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This year's event
was held over 2-3 June at the Stanley Indoor Bowling Centre,
County Durham.
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Rinks
Durham and Hertfordshire made the early running, they had both
won their first two games to jointly lead the way.
While Hertfordshire remained
unbeaten with a good win over Suffolk, Durham fell to a heavy
defeat at the hands of Cambridgeshire. That left Herts 2 points
clear of the rest.
Hertfordshire finished
Saturday with another win to finish the day on maximum points,
three clear of closest rivals Sunderland and looking on course
to retain the title.
Herts maintained their
winning run on Sunday morning and with Sunderland only managing
a draw the leaders now had a 4 point gap at the top and with
2 games to go had one hand on the trophy.
Although they were run
close by Cambridgeshire in their penultimate game, Herfordshire
recorded their 6th win and secured the title with a game to go.
With the title already
in their pockets Herts may have relaxed a little bit too much
because they went out and lost their final game against Norfolk,
spoiling their perfect record, a result which meant that Norfolk
took the runner-up spot.
Winners: Sandra Gammage,
Rebecca Hearn, Neil Tuckey & Ben Summerfield (Hertfordshire) |
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Triples
After 2 games Suffolk were already the only team with a 100%
record, next best were Norfolk who were still unbeaten, on 3
points.
Suffolk made it 3 out of
3 against Hertfordshire and were now 2 points clear of Cambridgeshire
and Northumberland.
Suffolk finished Saturday
with their 4th win of the day and led by 2 points over Cambridgeshire
with Sunderland a further point back.
Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
both won comfortably first thing on Sunday morning which meant
that it was now a two horse race.
Again both teams won their
next games, leaving Suffolk two points and 30 shots ahead, a
margin which Cambridgeshire were unlikely to be able to overcome.
And while Cambridgeshire
did their bit with a 6th win, Suffolk took another comfortable
win to finish as the only team with a perfect record across the
weekend.
Winners: Tom & Sam
Runnacles & Clint Watling (Suffolk) |
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Pairs
Only Norfolk made it through their second game unbeaten, they
were 2 points clear of 6 other teams.
Norfolk continued their
run of wins into the third session with only Northumberland and
Hertfordshire still within 2 points of them.
However an upset was on
the cards in Saturday's final session as Hertfordshire beat the
leaders and with Northumberland taking their third win of the
day that meant a three-way tie for the lead overnight, with just
3 shots separating the teams.
Sunday morning saw the
leaders down to just Northumberland and Norfolk as they won and
Hertfordshire lost. And with Norfolk winning their next game
they were now 2 points clear as Northumberland lost.
Norfolk looked to be heading
for the title with match shot until the final Sunderland wood
came in to snatch victory, while at the same time Hertfordshire
were beating Suffolk. Pete Cook took time out to do his sums
before he sent his last wood down and decided that he had done
enough. He had, by a single shot.
Winners: Pete &
Mick Cook (Hertfordshire) |
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Singles
Hertfordshire lead the way after 2 games, with 2 wins while Sunderland
and Cambridgeshire were both a point behind.
Hertfordshire made it 3
out of 3 and were now 2 points clear of Suffolk, Durham and Northumberland.
Herts' final game produced
a fourth win of the day with Suffolk and Durham taking their
third wins to tie for second place at the close of Saturday's
play.
Sunday's first games maintained
the status quo with the top three winning their games.
However the penultimate
round of games changed things considerably as Hertfordshire lost.
That now meant that Durham, Suffolk and Herts were all on 10
points and separated by 5 shots.
While Suffolk and Hertfordshire
played one another Durham lost to Cambridgeshire, so it was all
down to that one game and it was as close as you might imagine,
but the game just fell away from Suffolk at the very end and
it was Hertfordshire who took the title by 2 points.
Winner: Craig Hearn
(Hertfordshire) |
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Team
With two sessions completed Hertfordshire were leading the way
on 11 points, Suffolk were just one behind and one point further
back on 9 were Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
The third session saw Hertfordshire
stretching their legs, they were on to 17 points and were now
3 ahead of both Suffolk and Northumberland, although there were
only three points separating 2nd from 7th place.
Saturday finished with
Hertfordshire still leading the way having moved on to 23 points,
but Suffolk were now on their own in second, only 1 point behind,
with a gap having opened up to the next best teams, Cambridgeshire
and Sunderland who were on 17 points.
Hertfordshire extended
their lead over Suffolk to 3 points first thing on Sunday with
Cambridgeshire now in a clear third spot, a further 4 points
back.
With one session to go
Hertfordshire maintained their 1 point lead over Suffolk with
the title now bound to go to one of them.
And Suffolk had the opportunity
to overtake Herts as their Singles and Pairs played one another,
but Hertfordshire triumphed in both those games to secure the
title.
Winners: Hertfordshire |
You can find all the weekend's
results here.
Photos here.
And a full list of the
past winners here. |
