An amazing second half comeback by Norfolk against West Mids secured the defending Inter-County Championship side a place in the semi-finals. The first session of singles and pairs at Solihull left opponents West Mids in a strong position as Norfolk lost on all mats. West Mids singles players adopted an attacking style of play trying to ditch the jack with their first bowls and it paid dividends as Chris Mann of Wymondham went down 12-9 to Ross Dunkley and Ryan Fox of Halvergate lost 16-9 to Nathan Caines. Norfolk’s pairs also lost their games as Jack Marshall & Chris Willies went down by 14-10 to P Baller and M Follis and Wymondham’s Debbie Sparham & Jack Pye lost by 13-8 against M Caines & A Easthope. Norfolk’s triples also endured a tough first half as Jack Gray, Morgan Warnes & AJ Pye lost by 11-10 and Gavin Gray, Simon Willies & Jason Woods lost by 15-12 in two tight games. Norfolk’s fours though kept them in the match with 14-8 win for Kacy Suffolk, Simon Warnes, Jon Sparham & Keith Cooke while Karl Newby, Chloe Suffolk, David Lamb & Gary Best won by 13-8. In the second half Norfolk’s singles players turned the tables on West Mids. Chris Mann beat Caines 13-8 while Ryan Fox beat Dunkley 13-12. In the pairs Debbie Sparham & Jack Pye lost by 20-10 but a killer bowl by Jack Marshall on the last end saw him and Chris Willies enjoy a 14-10 win and keep Norfolk in with a chance. Norfolk then faced a huge task of having to win all of the remaining four games in the triples and fours. Against any side that is a daunting job but even more so when your opponents are of the class of West Mids. But Norfolk have a huge belief in themselves following their historic Top Team triumph in Belfast and their tremendous run of results in the I.C.C and took their task on with relish. Gary Best’s rink, with Chloe Suffolk in very good form all day, returned a 12-11 win while Keith Cooke’s four enjoyed a more comfortable 18-7 win. In the triples Jack Gray, Morgan Warnes & AJ Pye won by 15-8 while Gavin Gray, Simon Willies & Jason Woods won by 13-12 as Norfolk completed a dramatic turnaround earning the two triples bonus points and seeing Norfolk over the line with a 22-18 points win, 194-185 on shots. Norfolk can now look forward to meeting Dorset in the semi-finals.
The Norfolk team pictured after winning the Inter-County Championships last season