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This year's event was held
over 11-12 June at the Stanley Indoor Bowling Centre, County
Durham.
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Rinks
Sunderland, Norfolk, Suffolk and Durham opened their accounts
with wins, but only Suffolk and Norfolk won their second games.
But after 3 games it was
Norfolk out on their own, on 6 points, with Essex, Hertfordshire,
and Suffolk all 2 points behind.
Norfolk continued their
winning run, making it 4 out of 4 in the final games of the first
day. Hertfordshire and Suffolk also won, and were tied for second,
two points back.
Norfolk, Hertfordshire
and Suffolk all won to maintain their relative positions, as
Sunday opened. Norfolk would have to play those two teams closest
to them in their remaining games.
Norfolk were off to a good
start against Suffolk, but Suffolk came back in the second half
to break Norfolk’s unbeaten record, and with Hertfordshire
winning, it was now a 3 way tie at the top.
Suffolk would finish with
a 6th win, but everything rested on the game between Norfolk
and Hertfordshire. It was not close. Having not faltered until
halfway through their 6th game, Norfolk were thoroughly outplayed,
and heavily beaten by Hertfordshire, who took the title by 14
shots over Suffolk.
Winners - Hertfordshire
(Marilyn Cook, Rebecca Hearn, Jack Smalley & Jason Ellis) |
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Triples
Sunderland, Norfolk, Suffolk and Durham were off to winning starts,
and Durham and Sunderland following up with second wins.
The same two teams went
on to make it 3 out of 3, Suffolk were back in third on 4 points.
It was the same story in
Saturday’s final round of games, with Durham and Sunderland
winning again, and sitting on 8 points, 3 points clear of third
placed Suffolk, who could only draw.
Sunderland and Durham both
maintained their perfect records in Sunday’s opening games,
taking them 5 points clear of the rest. The title was probably
going to be decided by the match still to come, between the two
of them.
While Sunderland continued
their winning run, Durham did not, getting barely a look in against
Essex. That left Sunderland on 12 points, 2 points and 8 shots
clear of Durham, who they would play in their final game. What
could possibly go wrong?
The answer to that is getting
off to practically the worst possible start in that final game
as Durham picked up 5 shots, almost wiping out Sunderlands advantage
in one fell swoop. Even so Sunderland’s fate remained in
their own hands, but they kept falling further behind, going
into the last end 12-2 down. But Sunderland took their final
end, 2 shots, which put both teams on 12 points and 61 shots,
however, while they had 44 shots against, while Durham had only
43, handing Durham the title by the narrowest possible margin.
Winners - Durham (David
Templeton, Stephen Templeton & Olwen Gray) |
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Pairs
Durham, Cambridgeshire, Northumberland and Sunderland all recorded
wins in their first games, with Durham and Cambridgeshire going
on to make it 2 out of 2.
Durham made it 3 out of
3, but Cambridgeshire could not, they now shared second spot
with Hertfordshire and Sunderalnd.
Durham did not finish the
day undefeated, falling to a loss in their final game, while
Hertfordshire and Sunderland both won, putting all three on 6
points, with Northumberland one further point back.
Hertfordshire and Durham
both started Sunday with a win, and with Sunderland losing, it
looked as if it was now just between the top two.
It was another win for
Hertfordshire in the penultimate round, but a narrow loss for
Durham at the hands of Norfolk, sending Herts 2 points clear,
and with a comfortable shot advantage, the title was practically
theirs.
And so it proved, Hertfordshire
wrapped up the title with a 6th win, finishing on 12 points,
with Sunderland and Durham winning their finals games to end
up on 10 points.
Winners - Hertfordshire
(Craig Hearn & Paul Harris) |
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Singles
Strong wins for Sunderland (21-2) and Durham (17-3), saw them
off to a very good start in the first round, however after 2
games it was Durham, and the other winner from the first round,
Norfolk, who topped the standings with 2 wins.
The third round saw Durham
maintain their perfect record, and pull 2 points away from Norfolk
(who lost their first game), and Sunderland.
Saturday’s final round
of games finally saw Durham stumble, they ended the day one 6
points, as did Sunderland and Norfolk, who both won, and with
Suffolk and Cambridgeshire finishing the day on 5 points, that
meant five counties separated by just one point.
Sunday opened with wins
for the top 4, Cambridgeshire lost, to fall out of contention,
leaving Sunderland, Durham and Norfolk on 8 points, and Suffolk
on 7.
The penultimate round saw
Suffolk beat Sunderland, and with Durham and Norfolk drawing
against one another, there was still a three way tie for the
lead, but it was now Durham, Norfolk and Suffolk and 9 points.
It all looked to be heading
towards a very close finish, but Suffolk and Durham both lost,
and with Norfolk playing Sunderland, whoever won that game would
take the title. In the end it wasn’t close, Norfolk took
a decisive win, finishing clear winners on 11 points, with Durham,
Suffolk and Cambridgeshire all ending up on 9 points.
Winner - Norfolk (Matt
Frost) |
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Team
Saturday was all about just two teams, Sunderland and Durham.
The two ended up on top, with a disappointing final session meaning
that Durham just lost the top spot.
Sunderland led the way
on 24 points, Durham were on 22, Suffolk 18, and Norfolk 17.
Hertfordshire had a great
day on Sunday, picking up 21 from a possible 24 points, taking
them past a whole host of teams as they finished on 36 points,
but it wasn’t quite enough to overhaul the overnight leaders
Sunderland who ended up on 38 points.
Winners - Sunderland |
You can find all the weekend's
results here.
And a full list of the
past winners here. |
