2011/12

Semi Final

Wymondham 47 v Forncett 33 @ Banham - 18/01/2012

P. Saunders, M. Linsdell  9-7  J. Rumsby, D. Rumsby

R. Steele, B. Saunders   13-5  M. Boulter, M. Boulter

B.Barker, D. Phillips        8-6   D. Girling, K. Humphreys

M. Barker, C. Mann          8-9   T. Ottewell, M. Humphreys

M. Goerge, A. Stratton     9-5   R. Humphreys, P. Lock

With all the pairs unchanged from the superb wins against Connaught A, the team followed on their success with a strong win against Forncett. The first pairing of Pat and Mark again started well and quickly racked up a 5-0 lead after three ends. A three on end five really put a distance between their opponenents Dennis and Joan at 8-1. But not to be outdone the Forncett pair clawed their way back to lose out by just two shots in the end as they won the remaining four of the five ends. This did take the shine off the first half performance, but it was still a lead to build on. Which the second pair of Roger and Brian did very well. Roger the majority of the time out posistioned Forncett's lead player but Brian still had his work cut out to produce the big scores which he did well. The Forncett skip was a little off target for most of the match which gave Wymondham a much needed 10 shot advantage. Billie and Deb had a patchy game compared to their recent form but came out of the match two shots up which on the balance of play was a fair result. Billie struggled a bit with weight and line while Deb had played the pressure woods well, but found when the pressure off, the woods were not quite where she would of liked at times. Luckily their opponents failed to make the most of this as Wymondham had taken a 5-2 lead after six ends but had to settle for just an 8-6 win in the end. The poorest performances of the night came from Melvyn and Chris who lost 8-9. Neither player played particularly well, and in truth did deserve to lose. Tony at lead for Forncett outplayed Melvyn for the majority which gave Chris numerous problems and on this occassion did not respond to the pressure till the later stages of the match. Although Wymondham had taken a 3-1 lead after four ends, Forncett then reeled off the next three ends with a 3,3,2 to lead 3-9. A slightly improved performance later on from the pair did put the tie back in Wymondham's control as they scored a 1,1,3 on the last three ends to repair the damage that had been done. With an eleven shot lead to protect, Mikey and Andrew did not need to pull out the stops this time but still both played confidently and accurately for a deserved 9-5 result. The Foncett pair were in good form also but they were made to look second best for the majority as early on Andrew had played some killer woods when Forncett looked to be holding big scores. The Forncett pair still battled but Becky and especially Peter, who had some great drawing woods throughout to cut shots down, found the Wymondham pair in good form who scored on seven of the ten ends, which was the best record of the night. 

With Watton the other team on the night going through, as they despatched Hingham Yellow, it will turn out to be a very competitve Final as they go in search for their second Five Pairs title also.

First Round

Wymondham 45 v Connaught A 39 - 19/12/2011 (2nd Leg) - Wymondham win overall by 87-83.

P. Saunders, M. Linsdell  4-15 R. Secker, O. Secker

J. Barrett, B. Saunders    10-5  M. Parsons, D. Liles

B. Barker, D. Phillips        8-6   D. Adcock, B. Adcock

M. Barker, C. Mann          9-7   C. Musk, S. Parsons

M. George, A. Stratton    14-6  T. Musk, S. Bragg

After the dramatics of the 1st leg at Connaught, the 2nd leg at Wymondham did not disappoint in what was another pulsating encounter against the sides in the five pairs. With the leg strewn with individual errors from the Wymondham players throughout, it could of been misconstrued that this was an away leg as the players never really looked comfortable which was very uncharacteristic from the team. But the last pairing of Mikey and Andrew, who made amends for their performance at Connaught, got Wymondham through a tough Connaught test to emerge winners. The tables however were turned from the 1st leg as it was Connaught who drew first blood as Pat and Mark lost 4-15 to Rita and Owen who both played very well and controlled the game. Pat again struggled to get consistantly close to the jack which let Rita in on numerous occasions, while Owen played mostly a containing game. Mark could not produce the shots he played from the first leg and this lead to a sizeable Connaught result, which they desperately needed if they were going to progress. The second pairing of Jack and Brian reduced the arrears as they beat Mike and Derek 10-5. Jack had another sterling performance in a Wymondham shirt as he lead the way to make sure Wymondham were kept in the tie. Brian had a patchy performance as some of the shots required were just wide of the mark but produced enough decent woods for a strong result. Wymondham again reduced the Connaught advantage as Billie and Debs beat Diana and Bill 8-6. After a slow start from the home side, Connaught made them pay as they took a 1-6 lead after five ends. Billie had a very inconsistant match which gave Deb more work than she liked and early on as she did not respond to the pressure put on her, but as the match progressed both Wymondham players upped their earlier performance as they reeled off the remaining five ends with seven shots for a relieved home side that at one stage saw Connaught starting to dominate the leg as they had lead 26-15. Fourth pairing Melvyn and Chris beat Christine and Sylvia 9-7 to again cut the away sides lead to just four shots. After taking a 3-0 first end lead the Wymondham pair came up against a resurgent Sylvia who played some very accurate woods throughout to frustrate the home side from building a big advantage. Melvyn though did give much support at lead with woods failing to reach the jack numerous times, but Chris played well enough to get the pair through a difficult match and still keep Wymondham in the hunt. The last pairing of Mikey and Andrew made amends from their disasterous match at Connaught, as they beat Ty and Shelia 14-6. Chris knew that the performance from them at Connaught was a one off and keeping with the pair paid off as they dominated the play throughout. Mikey was near enough on target with every wood which put pressure on Tye which he couldn't really answer to. After a couple of dodgy woods from Andrew early on, as Connaught took a 0-2 lead, he quickly applied himself to the job in hand and won the next four ends scoring 1,1,3 and 3 to lead 8-2. The next two ends were shared at 1-1 then a rush of blood from Andrew running the shot instead of drawing meant they conceded three shots as the home side were again put under pressure as Wymondham were behind again by one shot at 82-83. But their response was instant as Andrew showed real courage to play a firing shot to catch the jack square into the ditch to score three shots themselves and again give Wymondham the advantage. The pair then played their best end last to shut out Connaught and finish the tie off as they eventually scored another two shots for a much relieved Wymondham team that was put under the cosh throughtout by Connaught A who will be disappointed not to have won the tie considering the good start they had. The league match on Wednesday is again no doubt to include drama and a good display of bowls from both sets of teams.

To view Connaught report when complete, click here >>

Connaught A 44 v Wymondham 42 - 12/12/2011 (1st Leg)

P. Saunders, M. Linsdell 10-5, C. Musk, S. Parsons

R. Steele, B. Saunders    5-12, D. Adcock, B. Adcock

B. Barker, D. Phillips       6-5,   R. Secker, O. Secker

M. Barker, C. Mann         12-7,  L. Fallows, O. Allen

M. George, A. Stratton    9-15   T. Musk, S. Bragg

After some very contrasting matches Connaught snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on the last two ends, which they will feel very relieved about considering going into the last match, found themselves 33-29 behind. The first pairing of Pat and Mark saw another sterling performance from Mark who created the majority of shots Wymondham scored. Pat was still off full form for what she can produce but luckily Mark got the pair out of trouble on numerous ocassions to see Wymondham take an early 10-5 lead and one they could build on. But this failed to happen as Roger and Brian had the worst defeat of the night going down 5-12. Brian had his worst performance of the season failing to grasp the lines and weight of the mat. Nearly if not all of the shots were scored by Roger's bowls which shows how poor Brian's performance was from how he has played lately. Everyone has a poor performance now and again luckily the damage was not as bad as it could of been as Diana and Bill only started to get into the match late on as Roger kept Wymondham in the leg. Billie and Deb steadied Wymondham along with a good 6-5 win against the strong Rita and Owen Secker. There was not much to choose between both pairs as each player produced good woods at stages which gave an entertaining match. Fourth pairing of Melvyn and Chris produced some strong woods to beat the talented Ollie and Lee. They however took an early setback after two ends trailing 0-4, as Ollie and Lee played some assured bowls. But from there Chris began to find his feet and with Melvyn already starting off brightly and continuing his good form bought the game level at 4-4 after five ends. Lee and Ollie found the going tough when the Wymondham pair put them under pressure, maybe due to lack of match practice, as quite a few heavy shots were missing the target. A maximum four on end six prompted a switch as Lee went skip but this had little effect as they further continued to increase the lead at 11-4 after eight ends. Three shots for Connaught on end nine stopped the Wymondham dominance only for a single to be scored on the last end for a very pleasing result in which both Melvyn and Chris bowled well in. The last pairing of Mikey and Andrew saw them crumble towards the end as they were beaten 9-15. After picking up four shots on the first end things were going well but inconsistancy let the pair down as they dropped big shots throughout, counts of 3,3,4 and 3 were very disappointing but credit to Ty and especially Shelia who lead by example drawing some very good woods. Towards the end Mikey again struggled with weight either being too heavy or light which caused Andrew to fire numerous times but with little success. A four then three on the last two ends of the match gave Connaught A the win, which I doubt they would of been expecting going in to the last match of the night, as Mikey and Andrew in the past have bowled well together, getting Wymondham out of trouble. Again hopefully they will put that match behind them and concentrate at home where the tie is still not over and any complacency by Wymondham will be punished by the players that Connaught A have got, as showed tonight.

To view Connaught report, click here >>