In what was pretty much a repeat of the 2004/5 season, Division 1 was for the most part a two horse race. And yet again it was the same two horses. There were a couple of interlopers early on, but for most of the season it was clear that the title was going to go to either Walpole & Cookley or Knodishall A.

For a while Knodishall A held the lead, winning their first 5 games, but by the beginning of January Walpole had the lead and never really relinquished it. Knodishall stayed on their tail until the end, but for the second half of the season it was clear that what it was going to take was for Walpole to make a mistake in order for Knodishall to be able to make a challenge for the title. It never happened.

The final winning margin was 10 points which in the end was only just over half a point a game, not much in the great scheme of things, but looking from the outside it seemed much more comfortable as Walpole swept to their second consecutive title, only the second time that feat had been achieved. More significantly it was their third Division 1 title in 4 seasons, added to which they took the Cup.

All of this might make it sound like no one else ever had a chance, but it wasn't so, Knodishall A were always there or thereabouts, the difference was that they were the ones who made the crucial mistakes that allowed Walpole to slip away at the top of the league. Having said that they were the only team to mount any kind of serious challenge, everyone else had long since fallen by the wayside, but in the end the best they could manage was runners-up, again. It was the third consecutive season in which they had fininshed in second place, the fourth time in five seasons and the sixth time in nine seasons. All of which makes them sound like second best, but in those last nine seasons they have never finished outside the top three and only once outside the top two. While all the other teams have bounced up and down the division, Knodishall A have achieved an unprecedented level of consistency.

A further 10 points back from the runners-up Kelsale finished a clear third, a full 12 points clear of fourth place. After a poor start to the season they had never been in a position to challenge for the title but in the second half of the season were able more than hold their own with the leaders and will be ruing a set of bad results early on which knocked them out of contention.

Fourth place went to Wenhaston A the best of a group of 5 teams that were seperated by only 9 points in the end and which stretched all the way down to the relegation zone. For a large part of the season they were in danger of going down, but 30 points from their last 3 games hauled them well up the final standings.

Early on in the season newly promoted Knodishall B had performed well, although they were never on the pace of the two leaders they did look like they were going to able finish just outside the top two. However they suffered from mid-season fade and by the end there was even a slight danger that they might end up getting relegated, as it was they finished fifth, a rather uncomfortable 7 points clear of relegation.

Sizewell B also looked good early on, but by mid-season had settled into that group in the middle of the division which were never going to be able to challenge for the title but who were constantly looking over their shoulders. Although they were only 5 points off relegation, in reality they were always more or less safe.

Sizewell A on the other hand had spent the whole season in a group of teams all of whom knew that at least one of them was destined to be relegated and for most of it they must have thought that it was going to be them, but a decent run of results and a win in their final game meant that they would survive.

This season's unlucky team, getting caught in the third relegation slot were Snape. It was a close run thing and just another 3 points would have seen them survive, but after 5 seasons up in the top division they found themselves at the bottom of that mid range pack of teams. Ironically they found themselves in exactly the same position as Thorpeness had a year before, getting narrowly relegated and winning the Plate.

Riverside, newly up from the Second Division, had struggled from the first, but early on they had looked as if they could at least stay ion contention with the pack, but as the season drew to a close they faded and in the end were 20 points behind the team above.

Last season Yoxford had taken the final promotion slot to take themselves back up to Division 1, sadly they struggled all season and by the end sat well adrift of the the pack.

What became quite clear this season is that we are in a period where Walpole & Cookley are dominating the Heritage League. The rest of the teams are going to have to raise their games if they are going to be able to make any serious challenge next season. It remains to be seen whether they are up to the task.

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Over the past 7 seasons there has been a quite distinct pattern to the promotion/relegation battle. Starting back in 1998/1999 when Middleton and Wissett were demoted from Division 1, both teams had subsequently achieved promotion only to be relegated again the following season. Ever since then this has been the pattern, promotion followed by relegation. Until now.

Even before the season had begun there were factors which raised the possibility of a change to the established order. Orford were new into the Second Division having moved across from the Suffolk Leagues. There they had shown themselves to be a force to be reckoned with, having gained promotion to the First Division only to then take the decision to join our League. It was obvious that they were going to be contenders. And with Thorpeness only just having been narrowly relegated the year before, they seemed certain to go back up, which on the face of it only seemed to leave one slot open for the two usual suspects. As it was neither of them made it because someone else stuck their nose in to spoil the party.

Darsham had spent the last 4 seasons finishing slap bang in the middle of Division 2 come season's end. They had won the division way back in 1996/7 but had spent just one year up before coming back down again and had stayed there ever since, rarely looking looking as if they were able to mount a sustained challenge for a promotion slot. But this season was different, they did the one thing which any club needs to take a title, failed to make any serious mistakes. By the end of November they had hit the front of the pack, stayed there until the end of April and had their promotion sown up with a couple of games still to go, which in this league is quite an achievement.

If it had seemed like Orford were a certainty for promotion at the start of the season, once things got underway there may have been some cause to reconsider. After starting well they had faltered around the end of the year. However a sustained push saw them solidly ensconsed in the promotion zone come the end of January, a position which they were able to hold on to quite comfortably.

Having been narrowly demoted last season Thorpeness seemed a certainty to go straight back up again and would have been pre-season favourites to take the title, as it was they just made it by taking the last promotion slot, although they were comfortably ahead of the next team. There is no doubt that they would have done better if it had not been for change of venue which had been forced upon them in the off-season.

Wissett are another team who had to cope with change. During the off-season they decided to move from playing on 1 mat to playing their matches on 2 and undoubtedly gave up some of their home advantage in doing so. They still managed to spend all season just on the fringe of the promotion zone, but were never able to mount a serious challenge and ended up a dozen points short of third place.

Fifth place went to Saxmundham whose results left them stuck in the middle of the division from the very beginning of the season, a position from which they were never really able to lift themselves, although it was an improvement on a lowly 7th place finish a year before.

It had been a promising start for Leiston St Margarets Football Club as they had found themselves pushing Darsham during the first half of the season. But a severe dip in form saw them win only 2 matches during the second half of the season, leaving them in 6th place.

Reydon began their third year with the League having only just missed out on promotion in both previous seasons. Unfortunately they never recovered from a faltering start and were never able to rise above the middle of the table and finished 7th.

Although Amber finished 8th for the second year on the trot, with the extra team involved, this represented an improvement, something which is reflected in their increased tally of wins for the season.

Although Wenhaston B's final finishing position was the same as last year, as was their points average, they did manage to finish 2 places off the bottom of the division, rather than last year's one. Heading in the right direction.

The same was true of Aldeburgh, one place higher than last year to avoid finishing at the very bottom, although they did manage to improve on last season's points average.

And finally to last place and what had to be, with the possible exception of Darsham taking the title, the biggest surprise of this season. Even if it there was no guarantee that they would be heading back up to Division 1 after the previous season's demotion, it did seem certain that Middleton would at least be in the hunt for promotion. Sadly it was not to be. They got off to a bad start and things barely ever improved. Although they did not spend the whole season stuck to the bottom, that was exactly where they finished. Just watch out for them next season.

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This season's Cup final, fittingly, was contested by the 2 teams who had shown themselves to be the best in the league this season, having led all the way and ended up first and second.

Walpole & Cookley, having already been crowned Division 1 champions were looking for the double which had eluded them the previous season. They had made their way past Leiston St Margarets FC, Amber, Kelsale (by a single shot) and Knodishall B to reach their second consecutive final.

Knodishall A's route had taken them past Reydon, Sizewell B and Orford as the Cup specialists reached their 7th Final in 8 years.

The Final - Walpole & Cookley v Knodishall A

The first set of games both went to Walpole by relatively slender margins, 7-6 and 9-5 to give them a small lead. It was as close as Knodishall were destined to get (16-11).

The second pair of games also went Walpole's way, this time however the margins were more convincing at 8-4 and 11-2, giving Walpole a very convincing lead and one which was going to prove to be impossible to claw back (35-17).

The match was rounded of with another 2 wins for Walpole, 9-4 and 12-4 who were able to complete an emphatic victory (56-25).

For Walpole it was their third victory in the Cup and more importantly they became the first team to take the League and Cup double since Thorpeness achieved the feat in 1995.

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Both of the teams contesting this season's final of the Heritage Plate came into the match having face difficult seasons in the League, Middleton having ended up at the bottom of Division 2, while Snape had spent all season in or around the Division 1 relegation zone.

Considering their league position Middleton have to be commended for their efforts and certainly had the harder route to the final, first having disposed of fellow Division 2 strugglers Amber in convincing fashion and then having to face a pair of Division 1 teams, Riverside who they beat by just 3 shots and Sizewell A who were defeated by the equally slender margin of 4 shots.

Snape, on the other hand had lower, or non-league oppostion to contend with in the shape of Reydon, Wissett (only 4 shots seperated the two teams) and Cratfield (who had earlier disposed of subsequent Division 2 champions Darsham in convincing style).

The Final - Snape v Middleton

The first pair of games saw 1 win each for the teams, both by handsome margins, 10-1 to Snape and 10-3 to Middleton, leaving the match evenly poised (13-11).

It was, however, the second set of games which proved to be decisive. Again each team won a game and again Snape took their's by a 10-1 margin, however the Middleton's win was by just a single shot at 9-8 as Snape clawed their way back after falling behind early on (31-21).

The final two games were much closer, again each team winning one, but Snape were safe in the knowledge that all they needed to do was to defend their lead in the match, which they did with a 5-3 win and a 5-6 loss (41-30).

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A total of 55 men competed for this season's Heritage Men's Singles title.

ROUND ROBIN STAGES
Of the 11 group winners Michael Battle, Clint Watling, Michael Easy, Joe Mew, Trevor Revell, James Rous and Jon Jordan all qualified with the maximum 4 out of 4 wins, while Chris Tilbrook, Basil Baker, Oscar Mew and Fred Keen were the remaining group winners.
They were joined by the 5 best runners-up, Paul Daniels, Gerry Swain, Roy Petts, Ken Drane and Chris English.

FIRST ROUND
Chris Tilbrook 4 Roy Petts 8
Michael Battle 8 Basil Baker 4
Clint Watling 1 Paul Daniels 12
Michael Easy 9 Joe Mew 2
Trevor Revell 9 Ken Drane 0
James Rous 7 Gerry Swain 5
Oscar Mew 7 Fred Keen 6
Jon Jordan 10 Chris English 3

QUARTER FINALS
The last 8 saw 2 representatives each from Knodishall, Kelsale and Walpole & Cookley and 1 each from Sizewell and Cratfield.
Roy Petts 4 Michael Battle 10
Michael had already run out to a 9-0 lead after 4 ends and although Roy struck back with 4 on the 5th end the game was already beyond his grasp.
Paul Daniels 5 Michael Easy 4
Although Paul had a 4-1 lead after 3 ends, Michael drew back to level the game on the 6th end, but Paul managed to gain the 1 shot necessary to scrape through on the last.
Trevor Revell 6 James Rous 8
James took the first 2 ends, but the next 3 went to Trevor as the reigning champion found himself 6-2 down with only 2 ends to go, however the very next end saw him draw level by taking 4 shots, with another 2 on the last end to win the match.
Oscar Mew 12 Jon Jordan 5
Oscar had the game tied up, racing to a 12-1 lead with one end to go, although Jon finished strongly with 4 on the final end.

SEMI-FINALS
Michael Battle 8 Paul Daniels 4
In a game that looked closer than it actually was, Michael was in control all the way, leading 7-1 with 4 ends down and although Paul took the next 2 ends to claw back to 7-4 any faint hope of victory was wiped out as Michael took the last end.
Oscar Mew 2 James Rous 7
Another one-sided match with James going 5-0 up before Oscar managed to win his one and only end as James ran out an easy winner, maintaining his remarkable record in the singles, reaching the final 4 times out of the last 5 years, during which time he has never failed to make it to the last 4.

FINAL
Michael Battle 3 James Rous 8
Michael took the first end and was never more than a shot behind up to the 5th end as the game swung back and forth, but with a maximum 4 shots on the 6th end James amassed an unassailable lead to retain his title.

Results Archive

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This year 48 entrants were in competition for the Heritage Ladies' Singles title.

ROUND ROBIN STAGES
There were 10 group winners from the round robin stage, Doreen Coates, Val Game, Rita Daniels, Josephone Smith and Judy Easy all came through with perfect records, along with Pearl Stebbings, Helen Rivett, Molly Elmy, Jane Robinson and Val Wright.
Joining them in the knockout rounds were the 6 best runners-up, Joyce Meredith, Eileen Adamson, Jane Evans, Margaret Horwood, Jean Melton and Phyllis Songer.

FIRST ROUND
Pearl Stebbings 7 Doreen Coates 2
Val Game 13 Joyce Meredith 0
Helen Rivett 8 Phyllis Songer 3
Rita Daniels 6 Jean Melton 3
Molly Elmy 7 Josephine Smith 4
Judy Easy 7 Eileen Adamson 5
Jane Robinson 12 Margaret Horwood 2
Val Wright 3 Jane Evans 8
Of those who qualified as runners-up, only Jane Evans won through to the next round.

QUARTER FINALS
The last 8 saw 3 representatives from Knodishall and 1 each from Leiston St Margarets FC, Kelsale, Sizewell, Middleton and Darsham.
Pearl Stebbings 6 Val Game 5
Rita Daniels 6 Helen Rivett 5
Molly Elmy 3 Judy Easy 10
Jane Robinson 6 Jane Evans 4

SEMI-FINALS
Pearl Stebbings 3 Rita Daniels 7
Jane Robinson 6 Judy Easy 4
Pearl made her first appearance at the Semi Final while for Rita it was her second, the win taking her to the Final for the first time. For Judy it was a record equalling 3rd appearance in the last four, although sadly she has now lost on each occasion, while for Jane her win would take her through to the final for the second time.

FINAL
For the majority of the game the final was close fought with Rita leading 2-1 after the first 3 ends, however Jane gradually edged ahead, winning each of the remaining ends to be the first ever 3 time winner of either Heritage singles title.
Rita Daniels 2 Jane Robinson 6

Results Archive

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There were a total of 58 teams from 14 clubs contesting this season's Pairs competition on 8th January 2006.

The round robin stage produced 12 group winners, 2 each from Thorpeness, Darsham, Sizewell and 1 each from Snape, Kelsale, Knodishall, Walpole & Cookley, Riverside and Reydon. All of these teams went straight into the first round of the knockout stages where they were to be joined by the winners of 4 preliminary round games which were composed of the best 8 runners-up from the group games.

PRELIMINARY ROUND
Kelsale D 9 Knodishall J 6
Kelsale B 1 Sizewell D 14
Reydon C 7 Riverside B 6
Thorpeness B 5 Knodishall H 7

FIRST ROUND
Knodishall F 9 Kelsale D 2
Thorpeness A 7 Walpole & Cookley 8
Kelsale F 12 Sizewell D 2
Snape A 5 Darsham A 6
Thorpeness C 18 Reydon C 3
Sizewell B 9 Darsham B 4
Reydon B 3 Knodishall H 9
Sizewell C 9 Riverside D 3

QUARTER FINALS
Having just scraped through the previous round Walpole found themselves 5-3 down going into their final end against Knodishall F, but managed to pick up 4 shots to take the win.
Walpole & Cookley 7 Knodishall F 5
Thorpeness C had c comfortable win in the First Round but found themselves 6-0 down to Sizewell B after 3 ends and were never able to recover.
Sizewell B 8 Thorpeness C 4
Although Sizewell C took the first end in their game, they never added to their tally of shots and Knodishall H romped home to a comfortable win.
Knodishall H 11 Sizewell C 1
After taking 5 shots on the first end Kelsale F had control of their game and Darsham A were unable to place their opponents under any pressure.
Kelsale F 13 Darsham A 3

SEMI-FINALS
Kelsale F found themselves 4-0 up after 3 ends of their game against the defending champions who then clawed their way back into the game to trail only 4-3 going into the last end, but Kelsale were able to take 2 shots to secure their place in the final.
Walpole & Cookley 3 Kelsale F 6
Following their Quarter Final win Knodishall H found themselves up against another Sizewell team, but this time they did not have it quite so easy. Despite trailing 5-2 after 4 ends, Sizewell fought back to draw level and force an extra end, but despite their efforts they failed to complete their comeback as Knodishall took the 1 shot they needed to make it to the final.
Sizewell B 5 Knodishall H 6

FINAL
Kelsale took control of the game by taking the first few ends and never looked back as they secured the title with a win over Knodishall.
Kelsale F 9 Knodishall H 1

Results Archive

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The format of the Team Bowl is different to that of other competitions. Each team consists of 6 players who play as a triple, a pair and a single, and each match consists of a game between the triples, pairs and singles.

The initial stage is the usual round robin stage, but rather than playing individually everyone is playing as a team, so whether or not you qualify depends not only upon how well you do, but how well the other parts of your team do. You might win all of your games, but if the rest of your team don't perform, you won't go through.

This year's event, which also serves as something of a Christmas party, saw 20 teams and a total of 120 players taking part, an improvement on last season's inaugural event and proof that this is not just about the competition, but about a bit of seasonal fun.

Round Robin Stages
The teams were divided into 4 groups of 5 teams each with only the winners progressing to the next stage.
Group 1 was won by Eric's Eagles (Knodishall), but only by virtue of having accumulated more shots than the runners-up Swizelle (Sizewell).
Group 2 saw Another Fine Mess (Kelsale) edge 8 To The Pound (Sizewell) by a single point.
Group 3 was the closest fought with Poison (Thorpeness) finishing on 17 points, just beating both Holly Berries (Riverside) and Christmas Kwackers (Yoxford) who each managed 16 points and only 5 points seperating top to bottom in the group by the end.
Group 4 produced the best qualifiers in Cavakaracas (Knodishall) who accumulated 26 points, only 4 short of the maximum and who finished a full 8 points clear of the next best team, The Oysters (Leiston St Margarets FC).

Semi Finals
Eric's Eagles vs Poison - The Singles finished first with a win for Eric's Eagles 8-6, but Poison hit back to win the Pairs 9-1 which meant that a draw in the Triples would be good enough for Poison to progess, however Eric's Eagles achieved the win that they needed, 9-5, to see them though to the final.

Another Fine Mess vs Cavakaracas - The second Semi was a replay of last year's Final. The Singles went 7-2 to Another Fine Mess, as did the Pairs, 10-4, which meant that whatever the result of the Triples, Another Fine Mess were though, which was just as well as a 5-0 lead was squandered on the last end with Cavakaracas taking the game 6-5.

Final
Eric's Eagles vs Another Fine Mess - Another Fine Mess took the Singles 7-5, followed by the Pairs with an even narrower 6-5 margin (with the last wood of the game), to mean that again the result of the Triples was immaterial, although a victory for Eric's Eagles (5-3) did prevent a clean sweep and would indeed have led to a very different result if the last wood of the Pairs had gone differently.
Another Fine Mess - Rita Daniels, Mike Daniels & Oscar Mew (Triple), Peter and Kay Masters (Pair), Paul Daniels (Single).
Eric'e Eagles - Eric Cracknell, Barbara Baldry & Carol Saxby (Triple), Tony Payne & Cedric Bennett (Pair), Josephine Smith (Single).

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This season's League Fours competition was contested by 28 teams representing 13 clubs.

The round robin stage saw 6 group winners, 3 from Kelsale, 2 from Knodishall and 1 from Sizewell, joined by the 2 best runners-up, one each from Knodishall and Reydon to form the qualifiers for the knockout stages.

First Round
With the qualifiers dominated by 2 clubs it was almost inevitable that we were going to see teams representing the same club playing one another, and so it was, although the draw did guarantee that both Kelsale and Knodishall we guaranteed representation in the Semi-Finals.
Kelsale C 6 Reydon B 1
Kelsale A 3 Kelsale B 5
Knodishall E 9 Knodishall A 0
Knodishall C 4 Sizewell A 7

Semi Finals
Kelsale B again had to make with way past their own team mates to qualify and although both they and Sizewell A had what looked like comfortable margins of victory, neither of them were easy victories.
Kelsale C 2 Kelsale B 7
Knodishall E 1 Sizewell A 7

Final
The result of the final looks closer than it actually was, in truth it was all over with 3 of the 6 ends completed as Sizewell swept to a comfortable 8-1 lead from which it was all but impossible to recover. And so it proved as Sizewell took the Fours title for the third time in four years.
Sizewell A 9 Kelsale B 5

Teams
Sizewell - Jim Lording, Kath Lording, Michael Battle & David Fisk
Kelsale - Paul Daniels, Rita Daniels, Joe Mew & Oscar Mew

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Sunday 25th September saw the 7th running of the League's Charity Fours Tournament, this year raising funds for cancer research.

A total of 57 teams entered this year's competition, 36 representing the Heritage League and the remaining 21 teams coming from across Suffolk and even Essex to compete, all doing their part to help raise a total of £1274.

Round Robin Stages
Although the teams from outside the League were in a minority there was certainly no doubting their quality. In the end they won 7 of the 12 groups in the initial stage of the competition and make up 9 of the 16 teams that would qualify for the knockout stages.

Knockout Stage - First Round
Brantham 13 Tithe Barn A 4
Hadleigh A 6 Sizewell A 7
Kelsale B 16 Thorpeness A 0
Cratfield A 4 Nayland B 13
Amber A 2 Knodishall D 12
Belstead 5 Knodishall A 3
Barking 1 Hitcham A 7
Chelmondiston 2 Nayland A 10

Quarter Finals
Brantham 6 Kelsale B 7
Nayland B 1 Belstead 9
Sizewell A 9 Hitcham A 2
Knodishall D 5 Nayland A 10

Semi Finals
In the first of the Semi-Finals Sizewell took a comfortable 8-3 win to ease their way past a Nayland team that had looked very strong all day. The other game was a different story though, Kelsale had sailed into a 6-0 lead against Belstead after 4 ends and seemed to be heading towards an easy victory, but then promptly dropped 6 shots on the next end to leave the teams all square going into the final end. In a nip and tuck end that went first one way and then the other with each of the Skips' woods, Kelsale took the game with the very last shot.

The Final
The final game of the day was therefore left to be contested between Sizewell and Kelsale in a match that guaranteed a Heritage club would win for the first time in 3 years.

The game started well for Sizewell who picked up the first 3 ends, leaving them with a comfortable 5-0 lead with 3 ends completed and only 3 to go. Kelsale finally managed to gain their first shot on the 4th end, 2 more on the next, and completed their fightback with another 2 on the final end to tie the scores and take the game into an extra end which Kelsale took by a single shot to finish a remarkable comeback. It was a nail-biting finish which was a fitting end to the day's play and proper reward for those who had remained to see the finale.

Our thanks must of course go to everyone who contributed towards the event with equipment, donations and most importantly their time spent both organising and playing, without all of which the day could not have been the success it was.

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There are couple of significant changes for the forthcoming season which I think are worthy of note.

21 Teams
This season, with the arrival of Orford, there will be 21 teams in the League.

Orford will, in line with the constitution, go into Division 2 and it was decided at the AGM that there would be no change to last season's promotions and relegations. This mean that for 2005/2006 there will be 11 teams in Division 2.

Although only 1 team is being added this is in fact a substantial change and will have a considerable impact on the calendar. With an odd number of teams, only 10 will be playing each week, so each team will have 2 weeks during the season where everyone else is playing except them. However it also means that there will now be 22 weeks of games to be played, compared with the 18 weeks which will still apply for Division 1.

Obviously this is going to need a big change in order to fit in all of the extra games. At the moment it looks as if we may need to extend the season up until the end of April, since the alternative would be to schedule matches where we had previously been able to leave time free for Cup and Plate matches.

This is going to mean a more leisurely schedule for the Division 1 teams, so hopefully we will not see a backlog of postponed games at the end of the season, but for Division 2 teams there will be as much pressure as ever to keep on top of their fixtures in the event of any postponements.

Playing Short
This season is going to see a small but significant change to the rules which apply when teams play short of the normal 12 players.

At present the missing position is filled with a player being randomly drawn from the block sitting out that particular round of games.

This rule will still apply, however from this season the draw will only be made from Players 1,2 and 3. This means that Skips will no longer be eligible to play an extra game.

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