shots. The other pairs game saw Di
& Bill Adcock beat Vernon Bunn & Margaret Harman 15-12. Both
triples games were extremely tight and produced identical wins of 12-11
for Peter King’s triple against Willie Jefferies and Bob Oatway’s triple
against Les Harman. Posted 12-11-11
Hempnall top South Norfolk League With
four wins from four games, and just two league points dropped, Hempnall
are already looking unstoppable in the South Norfolk League. Paul
Baker’s triple beat John Hunter’s triple 23-9 as Hempnall won 8-2 at
Watton where Daphne Braham’s triple took the first points off Hempnall
this season beating Charlie Archer 12-2. Mulbarton fought hard when they
entertained the defending champions but still lost 10-0 although Steven
Foster’s triple only went down 17-15 against Neil Davidson’s triple. In
reality the only question is who will finish as runners-up in this
league. Connaught won 9-1 at bottom of the table Mulbarton but
suffered a surprise 8-2 defeat at Wreningham where Glenda Adcock’s
triple won by 31-6 against Steve Hall. Connaught also went down 8-2 at
Horsford but this was less of a surprise. Thurton are difficult to beat
on their own mats as Saxlingham found out losing 8-2. Thurton came close
to picking up maximum points but were denied by Geoff Briggs’ triple
who beat Trevor Howard’s triple 14-13. Saxlingham suffered a 10-0 home
defeat at the hands of Watton but the home side will be disappointed as
three of the four games were lost by just one shot. Daphne Braham’s
triple scored Watton’s best win which was a 17-9 result against Alan
Banham. Connaught enjoyed a 9-1 home win against Framingham Earl while
Wreningham beat Mulbarton 8-2.
Trevor Howard of Thurton
Bill’s Best Man for Connaught “A” Connaught
“A” collected an 8-2 away win at Hingham Yellow and are just one point
behind Breckland League leaders Wymondham. Diane Adcock, Derek Liles
& Bill Adcock led the way beating Ken Bullers’s triple 22-10 while
on form Sylvia Parsons beat top Hingham skip Jane Frary 22-11. Owen
Secker, who has also started the season in fine form, skipped his triple
to a 21-11 win. M Stevens, C Harris & K Thomas scored Hingham’s
only win beating Sheila Bragg’s triple 18-15 to stop Connaught from
replacing Wymondham at the top of the league. Two home wins for Watton
moved them into third place. John Hunter’s triple won 22-12 & Roger
Braham’s triple won 20-10 as Watton beat Hingham Yellow 8-2 with Jane
Frary’s triple earning Hingham their two points with a 28-10 win. At
home to Connaught “B” John Hunter’s triple won 18-12 & Roger
Braham’s triple won 20-14 but the visitors limited Watton to a 6-4 win
as Alan Marshall won 13-11 & Joe Li-Rocchi won 16-15. Banham slipped
to a surprise 7-3 home defeat against Carleton Rode with Karl Newby, K
Buck & Terry Newby winning 24-16 for the visitors. Good First Leg for Kirby Bedon at East Tuddenham East
Tuddenham entertained Kirby Bedon for the first leg of their Bure Cup
First Round tie and were slow off the mark as Kirby kicked off with four
successive wins to lead 8-0. Tuddenham eventually found their form and
hit back with four straight wins of their own to level the match at 8-8
with two sessions remaining. Both of those were shared leaving the tie
drawn at 12-12 with the second leg scheduled to take place at Kirby
Bedon on Friday 25th November. Tuddenham’s top two triples
were Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner & John Turner who won two
games by 5-2 & 12-3 and Madge Meachen, Gerald Potter & Robin
amos who won two games by 4-3 & 6-5. Two Kirby Bedon triples also
picked up four points each. Teresa Goldsmith, Alistair Hunter &
Selwyn Goldsmith won by 6-3 & 6-1 while Leonora Chilman, Gerald
Chilvers & Brian Saunders won by 5-4 & 6-4. Posted 10-11-11 Kirby Bedon's Gerald Chilvers relaxing after a job well done at East Tuddenham
Double for Norfolk in I.C.C Norfolk
Premier defeated London 27-13 and Norfolk “A” beat Suffolk 21-19 in a
double Inter County Championship victory at Lakeside Country Club.
Norfolk Premier went into the match anticipating a heavy win against a
London side who have struggled this season. The day did not start well
as London arrived late for the game and when play eventually started
points were dropped as London proved more resilient than of late. In the
singles London’s K Sleat won both his games beating Halvergate’s David
Lamb 18-9 & Carter’s Trevor Brown 16-10 but London’s other singles
player A Spooner lost 16-7 to Lamb and 21-7 to Brown. The big win for
Trevor Brown clinched the two bonus points in the singles discipline for
Norfolk. The pairing of Bob Carter’s Nigel Willard & Wymondham’s
Chris Mann proved fruitful as they racked up wins of 17-6 & 19-5
which also earned the two bonus points. In Norfolk’s other pairing
Wymondham’s Andrew Stratton returned to the team with Bradwell’s Keith
Cooke but Andrew’s involvement was curtailed with a back injury and he
was replaced by County Team Assistant Manager & First Bus player Bob
Oatway. In their first game Cooke & Stratton went down by 14-13 and
with Oatway substituting the second game was drawn 13-13. With Mike
Boswell unavailable for medical reasons Connaught’s Sheila Bragg was
moved up to skip their triple and Wymondham’s Mark Linsdell moved to the
number two position. Carter’s Sue Hunt was brought in at lead and in
their first game they defeated M Graham’s triple 11-10 but lost their
second by 12-6. Deaf Sports’ Robin Amos, Hevingham’s George Clarke &
East Tuddenham’s John Turner opened with a 14-3 win but lost their
second game 10-9 but once again Norfolk had done enough to earn the two
bonus points. In the rinks Bob Oatway, Carter’s Kim Bridge, Hempnall’s
Jon Sparham & Bob Carter’s Melvin Woods began in style with a 14-3
win and carried the momentum into their second game winning by 14-4 with
Thorpe Marriott’s Ted Redwood substituting for Oatway. Wymondham’s
Mikey George, Bob Carter’s Jean Woods & Wymondham’s Debbie Phillips
& Brian Saunders also began well with a 10-5 win but slipped to a
9-5 defeat in their second game. As in the other three disciplines
Norfolk Premier once again collected the bonus points giving them a
healthy 27-13 win. Later news that Northants had suffered a meltdown in
Essex, losing by a 39-1 margin, made Norfolk’s result look even better. Norfolk
“A” faced a Suffolk side that not long ago were playing in the Premier
section. The singles were shared as Sprowston’s David Dewing won his
first game 21-7 and lost his second game by 15-7. First Bus bowler Colin
Coman lost his first game 15-9 but won his second by 21-10 with the
bonus points coming to Norfolk. The pairs were great for Norfolk as
Thorpe Marriott’s Jenny & Peter Walker fought back from behind to
beat Dennis Miller & Pam Fayers 17-13 and then win their next game
13-9. Connaught’s Chris Musk & Woodbastwick’s Elaine Cole were also
on a roll winning their games by 19-6 & 11-9. The triples went
Suffolk’s way as Sprowston’s Les Chadwick, Linda Chadwick & Peter
Smart lost their first game 12-10 and won their second 9-8. Costessey’s
Shirley Brown, Halvergate’s Robbie Lamb & Kirby Bedon’s Gerald
Chilvers started slowly in both their games. They trailed by 8-0 in
their opener before pulling back to lose by just 14-11. In their next
game they trailed by 9-0 before pulling back to draw 12-12. Suffolk also
got the better of Norfolk in the rinks as Halvergate’s Josh Baxter,
Costessey’s Joe Brown, & Connaught’s Elaine Oatway & Tyrone Musk
won 13-5 and lost 9-6. Woodbastwick’s Roger Green, RG Carter’s Malcolm
Reynolds & Halvergate’s Steven & Ray Lamb lost both their games
by margins of 12-8 & 10-8. Other
I.C.C Premier results this weekend include Essex 39 Northants 1,
Shropshire 21 Cheshire 19, Warks 7 West Midlands 33, Kent 13 West Sussex
27, Somerset 21 Devon 19 & Cornwall 32 Dorset 8.
Posted 7-11-11
League & Cup Latest Bob
Carter moved comfortably through to the next round of the County Cup
beating visitors Sprowston 6-2. Melvin Woods’ triple won 32-5 against
John Poynter’s triple, Nigel Willard’s triple beat Mary Jarvis 26-9 and
Trevor Brown’s triple eased to a 20-7 win against ex Carter star David
Dewing. Terry Fletcher’s Sprowston triple earned them a consolation win
beating Kim Bridge’s triple 19-12. Kirby Bedon are also through after
winning 8-0 at home to Cromer. Phil Watson’s triple won 31-3 &
Selwyn Goldsmith’s triple won 22-6 in the first half and after the break
Joe Brown’s triple won 20-6 & Jimmy Dye’s triple won 18-11.
Defending Bure League champions Kirby Bedon beat Coltishall 6-4 but the
home side were made to battle for the points. Jill Watson, Gerald
Chilvers & Phil Watson were the pick of the home side winning 12-4
against Les Harman’s triple and Joe Brown’s triple added a 14-13 win
against Margaret Harman. Coltishall’s Mally Catchpole, Eddie Edridge
& Willie Jefferies were impressive beating Selwyn Goldsmith’s triple
14-11 while John Aggas weighed in with a 12-10 win against Alistair
Hunter’s triple in the visitor’s other victory. Anglian Windows hammered
Horsford BC 10-0 as Maurice Curchin, Diane Boswell & Mike Boswell
led the way with a 22-7 win against Ray Ayres’ triple. Ken Dease’s
triple scored an 18-6 win, Avril Walker’s triple won 18-6 & Alan
Williamson’s triple won 11-8 as Anglian Windows proved too hot to handle
for the visitors. In the City of Norwich League three teams still
remain unbeaten after this week’s results came in. Leaders RG Carter
made it five wins out of five as they beat Horsford BC 12-2. Jarrolds
won their fourth game on the trot with a 12-2 away win at Old Bonds.
Sprowston’s third match of the season produced a 12-2 home win against
Horsford BC. Anglian Windows poor start to the season continued as they
lost 12-2 at home to Horsford BC and then crashed 12-2 away to British
Rail. Another side to have started badly are Taverham who lost 14-0 at
home to Horsford Heroes and also lost 12-2 at Felthorpe. County Council
lost 13-1 at home to Horsford Heroes and also went down by 12-2
score-lines at both Costessey & Thorpe Marriott. Posted 6-11-11
Hempnall beat Carter in Tens League showdown The
“Big Two” of the Tens League clashed in an early season crunch game at
Hempnall with the home side coming out on top beating Bob Carter 3-0.
Chris East & Neil Davidson gained Hempnall a good shots advantage
beating J Woods & Melvin Woods 18-9 in the pairs but Frank Edy,
Robert Howlett & David Lamb pulled two shots back beating Colin
Stevenson, Bernie Cudden & Roger Parker 11-9. Richard Harrowing’s
Hempnall triple edged them closer to a home win with a 15-12 result
against Nigel Willard’s triple and Debbie Phillips & Chris Mann saw
them over the finishing line for a 3-0 win as they beat Kim Bridge &
Trevor Brown 11-8 with Mann’s last bowl proving vital. Carter returned
to winning ways the next night with a 4-0 maximum at home to Coltishall.
Sue Hunt, Malcolm Reynolds & Robert Howlett had an 11 shot win
against Les Harman’s triple and Kim Bridge & Trevor Brown beat Jean
Barnett & Margaret Harman 15-11 to take the lead up to 15 shots at
the interval. Margaret Reynolds, Jean Woods & Nigel Willard
continued to pile on the pressure after the break beating Willie
Jefferies’ triple 17-9 which was enough to earn Carter a 4-0 win despite
Coltishall’s ex Bob Carter stars Carol & John Aggas holding home
pair Jason & Melvin Woods to a 9-9 draw. In the Bure League
Hevingham inflicted another defeat on Horsford Heroes beating the
visiting team 8-2. Gill Bunn, Lesley Crowe & George Clarke earned
the evening’s biggest win beating ex Bob Carter star Roger Frank and his
triple 17-6. Maurice Kemp’s triple won 15-13 and another former Bob
Carter star Vic Woods won 14-8 as the home side dominated. Horsford’s
only win was earned by Mark “The Marvel” Tuttle who skipped his triple
to a 14-9 win against David Sharpe’s triple.
Posted 4-11-11
Neil Davidson - 19-9 pairs win
Bradwell well beaten at home in County Cup Bradwell
failed to make home advantage count as they were well beaten by Thorpe
Marriott in their Norfolk County Cup clash. Bob MacPherson’s triple
strolled to a 19-5 win against Mike Harvey’s triple and Ted Redwood’s
triple beat John Sargent 15-13 to give Thorpe Marriott a great start.
Tony Turner’s triple wrapped up the tie by beating Keith Cooke’s triple
12-7 while Josh Baxter’s triple beat Sylvia Turner’s triple 13-12 for
Bradwell’s only win of the night in a 2-6 home defeat.
Posted 3-11-11 No stopping Wymondham bandwagon Wymondham
won 9-1 at Harling Rec to remain top of the Breckland League after four
straight wins. Beryl Potter, Keith Boswell & Peter Dennis earned
the home team’s only point drawing with Brian Saunders’ triple after
picking up singles on the last two ends to grab a 14-14 draw. Mark
Linsdell’s triple won 15-9 in the other first half game. After the break
Debbie Phillips’ triple beat Brian Knappett’s triple 22-16 in a high
scoring game while Chris Mann’s triple added a 20-9 win as the Wymondham
bandwagon rolls on. Two nights before Connaught “B” had visited Harling
but struggled on the difficult mats going down 8-2. Terry Hewitson,
Penny Lee & Mike Frost comfortably beat Alison Rush 22-9 as Harling
picked up their first win of the season. Connaught “A” made it three
wins in a row as they beat struggling Forncett 10-0. Sylvia Parsons had
another great game as her triple thumped David Barnes 28-8 and Owen
Secker continued to impress as his triple beat Keith Humphreys 20-11.
Forncett also lost 10-0 at Watton in a strange match as they fielded
only seven players instead of twelve. Under Breckland League rules
Forncett were allowed to concede one game 8-0 while playing without a
number two in two of the other games. Their only full triple, Mary
Boulter, Andrew Coleman & Mervyn Boulter went down 20-13 against
Doreen Paffey, Diane Quadling & Don Paffey. The other two games saw
predictably heavy wins as Ron Harvey’s triple won 46-2 & Margaret
Hunter’s triple won 24-6. Bure League action saw Woodbastwick enjoy a
great first half against visitors Horsford Heroes. Michael Fox, Derek
Oakes & Tony Wright crushed Mally Kemp, Pauline Foster & Keith
Chapman 23-1 and Peter Johnson, Norma Jablonowski & Peter
Jablonowski weighed in with a 21-9 win against Peter Fox, Carol Kemp
& Chris Woodhouse. Things could only get better for Horsford and
they did after the break as Lynn Frank, Russell Hubbard & Roger
Frank grabbed a 16-13 win against Trevor Hallett’s triple and Joyce
Hubbard, Sue Fox & Vic Webster beat Jim Couling’s triple 15-10 as
Woodbastwick had to settle for a 6-4 home win.
Posted 2-11-11
Woodbastwick's Peter Johnson - 21-9 win
First Bus on a roll City
Shield holders First Bus are safely over the first hurdle in this
year’s competition after completing a 10-6 aggregate win against Thorpe
Marriott. Although they were held to a 4-4 draw on their own mats they
pulled off a 6-2 away win at Thorpe Marriott to complete their passage
into the next round where they will meet the winners of the local derby
between Horsford Heroes & Horsford BC. Sylvia’s triple leads the way Connaught
“A” are through to the second round of the Norfolk County Cup after an
8-0 home win against Horsford Heroes. Sylvia Parsons’ triple were the
nights biggest winners with an 18-8 result against David Woodrow’s
triple while ex Horsford Hero bowler Sheila Bragg and her triple weighed
in with a 13-12 win against Keith Chapman. Former Yaxham regular Owen
Secker beat Vic Webster 15-6 & Bill Adcock’s triple beat Mark
Tuttle’s triple 15-9. Cromer entertained Thurton in a preliminary round
tie and made home advantage count winning by 6-2. Richard Airs’ triple
romped to a 25-1 win against Peter Walker’s triple and Jane James’
triple beat John Pidgen’s triple 14-8. Aleck Haynes made it safe with a
12-8 win against Jan McClintock while Thurton’s Albert Reynolds’ triple
scored a consolation 19-10 win against John Andreae. Cromer face a
tricky tie away to Kirby Bedon in the next round.  Ex Horsford Hero star Sheila Bragg helped dump her former club out of the County Cup at Connaught
3 Straight Wins for Jarrolds Jarrolds
had a great week in the City League with maximum 14-0 wins at home to
Framingham Earl and away to Deaf Sports and move into second place after
winning three out of three. British Rail’s 10-4 home win against Deaf
Sports leaves them in third place. Costessey returned to winning ways
with a 14-0 home win against Old Bonds who have now lost their opening
three games.
Posted 01-11-11
Double defeat in Essex for Norfolk Both
Norfolk Premier & Norfolk “A” lost their I.C.C games in Essex but
Norfolk Premier at least picked up valuable points in their 26-14
defeat. Norfolk “A” will be far from satisfied with their showing after
suffering a 32-8 mauling at the hands of Essex “A”. In the Premier match
Nigel Willard & Chris Mann scored maximum points winning their
pairs games by 13-10 & 15-8 but the pairing of Keith Cooke & Jon
Sparham went down by 14-16 & 6-22. The triples did well collecting
seven of the ten points on offer as the new look triple of Mark
Linsdell, Sheila Bragg & Mike Boswell won both their games by 10-8
and Robin Amos, George Clarke & John Turner earned a first half
11-11 draw before losing their second game 7-10. In the rinks Mikey
George, Jean Woods, Debbie Phillips & Brian Saunders finished with a
12-6 win after losing their opener 3-15. Sue Hunt, Kim Bridge, Bob
Oatway & Melvin Woods had a bad day at the office losing their games
by 1-22 & 3-7. Essex proved too strong for Norfolk in the singles
as Halvergate’s David Lamb went down 8-22 against Craig Burgess and
13-15 against Barry Hedges. Carter’s Trevor Brown drew his opener 11-11
with Barry Hedges but lost 11-17 against Burgess. The singles players
Peter Smart & Colin Coman scored half of the eight points Norfolk
“A” earned as Smart won his first game 16-10 & Coman won his second
game by 18-8. Essex “A” had a clean sweep in the pairs as Jenny Walker
& David Dewing lost 8-22 & 4-18 and Chris Musk & Elaine Cole
lost 12-14 & 7-16. Linda Chadwick, Robbie Lamb & Gerald
Chilvers opened with a 7-6 triples win but lost their second game by
6-11. Sheila Redwood, Ted Redwood & Malcolm Reynolds went down by
4-17 & 6-9 in the other triples games. The only win in the rinks for
Norfolk “A” was by Josh Baxter, Joe Brown, Ty Musk & Les Chadwick
who romped to a 15-3 first half win but they lost their second game by
3-12. Shirley Brown, Steven Lamb, Roger Green & Ray Lamb suffered
defeats of 4-15 & 7-11 as Essex “A” eased their way to an easy home
win.
Other games today in the Premier section saw London crash to an 8-32
home defeat against Northants, Kent lose 16-24 at home to East Sussex,
Cheshire smash Warwickshire 34-6 & West Sussex win 25-15 at home to
Surrey.
Posted 30-10-11
Bakerman & Co send out warning to Carter Hempnall
opened their Tens League campaign by inflicting a surprisingly heavy
home defeat on last season’s runners-up Hevingham. Joan Cann & Paul
Baker gave the visitors a brilliant start by beating home favourites
Gill Bunn & George Clarke by 24-10 and their halftime lead stretched
to 21 shots as Colin Stevenson, Bernie Cudden & Roger Parker won
18-11 against Maurice Kemp’s triple. Things did not improve for
Hevingham in the second half as Chris Mann & Debbie Phillips beat
Ian MacLean & Vic Woods 19-13 & Richard Harrowing’s triple won
19-9 against David Sharpe. It has proved to be a tough opening two games
for Hevingham, they lost their first match 4-0 at defending champions
Bob Carter, but this result sends out the message loud and clear to Bob
Carter that Hempnall want the title back. Hevingham fared better in the
first leg of their Bure Cup First Round match at Horsford BC. Ian
MacLean, R Hart & Vic Woods reeled off wins of 9-5, 15-1 & 14-1
as Hevingham cruised to a 16-8 points win that almost guarantees them a
place in the second round.
Posted 29-10-11
Hempnall stars Bernie Cudden, Paul Baker & Colin Stevenson
Kirby & Sprowston reach third round of Norwich Cup Kirby
Bedon reached the third round of the Norwich Cup with a comfortable
19-5 home win despite a spirited performance by visitors Framingham
Earl. Dot Dawson, Janice Hewitt & Gerald Chilvers picked up maximum
points for the home side with wins of 12-1, 5-3 & 4-3 while Jill
Watson, Peter Johnson & Phil Watson scored five points. Alistair
Hunter & Selwyn Goldsmith’s triples collected four points each while
Glenda Kidd, Joan Blaza & Colin Emms scored four of the visitor’s
five points on the night. Emms was in excellent form on the Kirby mats
winning one game 7-4 against former Scottish international Alistair
Hunter and drawing his other two games. Sprowston looked on their way
out at the halfway stage at Watton but a fantastic finish saw them reel
off four straight wins to snatch a 14-10 points win, 65-62 on shots.
Margaret Poynter, Joan Costello & Peter Smart led the way with wins
of 7-3 & 7-2 with a 3-3 draw in between. Terry Fletcher's triple
picked up two wins of 8-3 & 9-3. Jaci Capell, Bryan Dibble &
John Hunter won their first game 11-3 for Watton and then romped to a
10-3 win in their second but their 2-7 defeat against Peter Smart in the
last session left the visitors celebrating a place in the draw for the
third round.
 Colin Emms was in good form at Kirby Bedon
Business as usual for Hempnall Defending
South Norfolk League champions Hempnall took another ten point maximum
as they beat visitors Thurton. Syd Harman, Roger Parker & Neil
Davidson swept to a 26-3 win which was the nights biggest win.
Wreningham are rooted to the bottom with just one point from three games
after a 10-0 mauling at Connaught where they conceded 112 shots and
scored just 30. Chris Musk, Tyrone Musk & Sheila Bragg were top dogs
with a 34-5 win. Horsford began their campaign with an 8-2 home win
against Framingham Earl in which Keith Chapman’s triple scored a 16-8
win against Colin Emms’ triple.
Posted 25-10-11 .jpg)
Hempnall Legend Roger Parker
Wymondham & Connaught “A” turn up the heat Wymondham
stormed to a 10-0 home win against Hingham Yellow to remain top of the
table. The defending champions were in unstoppable form as they crushed
the visitors by 93 shots to 31. Debbie Phillips’ triple beat Jane
Frary’s triple 25-4 despite the Hingham skip saving a host of shots to
avoid an even bigger defeat. Roger Steele had a good game at lead for
Brian Saunders in their 18-12 win while Mark Linsdell’s triple won 23-6
& Chris Mann’s triple won 27-9. Connaught “A” had to work hard for
an 8-2 win at Carleton Rode as they attempt to keep in touch with
Wymondham. Connaught’s Tyrone Musk, Russell Hales & Ollie Allen
trailed 4-11 after nine ends against Russell Davidson’s triple but a
change of playing positions paid dividends. Ty moved to number two and
Russell switched to lead and the match changed as Ty Musk dominated play
from the number two spot. With Ollie Allen in good form at skip they
fought back to take the lead on the penultimate end and won 16-13. Some
good attacking woods by Sylvia Parsons were crucial as her triple won
21-17 to complete a successful first half for Connaught “A”. After the
break Owen Secker was in brilliant form skipping his Connaught triple to
a massive 25-7 win with Rita Secker at lead and Gordon Wilcox at number
two. A full house on the second end put them in charge and they never
looked back. Carleton Rode’s Neil Davidson was in excellent form for
Kirby Bedon “A” in the Summer League and he has carried that form into
the winter season. His mat knowledge and skill level proved too much for
Sheila Bragg’s triple who did not look comfortable on the Carleton mat
and he skipped his triple to a 16-12 win to earn the home side their
only two points of the night. In their previous match Connaught “A” had
beaten Watton 10-0 with Gordon Wilcox, Ty Musk & Sheila Bragg
winning 29-9 against Don Paffey’s triple, Chris Musk, John Winup &
Ollie Allen winning 22-8 against Daphne Braham’s triple and Mike
Parsons, Ray Wells & Sylvia Parsons beating John Hunter’s triple
20-7. Roger Braham’s Watton triple also lost but kept the shots down
losing 16-11 against Bill Adcock’s triple. Banham’s Colin Smith, Valerie
Hambling & Roger Kerrison racked up a 30-8 win against John Court’s
Harling triple as Banham swept to a 10-0 home win. Connaught “B” have
got off to a good start this season and scored 95 shots against 37 as
they won 10-0 at home to Hingham Green. Peter Hambling, Heather Winup
& Joe Lirocchi won 32-5 against Ronnie Leverett’s triple in the
nights biggest win while Ralf Ramm’s triple also won by 24-11.
Posted 24-10-11
Great second half surge sinks Northants Norfolk
Premier made it three wins out of three after a great second half
performance sunk Northants and earned a 21-19 win. The first half did
not go particularly well for Norfolk as Halvergate’s David Lamb lost
9-24 to Edward Sawbridge and Bob Carter’s Trevor Brown was held to a
12-12 draw by Northants supremo Chris Hopkins. The pairs both went down
as Sheila Bragg of Connaught & Colin Coman of First Bus lost 15-18
& Bradwell’s Keith Cooke & Anglian Windows’ Mike Boswell were
defeated 7-22. The triples opening games were both lost as Robin Amos of
Deaf Sports, George Clarke of Hevingham & John Turner of East
Tuddenham went down 8-10 while Costessey’s Shirley & Joe Brown &
Wymondham’s Chris Mann went down 6-11. The rinks kept Norfolk in the
game as Mikey George of Wymondham, Jean Woods of Carter, Wymondham’s
Debbie Phillips & Brian Saunders won 13-4 and Sue Hunt of Carter,
Kim Bridge of Carter, Bob Oatway of First Bus & Melvin Woods of
Carter won 7-6 to leave Norfolk 5-11 down on points at the halfway
stage. Following a difficult week that had seen one Norfolk player
suspended for two matches Assistant Manager Bob Oatway had called on his
players to complete an early season double over old rivals Northants.
In the second half Norfolk Premier raised their game and delivered the
goods with interest. Northants were hammered in the singles as Trevor
Brown ran out a 23-9 winner against Edward Sawbridge while David Lamb
outgunned Chris Hopkins 20-9 to earn Norfolk seven singles points out of
ten. Chris Mann’s triple won 11-7 & John Turner’s triple won 14-8
to continue to put pressure on Northants as they overturned the shots
deficit to collect six of the ten points on offer in the triples. In the
rinks Melvin Woods won 11-4 while Brian Saunders, although losing, kept
the shots down to lose by just 4-8 which resulted in eight out of the
ten rinks points going to Norfolk. Although the pairs had another poor
session with Bragg & Coman losing 7-11 and Cooke & Boswell
losing 7-14 Norfolk had pulled off a 21-19 win to leave Northants
trailing 25 points behind them in their group. Norfolk Premier can now
travel with their confidence sky high to face group leaders Essex
Premier away next Sunday in their next I.C.C group match. In other games
played on Saturday East Sussex got revenge on West Sussex by beating
them 26-14 following their 36-4 defeat at West Sussex in their last
match. It was a case of “Double Cream” Devon as they completed a double
over Dorset with a decisive 31-9 home win. Posted 23-10-11
Norfolk Assistant Manager Bob Oatway called for a win in Northants and got it!
Bure Pairs heats finish early after Woodbastwick fail to appear This
week saw the Bure League Pairs Championship preliminary rounds take
place with Horsford BC hosting the first heat. Mark Tuttle & Chris
Woodhouse of Horsford Heroes were unbeaten after opening with a 10-2 win
against Coltishall’s Peter Barnett & Mally Catchpole. Avril Walker
& Mike Boswell of Anglian Windows earned a high scoring 12-0 win
over the luckless Coltishall pair in their last game clinching them the
second qualifying place for finals night in March next year. At Anglian
Windows Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith of Kirby Bedon finished first with
six points and Hevingham’s Ian MacLean & Vic Woods also qualified
for finals night with four points. Alan Bunn & David Sharpe of
Hevingham were unbeaten at Coltishall with East Tuddenham’s Gillian
& Robin Amos grabbing the runners-up spot. David Knights & Simon
Warnes of Horsford BC were heat winners at Hevingham with Keith Chapman
& Mally Kemp of Horsford Heroes in second place. Three
of the four heats all finished early after four Woodbastwick pairs
failed to appear at the venues. Only three games were needed at
Hevingham after seeds & defending champions Trevor Hallett & Jim
Couling were missing as well as another Woodbastwick pair. Another
seeded Woodbastwick pair, Peter Johnson & Derek Sheldrake, were
missing at Horsford BC where just six games were played. The same number
of games were played at Coltishall where one Woodbastwick pair did not
arrive at the venue.
Posted 23-10-11 City & Tens League Action City
of Norwich League leaders RG Carter made it four wins in a row as they
won 10-4 at home to Thorpe Marriott. Marriott fared better at home to
Framingham Earl winning 12-2. British Rail will be delighted with a 12-2
win at Taverham but went down by the same scoreline at Sprowston. First
Bus returned to winning ways beating Deaf Sports 14-0 while Horsford BC
also took maximum points at Framingham Earl. Costessey crashed to an
11-3 defeat at Taverham although only eight shots separated the teams at
the end. Felthorpe entertained Old Bonds with both sides looking for
their first league win of the season. Home mat advantage gave Felthorpe
the edge as they picked up a 12-2 win. In the Tens League defending
champions Bob Carter and last years runners-up Hevingham met in the
first match of the season. A superb 30-7 win for Sue Hunt, Jean Woods
& Robert Howlett against David Sharpe’s triple made sure of a home
win but Ian MacLean & Vic “Quiet Man” Woods hit back beating Jason
& Melvin Woods 14-11 in the pairs. Both other games went Carter’s
way as Kim Bridge & Trevor Brown beat Gill Bunn & George Clarke
21-15 and Nigel Willard’s triple won 15-9 against Maurice Kemp’s triple
to seal a 4-0 points win for Carter. Connaught pushed home side
Coltishall all the way with Diane Adcock & Sheila Bragg opening
Connaught’s account with a 12-9 win against Carol & John Aggas.
Coltishall captain “Wild” Willie Jefferies gave his team a four shot
interval lead beating Bob Oatway’s triple 19-12. After the break two
close games both went Coltishall’s way as Brian Bunting & Margaret
Harman won 13-10 against Chris Musk & Sylvia Parsons while Les
Harman’s triple beat Alison Rush’s triple 19-18. Posted 23-10-11
Davidson’s Triple give champs Hempnall a winning start Neil
Davidson’s triple gave the defending South Norfolk League champions a
winning start to the new season as Hempnall won 10-0 at Framingham Earl.
Davidson’s triple beat Alan Compton’s triple 19-7 as the visitors
scored exactly double the number of shots the home side accrued.
Framingham Earl fared better at home to Wreningham who they beat 10-0
with H Buck’s triple winning 24-9. Last season’s runner-ups Thurton
opened their campaign with a 10-0 home win over Watton with J Pidgen, K
Greenacre & M Howlett winning 19-5. Wreningham also went down 9-1 at
Saxlingham Nethergate where J Greenwood scored Wreningham’s first
league point of the season. Saxlingham also won 7-3 at home to Connaught
where the home side enjoyed a clean sweep in the first half. The
visitors almost snatched an away win in a competitive second half when
the visitors held the five shots needed to win the game on the last end.
Saxlingham’s new captain John Talbitt saved the day for his team though
as he cut them down to just two shots with his last bowl to ensure a
Saxlingham victory. Watton got off to a winning start with an 8-2 win at
Mulbarton.
Posted 17-10-11
Grand Day Out in London for Norfolk Premier
Norfolk
Premier followed up their opening day victory against Northants with a
25-15 win away to London. With much talk of unrest in the London camp
before the match, following their 38-2 mauling at the hands of Essex,
the visitors were able to take advantage and deliver a good away result.
With talk of a proposal to disband London as a county featuring on a
certain short mat bowls website, the home team obviously have their
problems, although Norfolk have problems of their own with criticism of
the management featuring on a social networking site prior to the game.
On the day Norfolk coped well on tricky mats winning the battle for
points in three of the four disciplines with only the pairs going
London’s way. Trevor Brown scored a couple of valuable wins in the
singles, by 16-10 & 14-12, & David Lamb won his opening game
16-13 and only lost his second game by one shot. There was only one
defeat in the triples, although it was a heavy one, with the experienced
triple of Robin Amos, George Clarke & John Turner winning their
games by 18-7 & 12-6. Mark Linsdell, Nigel Willard & Chris Mann
won their first half game 16-8 but went down 8-21 in their second game.
In the rinks Donna Lamb, Kim Bridge, Jon Sparham & Melly Woods won
their first game by 8-4 and drew their second 11-11. Mikey George,
Elaine Oatway, Debbie Phillips & Brian Saunders lost their opener
6-10 but hit back with a 13-7 win in their second game. London took
consolation from their pairs results with Norfolk’s only win coming from
Sue Hunt & Sheila Bragg with a second half 10-8 victory after
losing their first game by 6-22. Bob Oatway & Mike Boswell did not
suffer any heavy defeats but lost both their games by 8-10 & 8-13 to
end the day pointless. With Essex Premier winning 26-14 in Northants
they lead the group with 64 points and without doubt are group
favourites. Norfolk Premier though are well positioned with 51 points in
second place while Northants are third with 28 points. London are
bottom with just 17 points from two games and that is where they are
likely to stay. The surprise result of the day was a 23-17 away win for
Shropshire against Cheshire while West Mids hammered Warwickshire 33-7.
Kent won 26-14 at home to Surrey while West Sussex beat East Sussex 36-4
in a one sided local derby. Devon won 23-17 in Dorset and Somerset won
28-12 at home to Cornwall. Next week Norfolk travel to Northants and
this is already looking a vital game. A win in Northants would establish
Norfolk as favourites to qualify through the group stages with Essex
and also put pressure on a Northants side disappointed to have been
beaten on their own mats by Essex. With the match taking place on a
Saturday Norfolk are unable to name their strongest team and Shirley
& Joe Brown have been called up from the "A" team to play with Chris
Mann in the triples. The last time Joe Brown moved up to the Premier
team in these circumstances he produced a superb result and he can be
relied upon to deal with the extra pressure that Premier team bowls
brings with it.
Posted 17-10-11
Two wins for John Turner in London
Hat-Trick of wins for City League Giants A
wind of change blew through the City of Norwich League last season as
RG Carter recruited several Bob Carter stars to strengthen their side
which resulted in them winning their first ever title. This season it is
hard to see how any team can stop them on present form as they swept to
three straight wins to move eighteen points clear at the top. A 14-0
home win against British Rail was probably expected but another 14-0 win
at First Bus & a 10-4 win at Taverham sent out the message that now
they have their hands on the title they do not intend to relinquish it.
Sprowston SSC will possibly be their biggest rival and opened their
campaign with a 14-0 maximum win at Old Bonds. The other leading lights
took points off each other in the flurry of early season games.
Costessey won 12-2 at home to Horsford Heroes but went down 10-4 at both
Jarrolds & County Council. Anglian Windows won 10-4 at home to
Felthorpe but crashed 12-2 at Horsford Heroes. Windows will not be happy
with a surprise 11-3 defeat at home to Deaf Sports. A 9-5 home win
against Felthorpe made it two straight wins for County Council to take
them third in the table but the days when Mark Overton & Clive Derry
made them a difficult side to face are long gone and they will struggle
to maintain this position. Posted 16-10-11 
R G Carter's Melvin Woods
Both Bure & Breckland League Champs Win
Bure
League defending champions Kirby Bedon won 8-2 at Horsford BC where
they enjoyed a good first half as Peter Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith &
Selwyn Goldsmith won 19-5 and Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil
Watson won 16-12. After the break Jan Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair
Hunter kept up the pressure with a 21-8 win but two consolation points
were earned by Horsford after a superb performance by B Diggle, Piero
Cognetti & Ray Ayers who beat Joe Brown’s triple 23-7. Defending
Breckland League champions Wymondham began their defense of the title
with an 8-2 win at Connaught “B” but the home side surprised the
visitors as they put up unexpected stout resistance. The only clear cut
win was by Chris “Blazer” Mann’s triple who recorded a 19-12 win but
Debbie Phillips’ triple won by just one shot and Mark Linsdell’s triple
by just two. Alan Marshall’s triple scored Connaught’s win beating Brian
Saunders’ triple 18-17. Wymondham looked a different side in their
second match as they romped to a maximum 10-0 win at Banham scoring 98
shots against just 33. Wymondham have never found life easy at Banham so
will be encouraged by this stunning performance although it must be
noted that Banham’s team this season are missing several familiar faces
from previous years. Chris Mann’s triple won 32-10, Debbie Phillips’
triple won 27-6 & Mark Linsdell’s triple won 24-6.Connaught “B” were
obviously encouraged by the way they pushed Wymondham and the following
night pulled off a rare away win at Forncett. Marie Head, Ralf Ramm
& Steve Hall gave them a great start beating Dennis Rumsby’s triple
24-8 while Alan Marshall beat Tony Ottewell’s triple 14-13. Forncett
recovered to win both second half games by 18-12 & 19-12 but
Connaught “B” won on shots for a 6-4 points win. Watton opened with an
8-2 home win against Carleton Rode as Roger Braham’s triple won 23-6
& Daphne Braham’s triple won 22-6 but Jill Davidson, P Briggs &
Russell Davidson scored a 17-13 win for the visitors in reply. Banham’s
Val Footer, Derek Gray & John Williamson racked up a superb 33-2 win
at Hingham Green where the visitors secured a 6-4 away win. In the City
of Norwich League British Rail had a successful start with a 14-0 home
win against Horsford BC while Anglian Windows beat Felthorpe 10-4.
Posted 15-10-11
England Manager leaves out Norfolk Aces for British Isles Championships in Dumfries England
manager Keith Smith has named his four rinks for the British Isles
Championships in Dumfries in November and there is no place for
Norfolk’s three England squad players Chris Mann of Wymondham, David
Lamb of Halvergate & Melvin Woods of Bob Carter. The sixteen players
selected are M Ivings, B Malone, J Trott, L Toleman, S Proctor, B Pay, D
Reed, J Manley, D Wiggins, J Pitcher, C Willies, G Townend, J McLean, C
Burgess, C Shakeshaft & C Williams. Other names to miss out are
West Mids ace Simon Willies & Northants supremo Chris Hopkins. Chris
Mann’s omission will come as a disappointment after his excellent form
at the England Masters Singles a couple of weeks ago as well as skipping
a Norfolk rink to the final of the National Fours earlier in the year.
England Manager Keith Smith
The Young Ones win away Halvergate
visited Woodbastwick in the Thurne League with possibly the youngest
league side ever to play a match in Norfolk and pulled off a hard fought
6-4 victory. Nine year old Ryan Fox made his league debut at lead with
sixteen year old Josh Baxter at two and England international David Lamb
at skip but just missed out on a winning debut for young Ryan as Trevor
Hallett drew in a vital last bowl to snatch a 14-13 win. Eighteen year
old Mark Linsdell has already made his mark at county level and with
fifteen year old Jack Barrett and Herbie Smith they beat Derek Oakes’
triple 14-12 to leave the match level at 2-2 at the break. Mike Tate,
Kevin Watson & Ray Lamb earned Halvergate a good shots advantage
with a 21-7 win with a great flurry of shots from the eighth end
onwards. Steve Lamb’s triple started well against Damian Lamb, Margaret
Nudds & Dennis Lynes and led 6-0 after three ends but the
Woodbastwick triple hit back to win 15-11.
 
Halvergate's Ryan Fox & Mark Linsdell
Cup Match to remember at Connaught "A"
In
the Norwich Cup Connaught “A” entertained Cromer in an incident packed
evening. Connaught’s match plans were disrupted after Bill Adcock had to
withdraw through illness and a reshuffled team took to the mats. Cromer
had even bigger problems as two of their players failed to appear at
the start. After a frantic telephone call it was discovered that the
players in question had got the date of the match wrong and agreed to
rush to the Attleborough venue. Their task was helped as Connaught’s
lights failed just before the start of the match and a summons went out
for help in restoring it. Finally the match got under way but even with
the delayed start Cromer still had to play two games with a player short
in each triple while their missing players were still on route.
Connaught reeled off four straight wins to lead 8-0 but a now full
strength Cromer side hit back to win three of the next four games to cut
the deficit to 10-6. Despite a spirited performance by Cromer the
Connaught “A” side held on to win 13-7 but were far from convincing in
this early season encounter. Best of the bunch were Rita Secker, Mike
Parsons & Owen Secker who were undefeated with wins of 9-2, 4-3
& a 5-5 draw. Connaught “A” face a tricky away game at Horsford
Heroes in the next round. First Bus pulled off a 14-10 win at Saxlingham
Nethergate. It was a good all round show by the visitors with skips Bob
Oatway, Lesley Crowe & Gordon Crowe all earning four points each
and Tony Gray adding the other win. For Saxlingham it was a night to
forget as two of their triples failed to score a point on their home
mats. Geoff Briggs’ triple kept Saxlingham’s hopes alive in the match
scoring maximum points with wins of 7-0, 9-6 & 7-2 but in the end it
was not enough to save them. Coltishall are through to the second round
after a 14-10 home win against Thorpe Marriott despite captain Willie
Jefferies and his triple failing to score. Often in the past Jefferies
triple have proved to be Coltishall’s trump card but this time it was
Carol Aggas, Martin Edridge & John Aggas who spearheaded their
attack with wins of 11-1, 9-2 & 8-4 while Les Harman & Margaret
Harman scored two wins each. Bob McPherson & Peter Walker’s triples
picked up two wins apiece for the visitors while Sylvia Turner added
another win but Tony Turner’s triple were left pointless. Posted 13-10-11
Owen & Rita Secker - on form for Connaught "A"
George Clarke's Rink win Norfolk Four's Title
Lakeside
was the venue for the Norfolk County Fours Championships and it proved
to be a day when experience counted as veterans Shirley Brown & Joe
Brown of Costessey, Gerald Chilvers of Kirby Bedon & George Clarke
of Hevingham combined to lift the title. In an absorbing final they beat
Sheila Redwood, Ted Redwood & Trevor Pinchen of Thorpe Marriott who
were playing with Sprowston’s Peter Smart. Clarke’s rink took control
early on to lead 4-0 after two ends but Smart’s rink took two shots on
the third to cut the deficit to 4-2. The next three ends saw Clarke
score three singles to lead 7-2 with one end to play. Smart’s rink then
pulled out their best end of the final scoring three shots but it was
too little too late as Clarke’s rink were left celebrating a 7-5 win. It
was George Clarke’s fourth Norfolk Fours title and Gerald Chilver’s
second. In the play-off for third place Sue Hunt of Bob Carter, Neil
Davidson of Hempnall & Phil Watson & Selwyn Goldsmith of Kirby
Bedon stormed into a 22-0 lead after five ends against Maureen Munford,
George Munford, Elaine Oatway & Bob Oatway of First Bus before
Oatway’s rink conceded. George Clarke’s rink beat Bob Oatway 6-5 in the
semi-finals while Peter Smart’s rink beat Goldsmith’s rink 8-5. Chris
Mann of Wymondham had won the title for the last two years but this
season combined with England team-mates David Lamb of Halvergate &
Melvin Woods of Bob Carter and former England star Trevor Brown to put
together a new look rink. They qualified through the group stages as a
runner-up despite losing to Clarke’s rink but were then beaten by
Goldsmith’s rink in the quarter-finals to deny Mann the opportunity of a
hat-trick of Norfolk Fours titles. 
The new Norfolk Four's Champions
Joe Brown, Shirley Brown, George Clarke, Gerald Chilvers
Runners-Up Sheila Redwood, Trevor Pinchen, Ted Redwood, Peter Smart
League & Cup News
Norwich
Cup action saw Framingham Earl win 13-7 at home to Old Bonds with
Mervyn Blaza’s triple winning all their three games. Anglian Windows
were comfortable 18-6 winners at home to Woodbastwick with Avril
Walker’s triple winning 5-4, 8-2 & 9-4 and Alan Williamson’s triple
winning by 7-3, 9-3 & 7-5. Connaught “B” progressed into the next
round after a 15-9 home win against Horsford BC in which Marie Head,
Ralf Ramm & Steve Hall were unbeaten with five points. Sprowston
pulled off a 6-2 County Cup win at Hingham where David Dewing’s triple
produced a superb 31-6 win against M Southgate’s triple. In the Bure
League Horsford Heroes won 8-2 at Anglian Windows with Carol Kemp, Sue
Fox & Chris Woodhouse winning 19-9. Horsford Heroes second match was
away to Kirby Bedon where the defending champions crushed the visitors
10-0 with Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith
winning 21-4 against Chris Woodhouse’s triple.
Posted 9-10-11
Mann makes it to semi-finals in English Masters
Wymondham’s
Chris Mann was Norfolk’s only entry in the English Masters Singles at
Wye Valley IBC at the weekend and pulled off some superb results before
losing to the eventual winner Jonathan Payne of Belgium in the
semi-finals. In the last 16 stage Mann defeated Ken Sleat 21-13 before
knocking out England & West Midlands ace Chris Willies by 21-18 in
the quarter-finals. Jonathan Payne beat Chris Mann 21-14 in the
semi-finals before beating Chris Blackman 21-18 in the final. The new
season’s Norwich Cup action started with Wymondham facing a tricky away
tie at Felthorpe. Despite a spirited performance by the home side the
talented Wymondham side emerged 16-8 winners although the outcome was in
doubt until the final session. Pat Saunders, Mary Fisher & Mark
Linsdell started well for Wymondham with an 11-5 win against John
Green’s triple but Laurie Hall’s Felthorpe triple beat Melvyn Barker’s
triple 7-5 to share the first session. Wymondham’s class began to tell
over the next two sessions as Mark Linsdell’s triple added an 8-3 win
while both Brian Saunders & Chris Mann skipped their triples to 6-3
wins and Melvyn Barker drew 3-3. Trailing 9-3 on points at the interval
Felthorpe knew they had a difficult task on their hands if they were to
save the game but their hopes were lifted by a 6-3 win for Mick Harris
against Chris Mann and a 4-4 draw for Pauline Nash against Brian
Saunders. A 5-3 win for Mick Harris against Mark Linsdell gave the City
League side a further boost but Roger Steele, Jack Barrett & Brian
Saunders kept Wymondham in front with a stunning 9-2 win against John
Green. Felthorpe needed to win the last two games to draw level on
points but it was not to be as the experienced Wymondham side moved up a
gear with Chris Mann winning 12-1 and Melvyn Barker winning 7-4 to take
them safely through to the second round. The Felthorpe triple of Diane
Bowen, T Shelley & Mick Harris will be pleased with their four point
contribution which matched the total points scored by their three other
triples. Last years winners Bob Carter entertained Hevingham and
started as firm favourites but the visitors put up stiff resistance
before going down 15-9. Halvergate are also through after beating
Hingham by 15-5 when the visitors conceded with a session to play.
Posted 2-10-11
Winning Start for Norfolk in I.C.C Norfolk Premier 26 (187) v Northants Premier 14 (154) Match Date 25-9-11 at Lakeside Norfolk
enjoyed a great start to their I.C.C campaign with thumping wins for
both the Premier & “A” teams at Lakeside. Norfolk Premier hosted old
rivals Northants Premier with Norfolk boosted by the presence of former
England Singles Champion Trevor Brown of Bob Carter making his debut.
Brown will be delighted with his 15-7 win against England international
Edward Sawbridge and an 11-11 draw against Chris Hopkins.
David Lamb of Halvergate beat Chris Hopkins 12-10 but lost by 12-13
against Sawbridge. A super day in the triples saw Mark Linsdell, Nigel
Willard & Chris Mann winning their games by 13-4 & 12-5 and
Andrew Stratton, George Clarke & John Turner winning 13-5 and
drawing 9-9 to earn nine of the ten points on offer. The rinks will also
be happy with their days work as Mikey George, Jean Woods, Debbie
Phillips & Brian Saunders won their games by 12-9 & 12-6 and Jon
Sparham, Kim Bridge, Bob Oatway & Melvin Woods won their first game
by a massive 19-2 margin. Northants grabbed an 11-6 win against Melly
Woods’ rink to earn two points in the rinks leaving Norfolk more than
happy with the other eight. Northants only consolation was in the pairs
where they took eight of the ten points. The only Norfolk win was earned
by Ollie Allen & Mike Boswell who won their second match 16-8 after
losing their first game 8-23 but Sue Hunt & Sheila Bragg had a
disappointing day losing by 7-17 & 12-14.In the other group game
played on the same day Essex Premier hammered London 38-2.
Norfolk “A” 28 (201) v Cambridgeshire 12 (138) Match Date 25-9-11 at Lakeside After
an extraordinary twelve days for Cambs their team took to the mats for
their opening I.C.C match against Norfolk “A” with two players short.
Within that time-frame Cambs supremo Roy Everitt had pulled Cambs out of
the I.C.C stating that not enough players wanted to play county bowls
but following an apparent intervention by ESMBA Chairman Chris Hopkins
the match was suddenly back on with a Cambs team under the control of
former England player Joe Peters. Josh Baxter & Keith Cooke of
Bradwell and Malcolm Reynolds of R.G Carter all bowled well on their
debuts for Norfolk “A” as the home county swept to a decisive 28-12 win.
Sprowston’s Peter Smart was in top form in the singles winning his
games by 20-7 & 15-7 while Colin Coman added a 17-10 win after
losing his opening game by 8-19 against Joe Peters. Norfolk “A” also
collected eight of the ten points in the pairs as Chris Musk &
Elaine Cole won their games 12-9 & 16-5 with Musk having a terrific
game at lead. Keith Cooke & David Dewing won their opener 16-8 but
lost their second by 11-12. It was all Norfolk in the rinks as Josh
Baxter, Joe Brown, Tyrone Musk & Les Chadwick won by 24-1 & 12-6
and Shirley Brown, Steven Lamb, Roger Green & Ray Lamb won by 12-8
& 10-5 although Cambs were not helped by being one bowler short in
each rink. The only bright spot for the visitors was in the triples
where they collected eight out of ten points. Linda Chadwick, Robbie
Lamb & Gerald Chilvers won their second game by 10-8 after losing
their first by 6-14. Jenny Walker, Malcolm Reynolds & Peter Walker
suffered two narrow defeats going down by 7-9 & 5-9.
Wymondham's Chris Mann & Carter's Trevor Brown on form for Norfolk Premier
Two good wins for Sprowston's Peter Smart in Norfolk "A" Victory
Posted 26-9-11
Date & venue announced for International Open
Norfolk Bowlers take part in friendly against Armagh
All Norfolk Final in Carlton Colville Charity Triples Carlton
Colville’s annual charity triples event, organized by Derek Barley,
produced an all Norfolk Over 60’s final with Teresa Goldsmith of Kirby
Bedon & Diane & Mike Boswell of Anglian Windows defeating Trevor
Pinchen of Thorpe Marriott & Betty & Rex Cox of First Bus.
Boswell’s triple started well building up a 6-1 lead by the halfway
stage and with two ends to go led 9-1. Rex Cox and his triple scored
consolation singles on the last two ends to cut the deficit to 9-3. In
the semi-finals Boswell’s triple produced a superb comeback after
trailing 8-2 against Rosemary Andrews, Arthur Davey & Archie Andrews
of Ilketshall. They scored
five shots over two ends to cut the Suffolk triples lead to 8-7 before
conceding a three to fall 11-7 behind with two ends left. Boswell’s
triple hit back with three shots on the penultimate end before scoring
another three on the final end to win an amazing game 13-11. In the
other semi-final Betty Cox of First Bus, Trevor Pinchen of Thorpe
Marriott & Rex Cox of First Bus stormed to a massive 17-5 win
against Jackie Fortesque, Mike Harvey & Josh Baxter of Bradwell to
claim their place in the final. The event raised £330 for the Cardiac
Unit at the James Paget Hospital. Norfolk Ladies take part in friendly against Armagh Norfolk Ladies take part in friendly against ArmaghNorfolk Ladies take part in friendly against Armagh Posted 19-9- Carlton Colville Triples Winners Teresa Goldsmith, Mike Boswell & Diane Boswell
Cambridgeshire Quit I.C.C on eve of season
Cambridgeshire
have dramatically withdrawn from the Inter-County Championships on the
eve of the new season. The unexpected move will leave Norfolk “A” in a
group of just three teams. The news was received just minutes before a
Norfolk Management Committee meeting took place at Lyng. Norfolk manager
Lianne Mills announced that she hopes to be able to arrange a friendly
match for Norfolk “A” to replace their previously arranged I.C.C game
against Cambs on September 18th at Lakeside. A decision to
implement a new rule affecting the opening bowls on the last end, or
extra end, of matches has caused much comment from leading bowlers in
England. The new ruling in Ireland will mean that if either of the two
opening bowls from either side touches the jack and finishes in the
ditch they will be removed and declared dead. The rule change is seen as
a way to combat the growing practice of running the jack into the ditch
with a lead bowl when a game goes to an extra end in a sudden death
situation, or on a last end when a game is level on shots. The rule will
cover all licensed and National Competitions in Ireland for the coming
winter season and it remains to be seen if there is any attempt to
introduce a similar rule in England. In another rule change introduced
in Ireland any substitutes used will be barred from playing in the
skip’s position. Chris Mann of Wymondham & England will be the only
Norfolk player taking part in the International Open Singles to be
played at Wye Valley IBC in Guildford on the 1st October. His
opening game will be against Ben Haulkham and the other players he will
meet in his group on the Saturday will be Nigel Nicholls and Robert
Kidd. Posted 18-9-11
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