The new style Bure Cup, this season being played on a league basis for the first time, began with its opening two fixtures. Cup holders Bob Carter, who have already won the Bure League with six straight wins, visited Watton Expendables with high hopes of beginning the revamped competition with a win but found the home side in a resilient mood. The match between two sides fielding extremely strong teams produced four close games but Expendables had the edge in all four to produce a 3-0 home win. Andy Taylor-Balls, George Hume & Jack Marshall opened with a narrow 18-16 win against Alfie Woods, Morgan Warnes & AJ Pye while Andy Rawnsley, Kacy Suffolk & Chris Willies also won by two shots against Melvyn Woods, Simon Warnes & Jack Pye. With the points system based on the old Tens League format a four shot deficit at halftime was not overly worrying for the visitors. But the home side showed tenacity in holding on to their narrow advantage in the second half. Watton’s third two shot win was achieved by Elaine Willies, Robert Howlett & Robin Amos against Jean Woods, Nigel Willard & Jason Woods. In the remaining game Gillian Amos, Chloe Suffolk & Simon Willies scored the evenings biggest win of 18-12 against Gavin Gray, Jack Gray & Gary Best to leave Watton Expendables with a total of 60 shots against Bob Carter’s 48 and a 3-0 home win. In the weeks other match Halvergate visited Hevingham with the home side fully aware they are facing a tough challenge in Norfolk’s smallest but toughest league in which the majority of Norfolk’s England internationals and county team players are playing for either Carter, Expendables or Halvergate. Donna Lamb, Jamie Forster & Ryan Fox got Halvergate off to a great start beating Richard Moore’s triple 19-8 while Mike Tate, Lianne Mills & Paul Baker won 13-9 against Selwyn Goldsmith’s triple to give the visitors a 15 shot interval lead. In the second half Halvergate took total control with a 19-7 win for Tracy King, Mervyn King & David Lamb while Kerry Greenacre, Ray Lamb & Keith Cooke won 17-10 with Cooke in superb form. The total shots win of Halvergate by 68-34 earned the visitors a maximum 5-0 away win. The new points system for the Bure Cup awards a team winning by a total of over 29 shots a 5-0 points win, a win by above 19 shots and up to 29 shots a 4-0 win, a win by above 9 shots and up to 19 shots a 3-0 win, a win by up to 9 shots earns a 2-0 points win and a 1-1 draw if teams finish level on total shots.
George Hume, Chris Willies & Jack Marshall were all in action against Carter
Keith Cooke in superb form for Halvergate