On Friday 7 November 2008 the Suffolk team and their supporters travelled by coach to the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool for the National County Championships.

The tournament involved nine other counties, Cambridgeshire, Durham, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

All counties were represented by six rinks (fours), each rink playing one eleven end game against all of the other counties, over two days of bowling.

On the Saturday morning Suffolk's first opponents were Sunderland, an improving team with high expectations. It was not a good start for Suffolk rinks A, Band C, picking up only the one win 10-3 and losing the other games 19-4 and 12-8.

For rinks D,E and F, their first games were against Norfolk who are always tough opposition. This time the Suffolk bowlers settled quicker, winning comfortably 14-5 and on the last end of the other games, tighter wins of 8-7 and 11-10.

Next up for rinks A, B and C were Hertfordshire, a team with a reputation for taking points off the stronger teams. Despite an improved performance just the one Suffolk win was secured 13-5. In the other two games fortune was not on Suffolk's side, losses of 9-5 and 8-5.

The next session for D, E and F was a double-pointer. The opposition were Cambridgeshire, last years winners and Suffolk's main rivals for the championship. As always the games were lengthy, close and tactical, but it was the Suffolk rinks who took early leads and held on to them. Three very important wins for Suffolk, 11-6, 10-4 and 12-9.

Northumberland faced rinks A, B and C next. With confidence increasing, again the performances improved and two good wins were achieved, 15-12 and 14-9. The other game was lost 13-3.

In the next session D, E and F also faced opponents from the north in Durham. Picking up where the other rinks had left off, again Suffolk secured two wins, 15-7 and 10-8. The other game finished in a 7-7 draw, a fair reflection of a close game.

Unfortunately the next session proved to be the most disappointing of the day. Against North Tyneside, one of the weaker counties in the competition, Suffolk won only one game 15-5. However with a bit more luck, one shot defeats of 12-11 and 8-7 would have been reversed.

For the penultimate session of the first day the opposition were Essex, who were having a good day. Suffolk took early control of the first game, winning well 12-6. In the second game the Suffolk rink staged a remarkable comeback from 7-1 down to win 9-8. In the final game an early 11-0 Suffolk lead was nearly thrown away, but they held on to win nervously 12-11.

Last up for Suffolk was South Tyneside. These were games that Suffolk expected to win and rinks A, Band C duly obliged. Showing good concentration after a long days bowling a further six points were secured with wins of 13-10, 14-9 and a fantastic 25-4.

At the end of the first day it was Suffolk who had an overall lead with a creditable 39 points. Behind them were Norfolk with 34, the dangerous Cambridgeshire on 33, then Durham on 32 and Essex with 31. It was good to have a lead, but tomorrow would be another day.

Sunday morning started badly for rinks D,E and F. Again Sunderland proved to be a stumbling block and in a repeat of Saturday morning disappointingly there was only one Suffolk win, 13-4. The other games were close, but lost 11-7 and 11-10.

It did not get any better in the next session when rinks A, Band C faced Norfolk. This time Suffolk only picked up the one point drawing a game 8-8. One game was unluckily lost on the final end 9-8 after a strong Suffolk fight back, with the other game lost 13-3.

Suffolk's overnight lead had gone and a quick improvement in performances was needed. It was delivered in the next session by D, E and F against Hertfordshire. Two games were won comfortably 14-6 and 16-6 and a full house was secured with a closer 11-7 win.

Next up were Cambridgeshire, a session where neither county could afford to lose all three games. As with Saturday the games were long tense affairs, but again it was Suffolk who deserved to come out on top. The first game was won on the last end 9-8, the second Suffolk led from the start to win 9-4 and it was only the final game which was lost 13-10.

After that great performance D, E and F needed to keep the momentum going. They did, with a maximum six points against Northumberland. Two games were won easily 16-6 and 15-5. In the final game it needed an unlikely comeback in the latter ends to steal an 11-10 win.

With the overall competition very close, Durham were the next opponents for rinks A, Band C. Games against the experienced Durham team are always difficult, these were no different but Suffolk secured two important wins, 13-9 and 16-7, only just losing the other 9-6.

Continuing with games against northern opposition, rinks D,E and F were now up against North Tyneside. Suffolk were confident of winning all three games and their performances reflected that. The best session of the weekend finished with wins of 15-4, 20-3 and 22-1 !!

In the overall standings with two sessions to go, Suffolk were trailing Cambridgeshire by just one point. Suffolk now had difficult games against Essex who were vying for third spot. Two of the games were very close, but unfortunately Suffolk could only gain a draw 8-8, losing the other 9-6. In the final game the Suffolk rink were in complete control, winning 16-2.

At the same time, a surprise outcome, Cambridgeshire only managing one win against North Tyneside. Going into the last session Suffolk and Cambridgeshire were level on points.

In the final session Suffolk were against South Tyneside. The first game saw the Suffolk rink take an early lead and they eased to a 13-7 win. In the second game a run of good luck for the opposition saw Suffolk 8-0 behind. They then staged a remarkable comeback and were unfortunate not to win, drawing 8-8. The final game followed a similar pattern, Suffolk finding themselves 10-2 down. Again a brave fight back and in a tense final end they grabbed five shots to snatch an unlikely 13-11 win.

Meanwhile Cambridgeshire had secured two wins against Hertfordshire, with a game to finish. Seeing Suffolk win their last game, with the final bowl of the entire competition the Cambridgeshire skip drew in to secure a drawn game.

Suffolk and Cambridgeshire were level on 76 points each. The competition had to be decided on shots scored, Suffolk had 608 and Cambridgeshire had 626.

Whilst clearly disappointed to finish second in what was the closest finish in the competition's history, the Suffolk team could be proud of their efforts over a long tiring two days of bowls. They had played some great bowls throughout the weekend, kept their composure under immense pressure, especially during the tense and emotional final games.

Thanks must be passed to the supporters of the Suffolk team who gave great and constant encouragement to the Suffolk bowlers right through the weekend.

The final competition scores were:

Cambridgeshire	76
Suffolk	76
Essex	65
Norfolk	62
Durham	59
Sunderland	58
Northumberland	53
Hertfordshire	45
North Tyneside	31
South Tyneside	15

The team of bowlers who superbly represented Suffolk were:
Rink A: Jim Southgate, Margaret Southgate, Roy Lonsborough, David Mittell
Rink B: Trevor Bean, Sally Goodrich, Andy Gilder, Tom Runnacles
Rink C: Carl Buckle, Ralph Sadgrove, Andy Pooley, Jim Goodrich
Rink D: Rita Runnacles, Colin Fellingham, Sue Gilder, Mick Watkins
Rink E: Sue Davey, Ann Hathaway, Andrew Cooper, Neil Jolly
Rink F: Sue Jones, Ellen Grube, Paul Daniels, Jeremy Brown

Neil Jolly (County Captain)

Suffolk County Team: Supported by Portmak Joinery