Suffolk v Essex

On Sunday, 16th March, Suffolk hosted their final match of the season against Essex at Needham Market.

After a strong result in the previous game against Bedfordshire, Suffolk now held a narrow 9 point advantage over both the day’s opponents, and Hertfordshire, who would be hosting Cambridgeshire. That meant that 28 points would guarantee the title, but with Essex much improved this season, such a result would be an extremely difficult ask, so the first target was to secure the win, and see what followed.

S1 - Frank Wilkin, Sue Davey, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S2 - Sue Isles, Bruce Miller, Paul Attrill, Sue Gilder
S3 - Pete Runnacles, Rita Runnacles, Colin Fellingham, Peter Fellingham
S4 - Tony Stephenson, Andrew English, Andy Pooley, David Ford
S5 - Sally Goodrich, Steve Isles, Mick Watkins, Paul Daniels
S6 - Karen Hubbard, William List, Adam Hubbard, Neil Jolly

E1 - Terry Marsh, Rob Myall, Ginge Searle, Diane Orrin
E2 - Trevor Kidd, Sue Parrish, Darren Wrenn, Don Poulter
E3 - Marilyn Bennet, Ashley Perkins, Lin Hill, Peter Orrin
E4 - Gordon Brown, David Wallis, Maxine Poulter, Helen Tucker
E5 - Jacky Brown, Peter Marchant, Paul Perkins, Colin Lord
E6 - Martin Bennet, Graham Evans, Greg King, Mervyn Bushe

Session 1
S5 did not make a great start, and didn’t much improve. They were outplayed early on, and were 13-0 down after 5 ends. They stopped the rot on the 7th end, but the game easy already lost, it finished in a 14-4 loss. Elsewhere, things were going better, with both S1 and S2 making strong starts that held them in good stead. S1 were 6-0 up after 2 ends, and 8-3 up after 4. Essex pulled it back to 8-6, but Suffolk won the last 3 ends to take a 12-6 win. S3 went 6-0 up after 3 ends and by the 6th they were leading comfortably 12-2. They won the game 14-6.

Two wins was an encouraging start to the day.

Session 2
The session began well, with S2 and S4 getting off to good starts, and S6 slowly drawing ahead in their game. S2 got out to a 9-0 lead after 5 ends, but the opposition pulled their way back into the game, and with an end to go it was back to 9-8, before Suffolk took the jack off on the last end, to lose 9-10. S4 were 6-0 up after two, but the next 4 ends went against them, and suddenly Suffolk were 6-10 down, however, in a topsy-turvy game, the next two ends brought Suffolk back into the lead, 11-10, and it was looking good on the last until the opposition skip rescued them, sneaked a 2, and won the game 11-12.
In contrast, S6, who had started the slowest just kept going, it was only 4-1 after 5 ends, but the remaining ends went resoundingly to Suffolk, and they finished 15-1 winners.

A promising start to the session did not last, and two games were lost on the final end. The overall score stood at 6-6. Meanwhile, news came through that Hertfordshire had made a perfect start, and were 12-0 up, leaving little room for error on Suffolk’s part.

Session 3
This session was even closer than the previous one, with no one in a dominant position at any time during any of the games.

S5’s game was the one where a team had the closest thing to a clear advantage, Suffolk led 5-1 after 4 ends, and 7-2 after 6, but going into the last end it was 7-4, and with one wood left to bowl Essex were holding 2, possibly 3, but the last wood, on a drawing weight, got a nice little wick in to take shot, and win the game 8-4.

The other games were even closer. S1 were trailing 5-1 after 5 ends, clawed their way back to level going into the last end, and just held on to one on the last, which was sitting on the edge of the carpet and somehow stayed on to win the end. Suffolk won 6-5. Meanwhile S3 went from 5-2 up after 5 ends, to 5-6 going into the last. The final few woods saw Essex take shot, Suffolk take it back with what might be called a bold shot, and with the last Essex falling short, Peter was in again to take a second, and win the game 7-6.

Against all odds, Suffolk emerged from the session with 6 points, and led 12-6, while Hertfordshire now led 16-2, giving Suffolk a little more breathing room.

Session 4
S6 made a decent start, taking a 5, and although they dropped 2 on the next end, those were the last points they dropped as they ran away to a resounding 19-2 win. S4’s game was close for the first few ends, but a 4 on the 4th end, followed by a 2, meant they were never in trouble after that, as they ran out 14-3 winners. The other game, though, was much more in keeping with the day’s play so far.

S4 had made their way out to a 7-3 lead after 4 ends, but they didn’t put any more points on the board after that. One was lost on the 6th, the 7th was no score, one more was lost on the 8th, and yet another on the last, but it wasn’t quite enough for Essex, as Suffolk held on to win 7-6.

The overall score now stood at 18-6, and in Herts it was now the same score. That meant that Suffolk now needed only 22 points to secure the title.

Session 5
S3’s game was low scoring, at 6 ends they were just in the lead, 5-2. Over the next 2 ends that came back to 5-4, but they took the last to secure the win, 7-4. For S5 it was even tighter. From 3-1 down after 4, they went to 5-3 up after 7, but going into the last it was all square at 5-5. Holding on the last end they did their best to block the opposition out, and it worked, they didn’t need to bowl their last, so they didn’t, one was enough for a 6-5 win.

S1 didn’t fare quite so well, everything went against them, and sometimes they seemed to be determined to sabotage themselves, as they got to 11-0 down before they got on the board. They went into the last end having clawed back 7 shots in the last 2, but couldn’t do the improbable, losing 7-12. Their last game of the season was also their first defeat, an unfortunate end to the season.

That made the match score 22-8, and with the news that Cambridgeshire had been having a much better second half against Herts, and that the home team were now only leading 19-11, it meant that Suffolk had indeed secured the league title for the 12th successive time, with an entire session to spare, something which seemed very unlikely at the start of the day.

Session 6
S2 started slow, and were 4-1 down after 3 ends, but clawed their way back ahead, to 6-4, before dropping a shot on the 8th, to go into the final end just one ahead, and then finishing the game with a 4, winning 10-5, and making it look much more comfortable than it really was.

S4 were also in arrears early on, before drawing level on the 6th end, at 5-5. They then picked up a 3, and ended up going into the last end with 4 shots in hand, which was just as well, as they dropped a 3. Yet another game won just a single shot, 9-8.

S6 were already 9-3 ahead when they picked up a full house on the 6th end, eventually winning 20-3.

Another maximum for Suffolk, making the final score 28-8, meaning that they lost just a single game over the final 4 sessions. That meant that regardless of what Hertfordshire did in their game, Suffolk would have won the league regardless. As it was, Herts was 23-13, which meant that Suffolk finished 14 points ahead, giving them their 12th successive league title, and continuing the run that goes back to 2010/11.

It was, perhaps, Suffolk's best performance of the season, and while they have won the league by closer margins, it feels like the nearest competition is growing stronger, and that next season will be harder than ever.

Finally, congratulations to S3 and S6 who both won all three games on the day.

Other results:
Hertfordshire 23-13 Cambridgeshire
Norfolk 24-12 Bedforeshire

	Pts
Suffolk	129
Hertfordshire	115
Essex	100
Cambridgeshire	86
Norfolk	74
Bedfordshire	36

Suffolk v Bedfordshire

On Sunday, 16th February, Suffolk played host to Bedfordshire at Bildeston. After only being able to draw the previous game against Hertfordshire, Suffolk were now third in the league, 7 points behind both Herts and Essex, who would be meeting each other while this game was being played. A strong win would be vital for Suffolk’s chances of retaining the title.

S1 - Frank Wilkin, Tom Beckett, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S2 - Sue Isles, Bruce Miller, Paul Attrill, Sue Gilder
S3 - Pete Runnacles, Rita Runnacles, Andy Gilder, Colin Fellingham
S4 - Tony Stephenson, Andrew English, Andy Pooley, David Ford
S5 - Sally Goodrich, Steve Isles, Mick Watkins, Paul Daniels
S6 - Karen Hubbard, William List, Adam Hubbard, Neil Jolly

B1 - Sue Savage, George Savage, Debbie Inseal, Daniel Walker
B2 - Paul Johnson, Tommy Stiill, John Blyth, Carol Still
B3 - Linda O’Brien, Cherry Brock, Sue Bollins, Peter Webster
B4 - Gill Cook, Rita Davison, David Cook, Jim Greaves
B5 - Jill Higgs, David Playforth, Marlene Jackson, Jill Ellis
B6 - Fran Hibbard, Bernie Nelson, Viv Whyatt-Routh, Patricia Ball

Session 1
S1 were off to a good start, a couple of fours in the first 3 ends saw them 9-0 ahead, and they brought home a 17-2 win. S2 were 4 up after 2 ends, but it was a 5 on the 5th end that put them well out in front, and they came home to a 12-5 win. S3 started with a 3, but despite very good starts to each end were constantly pegged back by the opposition skip, so that with 5 ends played they were only just ahead 4-3. However, the second half saw them draw away, taking a 10-3 win.

Three wins out of three, exactly the start that Suffolk needed. Would they be able to maintain that pace through the rest of the day?

Session 2
S2 were down at the start, 3-1 behind after 3 ends, but they were ahead on the next ends, and ran away to a 16-4 victory. S2 began with a 4, were 9-2 ahead after 5 ends, and then picked up a further 13 shots over the remainder, running out to a 22-2 win. S3 did even better. They started with a 3, lost a shot on the second end, and won the rest, taking a 25-1 win.

Two sessions down, and Suffolk still had not dropped a point.

Session 3
S1 were off to a steady start, with the opposition skip constantly saving shots. They got out to a 10-1 lead after 6 ends, but lost the next 2 to go into the last end 10-6 ahead, it might have got sticky at this point, but they were never in a position to drop 4 shots or more, and came away with one, to win 11-6. S3 dropped a couple on the first end, but no more, picking up 16 over the remaining 8 ends for a comfortable win. S5 led 5-2 after 4 ends, but a 5 on the next put the game in their control, they finished 16-4 winners.

Another full house, and at the halfway mark, Suffolk led 18-0. A perfect start, but they would need to maintain that pace over the rest of the game.

Session 4
S2 put themselves 8-1 ahead with 3 ends played, and never looked back, winning 14-5. S4 were clearly in no mood to muck about, a 7 on the second end set the tone for a 23-1 victory. The final game was completely different, however, S6 were 4-0 up after 2 ends, and 6-2 after 4, but that lead got trimmed back to 6-5 with 2 ends to go. However, Suffolk picked up 2 on the penultimate end, to give themselves a bit of a margin, and held on for an 8-6 win.

Not without the odd scare, but Suffolk were still in the position they had hoped for, with no points dropped so far.

Session 5
S1 took first blood in their game, and pulled away in the second half for an 11-4 win. S5 were in control after losing one on the first end, getting into a 9-1 lead after 5 ends, and finishing 14-4 ahead. But it wasn’t all plain sailing, while S3 had their noses in front from the start, there was never much in it. 4-3 after 6 ends, went to 6-3, and then back to 6-5 going into the last. It was nervy stuff again, but Bedfordshire just fell short with their last, and the game was won 8-5.

Suffolk led 30-0, they already had the number of points they might have been hoping for at the start of the day. The question was, could they bring home the perfect score?

Session 6
S2 worked their way into a 7-0 lead after 5 ends, and while they went on to win the game, they were pegged back, eventually taking an 8-4 victory. S4 yet again had a near faultless game, which they won 17-0. But for S6 it was a different story, there are some games which are just destined not to go your way, and this was one of those, behind from the start, whenever they seemed to be building a head, the opposition skip would somehow find a way of getting in there and messing up the plan. The final result, an 11-2 loss, probably isn't a fair reflection of the way the game went, but the same might be said of several of the games which went Suffolk's way, and Bedfordshire deserved to go away with something.

The final result was 34-2 to Suffolk, exactly what they needed.

Of the other two games, the one that mattered was the one between Essex and Hertfordshire, which ended 18-18, which putes Suffolk 9 points clear at the top of the league, and with Essex visiting for the final game of the season, Suffolk's fate is in their own hands. But this is a much imporved Essex team, who cannot be taken for granted.

Other results:
Essex 18-18 Hertfordshire
Cambridgeshire 19-17 Norfolk

	Pts
Suffolk	101
Hertfordshire	92
Essex	92
Cambridgeshire	73
Norfolk	50
Bedfordshire	24

Suffolk v Hertfordshire

On Sunday, 19th January, Suffolk played host to Hertfordshire at Needham Market. It was Suffolk’s first home game of the season, and was guaranteed to be their hardest, with Herts looking very strong, and sure to be in contention for the title.

S1 – Frank Wilkin, Tom Beckett, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S2 – Sue Isles, Paul Attrill, Andy Gilder, Sue Gilder
S3 – Pete Runnacles, Rita Runnacles, Colin Fellingham, Peter Fellingham
S4 – Tony Stephenson, Andrew English, Andy Pooley, David Ford
S5 - Sally Goodrich, Steve Isles, Mick Watkins, Paul Daniels
S6 – Karen Hubbard, William List, Adam Hubbard, Neil Jolly

Session 1
S1 were off to a good start, they picked up 5 on the second end, and led 6-1 after 3, but 2 ends later t was all square. However, they picked up the next 2 ends, led 10-6 going into the last, and kept the opposition down to 1, winning 10-7. S3 were 4-2 up after 3, and 6-3 up after 6, but the last 3 ends went away from them, and they lost 6-7. S5 were 5-0 up after 2, but the 4th end saw them drop a 5, to lose the lead. Three on the 7th saw them back in front, but they too lost on the last end, 9-10.

Three very close games, with 2 lost by just the odd shot. Suffolk trailed 2-4.

Session 2
S2 suffered a horrendous start to their game, 4 ends in, and they were 8-0 down. But they picked up a 4 on the next end, followed by a 2, and going into the last end were only 8-10, but that end slipped away from them, and they lost 8-11. In contrast, S4 had a great start, despite losing the first end, by the 5th they led 8-3. However, 2 ends later they were behind, 8-10, and although they went into the last end only one down, again that end was lost, and the game ended in a 9-11 defeat. The third game, involving S6, was much closer all the way through, all square after 5 ends, at 5-5. Herts went into the last end a shot ahead, and agonizingly, that game too, was lost 6-9.

Nothing to show for the session, Suffolk were now 2-10 down overall.

Session 3
This really would be make or break for Suffolk, another losing session and the game would be all but beyond their grasp.

S1 slipped behind early on, trailing 1-4 after 3 ends, but 7 shots over 3 ends, put them into the lead, and they went on to a solid 10-6 win. S3 did not begin well, 4 ends in, and they were 0-5 down. But the 5th end saw them level the score, 3 ends later they were 10-5 up, and that was the way the game finished, with no score on the final end. S5 just about had their noses in front after 4 ends, but a 4, followed by a 3,set the seal on the game, and they came home to a 14-2 win.

Exactly what Suffolk needed, 3 wins, putting them back in the game, with the overall score now standing at 8-10.

Session 4
S2 had a reassuringly steady game, winning ends 3 to 7, and building up a 10-1 lead, they won the game 10-4. S4 raced into the lead, just as they had in their first game, leading 8-0 after just 3 ends, this time, though, they more than hung on, taking a comfortable 15-4 victory. S6 suffered a string of lost ends, which saw they 2-9 down after 6 ends. They picked up a 5 on the last end, but that was only enough to bring the score back to 9-11.

Suffolk had pulled themselves level after that poor start, with the score now stood at 12-12.

Session 5
S1 began with a 5, but were back to 7-7 after 6 ends, but they rallied, taking the last 3 ends, to win 11-7. Sadly, the other 2 games did not go quite so well. S3 had their noses in front early on, but fell behind in the middle part of the game. At only 5-7 down, they were still in with a shout, but the last 2 ends were lost, as was the game, 5-10. S5’s game was close all the way through, and going into the last end they held a 2 shot lead, but the opposition lead nailed the jack with her first 2 woods, one in front, one behind, and they then drew a third, Suffolk failed to get close, and the game was agonisingly lost 6-7.

Suffolk had fallen behind again, 14-16, but still had a chance of victory.

Session 6
It was a nerve-racking end to a long day's play, with results of all the games being in doubt right up until the end, and not looking all that great for the home team.

First to finish were S2, they just about had their noses in front at the mid point of the game, but fell behind on the 6th end, trailing 6-8. They went into the final end still 2 down, but couldn't find the shots they needed, losing 7-12.

The best Suffolk could hope for now was to win the last 2 games, to draw the match, but that looked less than certain.

S4's game was as close as you'd like. They were 4-5 down after 7 ends, drew level on the 8th, and managed to pull another win out of the bag, with 2 on the last. S6's game was just as nervy, they made a good start, leading 4-0 after a couple of ends, but it was back to 5-5 after 6. They pulled ahead with a couple on the 7th end, but then dropped a 3 to trail 7-8 with one end to go. And with just one wood to go, it could still have gone either way, Suffolk had managed to get into a match-winning position, holding 3, but it looked like any decent contact into the head would see Herts coming out on top. Somehow, however, that didn't happen, it was agonizingly close, but Suffolk kept hold of the 3 shots, to win 10-8.

After a poor start, Suffolk had managed to avoid defeat, and keep their unbeaten record going. In the final 4 sessions they had outscored Hertfordshire 16 points to 8, and earned an 18-18 draw.

For Suffolk the end result was something of a relief, and although Herts let a dominant position fall away, they will be the happier of the two teams. They will be playing their previously postponed game against Norfolk in 3 weeks time, and will be expecting to leapfrog Suffolk, and possibly even Essex, in the standings.

Congratulations to S1, who yet again won all their games, and maintained their perfect record across the season.

The next game will be a visit from Bedfordshire, which will be played at Bildeston.

Other results:
Norfolk 13-23 Essex
Bedfordshire 6-30 Cambridgeshire

	Pts
Essex	74
Suffolk	67
Cambridgeshire	54
Hertfordshire*	46
Norfolk*	25
Bedfordshire	22

*Hertfordshire and Norfolk both have a game in hand.

Cambridgeshire v Suffolk

On Sunday, 8th December, Suffolk travelled to Littleport to play Cambridgeshire for the second match of the season, following their opening win at Norfolk.

There were a couple of changes owing to unavailability and illness;

S1 – Frank Wilkin, Tom Beckett, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S2 – Sue Isles, Lauren Beckett, Andy Gilder, Sue Gilder
S3 – Pete Runnacles, Rita Runnacles, Colin Fellingham, Peter Fellingham
S4 – Sue Davey, Bruce Miller, Andrew English, Andy Pooley
S5 - Sally Goodrich, Steve Isles, Mick Watkins, Paul Daniels
S6 – Karen Hubbard, William List, Adam Hubbard, Neil Jolly

Session 1
S1 could hardly have hoped for a better start, as they took 5 on the first end. They were 9 ahead before the opposition got one on the board, and went on to win 13-6. S3 also picked up a 5, taking them into a 6-1 lead after 3 ends. That lead was trimmed back to 6-5 after 6 ends, but the remaining 3 ends went to Suffolk, as they won 12-5. It was also a good start for S5, who were 7-0 up after 3 ends, although 3 ends later it was back to 7-6. But the following end they too picked up a 5, helping them to a 14-6 win, making it a clean sweep for Suffolk.

Session 2
S2 raced away to a 13-1 after just 5 ends, and took a comfortable 17-3 win. S4 dropped a 3 on the first end, and were never able to quite get back on even terms, they kept it close for 6 ends, but the game drifted away from them to a 3-9 loss. S6 had the closest game so far, just one shot an end for the first 7, at whch point they trailed 3-4, but they took a 3 on the penultimate end, and finished with another 2 to win 8-4.

Another winning session saw Suffolk lead 10-2.

Session 3
S1 were 3-4 down after 4 ends, but a run of 8 shots in 3 ends put them well ahead, and despite dropping the last 2 ends, they won the game 11-9. S3 stormed into a 12-1 lead after 5 ends, and ran out 17-5 winners, picking up a couple of fives along the way. S5 were all square at 5-5 with 2 ends to go, but had a horrible end to the game, dropping a 2 and a 4, losing 5-11.

At the halfway point Suffolk held a comfortable 14-4 lead.

Session 4
S2 were off to a good start, 6-0 up after 3 ends, but the game was all square 3 ends later. The 7th end saw the fall behind, and the game finished in an 8-10 loss. S4 had edged their way out to a 3-0 lead after 4 ends, but a 5 on the next set them up well for a very good 12-2 win. S6 led 6-4 with 3 ends to go, but ther opposition finished very strongly, taking the last 3 ends, as Suffolk fell to a 6-13 loss.

Not a great start to the second half, only 2 points gained, and the game score now stood at 16-8 to Suffolk.

Session 5
S1 were 6-0 up after just a couple of ends, 12-1 up after 6 and went on to win 13-5. S3 kept their noses just in front in a very tight game, all the way up to the last end, but held on to gain a point in a 6-6 draw. S5 started badly, and never recovered, 2-8 behind after 4 ends, they lost 6-11.

The points were shared, Suffolk led 19-11 and had won the game, but needed to outscore Cambridgeshire in the final session.

Session 6
S2 had a 6-1 lead, but fell behind 6-7, only to rally to win the game 11-7. S4 did not start well, as they fell 0-6 behind after 3 ends, but bit by bit they pulled themselves back into the game, drawing level with 2 ends to go, getting a shot ahead on the next, and rounding the game out with a 3 to complete their comeback, winning 10-6. S6 had another low-scoring game, but always had their noses just in front, winning 7-3.

Suffolk finished in exactly the way they needed, the final result could easily have been very close, but those last 3 wins make the world of difference, taking Suffolk to a 25-11 overall victory.

2 wins out of 2, for Suffolk, so far this season, putting them on 49 points, however Essex’s 2 wins had earned them 51 points, so with the Hertfordshire v Norfolk game postponed, Suffolk were still second in the league. However, that was with both this season’s away games out of the way, the remaining 3 would all be at home.

Congratulations to S1 who won all their games, and S3 who also went undefeated, dropping just one point.

The next game would be the crunch match, with a visit from Hertfordshire.

Other results:
Hertfordshire v Norfolk - cancelled
Essex 28-8 Bedfordshire

	Pts
Essex	51
Suffolk	49
Hertfordshire	28
Cambridgeshire	24
Bedfordshire	16
Norfolk	12

Norfolk v Suffolk

On Sunday 24th November Suffolk travelled to Wortwell for the first league game of the season.

The team, which saw three new faces, and a couple of returning ones, was as follows;

S1 – Frank Wilkin, Tom Beckett, Ally Hobbs, Sam Runnacles
S2 – Karen Hubbard, William List, Adam Hubbard, Neil Jolly
S3 – Sue Davey, Andrew English, Andy Pooley, David Ford
S4 – Sue Isles, Steve Isles, Paul Attrill, Sue Gilder
S5 – Lauren Beckett, Rita Runnacles, Mick Watkins, Paul Daniels
S6 – Pete Runnacles, Andy Gilder, Colin Fellingham, Peter Fellingham

Reserves: Bruce Miller, Sally Goodrich

S1 were all square at 4-4 after 6 ends, but pulled away to win 8-4. S3 went from 5-2 up afer 4 ends, to 5-6 2 ends later, but rallied to win 9-6. S5 were off to a terrible start, dropping 5 on the 1st end, but came backfinally pulling ahead on the 8th end, and winning the game 10-8. A clean sweep for Suffolk, and a perfect start.

S2 could hardly have had a better opening game, dropping only one end, and going on to win 15-1. S4 had fallen behind early on, leveled the score at 5-5 on the 6th, and against to 7-7 on the 8th, but lost the last end to lose 7-9. S6 were 4 down, 2 ends in, but came back to grab the lead on the 6th end, which they never game up, winning 9-6.

Two sessions in, and Suffolk lead 10-2.

S1 dropped a single on the first end, but that was the only time they were behind, as they took the game 9-5. S3 lost 4 on the first end, and never recovered, despite rallying at the end, they lost 5-7. S5 had a better start this time, grabbing 5 over the first 2 ends, keeping their noses in front to at a 10-4 win.

Two wins out of three, and at the half way point, Suffolk led 14-4.

S2 did not have a great start, losing the first 3 ends, leaving them 6-0 down, before chipping their way back to within a shot, only to lost the penultimate end to go 2 behind, but they came up trumps on the last, with Neil drawing his last wood in for the 3rd they needed to win the game 9-8. S4 led 6-3 after 4 ends, but 2 ends later were behind, and the game fell away from them as they went down 7-12. After falling behing S6 leveled the score at 4-4 after 6 ends, but the opposition got away from them again, and the game was lost 4-8.

Two out of three for Norfolk this time. Suffolk led 16-8.

S1 took 4 on the first end, and never looked back, taking a resounding 17-2 win. S3 won the first 6 ends, and took a comfortable 11-4 victory. S5 struggled early on, were only a shot down with 2 ends to go, but lost both those ends to fall to a 4-10 defeat.

Suffolk extended their lead to 20-10.

S2 had another slow start, finding themselves 5-1 down after 5 ends, but came back, winning the remaining ends to take a 10-5 win. S4 started well, leading 5-0 after 3 ends, but 2 ends later they were behind, and weren't able to add to their score any further, losing 5-13. The secret to S6's victory was a sneaky 5 on the 5th end, which held them in good stead for the rest of the game, as they won 10-5.

Another 2 wins meant the game ended in a 24-12 win for Suffolk, a solid start to the season, on a par with their last 2 visits to Norfolk which had seen them winning 25-11 both times.

However it wouldn't be good enough to lead the league at Hertfordshire racked up a 28-8 win away to Bedfordshire, showing, as if we didn't already know it, that they were going to be very strong opposition this year.

Congratulations to S1 and S2 who won all their games.

The next match will be a visit to Cambridgeshire, on 8th December.

Other results:
Bedfordshire 8-28 Hertfordshire
Essex 23-13 Cambridgeshire

	Pts
Hertfordshire	28
Suffolk	24
Essex	23
Cambridgeshire	13
Norfolk	12
Bedfordshire	8