ECBA Carpet Bowls Festival 2015
Monday 11th to Friday 15th May 2015

It was another good turnout for what was the 12th running of the Festival of Bowls.

As usual the competitiors were invited to the three competitions which would run side by side through the week. The Singles, which was run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the Pairs, which ran on Wednesday and Thursday and the Rinks which ran on Tuesday and Thursday. Each discipline was drilled down to the finalists who took the stage on Thursday afternoon for the culmination of the week's play.

SINGLES

Starting out with over 120 bowlers, this event is run on a straight Knockout basis.

Over the course of Tuesday afternoon and evening the numbers were whittled down to the last 16 who then played down to the last 2 on Wednesday afternoon.

Quarter Finals

It was an impressive showing for Norfolk, who provided 5 of the last 8 players, with one each from Essex, Suffolk and Sunderland.

John Joy (Norfolk) had a 5 shot lead over Alan Long (Norfolk) after just 2 ends and was never headed as he took the game 10-6.

Colin Knox (Norfolk) also took a 10-6 win, over Dirk Vettewinkel (Essex). The game was level at 3 ends, but Colin won the next 3 and was able to bring the win home.

Another all Norfolk game saw Gillian Wilson ran out a comfortable 10-1 winner over Mick Fisher.

The early part of the game between Sally Goodrich (Suffolk) and Martin Campbell (Sunderland) was close. Sally won the first end, Martin won the next 2 to take the lead 3-2, but 2 ends later Sally was 4-3 up. However Martin came on strong on ends 6 and 7, taking 3 shots on each and while Sally took the 8th end, she ran out of time and Martin took the win 9-6.

Semi-Finals

John Joy (Norfolk) v Colin Knox (Norfolk)
John was off to a good start, winning the first 2 ends put him 4-0 up. Colin struck back with a 3, but John won the fourth to lead 5-3. However from there on it was Colin's game as he took the next 5 ends to win 11-5.

Gillian Wilson (Norfolk) v Martin Campbell (Sunderland)
Gillian was able to keep Martin honest in the early part of the game. by the fourth end it was 3-3 and she had won 3 of the ends. But then, as so often is the case, Martin found another gear, winning the next 4 ends to take the game 12-3 and reach yet another Singles final.

Final

Colin Knox (Norfolk) v Martin Campbell (Sunderland) End 1 – Colin's first 2 woods are on the jack. Martin manages to push one away, but doesn't quite manage to do it to the second. Colin leads 1-0. End 2 – Martin is holding one and gets close with his last which very slowly drops in as it is being looked at for second. Martin into the lead 2-1. End 3 – Colin makes the better start and Martin is heavy until his final wood takes shot, but Colin is in with his last to take 2 to lead 3-2. End 4 – With Martin holding Colin catches the jack with his third to take it loose and hold before drawing another. Martin misses the draw with his last. 5-2 to Colin. End 5 – Colin is drawing short while Martin is playing through the head, it's going to be a big count one way or the other. And Martin catches the jack with his final wood, taking 3 to level the game 5-5. End 6 – Martin is on the jack but Colin draws it off, and takes a second with his final wood to regain the lead, 7-5.

End 7 – Trailing by one Colin takes the decision to try and knock his nearest, but wide and short, wood up to the jack. And it works, the wood finishing in front of the jack. Martin can't beat it and Colin leads 8-5. End 8 – Martin moves the jack to Colin's first wood, Colin draws a second and a third before Martin draws the jack away for shot, but both miss with their last. The lead is down to 8-6. End 9 – Colin, as he has done all through the game is outdrawing Martin, his first one is just behind the jack and Martin tries repeatedly, but just can't move it. Colin takes the end and a very popular win in front of a large Norfolk contingent.

PAIRS

There were 80 Pairs competing this year, split up into 20 groups of 4, half of whom would play on Wednesday morning, while the other half would play that same afternoon.

From the groups all of the winners and the 12 best runners-up would qualify for the Knockout Stages on Thursday afternoon.

So while the winners would know their fate immediately, the runners-up from the first half of the day would have to sit back and hope that their tally of points and shots would be sufficient to see them through.

And with the qualifiers all decided upon the Knockout Stages began on Thursday afternoon.

Semi-Finals

Neil Jolly & Jim Goodrich (Suffolk) v Bob Usher & Martin Campbell (Sunderland)
Unsurprisingly it was nip and tuck all the way, with these two pairs trading just single shots over the first 3 ends, although Suffolk's two gave them a very slight edge. However the fourth end saw a decisive 3 shots for Sunderland which propelled them into a 4-2 lead. But Suffolk pulled back to level the game 4 all, at 5 ends and they were two up after the next, with 3 ends to go.

The seventh end looked like Suffolk's, but a perfect, almost impossible draw from Martin gave them a single shot. The 8th end looked like it was going to be the last as the whistle was blown halfway through, but Neil's final wood just fails to take shot, and the game is tied at 6-6.

Time for an extra end. And with only 2 woods to go the jack has been pushed to the side of the mat with the Suffolk woods on the inside of it and holding, while the opposition woods a out of it. With one wood left Martin did all he could and drew close to the jack and hoped for the best. Neil weighed up his options and to be on the safe side went with weight so as not to be short. If the jack was moved he would win, if the opposition's wood was moved be would win. Unfortunately he went for the third option and hit the centre and the game was lost.

Anne Hathaway & Susan Hurley (Suffolk) v Michael Laydon & Jaxon McKenna (Sunderland)
Two ends in and the Sunderland pair had already stamped their authority on the game as they won the battle of the leads. Two on the first and three on the second end gave them a healthy start. The third end saw them restricted to just 1 shot, before the Suffolk pair won their first end to make to 6-1 after 4.

But before they had a chance to gain any momentum Sunderland were back in again with 3 shots and the game was all but over. One for Suffolk on the next, followed by another 2 was sadly too late and a two for Sunderland sealed the game as they made it through with an 11-4 win.

Final

Bob Usher & Martin Campbell (playing his second final) v Michael Laydon & Jaxon McKenna, an all-Sunderland affair.
End 1 – No one troubles the jack until Martin gets it with his last wood. Usher/Campbell lead 2-0.
End 2 – This time no one is within a foot and the first wood, which was short holds on as Usher/Campbell extend their lead to 3-0.
End 3 – Alot of short woods this time, Martin saves his best for last and Michael can't get in. The lead is now 5-0.
End 4 – Bob nails the jack with his second, Martin drops in behind and Michael's last wood is heavy, knocking another one in to drop 3. 8-0.
End 5 – Martin's gets the first close wood in, again Michael is heavy. 9-0.
End 6 – Jaxon takes shot with his second to give a glimmer of hope. Martin gets is loose, taking shot with his second and another heavy wood from Michael gives the opposition another. 11-0
End 7 – By far the best end so far as the leads trade shot, one after the other, but again Martin is in there to take shot and the game, with 2 ends left to play.

RINKS

The week started out with 40 Rinks of Four, divided up into 8 groups of 5.

Tuesday morning, running into the early part of the afternoon saw the teams playing their group games, after which the top two from each group would go forward to the Knockout Stages which were to be played on Thursday morning.

Semi-Finals

Neil Jolly, Ally Hobbs and Jim & Sally Goodrich (Suffolk) v David Storey, Ailene Pearson, Shirley & Peter Wood (Durham)
The Suffolk team started with a single on the first end, setting the standard for much of the rest of the game as they chipped away at their opposition end after end. Two on the second was followed by 3 singles to put them 6-0 up after 5 ends. Still the game was not out of the Durham team's grasp, however the next end saw to that as 5 gave the Suffolk team an 11-0 lead with only 2 ends left. Durham were on the scoreboard with one on the 7th, but that was not enough to extend the game into the final scheduled end as Neil's team won 11-1.

Sue & Peter Jones and Laurence & Sarah Pullar (Cambridgeshire) v Michael Laydon, Bob Usher, Jaxon McKenna & Martin Campbell (Sunderland)
It was the Cambridgeshire team that were off to the better start, two on the first, one on the second and three on the third. Despite the strength of the Sunderland team they were already down 6-0 to an opposition that were bowling exceptionally well. Martin's team did get on the board on the next end, to cut the defecit back to 2-6, but that was the only end they won. Sue's team were never far away from the jack as they took the next three ends and finished 10-2 winners.

Final

Neil Jolly, Ally Hobbs and Jim & Sally Goodrich (Suffolk) v Sue & Peter Jones & Laurence & Sarah Pullar (Cambridgeshire)
End 1 – The Jones team get the jack back early on and press home their advantage, but holding 4, Neil draws in with his last to take shot and lead 1-0.
End 2 – Again the jack goes long, but this time the Suffolk team have something there. But just as the head is building nicely for them Laurence gets in with weight and the jack manages to seek out a pair of his team's woods. Neil manages to get it back to one with his last and it's 1-1.
End 3 – The Jones team knock the jack back again, leaving the opposition high and dry and fighting to get a wood close, which Neil finally does with his last wood to go 2-1 up.
End 4 – Sarah gets her first wood in behind the jack and it just won't be budged, but Neil's last is in with weight to punch out second wood and drop in to hold. Sue has to play with weight and succeeds in moving the jack out of the head, but over to another one of Neil's. He now leads 3-1.
End 5 – Again it's Sarah who has the best wood, this time in front. And again it hangs in there until Neil gets the jack away, cutting the count against from three to one. The lead is down to 3-2, just one shot an end.
End 6 – This time Sarah has two woods just on the front of the jack, but Ally counters by pushing one in behind to give them position, and eventually shot. Neil tries to block but somehow Sue gets in for one and although Neil is in with his final wood everything falls the wrong way for him and he loses 2. Sue leads for the first time, 4-3.
End 7 – Sarah's first wood is holding. Peter first nudges an opposition wood to hold and then stands one of his own up to hold, touching the front of the jack. It's delicate stuff now as one team looks the just give the head a little touch to move the jack back, while the other looks to cover any possible movement. Sue blocks one hand with her last, but Neil gets on the other hand, into the head and moves the jack a couple of inches to give himself 2 and the lead, 5-4.
End 8 – Jim gets the better start. Peter moves the jack back to a few inches from the end, but his wood just rolls off the mat. A crucial wood now as Ally draws just in front, leaving the opposition very little room to play with. However Laurence draws in behind, just on the edge of the mat, not holding, but in a good position. Now the woods start to pile up in front, but Sue does well to clear some out of the way and get in for second. Neil's final wood is meant to be a blocker, but stays wide, leaving Sue a glimmer of hope, but she just fails, dropping one shot and losing the game.

While one of the finals was an emphatic victory the other two were much closer and had plenty for the crowd of onlookers and the Rinks final in particular was a very fine way to end an excellent week of bowls.

We are already looking forward to next year's event, bookings for which are now being taken, more details can be found here.

Click here for the photo gallery

A list of the event's previous winners can be found here.

updated 15/05/15