The 2015 ECBA Champion of Champions was held at Wolsingham, County Durham on 6th-7th June.

FOURS
Joey, Jonathan & Jack Stones and Neil Jolly (Brockley)
The first end of their opening game against Sunderland saw Suffolk grab 5 shots, after which it was a matter of controlling the game, which they did. Their advantage was never less than those opening 5 shots and they ran out 13-5 winners.

Their second game was one of two halves. A 4 to Bedfordshire on the second end helped the opposition along to lead 8-0 after 4 ends and it was no better with only 3 ends to go, at 9-1 down. However Suffolk finished superbly, with 3, 4 and 3, in a perfectly timed run to snatch an 11-9 win.

Next up was Cambridgeshire, and Suffolk made a great start, winning the first 5 ends to establish an 8-0 lead, but this time the boot was on the other foot. Cambridgeshire took 2 on the 6th and 2 on the 7th, but Suffolk took one on the eight to lead 9-4 going into the last end. Enough of a lead going into the last end? Sadly no. Cambridgeshire took the 5 that they needed to save themselves from defeat as the game ended in a 9-9 draw.

Suffolk's final game of the day saw them come up against Durham, and it started well, although there was never much in it. By the fifth end they had edged their way out to a 4-2 lead. However Durham took a shot on the next, and the next (to draw level), and the next and on the final end another, with their last wood, just depriving Suffolk of a draw.

They ended Saturday in third, on 5 points, one behind Northumberland, but with a game in hand, but 4 points behind leaders Cambridgeshire, albeit also with a game in hand.

Sunday began with a game against Essex which started well, 4-2 up after 3 ends. But Essex took the next 4 ends and although Suffolk pulled back to within 2 shots of their opposition going into the last end, they couldn't trouble the jack and ended up with a 10-7 loss.

Hertfordshire were next up. It was a low scoring encounter and there was never much in it, all level at 7 ends Suffolk took 2 on the 8th to lead 6-4 with an end to go, but sadly lost those 2 shots back again as the game ended in a draw.

Against Norfolk, though it was a different story, they were in the lead and in command from the very start, they dropped just one end and ran out to a comfortable 12-1 win to take their first win since the early part of Saturday.

Yet another low scoring game against Northumberland, this time Suffolk ground out a 5-1 lead by end 5. It was 6-2 with 2 ends to go, 6-4 with 1 end to go, but they hung on, dropping just one on the last to finish with another win.

It could easily have been a much better overall result, in the end they finished in 4th place, just 2 points behind the eventual winners Cambridgeshire who they could and perhaps should have beaten. If they had dropped just 3 instead of 5 shots on the last end of their encounter, Suffolk would have taken the title. But as it was they shrugged off some disappointing results for a solid finish.

Weekend Record: W-W-D-L-L-D-W-W

TRIPLES
Keith Jolly and Sue & Andy Gilder (Brockley/Barking)
Sunderland were their opening opponents and although they lost the first 2 ends Suffolk were 5-2 up after 5. But Sunderland came back to lead. And although Suffolk brought it back to all square going into the last, it was Sunderland that took it to win 8-6.

The next game saw them start poorly, losing the first 3 ends, but only by a shot on each, a two on the next brought them closer, but it was a 4 on the 6th end which took them into the lead. The 8th end saw the game coming back to their opponents who had cut the lead to just one shot, but the last end saw them take 3 and Suffolk's first win 10-6.

Another slow start, this time against Cambridgeshire. 4-0 down after 4 ends, they pulled back to 5-5 after 6, took one on the next to lead and lost one on the next to be level going into the last end, which they just edged to take a second win, 7-6, to bring themselves into the overall running.

Durham were next up and their opponents had the better start, winning the first 2 ends, however Suffolk clawed the deficit back and at 5 ends held a 4-3 lead. However the 6th end was bad, very bad, 4 shots were dropped and that proved to be decisive. They finished the game with 2 ends won, but they were too far back and Durham had the win 8-6.

Suffolk finished Saturday only 3 points behind leaders Durham with a game in hand, but so close was it that they were 6th and with 2 more teams behind them on the same points.

Sunday's first opposition were Essex. Finishing the game with 5 ends won and one dead, Suffolk might be thought to have had the better of the game, but the ends they lost were devastating, 4 on the second put Suffolk on the back foot and although they clawed their way backlevel , a 3 to Essex on the 7th put them behind. And then, having drawn level again they found themselves pretty much blocked out on the last to fall to a 9-7 loss.

Their next game, against Hertfordshire, all hinged on the second end, which yielded 5 shots, sadly for the opposition. And once behind they never got much of a look in. Their best end was the last, but by then it was too late. They lost 11-6.

A brighter start against Norfolk saw them 5-1 up after 3 ends, but the 6th was a bad end, they dropped 4 and lost the lead. But Suffolk were back in from on the next end and it was still all square going into the last, but it was another dropped shot and another loss, 7-8.

The final game of the weekend came against Northumberland but didn't start well and they were 4-1 down after 4 ends. However a good middle part of the game saw them pick up a couple of threes, take a 4 shot lead and hang on to take an 8-7 win to finish the weekend on a high point.

Overall they finished in 7th place.

Weekend Record: L-W-W-L-L-L-L-W

PAIRS
Andy Pooley & David O'Brien (Gt Blakenham)
Their opening game against Essex saw the game level after 5 ends, but they won 3 of the last 4 ends to take the game 8-4.

Hertfordshire were next up and might have provided stiffer opposition, but Andy and David had ground out a 6-0 lead with 4 ends down and controlled the game thereafter to take the match 11-5.

Against Norfolk, Suffolk won the first end, but after that it was all downhill, they lost the next 4 ends to go 7-2 behind, picked up one one the next, but then lost the next two. The final result was a 13-5 loss.

Their opportunity to bounce back came against Northumberland in their final Saturday game. But it didn't start well. The first 2 ends were lost as they went 4-0 down, the next 2 ends were shared so at 4 ends they were 5-1 down. However a string of 4 consecutive ends won took them into the lead, only to drop 2 on the last as Northumberland knicked a draw.

Five points from 4 games left them only 2 points behind the leaders Hertfordshire, but with a game in hand. However between them and the leaders were both Cambridgeshire and Durham, a point ahead and on the same number of games as Suffolk.

Sunday's first game, against Sunderland, started well, the first ends were won, putting them 4-0 up, but two ends later they were behind and they never got back into the game. They lost 6 of the last 7 games and finished 13-5 down.

The next game started well and got better, they won the first end and never looked back, Ends 5, 6 and 7 yielded 11 shots and they ran out 16-3 winners. At this point Hertfordshire were leading the way on 11 points, while Suffolk were 4 behind, in fourth place, in the middle of a pack of 5 teams covered by just a single point.

Next up were Cambridgeshire who were lying second. It was a close encounter and there was never much in it, Suffolk took the lead on the second end, Cambridgeshire drew level on the next and that was the way it went for the next four ends, but holding a one shot lead going into the last they took one more a had the win 6-4. That lifted them up to second place, although they were still 2 points behind Hertfordshire with just a game to go.

All Suffolk could do was to win their final game against Durham and hope for the best. And that they did in style, putting in a dominant performance to thrash Durham 13-1. In the meantime Hertfordshire faced a tough game against Norfolk, going into the last end they were 5-6 down and with the shots that Suffolk had scored they needed a draw, but it wasn't to be. Norfolk took the win and Suffolk took the title by the comfortable margin of 4 shots.

Despite a poor end to Saturday and an equally disappointing start to Sunday, Andy and David didn't give up and a great finish saw them take the title to add to their Eastern Counties win.

Weekend Record: W-W-L-D-L-W-W-W

SINGLES
David Ford (Gt Blakenham)
After a losing the first end of his opening game against Essex (the ECCBA Champion), David didn't look back, he won 6 of the next 7 ends and took a convincing 12-4 win.

It was an identical start to his second game, against Hertfordshire, but he was behind until end 5. A run of 4 winning ends took him into a 7-4 lead, but it was all wiped out on the 8th end, but he regained his momentum to take the last end and win 9-7.

And it was a difficult start against Norfolk. With 5 ends played David was 5-2 down, however come the 6th end he not only found another gear, but several other gears, picking up 11 shots in four ends to win 13-5.

With the Northumberland player having to pull out that was David's last game on Saturday. The only other undefeated person was Durham. The two would play each other on Sunday in the final round in what could be the game that decided the title.

Sunday began with a match against the reigning champion, Martin Campbell (Sunderland), David bowled well, but his opposition was even stronger, winning crucial ends in the middle part of the game as David fell to his first loss (6-4).

But he bounced right back against Bedfordshire, although in the early part of the game things seemed to be going against him. At 4-1 down after 3 ends it looked a little bleak, but the middle ends were David's as the opposition went off. All 4 on the sixth end pretty much sealed it. He finished 10-5 up to take his fourth win.

More tough opposition, this time from Cambridgeshire, David was behind from the first end, and although he was level after 5 ends he dropped 7 shots over the remaining 4 to lose the game 5-10.

The final game of the weekend came against Durham who had led the way all through the weekend, held a 2 point lead going into this game and needed no more than a draw. The game was close in the early ends, but David thundered into the lead with all 4 on the 5th end. It was back to 6-4 with 2 ends to go, but David held his nerve took the last 2 ends and effectively handed the title to Jamie Smith (Cambridgeshire) who won by a single shot, while David finished third.

Weekend Record: W-W-W-L-W-L-W

TEAM
Saturday started the well, even though the Triple and Rink had to sit out the first session of the day. Once they got going everyone was contributing and Suffolk had edged their way to the top.

But the end of Saturday was disappointing as the Pair, Triple and Rink all slipped up. However no one was completely out of contention and as a team they were sitting in third place, with games in hand over the two leading teams Cambridgeshire and Durham.

Sunday began indifferently, with everyone losing their opening games, and as a consequence Suffoolk found themselves drifting down the standings.

However the day finished much as the weekend had started and Suffolk were able to push their way back up to finish third, just 1 point behind runner-up Hertfordshire, although the gap to winners Cambridgeshire was much bigger at 7 points.

You can find a full copy of the weekend's results here.