We were back at Hemsby once
again in 2010 for our traditional Christmas Break.
The week prior to this year's
event saw some of the worst weather for many a year.
With snow covering much of
the country we wondered how many people were going to be able
to make it to Hemsby.
As it was we need hardly have
worried as all but 4 pairs were able to make it there. Actually
there have been relatively little snow at Hemsby and although
Friday had been freezing all day, the temperature rose overnight
and rain had wiped out all of the snow come Saturday morning.
As usual everyone would get
6 games over the course of Saturday and Sunday, after which the
top 16 teams would go through to the Knockout Stage.
Game 1
Janet Shinn & Peter Masters
were the first team to top the leaderboard as they won their
initial game with 13 shots.
Second place was being shared
by Brian & Sheila Foreman and Mike & Judy Easy
who both had 11 shots. Four teams were next up, all having scored
10 shots, Joe & Irene Woodward, Margaret Clemmet
& Angela Newling, Pat Chapman & Joan Fairs
and Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom.
Game 2
Of the 20 teams who won their first games, only 11 managed to
repeat the feat in their second games.
Janet Shinn & Peter
Masters continued to
lead the way, with 24 shots from their 2 wins.
Moving up into second place
now were Lin & Tony Cooke, 3 shots behind the leaders,
while Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom were a couple
more shots back. And George & Beryl Harrell and Mike
& Judy Easy were equal fourth with 18 shots apeice.
Meanwhile there were some notable
teams who had yet to get off the mark and who, despite their
slow starts could yet make their way through.
Game 3
The halfway point of the round robin games and the first change
of lead.
Lin & Tony Cooke had now ascended to the top spot,
having won 3 games, scored 37 shots and conceded only 5 shots,
far and away the best record of any of the teams so far.
They were one of only 6 teams
who had not dropped a point, the rest of whom (in order) were
Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom, Bob & Ruth
Withers, Roy & Viola Thorpe, Bill & Carol
Reeve and David & Julie Hurr.
Game 4
The final round of games for Saturday.
Experience tells us that another
win for the undefeated teams at this stage will be good enough
to all but see them through to the last 16.
But only 3 teams survived Saturday's
play with their perfect records intact.
The new leaders were Pauline
Collins & Gloria Bloom who were 5 shots better off than
second placed David & Julie Hurr, who in turn were
1 shot ahead of Bill & Carol Reeve.
The next 11 places were being
held by teams who were now on 6 points, having won 3 and lost
one.
Meanwhile the final 2 teams
finishing out the top 16 were on just 5 points, meaning that
the leaders were already 4 points clear of the 17th placed team.
This meant that barring an utterly disastrous showing the last
2 games these top 3 were going to be in the last 16.
Game 5
Sunday's first games, the penultimate round, saw all but one
team finally lose their unbeaten records.
Pauline Collins & Gloria
Bloom moved on to 10
points, and in doing so became the first team to secure their
spot in the knockout rounds.
Next up were fully 10 teams
who were all on 8 points, having lost just 1 game each so far.
The best of these were Lin
& Tony Cooke, who had 57 shots, Janet Shinn &
Peter Masters with 50 shots, Mike & Judy Easy
on 46, Valerie Game & Ken Drane on 44 and Harold
& Patricia Ball on 43. All of these were highly unlikely
to miss out because of the shots they had accumulated.
In fact all of those teams
already on 8 points were probably safe, but with one team on
7 points and 6 more on 6 points, they were all technically in
with a chance of being dislodged.
Game 6
Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom safely negotiated their final game to finish
on maximum points, 2 points clear of the rest of the field.
So the next best were a group
of teams who had all gained 10 points from their 6 games.
They were, in order, Lin
& Tony Cooke, Janet Shinn & Peter Masters,
Harold & Patricia Ball, David & Julie Hurr
and David Clemmet & Barbara Johnson.
Two further teams finished
on 9 points while the rest of the qualifiers were on 8 points.
However, the top of the table was so tightly packed that two
teams who finished on 8 points missed out, falling 4 shots short
of qualification.
Knockout Rounds
First Round
The game between Brian & Sheila Foreman and Valerie
Game & Ken Drane was close, at 5-4 to Val & Ken,
after 4 ends, but the Foreman's lost the last 3 ends, losing
13-4.
David Clemmet & Barbara
Johnson and Mike
& Judy Easy were also closely matched at 4-5 with 2 ends
to go. But the Easys took a decisive 5 shots on the penultimate
end, holding on to win 10-5. And it was much the same story with
Roy & Viola Thorpe and Janet Shinn & Peter
Masters. 4-4 with ends to go when Janet and Peter took 5
shots, finally finishing 10-4 up.
An early lead for previously
undefeated Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom, was swept
away by Mike Walker & Adrian Bond, who came back from
5-2 down to win 8-6.
Betty Johnson & Patricia
Bunch took the lead
of their game against Bill & Carole Reeve with 4 ends
down, taking the last 4 ends to win 7-2.
David & Julie Hurr were already 7-1 down to Les Buckton
& Kay Masters before they hit their stride, by which
time it was too late, as they lost 7-4.
Bob & Ruth Withers were 2 shots up going in to the final
end against Harold & Patricia Ball. Unfortunately
it was not enough of a gap. Harold & Patricia took 3 on the
last end to win 7-6
And it was a nail-biter between
Lin & Tony Cooke and Ron Dean & Paul Daniels.
Lin & Tony took 2 shots on the last end to take the game
into an extra end, only to lose it by the narrowest of margins
on a measure.
Quarter Finals
It was a no contest between Ron Dean & Paul Daniels
and Valerie Game & Ken Drane. The 4 shots that Val
& Ken gained on the first end held them in good stead and
the game was over by the 6th end by which time they had an unassailable
9-1 lead.
It was nip and tuck between
Mike Walker & Adrian Bond and Betty Johnson &
Patricia Bunch, with the advantage swinging first one way
and then the other. In the end it took the final wood of the
final end to win the game as Betty & Patricia went from 2
shots behind with the opposition holding, to one up as they took
3 shots to win 8-7.
Harold & Patricia Ball were another pair to leave it until
the final end as they trailed Les Buckton & Kay Masters
by one shot going into the last end, only to take 2 shots and
win 5-4.
Mike & Judy Easy took the first 2 ends against Janet
Shinn & Peter Masters to lead 4-0, but did not win another
end until the last, which by that time was enough to draw them
level, taking the game into an extra end which they won on a
measure.
Semi Finals
The game between Betty Johnson & Patricia Bunch and
Harold & Patricia Ball was unusually high scoring
for this stage of the proceedings, thanks to each team getting
5 shots on an end within the first 3 ends, by which time it was
7-5 to the Balls. In the end it finished 12-8 in favour of the
Balls in a game which they led the whole way through.
Mike & Judy Easy took a 3 shot lead on the first end
of their game against Val Game & Ken Drane, a gap
which they maintained for another 2 ends. But Val and Ken took
a game changing 4 shots on the next end, from which point they
were never behind, finally winning 8-5.
Final
Early on it looked like this one was going to be a one-sided
affair. Only Ken's heroics on the first end stopped him and Val
losing several shots, but he could not stop Harold & Patricia
winning the next 2 ends to take a substantial 6-1 lead.
Although it looked like it
was all over Val & Ken came back, winning the next 3 ends
to take a 7-6 lead into the final end. And the shots could have
gone either way on that last end. In the end it needed a measure
to decide the end and the match which went the way of Val &
Ken 8-6. A superbly played game and very worthy final match to
round off the weekend.
You can find all the results
here.
Once again we would like to
thank everyone for helping to contribute to a great weekend's
bowling. And for helping us to raise another £280
in aid of the Treehouse Appeal.
tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
6th
December 2010 |