Bob Carter completed a fabulous Bure League and Cup double last night after a convincing 5-0 home win against Halvergate in the last match of the Bure Cup season. Halvergate went into the match knowing that if they could restrict Carter to a nine shot or less victory it would be them who would top the Bure Cup table but their carefully laid plans were blown apart after Halvergate found themselves a player short just before the second half was to commence. A text received by the Halvergate captain at 8.40pm was the news they did not want to receive, this was that former Bob Carter & Norfolk bowler Jamie Forster would not be arriving at the venue and that Robbie & David Lamb would have to face England’s Jack Pye and his triple with no number two. The first half had left Bob Carter nine shots ahead, with Halvergate facing a massive task in trying to stop this lead increasing, but this had now become mission impossible with the spirits of the visiting team visibly deflated by this news. In the first half Carter’s Jean Woods, Gavin Gray & Jason Woods were involved in a tight game against Halvergate’s Donna Lamb, Matthew Mills & Ryan Fox with the score level at 10-10 with three ends remaining. But a great finish by the Carter triple saw them add valuable shots as they went on to win 18-11. On the other mat Alfie Woods, Morgan Warnes & AJ Pye also found the away triple of Ray Lamb, Lianne Mills & Paul Baker resilient with the score level at 11-11 with three ends to go. But as in the other first half game the home triple gained the win on the closing ends with the final score 14-12 in Carter’s favour. This left Carter 32-23 up on shots at the interval. The second half saw Bob Carter turn up the heat on the opposition leaving them coasting to victory after just a few ends. Carter’s David Knights, Gerald Potter & Gary Best enjoyed a great start leading 10-2 after seven ends against Kerry Greenacre, David Crosby & Keith Cooke and eventually won by 14-8. On mat 2 Robbie & David Lamb of Halvergate were up against Melvin Woods, Simon Warnes & World Triples Champion Jack Pye. Playing against Jack Pye’s triple would have been difficult enough with a full team but without a number two it proved to be impossible to stem the tide against a bowler such as Jack Pye. Pye’s triple powered their way to a 32-6 win which left Carter winning by 78-37 shots overall earning them a 5-0 home win and the Bure Cup remains in the possession of Bob Carter for another season. The small, but super strong Bure, has produced a great season of bowls with Bob Carter deserving double winners after some superb performances. In the Bure Cup Carter’s home form was excellent as they produced 5-0 maximum wins in all their games. Away from home they actually suffered defeats at both Halvergate and Watton Expendables but kept the shots tight so only went down 2-0 at Halvergate and 3-0 at Expendables. Halvergate finished seven points clear of third placed Expendables while Hevingham finished fourth in the table despite fighting all the way against sides with much stronger squads. The withdrawal of Thorpe Marriott and Horsford BC from the Bure has unfortunately left Hevingham isolated in terms of teams of similar standards to compete against, in the end this could be fatal to the future of the league unless other teams are attracted in.
Bob Carter skips Jack Pye & Gary Best pictured on Norfolk duty
AJ Pye, Alfie Woods & Morgan Warnes won their game by 14-12
Melvin Woods of Bob Carter is in fine form for his club
The experienced Gerald Potter is proving a perfect fit for Carter
Carter captain Jason Woods has led his team to a Bure Double