Archive | Match Reports

Worcestershire played host to Northamptonshire at Bromsgrove in a friendly match marking the opening of the 2021/22 county short mat bowling season. This was the first competitive match for both counties since the beginning of the covid 19 pandemic  early in 2020. It had previously been agreed that the match would consist of triples only, with 6 sessions during the day, thus enabling maximum participation of both counties’ squads, having due regard to covid 19 guidance notes.  -There were 10 points to play for in each session.

The first two sessions were evenly balanced with both counties winning two of the four matches played in each session. The third session saw Worcestershire winning three of the four matches , a position which was reversed in session four. At this stage the score was level at 20 points for both counties. Worcestershire faded during the final two sessions eventually losing by 23 points to 37.

The county now looks forward to the opening ESMBA inter county competition when the county play West Midlands on Sunday 10th October.

This was the day when the county went to the top of the inter county group table by beating Shropshire by 26 points to 14. The county won nine of the sixteen individual games played and drew one. They earned 2 bonus points for the singles, triples and fours and shared the two bonus points for the pairs. Congratulations to the county squad on a deserved win and also congratulations to all those other bowlers who have played for the county during this season for contributing to the overall successes of the county.  –  the best result for many years.

Session  1.

A mixed morning session with Cayman losing his opening singles match, but with Johnathon winning. Johnathon led throughout and following consistent performance won comfortably by 14 shots to 5. Leah and Sean were very strong throughout their pairs match losing only four of the 15 ends played. They had a very powerful 20 shots to 6 win. Jenny and Richard lost their opening match.

Session  2.

Alan’s triples team had a very close contest with their opposite team, who managed to win the last end by one shot ensuring that the match was an 11-11 draw. Richard’s triples team were also frustrated in the last end of their 13 end game, when the opposition snatched three shots to take victory away from Richard’s team leaving the team down 9-11. Malcolm’s fours team shot into a 6-0 lead after three ends, when at that stage the opposition put up strong resistance. The great start for Malcolm’s team, however,  was sufficient to enable the team to be in front throughout the match running out winning it by 10 shots to 7. Jim’s fours team lost.

Session 3.

Having led for 6 ends Cayman found himself 10-11 down after the 11th end of his afternoon singles match. Cayman then went on to score a massive 14 shots off the last four ends to win by the wide margin of 24 shots to 11. Johnathon narrowly lost his afternoon singles match 10-11. Leah and Sean lost their afternoon match. In their afternoon pairs match Jenny and Richard had led throughout the  match but found themselves level with their opponents going into the last end. With the maximum 4 shots off this final end Jenny and Richard ran out winning by 14 shots to 10.

Session  4.

Alan’s team led throughout their triples match, won 9 of the 13 ends played and won the match comfortably by 17 shots to 9. Richard’s triples team led throughout their match after the second end, won 8 of the 13 ends played, and were winners by 14 shots to 7. Malcolm’s fours team had another great start and were 6-0 up after the second end. They again led throughout the match, maintained their consistency and went on to win their second match of the day by 17 shots to 9. Jim’s fours team led throughout winning 8 of the 11 ends played. they were very comfortable winners by 14 shots to 4.

A summary of the day’s results is shown below  :

This home fixture saw the county have a resounding win over Herefordshire by 29 points to 11. This included taking the maximum  8 bonus points available. This was a great achievement particularly  as the county lost all four  matches in session 1. With a further win in session 2, Herefordshire were 10 points to 6 ahead at the half way stage. A very strong performance by Worcestershire in the afternoon sessions saw Herefordshire only gaining one further point with Worcestershire winning 7 and drawing one of the 8 matches played.

Worcestershire are now second in the group table on 118 points with Herefordshire, now having completed all their matches, on top with 142 points.  Worcestershire play their final match against Shropshire at Bromsgrove on the 19th January.

Session  1.

A bit of a shock for everyone this session with both singles and pairs teams losing.

Session  2.

A much better session for the county. Alan’s triples team started strongly and were 8-0 up after four ends. Then followed four ends when they only managed one shot but with 7 shots off the final five ends they were worthy winners by 16 shots to 4, having led throughout the match. Richard’s triples team also led throughout the match, winning eight of the thirteen ends played. They ran out winning by 12 shots to 9. Maureen’s fours team lost  but Malcolm’s team won in a very hard, low scoring and closely fought contest. The team was down 4-5 after the 8th end, but with very determined play by the team they won the final three ends running out winning by 8 shots to 5.

After session 1 the county were down 0-8 and following a much better 2nd session were down 6-10 at the halfway stage.

Session  3.

A strong performance throughout saw Cayman leading throughout in his afternoon singles match to win by 14 shots to 9.  Johnathon also led throughout his singles match and with a similar strong performance won by 16 shots to 9. In their pairs match Leah and Sean took the  lead in the 5th end and maintained that lead for the rest of the match. They were comfortable winners by 18 shots to 11. In their pairs match Jenny and Richard rushed into a 12-0 lead after the 6th end. The next 9 ends saw both teams scoring 8 shots with the final result being a convincing win for Jenny and Richard by 20 shots to 8.

Session  4.

Alan’s triples team narrowly missed winning their afternoon match and had to be content with a 10-10 draw. Richard’s team romped through their triples match winning 10 of the 13 ends.  Consistently high scoring saw them running out winners by 22 shots to 4.Jim’s fours team were down 7-8 going into their final end, With a magnificent four shots off this final end they won the  match by 11 shots to 8. Malcolm’ team ensured that their afternoon fours match was a high scoring event, ( a total of 30 shots off 11 ends ). The team scored 7 shots off end No. 2 and 6 shots off ends 7 and 8. The team had a very comfortable win by 25 shots to 5.

A summary of the day’s play is shown below  :

This was the second leg of this year’s Two Shires Trophy competition which is now a regular fixture with Gloucestershire. Worcestershire won the first leg this year by 22 points to 18 but lost the second leg by  14 points to 26. Gloucestershire, therefore, retain the trophy they won last year by an aggregate of 44 points to 36.

The first session of this second leg saw Worcestershire struggle with both Singles players losing together with one of the Pairs teams. Dave and Malcolm, however, in their Pairs match, were in cracking form. They won the first 8 ends of their 15 end match to go into a 15-0 lead. The opposition scored 3 shots off end No. 9 and only one further shot in the match. Dave and Malcolm powered to a 23 shots to 4 win.

The second session saw Alan Walters team lead throughout the match, winning 8 the the 13 ends, to run out comfortable winners 12-5. In the fours, in a relatively hard fought contest, Terry’s team took the lead in the 7th end and maintained this lead to win by 11 shots to 6.

In the third session both Singles and Pairs teams lost their matches.

The fourth session saw wins for both Triples teams. Sandra’s team led throughout in a closely fought contest. The team ran out winners 14-10. Alan’s team, having led for most of the match, went 8-10 down going into the last end. With an outstanding performance from the team, they took four shots off the final end to deservedly win their second match of the day by 12 shots to 10. In the Fours Terry’s team led for the first seven ends but then went 6-9 down after end No. 9. With six shots of the 10th end and 3 shots off the final end, the team raced home to a 15-9 victory, their second win of the day.

Results summary shown below :

The county entered into this competition, held at Solihull Indoor Bowls Club, for the second year. This is an ESMBA inter county competition with counties entering 4 “Fours” teams. The 7th  of December event was a preliminary to the finals event to be held in February next year. Worcestershire were very successful in winning seven of the eight individual matches played.

There were three groups of counties with three counties in each group, each county playing playing a total of eight individual matches. The top two counties in each group proceeding to the finals in February 2020. ( a further group were playing at Guilford).

Worcestershire were drawn to play against Northamptonshire and Herefordshire, and the results summary shown below clearly show that this was an excellent result for our county, with the county heading the group and now looking forward to the finals next year.