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This year's event was held
over 1-2 June at the Stanley Indoor Bowling Centre, County Durham.
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Rinks
The early leaders were Northumberland, the only team to come
through their first two games with two wins. Sunderland and Norfolk
were unbeaten but had drawn with one another while the rest had
lost at least once.
Leaders Northumberland
lost to Suffolk but stayed third, allowing Sunderland to go go
into the lead on 5 points after defeating Essex with Durham in
second as they came from behind to beat Hertfordshire.
Sunderland picked up another
win to finish Saturday on 7 points while Northumberland took
a third win to sit second on 6 points, 2 clear of the next best
teams.
Sunderland continued their
winning run on Sunday, beating nearest rivals Northumberland
to lift them 3 points clear of the team they had just beaten,
Durham and Suffolk.
Sunderland needed a win
to take the trophy with a game to spare and they did just that,
meanwhile Suffolk and Cambridgeshire both won to lift themselves
to 2nd and 3rd respectively.
With the title already
decided Sunderland won their final game to finish undefeated
on 13 points, second place was however still up for grabs as
Suffolk and Cambridgeshire played one another. And it was Suffolk
who took the win to finish runners-up with Northumberland finishing
third.
Winners: Steve Wilson,
Martin Campbell, Ryan Meldrum & Bill Liddle (Sunderland) |
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Triples
Right from the start this looked as if it was going to be the
most closely contested event. With two games played Hertfordshire
and Essex were leading the way with 2 wins each while Norfolk
had dropped just one point.
Having picked up 4 on the
penultimate end of their game against Durham, Hertfordshire looked
set to extend their winning run, but they then proceeded to drop
4 on the last to lose the game 10-9. That meant that Norfolk
moved into a one point lead over both Herts and Essex, who also
lost.
Norfolk continued to lead
as they picked up another win to finish Saturday on 7 points,
Herts recovered from their loss in the previous round to go clear
in second on 6 points while Sunderland sat in third on 5 points.
As Sunday’s play began
it was all change, the top two teams both lost while Sunderland
won to join Norfolk on 7 points while both Herts and Suffolk
now stood on 6 points.
Norfolk won a crucial game
against Hertfordshire to lift them back on top with 9 points,
meanwhile Durham beat Sunderland which meant that the two of
them were the closest contenders, 2 points adrift.
With Sunderland and Durham
both winning their final games Norfolk needed at least a draw.
But against Essex they were always chasing the game, however
on the final end and with the final wood they picked up the two
shots they needed to draw the game 7-7 and take the title with
10 points. Sunderland and Durham both finished on 9 points to
come hom in second and third places respectively.
Winners: Stephen, Matt
& Doris Frost (Norfolk) |
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Pairs
The early running was being made by Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
as they both won their opening two games.
The third round saw Suffolk
win again but Cambridgeshire fell to Northumberland, making it
a three way tie for second between Herts, Cambs and Northumberland
while Suffolk moved 2 points clear at the top.
Suffolk stumbled a little
as they just lost out to Cambridgeshire which meant that the
two of them along with Hertfordshire were all tied on 6 points
at the end of Saturday.
Having fallen 8-0 down
to Sunderland Suffolk staged a remarkable comeback to win 9-8
to put them top on 8 points, meanwhile Hertfordshire played out
a draw with Northumberland to leave them one point behind.
This one was going down
to the wire. Hertfordshire beat Suffolk to move on to 9 points,
while Essex and Cambridgeshire also won to put themselves and
Suffolk just a point behind the leaders.
With only a single point
lead Herts would need a win to be sure. Essex and Cambridgeshire
both won to finish on 10 points but Hertfordshire just kept their
noses in front of Durham, winning 7-5 to finish on 11 points.
Winners: Neil Tuckey
& Stuart Palmer (Hertfordshire) |
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Singles
It was Suffolk and Hertfordshire who made the early running,
both recorded wins in their opening pairs of games with everyone
else having lost at least once.
It was the same story after
the third game, Suffolk and Herts still on maximum points with
Northumberland and Sunderland 2 behind.
Both Suffolk and Hertfordshire
won yet again, both finishing the Saturday on 8 points while
Northumberland picked up a third win to keep themselves in contention
2 points back from the leaders.
While Herts continued on
their winning ways it was Suffolk who were first to crack, losing
to Sunderland to create a 2 point gap at the top.
Hertfordshire played Suffolk
in a game that would either settle the event or get Suffolk back
in the running. Herts picked up an early lead and held on to
win 8-7 and that meant that Hertfordshire had won the title with
a game to spare.
Jack went on to win his
final game and complete a clean sweep, the only one of the weekend,
leaving the others to fight over second place, that went to Suffolk,
on shots over Sunderland, both fully 4 points behind the winner.
Winner: Jack Smalley
(Hertfordshire) |
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Team
Five sessions in and everything was exceedingly close, Hertfordshire
and Suffolk led on 12 points but four more teams were only 2
points behind and even Durham at the bottom were only 5 points
away from the leaders.
With one session to go
on Saturday it was still the same two counties on top, both on
20 points, with Sunderland on 18 and Northumberland on 16 points.
Saturday finished with
Hertfordshire just edging out a 2 point lead over Suffolk. Herts
finished the day on 24 points, Suffolk on 22 and Sunderland and
Northumberland sharing third place on 18 points.
With everyone having played
once on Sunday morning Suffolk had just edged ahead by a point
over Herts with Sunderland 4 off the leaders.
With a couple of sessions
to go Hertfordshire were now three points clear of the rest as
Suffolk dropped off the pace and were now being caught by Sunderland.
In the end that lead held
good although Suffolk chipped it back. Hertfordshire finished
on 37 points, Suffolk on 36 (both identical to last year), with
Sunderladn third on 34.
Winners: Hertfordshire |
You can find all the weekend's
results here.
And a full list of the
past winners here. |
