WOMEN’S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS SUCCESSES IN 2016
The following is a précis of the National Championship success of the County’s Women players, at Victoria Park, Royal Leamington Spa, played during the month of August, 2016.
WOMEN’S JUNIOR SINGLES
1st Round:
Abby Woodward beat Paige Dennis of Kent, 21-11 shots. Her opponent is a very experienced young bowler, who plays for the England Junior team indoors, and this was a very good performance by Abby. After picking up a count of 3 shots on the 3rd end, she was always in contention, and on the 7th end of play a maximum count of 4 shots put her into the lead 8-5 and from then on she was always in front and in playing many excellent shots, she cruised into the next round.
Katie Smith beat Victoria Forster of Cumbria, 21-11 shots. Victoria, one of the Forster twins from Whitehaven BC, is a very good competitor, and is a regular at the Championships, but it was Katie who started the better and with a pick up of a maximum 4 shots on the 4th end she took the lead and kept it from then on. When Katie picked up another maximum on the 8th end she really was in the driving seat at 13-3 shots, but over the next few ends she got stuck on that unlucky figure and her opponent got to within 4 shots before she was able to pick up more shots. In the end, Katie allowed Victoria just 2 more shots as she eased over the finishing line into the 2nd round.
2nd Round:
Abby beat Hollie Arundel, Yorkshire, 21-19 shots. Hollie is an England Junior International and it was expected that she would present a very stern test for Abby, and in a most competitive match, Abby kept pace with her more experienced opponent, and there was very rarely more than a shot or two between their scores.
Katie lost to Lucy Cooke, Castle Spalding BC, Lincolnshire 15-21 shots. This match was fairly close for the first half of its duration, with just the odd shot the difference, but with some very well delivered bowls when needed, Lucy got 4-5 shots in front and managed to stay there, despite Katie’s best efforts.
Last 16:
Abby lost to Sophie Tolchard, Kings BC, Torquay, Devon 10-21 shots. What an opponent faced Abby – the current holder of this championship, plus several others last season, the 2015 Woman Bowler of the Year, the England Junior International Team Captain, and also a member of the England Senior Team for several years too. Abby did not appear to be faized by this and after just a few ends of play the scores were level at 4 shots each and Abby was certainly competing strongly with her more experienced opponent.
She then got stuck on 4 shots as Sophie moved on to 12 shots, and although she was bowling very well, Abby could make little inroads into Sophie’s lead, which increased to 11 at 16-5 shots. Abby was restricting her opponent to just a single shot for a number of ends, but so often after Abby had bowled a superb drawn shot, Sophie drew a brilliant better one, and finally Abby was beaten.
WOMEN’S SENIOR PAIRS
1st Round:
Chris Cooper & Tina Broderick, Burton Latimer Town BC beat Elizabeth Swadling & Judith Reynolds, Cornwall 29-16 shots. This match was very close in the first few ends with just 1 shot scored on the first 4, but then a collection of 3 shots on end 5, followed by a massive 6 count on the next end, saw the County pair very much in the driving seat.
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Both County ladies were playing very well and did not appear to be seriously threatened, and when on the 15th end they almost picked up a ‘Hot Shots’ maximum, but had to settle for a count of 7, the score at 23-8 looked good enough. However, on the next end, much against the run of play, the Cornishwomen peppered the jack and collected 5 shots to give themselves a little hope.
10 shots in 5 ends is a possibility, of course, but when over the next 3 ends Chris & Tina collected 6 shots and conceded 2, one expected that would be that, but the Cornish duo, despite needing 2 counts of 7 to just tie the match, played on but could collect just 1 more shot and the passage into the 2nd round went to the County partnership, to be played on Monday morning, 8th August, 2016.
2nd Round: - Last 16 in the country played at 9.30 a.m. on Monday, 8th August, 2016.
Chris Cooper & Tina Broderick beat Sue Ritchie & Val Hughes of Cambridgeshire 28-13 shots.
This was a match in which, although Cambridgeshire took a slender lead of 2 shots after 4 ends of play, the 5th end produced a very good count of 4 shots for the County pair to take the lead and from then on they were always in front, although for the next few ends it was quite tight with just a 2 shots lead 9-7 after 9 ends of play.
The 10th end was very good for Chris & Tina for they collected a 5 shots count, followed by 4 shots on the next end to increase their lead to 11 shots at 18-7. At the 18 ends played mark, with just 3 ends left to play, the Cambridgeshire pair were 13 shots adrift, and although they collected 1 shot on the 19th end, when dropping 3 shots to the County on the 20th end the victory was with Chris & Tina, and a place in the Quarter Finals.
QUARTER FINAL: Played at 2.0 p.m. on Monday, 8th August, 2016.
Chris & Tina beat Sandie Plant & Judy Abel, Yorkshire 22-21 shots.
As the score implies, this was a very competitive and close encounter, which could have gone either way, but in the event, by just the odd shot, the victory went to Chris & Tina, and a place in the Semi-Finals.
SEMI-FINAL: Played at 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday, 9th August, 2016.
Chris & Tina lost to Linda Challenger & Lindsay Collin, Gloucestershire 13-18 shots.
A match in which the County pair were initially behind by a few shots, with the score against them1-7 shots at 5 ends played but just 2 adrift after 10 ends at 6-8, and much to the pleasure of their supporters, a pick up of 2 shots on each of the next 2 ends saw them take a lead for the first time at 10-8 shots.
That lead was short-lived for their opponents tied the scores in the next 2 ends, but although a lead of 1 shot was gained after 15 ends of play, 1 end later the scores were level again at 11 shots each with 5 ends left to play. Unfortunately the Gloucestershire pair picked up 6 shots on the next 2 ends to take a 6 shots lead, and although Chris & Tina managed to take 1 shot back, they lost the next ends, and with 1 end left to play they needed 6 shots to force an extra end. 1 shot was all they could manage and the passage to the Final was denied them.
B. WOMEN’S FOURS
Preliminary Round: Played at 2.0 p.m. on Monday, 8th August, 2016.
Victoria Stevenson, Elaine Munton, Sandra Mawson & Pat Bodily, Northampton Whyte Melville BC beat Mary Day, Barbara Hornby, Judy Moore & Rita George, Adastra BC, Hassocks, Sussex 27-9 shots. Clearly a very good win for the Whyte Melville quartet, in a match which they dominated.
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1st Round: Played at 9.30 a.m. on Tuesday, 9th August, 2016.
1. Victoria, Elaine, Sandra & Pat beat Elizabeth Boaden, Susan Macdowell, Jean Allen & Shelagh Carter, Hexham Alvaston BC, Northumberland 24-12 shots.
Another match in which the Northampton players were in control after just a few ends, with a decent lead of 8 shots at the halfway mark, and up by 11 shots, 19-8 after 15 ends of play. They did not slow down over the next 3 ends either as they maintained a good 11 shots lead, finally winning the match in style.
2. Margaret Watts, Jeannie Flippance, Katie Smith & Rebecca Wigfield, Desborough Town BC beat Ella Baker, Rosemary Manning, Valerie West & Susan Williams, Melton BC, Woodbridge, Suffolk 23-9 shots.
This match was the opening of the defence of their title by the Desborough players, and they started in fine style. After 3 ends they were 4-0 up, and on the 4th end picked up a big count of 5 shots when Katie took out the 2nd bowl and Rebecca then drew 2 shots, and at this stage they were all looking very determined. Their opponents scored on the next end with 2 shots and added a couple more to be down by 7 shots, and after being stuck on that score for 3 ends Rebecca’s rink attained a lead of 11 shots at around the halfway mark.
The Desborough lead increased to 13 shots after 16 ends, helped by a good count of 4 shots on the 15th end when, after 19 ends of play with just 2 ends left, the County rink’s lead was 15 shots, one expected their opponents might shake hands and concede defeat at that stage as they needed a maximum 8 and a 7 to force an extra end, but they played on, picked up just 1 shot on the 20th end and then conceded.
2ND Round: Played at 2.0 p.m. on Tuesday, 9th August, 2016.
1. Victoria, Elaine, Sandra & Pat lost to Shirley Plummer, Jill Lambert, Annette Baison & Carol Wright, Rookery BC, Stowmarket, Suffolk 17-23 shots.
This was a match of changing fortunes for the County rink, for they lost the 1st 2 ends by single shots, then collected a fine 4 to take the lead on the next end, only to see their lead disappear after 5 ends at 4-6 shots. The next 2 ends saw the Suffolk players pick up 6 shots without reply to lead by 8 but the next 5 ends were all in the Whyte Melville rink’s favour as they picked up 10 shots without reply to take a 2 shots lead at 14-12.
Unfortunately their lead disappeared in 2 more ends as they dropped 1 shot behind, but with 7 ends left to play this was not expected to be a disaster. However, they got stuck on 14 shots whilst their opponents eased to 22 shots, and although they picked up 3 of the 8 shots deficit, with just 1 end left it was a hard ask, and the Suffolk rink collected 1 shot on that last end.
2. Margaret, Jeannie, Katie & Rebecca beat Linda Deighton, Sandra Greatorex, Caroline Duarte & Pauline Biddlecombe, Southey BC, Wimbledon, Surrey 23-21 shots.
What an amazing recovery by the Desborough players who at around the 8 ends played stage were 9 shots adrift, and things did not get better for them as they were 12 shots in deficit at 19-7 and still 10 at 20-10 shots with just a handful of ends left to play. What a fight they made of it though as they started to pick up multiple shots per end to reduce the deficit to just 3 shots at 17-20 with 3 ends left to play.
The 19th & 20th ends each produced a count of 3 shots for Rebecca’s rink to take a lead for the first time in the match. The last end was a very tense affair for the County players and supporters alike as they delivered their last bowls to prevent their opponents from getting the shots they needed, and in that they were very successful, for the opposing skip had a very difficult shot to try to win the match and in the end had to be satisfied with just 1 shot, and the passage to the last 16 was with the County rink.
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3rd Round (Last 16): Played at 9.0 a.m. on Wednesday, 10th August, 2016.
Margaret, Jeannie, Katie & Rebecca beat Karen Tandler, Josie Ward, Barbara Griffiths & Jennie Cole of Brimfield & Little Hereford BC, Herefordshire 18-12 shots.
This was a very close encounter for the majority of its length with scores tied 4-4 after 6 ends of play, and, although the County rink was always in front thereafter, it was only by the odd shot or two with the score 12-10 after 15 ends of play.
Rebecca’s rink then collected 5 shots without reply in the next 3 ends to have a cushion of 7 shots with 3 ends left to play and they restricted their opponents to 1 on each of the next 2 ends for a last end where the Hereford four realistically had little chance, especially as the Desborough players covered that possibility by delivering good bowls into the head to reduce any likelihood of it happening.
Quarter Final: Played on the afternoon of Wednesday, 10th August, 2016.
Margaret, Jeannie, Katie & Rebecca beat Sarah Newson, Julie Masters, Val Newson & Catherine Popple, Parkway BC, Huntingdonshire BA 26-23 shots.
This match was always expected to be tough for the County rink as three of their opponents had won this title before, in 2009, they being Sarah & Val Newson & Catherine Popple, and so it proved. The County rink had a great start in picking up 5 shots in the first end, but then rather worrying for them and their supporters they dropped 10 shots without reply in the next 4 ends to trail by 5, but we need not have worried at that stage for 4 ends later they had collected 9 shots, including 2 counts of 4, to take a 2 shots lead.
After 11 ends the scores were level on 14’s, but Parkway then took a 3 shots lead at 21-18 after 17 ends, but with a 3 shot pick up on the 18th end the scores were level again on 21 shots each. The Hunts rink then picked up a single shot to lead with 2 ends to play, and on the 20th end, when shots down, Rebecca played the shot of the match to trail the jack through to the back for a massive match-winning score of 5 shots, which was good enough as the last end required at least 4 shots for Parkway to progress, but a series of well placed covering bowls denied them that, and the Semi-Final place was Desborough’s.
SEMI-FINAL: Played at 9.0 a.m. on Thursday, 11th August, 2016.
Margaret, Jeannie, Katie & Rebecca lost to Rebecca Field, Carole Baker, Harriett Segasby & Jackie Devitt, Norfolk BC, Norwich 19-29 shots.
Their reign as Fours Champions was ended in fairly decisive fashion by the Norfolk quartet, for, although the first few ends were quite tight, despite dropping a 4 on the first end and a massive 6 on the 5th end, there was just 2 shots in it at 6 ends, with Norfolk being ahead 10-8. Unfortunately the County four did not quite get to grips with the rink and over the next 4 ends they went behind by a further 9 shots, and when they dropped a count of 5 shots on the 12th end they faced an uphill battle with a 15 shots deficit at 9-24.