SM County Cup 2011/12

COUNTY CUP 2011/12

CONNAUGHT A TEAM

CONNAUGHT 'A' v COLTISHALL

Connaught 'A' lost their quarter-final at home to Coltishall on Wednesday 25 January by 2-6 (52-52 on shots)

Mat 1 Bill Adcock, Diana Adcock and Ray Wells lost 12-15 against J Aggers

Mat 2 Sylvia Parsons, Mike Parsons and John Winup lost 13-14 against W Jeffries

Mat 1 Sheila Bragg, Christine Musk and Ollie Allen won 16-7 against P Barnett

Mat 2 Owen Secker, Rita Seckerand Gordon Wilcox lost 11-16 against M Harmon

In Tens League matches Connaught usually beat Coltishall at home and lose away although most of these matches are tight affairs. The home side, which always respects opposition, were confident of "being in with a good chance" but knew it would be tough. Tough it was, because Coltishall undoubtedly were "up for it" playing with real purpose and deservedly coming out on top.

On Mat 1 Bill Adcock's triple had the worse of the opening few ends but were still in the match at 6-9 after 7 ends. A losing spell of four ends then put them 6-15 down after 11 ends before a good closing rally narrowed the deficit to 3 shots. John Aggers played brilliantly at skip for the visitors and was the decisive factor; Bill Adcock needed a bigger advantage than Diana and Ray could provide.

On Mat 2 Sylvia, Mike and John had a superb start with 5 on the first end but Coltishall came back with 3 on end 2 and gradually ground on until Connaught's lead was just 9-8 after 8 ends. A 3 and a 1 then put Connaught 13-8 up after 10 ends, a lead which should have been enough for three experienced players to clinch the match. It was not to be as Coltishall secured victory with 1, 1, 2, 1 and 1 urged on by their supportive teammates. Mike and John both had good shots throughout the match but their opposite numbers still edged it through being more aggressive and disrupting heads. Like Bill on Mat 1 Sylvia met an opposing skip on top form as W Jeffries took out or saved almost at will after that errant first end; she did well but like Bill needed more support front end. As the match unwound after the interval the three Connaught players knew they had lost the pivotal contest of the evening from a winning position and were somewhat distraught.

Mat 1 after the interval was Connaught's bright spot of the evening, albeit a consolation prize, as Sheila Bragg's triple proved too strong for Coltishall. After the opening skirmishes Connaught scored 4s on ends 5 and 8 to take a 12-3 lead. There was no slip-up here as Chris and Ollie bowled tightly throughout and Sheila remained in comtrol. Coltishall came back to even things over the last 7 ends which had a shared shots tally of 4-4.

On Mat 2 Owen Secker's triple had a good start to lead 6-2 after 4 ends but as in the other losing matches saw good combined play whittle away at that lead. Another feature was the aggressive play at skip where M Harmon never worried about her missed shots and carried on demolishing heads. 6-2 up after 3 became 8-8 after 9 ends in a match Connaught had to win. The expected tight finish did not materialise as Coltishall ploughed on and a 4 on end 13 saw Connaught 8-16 down; the last two ends were won but the match was over. Connaught were a bit tight and edgy and did not combine all that well.

Another of those evenings saying "very well done" to the opposition and that was that. Connaught have some front end problems when meeting very good sides and in particular the endless permutations at 2, both in personnel and in which triples they play, need sorting out.

CONNAUGHT 'A' v HORSFORD HEROES

Connaught 'A' won their first round match on Monday 24 October, beating Horsford by 61-35 and 10-0

Mat 1 Sylvia Parsons, Mike Parsons and John Winup won 18-8 against D Woodrow

Mat 2 Bill Adcock, Diana Adcock and Ray Wells won 15-9 against M Tuttle

Mat 1 Sheila Bragg, Christine Musk and Ty Musk won 13-12 against K Chapman

Mat 2 Owen Secker, Rita Secker and Gordon Wilcox won 15-6 against V Webster

Horsford Heroes brought a useful-looking side to Attleborough but Connaught 'A' played competently on home mats to win by a comfortable margin overall. Sylvia Parsons scored 5 on end 3 to set up a healthy early lead and was never in danger after that; Mike and John both had sound matches, getting into the head consistently and providing back woods. Sylvia herself had a dream match, dominating an opposition skip who often plays well at Connaught with very accurate running woods and precision drawing. Bill Adcock and Owen Secker had similar matches in that both triples had a close fight early on, for six ends or so, but came through on account of greater accuracy both on the draw and in judgement of pace. Sheila Bragg's triple had the hardest battle, with none of the three players in top form and faced by a useful Horsford combination. Behind by a few shots with about six ends to go Sheila moved to 2 and Ty to skip and this gave them more solidity as they edged their way to a win best described as "ugly"!

CONNAUGHT B TEAM

CONNAUGHT B v WYMONDHAM

Connaught 'B' lost to Wymondham in the Quarter Final of the County Cup away on Monday 16^th January by 74 –23 and 8-0

Mat 1 Alan Marshall, Steve Hall and Len Thurston lost to Brian Saunders 20-7

Mat 2 Alison Rush, Phil King and Heather Winup lost to Mike Linsdell 17-4

Mat 1 Joyce Hazell, Ken Lurcock and Moira Eades lost to Debbie Phillips 21-7

Mat 2 Joe Li-Rocchi, Ralf Ramm and Peter Hambling lost to Andrew Stratton 16-4

A tough match was expected and indeed it was.

Alan Marshall's block, strong on paper had a terrible start. Len was unusually short and Steve was still finding his balance, literally! Alan had little to play at and struggled to compete against an on form Brian Saunders. Connaught were 8-0 down after four ends and 11-1 down after seven. You cannot recover in a fifteen end game against quality opposition. Steve Hall found his drawing game and Len tuned in his radar putting pressure on the Wymondham skip. Alan consolidated heads and it was only Brian Saunders accuracy with weight that held Connaught back. After eleven ends Connaught had pulled back to 11-7 down. Brian then made a tactical switch of his number one and two which brought immediate results and won the next four ends to take the game 20-7.

Alison Rush's block also struggled against quality opposition only winning four ends by a single shot. Alison's block minus Moira came on the back of a good win against the A team on Saturday. However, Wymondhams quality gave Connaught little chance. Alison lost confidence and the forever happening swap with Phil King happened which unfortunately made little difference and lost the game 17-4.

Joyce Hazell block had a good start. Ken Lurcock returning from injury was consistently short, Moira played well once she learnt that she had to bowl forehand from one end and Joyce performed well on a mat that suited left handers. Connaught were 4-3 down after four ends but then went six ends without scoring to be 17-3 down after ten ends. Debbie Phillips accuracy was a pleasure to watch (but not play against). Connaught picked up a 3 and a 1 on the last two ends to give the score some respectability but lost 21-8

Joe Li-Rocchi's block concentrated hard and were the most competitive of Connaught's blocks. After five ends Connaught were 5-3 down and this looked to be a close enthralling encounter. However, Connaught only won one further end of the ten outstanding to lose 16-4. This game was more competitive than it looks with the difference again being the accuracy on any weight on home mats.

Lessons learnt. Don't draw Wymondham away! Connaught were outclassed but applied themselves well. Moira played well again including some forehands. She keeps telling us she cannot play forehand, we keep telling her she can and she would be a far more consistent player if she would believe that her forehand can be played! The only positive side of the night was that we did well on the raffle! Well done Wymondham and good luck in the semi-finals.

CONNAUGHT B v FIRST BUS

Connaught 'B' beat First Bus in the First Round of the County Cup at home on Tuesday 15^th November by 57 –47 and 6-2

Mat 1 Ken Lurcock, Heather Winup and John Mitchell lost 20-12 against Maurice Kemp

Mat 2 Alison Rush, Phil King and Marie Head won 14-8 against Tony Gray

Mat 1 Joe Li-Rocchi, Ralf Ramm and Peter Hambling won 17-7 against Rex Cox

Mat 2 Alan Marshall, Steve Hall and Len Thurston won 14-12 against Bob Oatway

This was a good win for Connaught B against a First Bus team which included two Connaught members (Bob and Elaine Oatway). Triples were changed from the Breckland League set up to enable players to experience different skips and roles.

Ken Lurcocks triple found themselves 5-0 down after two ends. With John Mitchell playing his first game for Connaught B this season and very rarely finding any consistency, put pressure on Ken and Heather. Connaught then won four out of five ends to lead 7-6 after seven ends. Connaught then dropped a five but then won the next two ends to come within one shot of First Bus after ten ends. With a four dropped on the twelfth end First Bus pulled ahead winning four of the remaining five ends to win 20-12. Two bad ends (9 shots) were the main downfall of Connaught. However Ken and Heather battled well to keep Connaught in the game up to the eleventh end.

Alison Rush's triple had a low scoring game winning ten of the fifteen ends. This block played consistently and worked well. Connaught were never really in trouble but kept the losing ends tight with no 'disasters' to ensure Connaught went into the break level on games and only two shots down.

Joe Li-Rocchi's triple completely outplayed First Bus at all positions. Peter led well and with Ralf playing well at two, heads were built to enable Joe to control the game. Connaught won eight of the first nine ends to be 10-1 up. First Bus retaliated with a three and a two to pull back to 10-6. However, a five on the twelfth end killed the game. A very strong triple and a very good performance.

Alan Marshall's triple showed that Connaught B have belief this year. Playing against Bob and Elaine Oatway was slightly surreal as they are home players and very much part of Connaught Bowls Club. This game was played in good spirit but was competitive. With all three Connaught players having a bad start and poor luck they found themselves 7-1 down after four ends. Connaught picked up a three on end five and a four on end eight to pull back to level 8-8 after eight ends. Connaught then dropped a three on end ten after a superb wood by Bob Oatway removed Connaught's holding woods to give First Bus a 11-9 lead after ten ends. Connaught then took control with Bob having to rely more and more on 'very heavy' woods to try to break up the head. Connaught won 4 of the last five ends to take the game. Belief in their game was so important in the overall context of the match

Lessons learnt. Changes to blocks are important and cup games are sometimes the place to do it. Team members should be prepared and accept playing with any squad member and give their best. Loose ends are still a concern but these are becoming less frequent. Connaught B are now a competitive squad with belief. However, it is a long season and concentration and belief must be kept.

Thank you to First Bus for a very social and enjoyable evening. Hopefully you enjoyed the visit and hospitality and we wish you well for the rest of the season.

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