HERITAGE v SOUTH NORFOLK » 28th July 2013

Following last year's inaugural event which was saw a narrow win for South Norfolk, this year it was time for our opponents to host the event at Wortwell.

As with last year it was a struggle to raise a team that was fully representative of the league, so our 8 teams were made up of representatives from Knodishall, Wenhaston, Middleton and Kelsale.

The match consisted of 4 rounds of 6 games each, with each team playing 3 times.

The first round saw South Norfolk take an early lead by winning 4 of the 6 games, while the second round saw the honours shared, with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. At the tea break South Norfolk led 14-10 so it was still all to play for.

However the break did nothing for Heritage, South Norfolk dominated the third session, winning 4, drawing 1 and losing 1, to take them into a 23-13 lead.

Needing to win all the remaining games Heritage were only able to share the points in the last round, winning 3 and losing 3.

South Norfolk took a well deserved and resounding 29-19 (228-186 shots) victory to retain the trophy which they will be looking to defend next year.

HERITAGE FOURS » 3rd March 2013

The year's Fours saw 20 teams competing in 4 groups with the top 2 teams from each going forward to the Knockout Stages.

Knodishall dominated the entry and had their fair share of qualifiers with 4 teams, while Walpole & Cookley, Sizewell, Riverside and Kelsale made up the remaining Quarter Finalists.

Fittingly, despite making a random draw for the Knockout Rounds, it was all of the group winners that made it through to the Semi Finals.

The only two teams to win all their group games would meet one another in the first Semi. Knodishall G led their first Knockout game from the start, although it wasn't until the 5th end that they were able pull a decent lead over clubmates Knodishall E, eventually winning 10-5.

Their opponents would be Sizewell who got off to a good start against Knodishall H and holding on for a 9-6 win despite a mid-game comeback by their opponents.

Walpole & Cookley had won their group by a healthy 3 point margin. But it seemed that we were set for an upset as they began their Quarter Final against Riverside in just about the worst possible way by dropping 6 shots. And despite winning 2 of the next 3 ends they were still 7-2 down as the game passed the halfway mark. But it was here that they really started to show their class, 3 shots on the 5th end and then 4 on the next brought them swiftly into the lead. Even then the struggle was not altogether over as Riverside came close to forcing an extra end, but Walpole hung on to take the game 9-8.

Kelsale had only just made it out of their group, having lost their first game of the day they came back to edge the group win as the best of 3 teams finishing on 6 points. And they were off to a slow start against against their Quarter Final opponents Knodishall C, losing each of the first 3 ends to trail 4-0. Kelsale pulled 3 shots back on the next but Knodishall were still 5-3 up with 2 ends to go. However Kelsale took the lead on the penultimate end and won the last to finally win 8-5.

The Semi Final between Sizewell and Knodishall G was, in hindsight, over after 2 ends. That second end saw Knodishall take 4 shots to put them into a 5-0 lead, after which Sizewell never came close and at 11-1 with an end to go a halt was called to the game.

And it was a similar story at the start of the other Semi, a replay of last year's final. Kelsale took the early lead over Walpole with 4 shots on the first end, after which they were defending while Walpole had to chase shots. A single shot for Walpole on the second end was followed by first one and then two shots to Kelsale on the next 2, while the 5th end was tied, leaving Kelsale with a 7-1 advantage with just 2 ends to go. The 6th end saw Walpole reduce the gap to 4 shots, but they couldn't get any closer and Kelsale took the last end to win 8-3.

The final saw Kelsale better able to adjust to the speed of the carpet than Knodishall, at least early on, although in the end the result of the game actually rested on the number of times that the jack was taken off the carpet.

Kelsale took the early advantage with 2 shots on the first end, but Knodishall replied with one on the second. The 3rd end saw Knodishall under pressure and they ended up knocking the jack off to give Kelsale a 4-1 lead. Another shot went to Kelsale on the 4th end and the 5th again saw Knodishall trailing early on and once again removing the jack from the carpet. The 6th end finally saw Knodishall finally find the carpet, outdrawing Kelsale to take 3 shots and reduce the gap to 7-4 with an end to go.

However the final end once more saw Kelsale making the best start, putting Knodishall into a tough corner, and needing to attack the jack they took it off the carpet for the third time, sealing the victory for Kelsale who took the title for the second year in succession.

HERITAGE MEN » 3rd February 2013

As soon as the draw for the Knockout Rounds was complete it looked as if it was going to come down to Walpole versus Knodishall, with all 3 Walpole qualifiers in one half and 5 of the 6 Knodishall qualifiers in the other. And so it proved to be.

James Rous had breezed through his group games in dominant fashion, winning all 4 games and dropping just 11 shots in the process. By contrast John Whiting's games had been closer fought, one had been drawn, one game had been won by one shot and one by just 2 shots, nevertheless he had also come through as the winner of his group.

And it was much the same for John come the Knockout Rounds. His First Round and Quarter Final games both came down to the last end, beating David Hurr 7-6 and Mike Easy 6-8. By contrast his Semi-Final win over Ken Drane was a relatively easy 7-2 victory.

For James it had been an easier start, beating Mike Daniels 15-1, but from then on it was much more difficult, his Quarter Final against Jon Jordan went to the final end before he took the game 8-5, while his Semi-Final against another team mate, Ryan Willoughby was even closer at just 5-3.

Early on in the first end John looked to have the advantage as James struggled to find the line, but, as he had done in his Semi-Final, he managed to find something right at the end to take a single shot. And that was perhaps the difference between the two of them as John often held the early advantage, while James made sure that his later woods counted.

The second end was perhaps the most significant, 3 shots to James gave him a 4-0 lead and helped ease the pressure. John came back to win the next 2 ends, but only by a shot each time. That brought the gap back to 2 shots, but it was as close as John got. James took 2 each on the next 2 ends to take an unassailable lead with an end still to go, taking the title for the third time overall and surprisingly his first since 2005/2006.

HERITAGE LADIES » 3rd February 2013

Knodishall once again dominated proceedings, providing half of the qualifiers for the Knockout Stages, and the eventual winner.

Julie Hurr had taken her Group with some ease, winning all four games and only dropping 11 shots in doing so. And her good for continued on into the Knockout Stages. She took her First Round game against Linda King 9-3 and defeated Jane Robinson by the same score in the Quarter Finals. It was only at the Semi Final stage that she had her first real fight on her hands. Eileen Adamson took the early lead and was 3 shots up with 2 ends to go, but Julie leveled it with an end to go and took one shot on the last to edge the victor 6-5.

For Shirley Tilbrook it had been a different story. After losing her first game of the day, she fought back to win her remaining 3 games to take the group win. Her First Round game saw her beat Molly Elmy 10-3, but her Quarter Final against Josephine Smith was much closer as she held on to win just 5-4, although her Semi Final win over Jean Melton was more comfortable at 8-3.

The Final was every bit as close as we might have hoped with the advantage swinging back and forth with each end. Shirley took the first end by a shot, but 2 from Julie on the next took her into the lead. Shirley struck back to level the game on the next and then take a one shot lead at 3-2 after 4 ends, which was then leveled by Julie on the next. But the penultimate end was where the game was effectively settled. Shirley dropped 3 woods in behind the jack and Julie needed to move it but was unable to do so. The 3 shots Shirley took held her in good stead, she was able to defend her lead, drop a single shot, winning 6-4 to take her second title.

HERITAGE PAIRS » 14th January 2013

James Rous & Jon Jordan retained the title yet again this year, taking it for the fourth time on the trot and the sixth time overall.

This year saw an increase in entries, back up to 40 teams.

Knodishall dominated the entry list and produced half of the qualifiers for the knockout rounds, 8 out of the 16 teams that were either winners or runners-up in their respective groups. But by the time we were down to the last 8 there were only 3 of their teams left and after that round, the results of which were all fairly emphatic, they had none left at all.

The Semi Final line up gave us last year's winners from Walpole, one team from Riverside and two from Kelsale.

Kelsale A took on Walpole who produced a clinical performance, chipping away at their opposition, to lead 6-0 after 5 ends. They then took 3 on the next end, to leave the game out of Kelsale's reach with an end still to play.

The other game was much closer. Riverside took the early lead, after which Kelsale took the next couple of ends to lead 3-2. Riverside leveled the game on the next end, Kelsale went back into a one shot lead and on the 6th end Riverside again drew level at 4-4. And once again it was a close run thing on the final end, but it was just edged by Kelsale to take the game 5-4.

The first end of the Final was a tight one as the holding shot switched repeatedly from one team to the other as the end progressed and ending up dead. It looked as if it was going to be a close game, but the second end pretty much sealed things. Kelsale found themselves in an all but impossible position, leaving Walpole to take 5 shots.

The next 2 ends saw Kelsale pull the score back to 5-3 but the final 3 ends all went to Walpole who always had an answer to whatever Kelsale produced. Walpole took the win 9-3 with yet another outstanding performance.

HERITAGE CHARITY FOURS » 11th November 2012

This year saw another great turnout with 45 teams, many of whom travelled from across Suffolk and Norfolk to help us raise more than £1200 for the East Anglia Air Ambulance.

The 9 group winners and 7 best runners-up qualified for the knockout stages.