On Friday 13 November the Suffolk team and their supporters travelled by coach to the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool for the National County Championships.

The competition included nine other counties, Cambridgeshire, Durham, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland. Each county 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 Saturday morning Suffolk’s first opponents were local rivals Norfolk. Suffolk rinks A, B and C were involved in three closely fought games resulting in two well earned wins, 15-10 and with the last bowl 11-10. The other game was lost 15-7.

Rinks D,E and F started their weekend against Sunderland, a fast improving team with high expectations for the competition. After three very competitive games it was again two wins for Suffolk, 12-8 and a low scoring 7-5. The lost game finishing 15-6.

Next up for rinks A, B and C were South Tyneside, not the strongest of the northern teams and Suffolk were hoping for their first maximum return. Unfortunately it was not to be as one game was lost 12-10. However the other two Suffolk rinks eased to wins in their games 12-5 and an incredible 23-7.

The next session for rinks 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 and tactical. Two of the Suffolk rinks took control of their games from the start and held on to win 14-11 and 13-6. The final game was lost 15-9. However four important points won.

Rinks A, B and C faced Northumberland next. Finally Suffolk secured their first maximum six point session of the weekend. They were made to work hard for the three wins though, all tight games were eventually won 11-9 (twice) and 13-8.

Could rinks D,E and F repeat the outcome of the last session in their games against Hertfordshire? Unfortunately not, Suffolk’s worst session of the day as they could only gain a disappointing solitary win 15-9. The two other games were lost 15-9 and with the last bowl, 10-9.

Suffolk needed to hit back immediately and rinks A, B and C did just that. With confidence high from their three wins against Northumberland, they did exactly the same again, this time against Durham. Three welcome wins, 10-5, 14-10 and 9-7.

In the penultimate session of the day D, E and F needed to bounce back against North Tyneside, three games they would normally expect to win. This time all of the Suffolk rinks took early control of their games and three wins followed, 13-6, 11-7 and 16-5.

Last up on Saturday for Suffolk were Essex, a difficult end to a long day’s bowling. In the first game the Suffolk rink strolled to a comfortable 21 -4 win. However the other two games were far closer and went to the final ends. Suffolk held on to win one of them 8-7, but unfortunately the other was lost on the final bowl 12-8.

During the first day the overall lead had changed hands numerous times. However by the end of the day it was Suffolk with 40 points who held a one point lead over the dangerous Cambridgeshire, with Sunderland third on 33. They were then followed by Norfolk on 29 and Essex on 28. All of the Suffolk rinks had bowled well to earn this early lead, but they knew that they would have to sustain that level of performance if they were to stay on top.

On Sunday morning it was Norfolk who faced rinks D,E and F first up. Again all tough games but as with Saturday’s games it was Suffolk who took two wins from three, 14-5 and 13-8. The other game was lost 12-9.

The next opponents were third placed Sunderland and this turned out to be Suffolk’s worst session of the weekend. With all of the Sunderland rinks playing particularly well and despite keeping the games close, rinks A, B and C all slipped to defeat. The final scores were 9-8, 14-8 and 8-6.

With Cambridgeshire now having a slender overall lead, Suffolk could not afford to let them increase their advantage any further. Against South Tyneside rinks D,E and F made sure that didn’t happen with Suffolk’s third maximum return of the weekend. Winning scores of 15-5, 10-7 and 13-6.

In the next session the top two teams faced each other, both counties knew that they could not afford to lose all three. Unfortunately Cambridgeshire came out on top in two games, the Suffolk rinks losing 8-4 and 14-10. The single Suffolk win was a comfortable 10-3.

Northumberland were D, E and F’s next opposition. In a repeat of Saturday’s games Suffolk scored another maximum return. Only one game was close, a last bowl win of 9-8, but the other two rinks eased to an 18-6 and a fantastic 23-7 win.

Having only gained one win against Hertfordshire on Saturday, rinks A,B and C were looking to improve on that. They managed to achieve that, although just missed out on the six point score. One game was lost on the last end 10-9, but the other two were won, 13-5 and 15-6.

The next session saw rinks D,E and F play against Durham. Saturday had seen three Suffolk wins and after three very close games that was repeated. All of the games were in doubt until the latter ends but the Suffolk rinks held their nerve to win 9-7, 10-8 and 12-5.

With two sessions to play, overall it was now a two horse race for the championship, between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Only shots scored could divide them last year, this competition was also going to go to the wire.

Having not lost a game to Durham or Northumberland all weekend, rinks A, B and C now looked to repeat that record against North Tyneside in the penultimate session of the day. All of the Suffolk rinks bowled well to earn early leads and playing composed, mistake-free bowls under pressure they held on for three valuable wins, 11-6, 12-6 and 11-5.

As Sunday had progressed the overall competition lead had changed hands between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire almost every session. Now with one session remaining Suffolk held a crucial two point advantage over their old rivals, with shots scored also in their favour in the event of a tie. In the last session Cambridgeshire were up against third placed Sunderland, but Suffolk had it no easier against fourth placed Essex.

It was a tense final session for rinks D, E and F, every Suffolk bowler knowing that any mistakes would open the door for Cambridgeshire to win the competition. Nerves were settled a little when two of the Suffolk rinks secured early leads and also one of the Cambridgeshire rinks were loosing heavily. In the first game to finish Suffolk lost 14-9, this meant that the other two rinks had to win. Anxiety increased as a few of the middle ends were lost, but then performances picked up and the Suffolk rinks eased their way to comfortable 14-4 and 18-6 wins.

Meanwhile Cambridgeshire had lost a game to Sunderland.

Suffolk had won the National County Championship.

It had been a fantastic team performance from Suffolk. The rinks had gelled together superbly, supporting and encouraging each other, particularly in the final few sessions when every bowl was crucial. Every Suffolk rink won over half of their games, with two rinks only losing the one game all weekend. To a bowler everyone had played some great bowls throughout the weekend, keeping their composure under immense pressure, especially during the tense and emotional final two sessions.

Thanks and recognition must be given to the supporters who travelled with the Suffolk team. All weekend they gave constant encouragement to the Suffolk bowlers and this certainly contributed to the overall win.

The team of bowlers who superbly represented Suffolk in winning the 2009 National County Championship were:

Rink A: Trevor Bean, Ellen Grube, Colin Fellingham, Sue Gilder
Rink B: Margaret Southgate, Ralph Sadgrove, Andy Pooley, Tom Runnacles
Rink C: Peter Runnacles, Tony Cooke, Andy Gilder, Mick Watkins
Rink D: Jim Goodrich, Marion Brown, Paul Daniels, David Mittell
Rink E: Sue Davey, Ann Hathaway, Andrew Cooper, Neil Jolly
Rink F: Sue Jones, John Varden, Sally Goodrich, Jeremy Brown

Neil Jolly (County Captain)

The weekend's full results can be found here.