Worcestershire Short Mat Bowls Association

This home fixture saw the county win it’s third match of the 2019-2020 ESMBA inter county competition. They beat Northants by 22 points to 18, winning eight of the individual games played and drawing two. This gave the county 18 match points with a further two bonus points for the Singles and for the Triples matches.

Session  1.  A very quiet start to Sean’s opening Singles match as he went into a 4-0 lead after five ends ( “one tied end” ).With four shots taken off the seventh end he went into a strong 8-1 lead, – a late surge by his opponent was not enough to prevent Sean winning 15-9. Johnathon had a similar start in his opening Singles match and was 9-1 up after seven ends. Four shots from end No. 8 by his opponent reduced this lead and further successes saw Johnathon lead only by 11-10 going into the final end. Johnathon finished very strongly by taking the maximum 4 shots from end No. 15 to win by 15-10. Leah and Richard narrowly lost their Pairs match with Dave and Malcolm drawing 12-12 in their strongly contested game.

Session  2.  Richard Payne’s Triples team narrowly lost but Alan’s team having led throughout their  game won by 15 shots to 10. Both Fours teams lost their games.

Session  3.  In the afternoon session Sean once again prevented his opponent from scoring until the sixth end, at which point Sean was leading 10-1. Although his opponent put in a strong performance later in the game Sean went on to win his second match of the day by 16 shots to 12. Johnathon narrowly lost his game. In their afternoon game Leah and Richard, in a closely fought contest, led throughout the 15 ends to run out winning by 13 shots to 11.  Dave and Malcolm in their afternoon game got off to a poor start and were 0-7 down after four ends. With a switch of lead/skip they dramatically changed the game winning seven of the next eight ends. With scores level at 12-12 at the beginning of the final end tensions were high. In the event this final end was tied leaving Dave and Malcolm with their second 12-12 draw of the day.

Session  4.  Richard’s Triples team were in the lead from the third end until their opponents drew level in the 12th end at 11-11. The final end saw Richard’s team get that all important shot to win 12-11. Alan’s team had another  very successful match and won their second match of the day by 12 shots to 7.. Keith’s Fours team lost but Terry’s team in a very close and hard fought match led throughout to run out winning by 11 shots to 9.

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

The county had a very convincing win over Northamptonshire by 32 points to 8, winning 12 of the 16 individual matches – The 32 point win includes all the 8 bonus point available. The county scored 207 shots compared with 169 by Northants.

Session  1.  Cayman, in his opening Singles match, took the lead in the third end. He maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the match to eventually win by 14 shots to 11. In Johnathon’s Singles match the first half saw him in the lead. His opponent came back sharply in ends 9-11 and then pull level in the 14th end. Johnathon held his nerve to take one shot off the 15th end to win 11-10. Richard and Tim had mixed fortunes in their Pairs match, which saw them winning only six of the 15 end match  –  but  –  with 3 shots off end 4, 4 shots off end 8, and also off end 13, they ran out winners 14-12. The second Pairs team lost.

Session  2.  Richard Payne’s Triples team had a tremendous start to their match and shot into an 18-4 lead after the seventh end. They then rested on their laurels and won only one further shot during which time their opponents scored 9 shots  –  not enough to prevent Richard’s team winning 19-13. Alan’s triples team lost their match. Keith’s Fours team took the lead in the third end, and then maintained that lead in what turned out to be a low scoring match. Keith’s team won 10-5. In another relatively low scoring match, Terry’s team maintained a lead throughout and with the help of four shots taken off the 10th end they ran out winning by 12 shots to 6.

Session  3.  Cayman’s afternoon Singles match had a strange twist to it,  The lead had changed six times up to the 12th end at which point Cayman was 11-13 down. The final three ends saw Cayman take the maximum number of shots possible  –  4 + 4 +4.  An incredible achievement which enabled him to win 23-13. Johnathon narrowly lost his Singles match. In their Pairs match Richard and Tim were leading for the whole of the time ( except end 8 ), and in a fiercely fought contest went on to win by – ( for the second time in the day ) – 14 shots to 12. In their pairs match Dave and Sean went into the lead in the fifth end and with increasing pressure on their opponents went on to win by 16 shots to 10

Session  4.  In Richard’s Payne’s Triples match fortunes were evenly divided up to the 10th end when scores were level at 9-9 With a strong performance in the 12th end when the team took 4 shots, the team and went on to win 14 -10. Alan’s Triples team narrowly lost their match. In another low scoring match, Keith’s Fours team, took an early lead, lost it, took it back in the 9th end, but their opponents then drew level in the 10th end.  Keith’s team, however, managed to  get that important one shot decider off the final end to secure victory 9-8. To finish the day Terry’s team won 8 of their 11 end match, virtually prevented the opposition from scoring, and went on to be very comfortable winners by 14 shots to 3.

Summary of all the results below :