Suffolk Carpet Bowls Association

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» 2016 CHAIRMAN'S TRIPLES

The Suffolk squad hosted their third and final fundraising competition, the Chairman’s Triples at Needham Market on Sunday 9 October.

40 triples started the competition, with bowlers from all of the six eastern counties taking part.

Every triple played four group games and after an enjoyable six hours of bowling, the eight group winners proceeded to the quarter finals.

In the quarter-finals:

Team Thatch (from Hertfordshire) were comfortable 10-1 winners over Think Outside The Box (Barking).

In a similar match, Three Girls (Claydon) got off to a quick start against Three Allsorts (Claydon/ Barking), they didn’t look back in going on to win 9-3.

The lowest scoring game was between The Jimi Southgate Experience (Belstead/ Bedfordshire) and Tom Runnacles (North Luffenham/ Barking). The latter just coming out on top by 5-3.

Finally in another close game, a late rally from Three Boys (Claydon) was just enough to see them edge The Sadways (Hundon) by 8-6.

The two semi-finals proved to be contrasting games. Team Thatch (Rebecca and Craig Hearn, and Pete Cook) proved to be too strong for Tom Runnacles (Thomas and Jason Ellis, and Tom Runnacles), with the Hertfordshire triple not losing an end on their way to a 9-0 win.

Meanwhile the other semi-final would go right to the final bowl before the winner was decided. The game was an all Claydon family affair with Three Girls (Sues Isles, Emma Watling and Sally Goodrich) taking on their other halves, Three Boys (Steve Isles, Clint Watling and Jim Goodrich). The men got off to a good start going 4-0 ahead, but the ladies hit back to level the game and then go one shot up with an end to play. With only the skips bowls to play on the final end, the ladies held match lie. Unfortunately for them Clint drew two superb final bowls to score with both and take an entertaining game 6-5.

So it was a Hertfordshire versus Suffolk final and it was the former who made the best start scoring three shots on the first end. Whilst the Claydon men replied with a single on the next end, they couldn’t match their opponent’s consistent bowling on the next three ends, as the Hertfordshire triple extended their lead to 7-1. The Claydon men weren’t finished though, scoring a three on the penultimate end, giving them a glimmer of hope. It didn’t prove to be enough though as the Hertfordshire triple controlled the last end, scoring three shots of their own to win the final 10-4.

Congratulations go to Rebecca and Craig Hearn and Pete Cook on their win, with their consistent bowling throughout the day making them deserved winners.

The Suffolk squad thank everyone who took part or who helped on the day.

» A NOTE FROM ANDY POOLEY

I would like to send a huge thank you to all those carpet bowlers who supported me in braving the shave, thanks to your generosity I've managed to raise in excess of £600 for MacMillan cancer support.

It is still possible to donate and this can be done by going to bravetheshave.org and going to my donate page. As you can see from the picture I look slightly different, I am planning on keeping this look for the foreseeable future so the next time you see me please be nice, once again many many thanks.

Andy

» 2016 MARION'S FAB FOURS

The Suffolk Squad hosted their second fundraiser for 2016, Marion’s Fab Fours at Needham Market on Sunday 10 July.

Forty teams entered and as well as a healthy Suffolk contingent, we also welcomed bowlers from Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Norfolk.

In the group stages every team played four matches, with the eight group winners and runners-up qualifying for the knock-out stages.

The draw then pitched group winners against a different group runner-up. In eight competitive matches, only two of the group winners made it through with the other six matches being won by group runners-up.
The quarter-finals were all close matches. Claydon had the best win beating “Three Generations” (Reepham) by 10-5. It took the skips last bowl for “Captains Pick” (Brockley) to defeat Great Blakenham 5-3. Then even closer, there was an extra end for “The Quad Mob” (Cockfield) to get past “Us & Them” (Witnesham). They were joined in the semi-finals by “The Skip Ain’t Appy” (Old Felixstowe) who enjoyed a slightly more comfortable 6-2 win.

The two semi-finals were contrasting matches. Claydon dominated their match against “Captains Pick” (Brockley) and five shots on the third end proved crucial as they eased to an 11-2 win. In the other match “The Quad Mob” (Cockfield) had a foot in the final at 6-0 up after two ends. However “The Skip Ain’t Appy” (Old Felixstowe) had other ideas and staged a remarkable comeback, levelling at 6-6 after five ends and scoring two shots on the last end to book their place in the final.

So it was an all Suffolk final and the Old Felixstowe team maintained their momentum scoring three shots on the first end. Claydon hit straight back though, after three ends they had levelled it at 3-3 and on the fourth end scored a shot to go 4-3 up. Old Felixstowe weren’t giving up though and scored a single shot on the penultimate end to tie the match up. It was an exciting final end decider and it was the Claydon team who built a better head of bowls and did enough to protect the holding shot for a 5-4 win.

The Old Felixstowe team (Pat Turner, Madge Smith, John Austin and David Tennant) had more than played their part in an excellent final.

Congratulations though went to Claydon (Emma and Clint Watling, Jim and Sally Goodrich) on a run of consistent bowling performances during the day and their well deserved win. They received their prizes from Marion Brown.

The Suffolk squad thank all who took part during an enjoyable day of bowls.

Their next fundraiser is the Chairman’s Triples, at Needham Market Community Centre on Sunday 9 October.

» 2016 GRAHAM'S HARTEST TRIPLES

This year's event brought together 35 teams from Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Divided up into 7 groups of 5 for the Round Robin games, the 16 qualifiers for the knockout rounds were:
Group Winners - Barking A, Lawford, Fulbourn, Barking/Kelsale, Witnesham, Kenninghall and Elmstead Market.
Runners-Up - Kelsale, Reepham Robins, Cockfield A, Brockley/Ketton B, Ashley, MADJAC and Hundon.
Best 3rd Placed - Brockley/Ketton A, Old Felixstowe.

ROUND 1 
Barking A

4

- 2 Cockfield A
Lawford

11

- 4 Brockley/Ketton B
Fulbourn

0

- 22 Ashley
Barking/Kelsale

10

- 7 MADJAC
Witnesham

13

- 3 Hundon
Kenninghall

7

- 4 Brockley/Ketton A
Elmstead Market

10

- 6 Old Felixstowe
Kelsale

3

- 5 Reepham Robins

QUARTER FINALS
Barking A

10

- 6 Ashley
Lawford

4

- 8 Barking/Kelsale
Kenninghall

9

- 3 Reepham Robins
Witnesham

4

- 12 Elmstead Market

SEMI-FINALS
Kenninghall

7

- 2 Elmstead Market
Barking A

4

-
6 Barking/Kelsale

That left Kenninghall, from Norfolk, to play the final against the team that had won the event on the last 2 occasions, Barking/Kelsale.

Things started well for the reigning champions who took 2 shots on the first end and although Kenninghall took back one on the next and 3 on the third end to lead 4-2, it was by no means disasterous.

However the fourth end was as the challengers took 4 to establish a clear lead and the 5th end was positively catastrophic as Kenninghall took yet another 4 to lead 12-2.

The sixth end finished a little better for Barking/Kelsale as they took a shot, but by then the game was over as Kenninghall took a convicing 12-3 victory to take the title.

Many thanks to all who contributed to the day's activities and for helping to raise £469 for Macmillan.

» 2016 SUFFOLK LEAGUE v BURY LEAGUE

The Suffolk League v Bury League challenge match was held at Needham Market on Wednesday 11th May.

The Suffolk teams came from the top of our leagues, Belstead (1st in Div 1 East), Stutton and Bentley (1st & 2nd in Div 2 East), Rivers and Whatfield (1st & 2nd in Div 3 East) and Barking (1st in Div 1 West). No current county players were used in the Suffolk teams.

The Bury teams were from Old Newton, Brockley, Hargrave, Hundon, Cockfield and Stanningfield, and included a few county players.

Well done to all who took part.

First Round

Suffolk

Bury
Pts Shots Shots Pts

Bentley

0

10

v

12

2
Old Newton

Rivers

2

9

v

6

0
Brockley

Whatfield

1

9

v

9

1
Hargrave

Belstead

2

8

v

7

0
Hundon

Barking

0

8

v

9

2
Cockfield

Sutton

0

4

v

12

2
Stanningfield
Stanningfield

5

48

v

55

7


Second Round

Suffolk

Bury
Pts Shots Shots Pts

Belstead

2

9

v

7

0
Hargrave

Barking

0

9

v

11

2
Hundon

Stutton

0

2

v

11

2
Cockfield

Bentley

1

7

v

7

1
Stanningfield

Whatfield

2

9

v

5

0
Brockley

Rivers

0

3

v

10

2
Old Newton
Stanningfield

5

39

v

51

7

Final Result: Suffolk League 10-14 Bury League
» 2016 RANDOM TRIPLES

On Sunday 1 May the Suffolk County Squad held the first of their three fundraising events for 2016, the Random Triples at Needham Market.

The 96 bowlers taking part were randomly drawn into different triples for each of their five games. Their scores being carried through from each game, with two points for a win, one for a draw and then shots scored being used to decide final placings if needed.

After every bowler had played their first two games just 24 bowlers had the maximum four points. It was all Fellingham affair at the top, with Colin (28 shots scored) just ahead of his brother Keith (27) and they were closely followed by Ellen Grube (25) and Stephen Frost (24).

Following the completion of three games, those with a maximum six points had reduced to 13 bowlers. Ellen Grube and Colin Fellingham were joint top, with 33 shots scored. Just behind them were Steven Cain and Elaine Knightbridge, both with 29 shots scored, then Eric Sainsbury and Julie Eley with 28 shots each.

With four games played, the undefeated bowlers reduced again, it was now down to just eight. Ellen Grube had held on to top spot, now with a healthy 44 shots scored. The unbeaten bowlers were tightly grouped behind her though. Elaine Knightbridge (38) was now second, closely followed by Julie Eley and David Ford (37). The other four bowlers not to lose a game yet were Steven Cain (34), Sarah Fletcher (32), Margaret Southgate (30) and David Tennant (28).

The fifth round of games never fails to provide an interesting draw and usually the results significantly change the leader board and this year would be no different.

In the first half of the last set of games, the first unbeaten record to go was Julie Eley. Then in a really tight game, long time leader Ellen Grube also fell at the final hurdle, losing to a triple containing David Ford. That win took David to the top of the leaderboard for the first time, setting the target of 44 shots scored. Margaret Southgate also won her last game, but her final shots scored total (38) was only good enough to take her into second position, with the other half of the final games to be played.

The second half of the last set of games saw Elaine Knightbridge drop out of contention, with a defeat in her final game. Meanwhile the games involving both Steven Cain and Sarah Fletcher were both close and low scoring affairs, so overtaking David Ford’s shot total looked unlikely, but could either of them win? Come the end, those games were drawn, so both Steven and Sarah finished unbeaten, but only on nine points. That just left David Tennant, again it never looked like he would exceed David Ford’s shots, but with his very last bowl he secured two shots, a win and ten points overall.

So after an enjoyable days bowling, the worthy winner was David Ford.

The final top five (and the only unbeaten bowlers) at the end of the event were:

Pts For Agst

1st
David Ford

10

44

18

2nd
Margaret Southgate

10

38

22

3rd
David Tennant

10

36

24

4th
Steven Cain

9

39

17

5th
Sarah Fletcher

9

38

26

The Suffolk squad thank everyone who took part and we hope to see you all at our other two fundraising events at Needham Market, Marion’s Fab Fours (Sunday 10 July) and the Chairman’s Invitation Triples (Sunday 9 October).

Neil Jolly (Suffolk captain)

» 2016 SUFFOLK CHARITY FOURS

Suffolk's annual Charity Fours event was held at Needham Market on Saturday 9th January.

This year attracted a full entry of 45 teams and while it might have been a bit of a tight squeeze getting everyone in there, all the games were played in the right spirit.

And this year saw a bit of a change to the playing format, since there isn't enough time for any knockout rounds, all the teams were placed in one big group, with the winners being the team who had the best record from their 4 games.

Round 1
Burstall A
were off to a flyer, the best of the 21 teams who won their first game, they led the way after an 18-1 victory. Knodishall B weren't far behind after winning 15-0 while Copdock & Washbrook B (13-0) were thrid and Hoggards Green B (13-1) were fourth.

Round 2
Another good win for Burstall A (13-3) saw them staying ahead of Copdock & Washbrook B (14-1), Knodishall B (11-4) and Nayland B (12-5). With the results nicely spread around there were only 9 teams in total who had won both of their opening games.

Round 3
Change at the top was guaranteed as the top 2 met one another int he third round of games. And it was Copdock & Washbrook B who came out on top, beating Burstall A narrowly (6-4) in a match that came down to the last wood. That left the door open for Knodishall B to leap ahead, but they suffered a loss.

So Copdock stayed top on 6 points and 33 shots. Second spot was now in the hands of Thurston A who had been working their way up the standings, they now had 6 points and 27 shots, along with Nacton A, while just 1 shot behind were Cockfield A. Those 4 were the only teams to have won all three games.

Round 4
In the end only 4 teams went through the day undefeated.

Fourth place went to Copdock & Washbrook A. After drawing their first game they recorded 3 straight wins to finish on 7 points.

Cockfield A won their final game 7-5, taking them to 8 pionts and 33 shots for third place.

Thurston A finished their day with an 8-3 win to take them on to 8 points and 35 shots for the runner-up spot.

And with an 11-5 win in their final game to finish on 8 points and 44 shots, the winners were Copdock & Washbrook B.

We would like to thank everyone for their support for the event which raised £1365 for this year's chosen charity, Clic Sargent and we hope to see you all again next year.

20160109_171852
Copdock & Washbrook
Trevor & Jackie Holbrow
Mervyn & Anthea Bushe

20160109_171704
Thurston
Carol West, Susan Hurley,
Paul Leach and John Varden

20160309_191107

Clic Sargent were represented by Daisy Turner

2015 Tournament Reports