|
ECBA Carpet
Bowls Festival 2026
Monday 27th to Friday 1st May
Sadly the contingent from Norway who
have become a regular fixture at the Festival, were unable to
join us owing to changes in flight schedules which made it prohibitively
expensive for them to travel. They hope to be back in 2027.
However, despite their absence, we still
saw another increase in numbers this year, with 130 players joining
us at Potters.
|
RINKS
A total of 32 Rinks were competing this
year. They were split into 4 groups of 8, with each team getting
4 games. The top 4 teams from each group would qualify for the
Knockout Stages.
Group 1
Edmead-McNeil-Parrish-Myall topped the group with 3 wins and 38 points.
Just behind, on 3 wins and 24 points were Greaves-Webbley-Parks-Nelson.
In third place, on 5 points, were Runnacles-Harris-Hanlon
and 4th place, by just 3 shots went to Marshall-Jarvis-Whiting.
Sadly the Runnacles-Harris-Hanlon team
were forced to withdraw owing to illness striking down 2 of the
players, so the 4th placed team were pushed up a spot with the
team who had finished 5th, Giddens-Folkes-Leftly replacing
them.
Group 2
Group winners with 3 wins and a loss were Templeton-McMann-Clark,
followed by Tilbrook-Game-Daniels on the same number of
points, but fully 25 shots adrift. Newby-Clarke-Frost
were 3rd on 5 points and 28 shots, leaving Long-Reeve
to come home in 4th, on 5 points and 23 shots.
Group 3
Pullar-Butler-Webb were one of
only 2 teams to win all their group games, they finished 2 points
clear of Sutton-Wingfield-Knox-Joy. Third went to Charleton-Shergold-Findlay
on 4 points and 27 shots, 3 shots ahead of Agnew-Short-Jones.
Group 4
Wilson-Ridley-McKenna-Laydon
dominated the group, finishing on 8 points, 3 clear of the three
teams who would take the remaining qualifying spots. Cousins-Clemmet-Newling
took 2nd with 32 shots, Bollins-Brock-O'Brien were on 29 shots,
and Clarke-Stokes-Plaistow finished on 21 shots.
The first round of knockout games
wittled to teams down to the last 8, all of whom would receive
vouchers for getting this far.
Tilbrook-Game-Daniels relied on a couple of threes in the middle of
their game against Clarke-Stokes-Plaistow to hold on for
a 7-4 win.
Giddens-Folkes-Leftly went from 5-1 down against Cousins-Clemmet-Newling
to all-square thanks to a 4 on the penultimate end, only to lose
by a shot, 6-5, on the final end.
Wilson-Ridley-McKenna-Laydon spent much of their game only just ahead of
Greaves-Webbley-Parks-Nelson, but eased away at the end
to win 8-4.
Edmead-McNeil-Parrish-Myall had the most comfortable looking victory of
the round as they beat Sutton-Wingfield-Knox 8-2.
Edmead-McNeil-Parrish-Myall picked up a shot on each of the first 2 ends
against Cousins-Clemmet-Newling, but their opposition
eased their way back into the game with a shot an end over the
next three ends, before really taking control with a 3, and tkaing
the last end to see Cousins-Clemmet-Newling going through to
the final with an 8-2 victory.
Tilbrook-Game-Daniels had the best of the early ends against Wilson-Ridley-McKenna-Laydon,
leading 4-1 after 3 ends, but it was all square 2 ends later,
and the Sunderland team showed their strength as they came though
to complete their comeback and win 7-4.
Michael Laydon, John McKenna,
Adam Wilson & Neil Ridley
(Sunderland) v Paul & Sue Cousins, David Clemmet and Angela
Newling (Suffolk/Cambridgeshire)
Michael's team had their noses in front
from the first and were 3-0 up after 2 ends, and 5-1 ahead 2
ends later. From that point on it was always going to be hard
work for Paul's team to get back into it, and so it proved as
the game ended in a 6-3 win for the Sunderland team.
|
|
PAIRS
The 63 teams taking part were divided
into 12 groups (9 x 5 & 3 x 6). The winners of each group
would proceed to the First Knockout Round and would be joined
by the winners of the 4 Preliminary Round games involving the
8 best runners-up.
Group 1
Ann Butler & Michael Webb
comfortably topped the group, winning all 4 games. Phyllis
Sutton & Rosemary Knox lost just once to qualify as one
of the best runners-up.
Group 2
Nathan McMann & Ian Clark
won 3 and lost 1 game, finishing with a massive 53 shots, beating
Marilyn Stark & Lavinia McGahan to the group win by
17 shots.
Group 3
Ally Hobbs & Neil Jolly topped
the group on 6 points, Sheila & Trevor Plaistow's 5 points
and 28 shots made them the 9th best runners-up.
Group 4
Pete & Rita Runnacles won
the group, winning all their games. Lisa Edmead & Stuart
McNeil's 3 wins saw them also qualify.
Group 5
Maureen & Barry Giddens and
Sue & Paul Cousins both won 3 games and lost 1, the Giddens'
finished 4 shots better to win the group. Both teams were through.
Group 6
Adam Wilson & Neil Ridley
look untroubled, winning all 4 games. They finished 3 points
clear of runners-up Pauline Marshall & Richard Jarvis,
but they were still through.
Group 7
Pete Cook & Dave Smith headed
the group, winning all 4 games, while David Clemmet &
Angela Newling were through as runners-up, losing just once.
Group 8
David Clemmet & Angela Newling won
4 out of 4 to finish first, while second went to John McKenna
& Michael Laydon on 6 points.
Group 9
Doris & Peter Frost took
maximum points as they won the group, Bill & Carole Reeve's
3 wins also took them through.
Group 10
Val Game & Paul Daniels won
all 4 games and finished well ahead of the rest, none of whom
could do better than 4 points.
Group 11
Sue Parrish & Robert Myall dropped
just one point in their 4 games. Two teams finished on 5 points,
but neither had enough shots to progress.
Group 12
Craig Hearn & Marilyn Cook
won a close group with 6 points, just one ahead of two teams,
who didn't accumulate enough shots to make it any further.
Unfortunately Pete & Rita Runnacles
weren't able to take part in the knockout rounds owing to illness,
as a result Sheila & Trevor Plaistow went forward in their
place.
Nathan McMann & Ian Clark romped their way to an 18-0 win over Pauline
Marshall & Richard Jarvis.
Adam Wilson & Neil Ridley and Maureen & Barry Giddens' match
was a close one, 4-3 to Adam & Neil going into the last end,
so the 4 shots they picked up on the last to win 8-3 made the
win looked more comfortable than it really was.
Pete Cook & Dave Smith took until the 4th end to get into the lead
against Doris & Peter Frost but then ran away to win
12-2.
Sue Parrish & Robert Myall were off to a flyer against Craig Hearn &
Marilyn Cook, leading 5-0 after 2 ends, but Craig & Marilyn
came back and Sue & Robert were only just able to hold them
off for a 7-6 win.
Both matches ended up being surprisingly
clear-cut, and both finished with an end to spare.
Nathan McMann & Ian Clark went from 4-2 up against Adam Wilson &
Neil Ridley after 4 ends to 9-2 after 6, and with a maximum
of 6 shots on offer on the last end, the game was over.
Pete Cook & Dave Smith didn't even get a look-in against Sue Parrish
& Robert Myall, who finished them off 12-0 in just 6
ends.
Nathan McMann & Ian Clark (Durham) v Sue Parrish & Robert Myall
(Essex)
Sue and Robert took one shot on the first end, but that was the
last they saw of the lead of the game. Nathan and Ian took a
pair of twos over the next couple of ends, and held their opponents
off for the remainder of the game to take a 7-2 victory.
|
|
SINGLES
We started off with 92 players in a straight
knockout competition, with four rounds taking us down the the
last 8.
Three of the four games were so close that they required an extra
end to settle them.
The exception was Neil Ridley
against Paul Harris. Neil picked up 3 on both the first
and second ends, and by the time the 5th end was done he was
10-0 up and the game was mathematically over.
Marilyn Cook
looked like she was beaten going into the last end of her game
against Sue Parrish having gone from 4-2 up to 7-4 down,
but she grabbed a 3 to take the game to an extra end, only for
Sue to take that 8th end to win 9-7.
Trisha Clarke
was well ahead, 5-0 after 3 ends, but Michael Laydon came
back to level the game twice, before taking one on the last end
to win 7-6.
Ian Clarke
led Craig Hearn 5-2 after 4 ends, but Craig chipped his
was back one shot at a time, levelled the game on the 7th end,
and proceeded to take the extra end and win the game 6-5.
Neil Ridley
led 3-0 after 2 ends over Sue Parrish, but Sue took all
4 on the 3rd end to put herself back in the game. She went into
the last end 6-5 up, and took one more to make her way through
to the final.
Having taken the first end Michael
Laydon found himself 3-2 down to Craig Hearn 2 ends
later, but Michael levelled on the next and then drew away to
win the game 8-3.
Sue Parrish (Essex)
v Michael Laydon (Sunderland)
It was all one-way traffic early on as Michael ran out to a 7-0
lead over Sue over the first 4 ends. It would have been easy
for Sue to have crumbled at that stage, but she didn't, she picked
up a single and then two more to keep the game alive and at least
give herself a chance, albeit a remote one of taking the game
to an extra end. And she almost did it, she held 4 with Michael
still to bowl his final wood, now he was the one who had to hold
his nerve. Resisting the urge to fire, he went for the draw,
it was nowhere near shot, but it was good enough to cut out Sue's
4th best wood and her down to just 3 and to win the game 7-6.
|
Many thanks to everyone who joined us,
congratulations to all the winners, and we hope to see you all
again next year.
You can view the entire week's results
here.
And videos of all 3 days here.
|
