ECCBA Team Bowl

Sunday 7th October saw this year's Team Bowl event, with Suffolk looking to retain the title.

The team consisted of:

S1 – Paul Leach / Sue Davey & Colin Fellingham / Jim Goodrich, Steve Isles & Peter Fellingham
S2 – Mick Watkins / Ralph Sadgrove & Ellen Grube / Lauren De Banks, Andy Gilder & Neil Jolly
S3 – Rita Runnacles / Sue Isles & Paul Daniels / Frank Wilkin, Sally Goodrich & Sue Gilder
S4 – Peter Runnacles / Emma Watling & Ally Hobbs / Tony Stevenson, Tom De Banks & Andy Pooley

Session 1 (Hertfordshire)
Hertfordshire looked to have a very strong team, and were possibly favourites to win the competition, with Suffolk missing several of their usual players. But Suffolk got off to a very good start, winning 3 out of 4 Singles, 2 Pairs, and all 4 Triples games, giving them an 18-6 overall win, putting them at the top, tied with Norfolk.

Session 2 (Bedfordshire)
Bedfordshire ought to have been easier opposition, but turned out to be anything but in the Singles and Pairs, which saw the teams win 2 games each in both disciplines, but the Triples came to Suffolk’s rescue, winning all 4 (even if it was only by the odd shot in two of the games).

Suffolk now led the way by 9 points overall, as Norfolk had a very average session against Hertfordshire.

Session 3 (Essex)
Once again it was up to the Triples to save Suffolk, they won all their games against Essex, while, again, the Singles and Pairs could only muster 2 wins each.

Suffolk had held on to their 9 point lead, but it was now Hertfordshire who had moved into second place.

Session 4 (Cambridgeshire)
Again it was a repeat of the same story from the previous two session, the Singles and Pairs both won just half their games, while the Triples once again came through with a full house.

16 points again, for the session, which Herts could do no more than match.

Session 5 (Norfolk)
This time the Singles picked up 3 wins, while the Pairs won 2, yet again, and with Hertfordshire, who had been much stronger in those first two disciplines than Suffolk, only gaining 2 points, Suffolk went into the Triples with a 7 point lead, only only 8 to play for. Only one win would be needed, but they picked up 3, and Suffolk took the title for the 9th consecutive time, winning by a margin of 7 points.

In retrospect, it was all settled in that first session, which was both Suffolk's strongest, and by a huge margin, Hertfordshire's weakest, and while Herts were stronger over the rest of the day, and made some inroads into that early lead, they were never seriously in contention, thanks to an almost faultless performance from Suffolk's Triples, who won 19 out of their 20 games.

A copy of the all the day's results can be found here.

Eastern Counties Championship

Sunday 14th April saw the Easter Counties Championship taking place at Littleport. Unfortunately, Bedfordshire were not present, which meant there were 5 counties playing for the title.

The team consisted of:

S1 – Sue Isles, Bruce Miller, Colin Fellingham, Paul Daniels
S2 – Pete Runnacles, Nick Wood, Mick Watkins, Andy Pooley
S3 – Lauren De Banks, Ellen Grube, Adam Hubbard, Sue Gilder
S4 – Jim Goodrich, Emma Watling, Peter Fellingham, Clint Watling
S5 – Frank Wilkin, Tom De Banks, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S6 – Karen Hubbard, Steve Isles, Andy Gilder, Neil Jolly

Reserves: Sally Goodrich, Rita Runnacles, Ralph Sadgrove.

Session 1 - Suffolk v Essex
S1 fell behind early, and the game just drifted away to a 5-10 loss. S2 came back from behind, with Andy pulling off the win with his final wood, 8-6. S3 got into the lead in the second half, taking a 9-5 win. S4 were behind from the start, losing 2-13. S5 picked up 3 on the last end of a tight game to win 7-4. S6 had a very comfortable 18-3 win.

Suffolk’s 8 points meant they led the way, 1 point ahead of Cambridgeshire.

Session 2 - Suffolk v Hertfordshire
S1 struggled again, losing 4-10. S2 picked up an early lead, going on to win 12-5. S3 dropped the first couple of ends, and never quite recovered, losing 5-10. A very tight game for S4, saw them pick up 2 on the last end for a 7-5 win. S5 had to come from 4-1 down to pull o f a 9-5 win. S6 only won 3 ends, but they still managed to hang on for a 7-5 win.

Another 8 point session for Suffolk, saw them now 3 points ahead of Cambridgeshire.

Session 3 - Suffolk sitting out
Hertfordshire won 5 of their 6 games against Norfolk, moving them up to second place, 2 points behind Suffolk.

Session 4 - Suffolk v Cambridgeshire
S1 had a poor start, then pulled themselves back into the game, before dropping the last end to lose 10-12. S2 led the whole way, taking an 11-5 win. S3 pulled their game back to draw 7-7 on the final end. S4 picked up a 6 on the first end, and there was no looking back after that, they won 17-2. S5 crept away from their opposition to win 9-3. S6 were in a close struggle, which they just lost 4-6.

Suffolk now led Cambridgeshire by 5 points, while Hertfordshire were 9 behind, with a session, and a potential 12 points, in hand.

Session 5 - Suffolk sitting out
Hertfordshire picked up 8 points against Cambridgeshire, who werenow out of the running, while Herts moved to within one point of Suffolk.

Session 6 - Suffolk v Norfolk
Suffolk's fate was in their own hands. Win all their games, and the title was their's. But that was never likely to happen.

S1 lost a 6-0 lead, but then recovered to win 10-7. There was never more that a couple of shots btween the two teams in S2's game, but it was always Suffolk who had their noses in front, they won 6-4. It was even tighter for S3, who grabbed 2 on the last end for a 6-5 win. S4 fell behind in the middle part of their game, and lost 6-8. S5 picked up a 6 on the 4th end of their game, after which they cruised to a 12-5 win. Conversely S6 dropped a 5 on their 4th end, and although they were level after 6 ends, they fell away to a 6-12 loss.

Four games out of 6 won, but what had Hertfordshire done against Essex? Exactly the same. 8 points to Suffolk, 8 points to Herts, and Suffolk had held on to retian the title, by a margin on one point.

Congratulations to S2 and S5, who all won all four of their games.

	Pts
Suffolk	31
Hertfordshire	30
Cambridgeshire	22
Norfolk	21
Essex	16

You can see all the day's results here.

Bedfordshire v Suffolk

Sunday 17th March saw Suffolk travelling to Bedfordshire for the final game of the season. With a 27 point advantage over nearest rivals Essex, Suffolk would need just 10 points to continue their run of Eastern Counties League wins, which had been unbroken since the 2010/11 season.

There were a few changes to the team that defeated Hertfordshire in the previous game, due to unavailability. The team consisted of:

S1 – Sue Isles, Rita Runnacles, Bruce Miller, Paul Daniels
S2 – Pete Runnacles, Nick Wood, Mick Watkins, Andy Pooley
S3 – Lauren De Banks, Ellen Grube, Adam Hubbard, Sue Gilder
S4 – Jim Goodrich, Emma Watling, Sally Goodrich, Peter Fellingham
S5 – Frank Wilkin, Tom De Banks, Ally Hobbs, Clint Watling
S6 – Karen Hubbard, Steve Isles, Andy Gilder, Neil Jolly

Session 1
S3 were off to a good start, and were 5-0 up after 3 ends, from there they stretched the lead out to win the game 11-3. S5 were also in the lead from the off, but although they kept their noses in front, it was only 5-4 with 6 ends played, however they finished well, winning the last 3 ends to take an 11-4 victory. The odd ones out were S1, who struggled really badly on a slightly slower mat, and with 3 ends played they were already 7-0 down. The rot was stopped on the third end, and a 4 on the 6th brought them back to within a shot of the opposition, after which they got level and went ahead with an end to go, and finished off their comeback with 2 on the last for a 10-7 win.

A perfect start for Suffolk, winning all 3 games, and now needing just for more points to secure the title.

Session 2
S4 didn’t get off to the best of starts, and were 5 behind after 3 ends, but they recovered all those shots on the next end, and then added 6 on the 5th end, to lead 11-5, after that it was a matter of bringing the game home, which they did, winning 13-10. S6 dropped one on the first end, following which they eased their way out to a 9-2 lead, finally taking the game 9-5. Meanwhile, S2 had got themselves into a nice 7-2 lead after 5 ends, only to see their opposition come back at them to lead with an end to go. That end wasn’t proceeding all that well, but Andy brought his final wood in, to grab a draw, 8-8.

Just one point dropped so far, with Suffolk leading 11-1. More importantly, the points to win the League were secured at the earliest possible opportunity.

Session 3
S1 had a less traumatic game this time, leading 7-1 with half the game done, and finishing comfortable winners, 12-4. S3 were off to a pretty bad start, dropping 4 on the first end, but they pulled themselves back. A 4 for Suffolk on the 5th end put them lead 8-5, but a dropped 3 on the 7th saw them only 9-8 ahead. However, the last 2 ends were won, to take the game 12-8. And for S5, the key to the game was securing those early shots, they led 9-1 after 5 ends, allowing them to see off a comeback which brought the score back to 9-6, before winning the last end, to take the game 11-6.

Another perfect session, which put Suffolk 17-1 in the lead.

Session 4
S6 were off to a flier, 3 ends in, and they were 10-0 up, after which they cruised to a 16-4 win. It was not, though, the same story for the other two games. S2 went behind on the 3rd end, and although they were never completely out of touch, the game was lost 8-5. S4 began well, and were 6-1 up after 4 ends, but 2 ends later they were 8-6 down. They pulled back to level, but lost the final 2 ends, and lost the game 11-8.

Overall, the score now stood at 19-5, which meant the game was won.

Session 5
S1 had a very tight game, an early 5-1 lead was all but wiped out, before the penultimate end was won, and they held on to win 7-5. S3 ran out to a 10-2 lead after 4 ends, and were never in trouble as they took the game 15-6. S5 were 7-2 down with half the game played, but pulled themselves back into the lead before dropping one shot on the last end to finish 8-8.

Suffolk now led 24-6.

Session 6
S6 had their noses in front from the start, and gradually pulled away for a 12-3 win. The other two teams, though, did not start well at all. S4 dropped 4 on the first, were 7 down before they got on the board, and never looked likely to pulled themselves back into the game, eventually losing 10-3. And finally there was a topsy-turvy game for S2. They went 5-0 down at the start, came back to lead 10-6 with 2 ends to go, and dropped a 2 and a 3, to lose the game right at the end, 11-10.

The final score was Bedfordshire 10 Suffolk 26. A much better second half for the home team, who shared the points 9-9 in the final 3 sessions.

Congratulations to S1, S3 and S6, who all won all three of their games.

Other results:
Norfolk 13-23 Cambridgeshire
Hertfordshire 21-15 Essex

	Pts
Suffolk	130
Hertfordshire	94
Essex	92
Cambridgeshire	90
Norfolk	75
Bedfordshire	59

Hertfordshire v Suffolk

Sunday 18th February saw Suffolk travel to Welwyn Garden City for what was always going to be their toughest game of the season, against Hertfordshire. However, with a 27 point advantage in the league, and with only one game to play after this one, Suffolk knew that a loss wouldn’t be the end of the world, and that keeping the result close would be the first goal.

The team consisted of:

S1 – Sue Isles, Bruce Miller, Colin Fellingham, Paul Daniels
S2 – Pete Runnacles, Nick Wood, Mick Watkins, Andy Pooley
S3 – Ralph Sadgrove, Ellen Grube, Adam Hubbard, Sue Gilder
S4 – Jim Goodrich, Emma Watling, Peter Fellingham, Clint Watling
S5 – Frank Wilkin, Sally Goodrich, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S6 – Karen Hubbard, Steve Isles, Andy Gilder, Neil Jolly

Session 1
S1 were off to a good start as the opposition took the jack off, and then added 4 on the second end. After that it was a question of maintaining that lead, which they did, taking the game 10-4. Unfortunately, it wasn’t such a good session for the other teams. S3 didn’t lose any big ends, they just slowly dropped behind over the first few ends, and ended up with a 3-7 loss. S5 were 5-3 up after 4 ends, and a couple of ends later they were only a shot behind, but a 4 dropped on the 7th end was decisive, and they were never able to get back in the game, finally losing 7-10.

Not the best of starts, with Hertfordshire leading 4-2.

Session 2
Sadly it was not going to get any better in the second set of games. S2 started well, and were 4-0 up after 3 ends, but the next 3 ends were lost, and they found themselves down 4-8. Going into the last end they were 5 behind, managing to pick up a 4 only left them tantalisingly close at 10-11. S6 also had their noses in front early on, and with 2 ends to go were all square at 5-5, but the last couple of ends went away from them, and they fell to a 5-8 loss. Finally, S4, again it was close all the way through, and they were only a single shot down going into the final end, but it was Herts who took it, Suffolk losing 4-6.

A full house for Hertfordshire, and they led 10-2. Lots of close games, but for once it was Suffolk who were being edged out.

Session 3
Suffolk were in desperate need of a good session, but sadly that wasn’t going to be the case for the only team that had gained any points for Suffolk thus far, S1. End after end, there was never much between the two teams, but end after end Hertfordshire edged it, completely shutting Suffolk out, who lost 0-12. Better news, though, for S3, they picked up a 5 on the 3rd end, and a 4 on the 6th, coming home to a comfortable 13-5 victory. Even better for S5 who, on a tricky, one-sided mat, only dropped 2 ends, to take an even more convincing 13-2 win.

Not a full house, but a winning session, saw Herts now 12-6 ahead. And as a measure of how close it actually was, Suffolk were only one shot behind overall.

Session 4
S2 had a 3 end run in the middle of their game where they picked up 7 shots, taking them into a 9-2 lead which saw them in good stead as the came home to a 9-4 win. S4 picked up a 3 on the 5th end which took them into the lead, and there they stayed, also for a 9-4 win. And finally S6 came back from dropping 3 on the first end, taking the lead 2 ends later, and just keeping their noses in front from that point on, to win 8-5.

A much needed full house for Suffolk, which saw them levelling the game at 12-12.

Session 5
S3 won the first end of their second game, but immediately fell behind. A 5 to the opposition on the 5th end set the seal on the game. They picked up the last 2 ends, but it was still a 7-12 loss. S5 were ahead after 3 ends, but dropped 7 shots over the space of 4 ends to fall to 6-9 down, but a 2 on the penultimate end, and then a single on the last same them pull off a vital draw, 9-9. Having not even registered a single shot in their previous game, S1 did so on the first end, this time, with a single, which they repeated for the next 4 ends, to lead 5-0, the 6th end was dropped, but it was just one, keeping it close was the name of the game, and they did just that as they came home to a hard fought 9-2 win.

The points had been shared, which put the overall score at 15-15, with just one session to go

Session 6
S2 were off to a good start, 4-0 up after 2 ends, a lead which they only continued to build on as they cruised to a 13-2 win. S6 had an even better start, 5 on the 2nd end put them 7-0 up, the opposition came back to win the last 4 ends, but they already had enough in hand to ensure they stayed ahead, the final result was 10-6 to Suffolk. Finally, S4, having edged out a small early lead, fell behind in the second half of the game, to trail 4-8 going into the last end, but managed to somehow grab back the 4 shots they needed for a draw.

Another very good session for Suffolk saw them take 5 points, to take the overall win, 20-16.
After a truly terrible start to the day, which saw them win only 1 of the first 6 games, Suffolk outscored Hertfordshire 18-6 across the remainder of the day. The results of the season’s previous games may be more numerically impressive, but given the circumstances, this is probably the team’s best performance this season.

Footage of the day's play, is available on Hertfordshire's YouTube Channel.

The other results mean that Suffolk have maintained their lead in the league to 27 points, now over Essex. The final match of the season will see Suffolk travelling to Bedfordshire needing 10 points to guarantee their 11th consecutive league title.

Other results:
Cambridgeshire 20-16 Bedfordshire
Essex 27-9 Norfolk

	Pts
Suffolk	104
Essex	77
Hertfordshire	73
Cambridgeshire	67
Norfolk	62
Bedfordshire	49

Suffolk v Cambridgeshire

Sunday 21st January saw Cambridgeshire visiting Needham Harket for the third game of the ECCBA League season. The team consisted of:

S1 – Sue Isles, Bruce Miller, Colin Fellingham, Paul Daniels
S2 – Pete Runnacles, Nick Wood, Mick Watkins, Andy Pooley
S3 – Jim Goodrich, Emma Watling, Peter Fellingham, Clint Watling
S4 – Sally Goodrich, Ellen Grube, Adam Hubbard, Sue Gilder
S5 – Frank Wilkin, Tom De-Banks, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S6 – Karen Hubbard, Steve Isles, Andy Gilder, Neil Jolly

S1 spent the first half of their game just trying to keep it close. The score stood at 4-4 after 7 ends, but the last 2 ends belonged to Suffolk, who finished 9-4 up. S3 had their noses in front right from the start, but they were never hard ahead, and just hung on to win 7-5. S5 looked safe at 8-3 up with 2 ends to go, but lost the last 2 ends, and just held on, winning 8-7. All close games, but a clean sweep for Suffolk.

S2 had their game in the bag with just 3 ends played. By that point they were 9-0 up, and after that controlled the game to see themselves through to an 11-5 win. S6 were in a similar situation, they went out to an 11-0 lead after 6 ends, a=only losing one end as they won 13-3. S4 weren’t so fortunate. They dropped 5 on the 3rd end, and although they recovered 4 of those shots on the next end, they never got closer to their opposition than within 2 shots, as they lost 8-11. Only the one game lost with 2 sessions played, and Suffolk led 10-2 overall.

S1 were just keeping their noses in front after 5 ends, but the 6th saw them break the back of the game with a 4, and with 2 ends to go they were 7 shots ahead. They finished up 10-5 winners. S3 chipped away at their opposition over the first 5 ends, by which time they led 7-0. Cambridgeshire won the 6th end, but that was the only one as Suffolk took the game 12-3. A 4 on the second end saw S5 already 5-0 up, but 3 ends later it was back to 5-4. But a couple of twos saw them go into the last end 4 shots up, finally winning 9-7. Another clean sweep, saw Suffolk 16-2 up at the halfway mark.

S2 were off to a poor start, dropping 4 on the first end, but they recovered all of that and more, with a 5 on the very next end. 3 on the next end saw them 8-4 up, but the opposition crept the game back to 8-7 over the next 3 ends. But the rest of the game belonged to Suffolk as they picked up 11 shots over the last 3 ends to finish 19-7. It was nip and tuck over the first 4 ends for S4, which saw them 4-5 down, but after that it was all Suffolk, as they ran out to a 15-5 victory. S6 kept it close for the first half, but trailed 5-6 after 6 ends, however a 4 and then a 2 catapulted them in front, and they finished with an 11-7 win. Another 6 points in that session saw Suffolk now 22-2 up.

S1 slipped behind, caught up, and then slipped behind again, to stand 4-7 down. They pulled one back on the next, but jumped into the lead with a 5 on the penultimate end, and, after a struggle, also took the final end, for an 11-7 win. S3 started well, then allowed the opposition back in, with 2 ends to go they were just a shot ahead, but they took those final ends, and won 11-7. S5 led from the first end, after which they crept away, bit by bit, to a comfortable 11-3 win. One session to go and Suffolk now led 28-2, already a good tally, but how many more could they get?

S2 pulled away from their opposition after the second end, and ran out to another comfortable win, 14-4. S4 won the first end, and the last couple, but in the middle part of the game the opposition had run up 11 shots, the game was lost 7-11. S6 drifted behind to be 1-5 down 5 ends in, but squared the game at 5-5 on the next end, and then went ahead for the first time in the game at 6-5, but the final 2 ends were lost, and the final result was a 6-9 loss. Suffolk ended the day with a huge 30-6 victory.

The final session was a slight blemish on an otherwise great day for Suffolk, the odd game could, perhaps, have gone the other way, but the same can be said of at least one of the lost games.

Congratulations to S1, S2, S3 and S5, who all won all three of their games.

The other results mean that Suffolk have extended their lead in the league to 27 points, but the next match, a visit to Hertfordshire on 18th February, will be by far their trickiest match so far.

Other results:
Bedfordshire 11-25 Essex
Norfolk 21-15 Hertfordshire

	Pts
Suffolk	84
Hertfordshire	57
Norfolk	53
Essex	50
Cambridgeshire	47
Bedfordshire	33

Suffolk v Norfolk

Sunday 10th December saw Suffolk hosting their first league game of the season, with the visit of Norfolk, who had also had a winning start, with victory over Bedfordshire.

The team was due to be the same one that faced Essex, but a few last minute changes were required owing to sickness, so the team consisted of;

S1 – Sue Isles, Bruce Miller, Colin Fellingham, Paul Daniels
S2 – Pete Runnacles, Nick Wood, Mick Watkins, Andy Pooley
S3 – Jim Goodrich, Emma Watling, Sally Goodrich, Peter Fellingham
S4 – Ralph Sadgrove, Rita Runnacles, Adam Hubbard, Sue Gilder
S5 – Frank Wilkin, Tom De-Banks, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S6 – Karen Hubbard, Steve Isles, Andy Gilder, Neil Jolly

The first session saw S3 getting off to a good start, they were 9-1 up after 4 ends, and remained well ahead, to win 14-3. It was much the same story for S5, 7-0 up after 4 ends, they too were comfortable winners, 12-3. But it wasn’t all good news, S1 were holding their own until the 5th end, when the Norfolk skip used the final wood of the end to pick off Suffolk’s shot wood, for a 6, that put them 8-4 ahead, after which they controlled the game. The game ended in an 8-10 loss for Suffolk. Suffolk led the match 4-2 overall.

S2 were also off to a strong start, 9-1 ahead after 5 ends, they went on to win 10-5. S4’s game was very close at the start, just 3 shots scored in the first 4 ends, but a 3 put them 5-1 up, and a 4 on the 7th saw them go 9-3 ahead, and although they dropped a 3 on the last, they took the game 9-7. And S6 were another team well ahead early on, a 5 on the 4th put them 10-1 up, and they finished 13-5 winners, for a Suffolk clean sweep. Suffolk now led 12-2.

The third session saw S3 getting their noses in front on the 3rd end, and then just edging away slightly, winning the game 8-4. After a slow start, S1 pulled away to lead 8-0 after 4 ends, a lead which they never looked likely to relinquish as they pulled further away to win 14-5. Closest of all was S5’s game. They scored 2 on the first end, which was as big as the gap between the two team ever got, from the 4th end onwards there was never more than a shot in it. Norfolk went into the last end 1 up, but with only the skips to bowl, Suffolk had 3 woods crowded around the jack. The Norfolk skip got the jack loose with his first, got 2nd wood with his last, and earned himself a 5-5 draw. At the halfway point, Suffolk now led 15-3.

S4 started slowly, they were 4-0 down after 2 ends, and 7-2 down after 5, but 2 ends later they had the lead, and they finished 11-7 winners. The other two games were one horse races. S2 were 7-0 up after 3 ends, and won all the remaining ends, albeit by just 1 shot each, to finish 13-0 ahead. As for S6, they also won, and it was emphatic. They were already 10-0 ahead after 2 ends, and while their pace slowed a little after that, and lost an end, they finished 29-1 ahead. Suffolk had extended their lead to 21-3.

With 2 sessions still to go, the match was won, but Suffolk still needed to gather as many points as possible from the remaining 6 games.

The 5th session saw a second defeat for S1, they were 3 behind after the first end, but clawed they way back and were 4-4 at 5 ends, but after that, they struggled and the game drifted away from them. They lost 4-9. S3 fared much better, 6-0 up after 3, they kept themselves well ahead of the opposition, finishing 11-5 winners. And for S5 it was close, but they always had their noses in front, holding their nerve for a 7-3 win. One session to go and Suffolk led 25-5.

So far, so good for Suffolk, but not so much for the day’s final session which was, by far, Norfolk’s best, and deservedly so. Having trounced their opposition in the previous game, S6 couldn’t gain any traction in their final match. They were only 3-5 down after 5 ends, but 5 dropped on the 6th meant they were chasing from then on. They went on to lose 5-16. S4 were involved in a game that was close all the way through, it was 5-5 with 2 ends to go, but Suffolk went into the last end with a 2 shot advantage, however the Norfolk skip used his last wood to go from 1 down to 3 up, to snatch the victory 8-7. The one bright spot for Suffolk was S2, who were just keeping their noses in front, until a seesaw 8th end, which saw them grab 3, to take a 6 shot advantage into the last end. They finished 9-6 winners.

Despite a disappointing final session, Suffolk came out 27-9 winners, which extends their lead at the top of the table.

Congratulations to S2 and S3 who won all their games.

The next match will see a visit from Cambridgeshire, on 21st January.

Other results:
Hertfordshire 27-9 Bedfordshire
Cambridgeshire 20-16 Essex

	Pts
Suffolk	54
Hertfordshire	42
Cambridgeshire	41
Norfolk	32
Essex	25
Bedfordshire	22

Essex v Suffolk

Sunday 26th November saw Suffolk travel to Essex for the opening game of the 2023/24 ECCBA League season. With a couple of long-standing players choosing to sit out this season, the team had something of a new look. The team consisted of;

S1 – Sue Isles, Bruce Miller, Colin Fellingham, Paul Daniels
S2 – Pete Runnacles, Nick Wood, Mick Watkins, Andy Pooley
S3 – Jim Goodrich, Emma Watling, Peter Fellingham, Clint Watling
S4 – Sally Goodrich, Ellen Grube, Adam Hubbard, Sue Gilder
S5 – Frank Wilkin, Tom De-Banks, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S6 – Karen Hubbard, Steve Isles, Andy Gilder, Neil Jolly

The first session saw S1 taking a 1 shot lead into the final end, which they took, for an 11-7 win, S3's game was even tighter, but they came out just ahead, 7-6, and although it was another close game for S5, they just missed out, losing 4-6. Suffolk led 4-2 overall.

A good start, that got even better in the second session. S2 took the win in a very low scoring game 6-2, S4 took the one of the few comfortable wins of the day, with a 13-2 victory, and S6 made it a clean sweep of the session, winning 10-6. Suffolk now led 10-2.

While S3 missed out by the narrowest of margins, losing 7-8, there was another win for S1, who snatched a 6-4 win with the final shot of the game (thanks to more than one wick), and S5 came home with their noses well in front, 11-4. At the halfway mark, Suffolk were well ahead 14-4.

The fourth session saw that lead extend even further. S2 picked up a second win, 10-8, and S6 did the same, 9-5. It wasn't a clean sweep, though, S4 couldn't quite hang on to the one shot lead they took into the final end of their game, but they only dropped a single on that end, finishing 6-6. Suffolk further extended their lead, to 19-5.

With Suffolk just getting the better of so many close games, that run of winning sessions was bound to come to an end, and it did so in the penultimate session. S3 and S5 both found themselves chasing their games, without success, S3 fell to a 6-11 defeat, while S5 went down 5-10. It wasn't all bad news though, as S1 ground out a 9-1 win. The overall score now stood at 21-9 in Suffolk's favour.

After such a good start, it would be disappointing if Suffolk ended up falling away at the end, so a strong final session would be important, and so it proved to be. The closest game of the bunch saw S4 take an 11-7 win, while S6 took theirs 15-6, and S2 rounded out the session with the biggest winning margin of the day, 14-1. Another clean sweep, which saw Suffolk taking the win 27-9.

The closeness of several of the games, means that the final score is, perhaps, not entirely representative of the relative strengths of the two teams, but so often just that little bit extra makes a huge difference, and Suffolk were, on more than one occasion, not much, but just a little bit better.

Congratulations to S1, S2 and S6 who all took 3 wins out of 3.

A very strong start to the new season for Suffolk, which hopefully bodes well for their title defence, which will continue in the next game, at home to Norfolk, at Needham Market, on 10th December.

Other results:
Bedfordshire 13-23 Norfolk
Cambridgeshire 21-15 Hertfordshire

2023/24 Suffolk Squad

On Sunday 15th October the Suffolk squad trials took place at Needham Market Community Centre.

After a very tough selectors meeting, the squad for 23/24 has been finalised. The Team will consist of 28 players with 24 needed for League Matches. The Squad is as follows;

Lauren De-Banks (Hintlesham)
Tom De-Banks (Hintlesham)
Paul Daniels (Belstead)
Colin Fellingham (Cockfield)
Peter Fellingham (Cockfield)
Andy Gilder (Barking)
Sue Gilder (Barking)
Jim Goodrich (Claydon)
Sally Goodrich (Claydon)
Ellen Grube (Hundon)
Ally Hobbs (Claydon)
Adam Hubbard (Chelmondiston)
Karen Hubbard (Chelmondiston)
Steve Isles (Claydon)
Sue Isles (Claydon)
Neil Jolly (Brockley)
Paul Leach (Stanningfield)
Bruce Miller (Chelmondiston)
Andy Pooley (Claydon)
Peter Runnacles (Barking)
Rita Runnacles (Barking)
Sam Runnacles (Claydon)
Ralph Sadgrove (Hundon)
Mick Watkins (Barking)
Clint Watling (Claydon)
Emma Watling (Claydon)
Frank Wilkin (Hintlesham)
Nick Wood (Hundon)

The first league match for the new squad will be the away match against Essex at Great Saling, on 26th November.

Sally Goodrich (Captain)