A TEAM
CONNAUGHT 'A' v
SPROWSTON
Connaught 'A travelled to
Sprowston on Monday 20 February and won the first leg of the semi-final by 17-7
in a cracking start. The following evening at home Connaught finished the job
well by winning 5 out of the 6 matches played to come through with a points
tally of 27-9. The overall shots score was 101-72 (56-53 away and 45-19 at
home)
RESULTS AT
SPROWSTON
Bill Adcock, Diana Adcock
and Ray Wells 5-3, 4-3 and 5-3
Owen Secker, Rita Secker
and John Winup 7-5, 3-7 and 4-2
Sylvia Parsons, Christine
Musk and Lee Fallows 7-4, 4-4 and 3-6
Sheila Bragg, Gordon
Wilcox and Ty Musk 5-2, 3-9 and 6-5
RESULTS AT
CONNAUGHT
Bill Adcock, Diana Adcock
and Ray Wells 4-6 and 6-2
Owen Secker, Rita Secker
and John Winup 8-4 and 7-5
Sylvia Parsons, Christine
Musk and Lee Fallows 11-1
Sheula Bragg, Ty Musk and
Ollie Allen 9-1
The performances over two
evenings rank among Connaught's best. Sprowston are a prime City League side,
currently sitting on top of the table, and the neutral would have found the
match hard to call. However, all the Connaught players buckled down,
concentrated hard and held the nerves in check.
Sprowston played well but
seemed just a bit more on edge. Margins are small in the 6-end format; for
example at Sprowston both Bill Adcock and Owen Secker bowled tremendous last
wood shots to win a match apiece. If those matches had been lost the score would
have been 13-11 and not 17-7. However, the players had the resolve to do
it.
The overall shots score in
the first leg was very close at 56-53 and further examination shows that
Connaught managed to eke out a series of narrow wins while going down 9-22 in
the three matches lost. Winning the first 4 matches away was an unexpected boon
(strangely enough Connaught 'B' did the same at Sprowston in an earlier round
but could not sustain the effort).
The home fixture
potentially was tricky because Sprowston would have nothing to lose and
Connaught could tighten up. In the event Connaught finished it off quickly at
home but even so Sprowston played well and Connaught again had to concentrate
and fight hard.
Bill Adcock's triple with
3 wins played admirably in the away leg but throughout everybody in the side
contributed well in the two wins.
Winning and losing
semi-finals provides a stark contrast in any sport and it is commiserations to
Sprowston while Connaught 'A' celebrate their second successive final and the
4th in 6 years.
It will be either
Coltishall or fellow Breckland League side, Forncett, in the final. Coltishall
always are strong (and won at Connaught 'A' this season in the County Cup) while
Forncett have had an amazing win against Hempnall and a very good win against
Kirby Bedon.
With Wymondham through to
the final of the County Cup (after beating Coltishall in the semi-final!) the
Breckland League sides are thriving at present
CONNAUGHT 'A' v WYMONDHAM
Connaught 'A' won their quarter-final match at Wymondham on Monday 30 January by 14-10 (59-66 on shots).
(The website reporter was relieved of reserve and spectator status to play for Connaught in the South Norfolk League and has distilled this report from discussion with Connaught's players and from sight of the on the ball Wymondham website - thank you Chris. Chris's report gives the full playing detail while this report just gives a slant on things)
Bill Adcock, Diana Adcock and Derek Liles 6-4, 0-14, 5-6
Owen Secker, Rita Secker and Ray Wells 7-5, 1-7, 6-4
Sylvia Parsons, Christine Musk and Lee Fallows 8-3, 8-5, 6-2
Sheila Bragg, Ty Musk and Ollie Allen 6-3, 3-6, 3-7
From a Connaught viewpoint that storming start of winning the first four matches clearly was the key. Although Wymondham made a spirited reply the pressure was on them and Connaught had to keep their nerve, which they did. Another factor was the superlative form of Sylvia Parsons, Chris Musk and Lee Fallows, who have blended well as a triple and who secured maximum points in this match. Yet another factor was the return of Owen and Rita Secker, unavailable for yesterday's league encounter, who with Ray Wells managed two wins including that nerve-ridden deciding match. Mention must be made also of Mike Parsons' club-spirited attitude. Chosen for this match, with Chris Musk dropping out on rotation, Mike had been below best form and volunteered his own standing down in Chris's favour. The injury to Mark Lindsell was most unfortunate ( news of the lateness of the paramedics in seeing him has astonished all of us) and we all wish Mark a speedy recovery. There is no point in conjecturing whether the injury made any difference - Wymondham doubtless will agree that what happened happened and you cannot go back. With one win apiece in the Breckland League and with Wymondham having beaten Connaught in the Breckland Five Pairs, there was pride to play for and this was an important win for Connaught whatever happens in the semi-final. Battle will recommence with Wymondham next season
CONNAUGHT 'A' v HORSFORD HEROES
Connaught 'A' won at Horsford on Friday 11 November, drawing 12-12 on points but winning 64-61 on overall shots
Bill Adcock, Diana Adcock and Derek Liles: 11-6, 6-4 and 3-7 (20-17) (Won 2 Lost 1)
Sylvia Parsons, Rita Secker and Owen Secker: 9-4, 5-6 and 7-4 (21-14) (Won 2 Lost 1)
Ollie Allen, John Winup and Lee Fallows: 4-4, 3-5 and 2-5 (9-14) (Drew 1 Lost 2)
Sheila Bragg, Christine Musk and Ty Musk: 6-6, 7-5 and 1-5 (14-16) (Won 1 Drew 1 Lost 1)
Connaught 'A' were expecting a tough match at Horsford, where the home side play very well on familiar mats, and they certainly got it as the contest went to the wire in late night drama.
The mats were placed near to the bar area where Horsford play their City League matches whereas Connaught are used to playing South Norfolk and Tens on the stage side. However, there could be no complaint about the playing conditions: each mat had a more exaggerated swing on one side but were readable and played consistently. Indeed, Connaught had a storming start with two wins and two draws in the opening matches but Horsford started to win some matches.
With four matches to go Connaught were leading 10-6 with the triples scheduled to play last hoping that their teammates would kill the match off early.
It was not to be as both Sheila and Ollie lost and the match overall was levelled at 10-10.
Bill Adcock could not maintain his 100% record but Sylvia Parsons & Co came good with a 5 on end 3 and a 6-1 lead. Horsford came back with 1 and 2 as both sides feverishly checked the overall shots; Sylvia's single shot on the last end calmed Connaught nerves by giving the visitors a 3-shot margin.
Connaught owed much to that good start, particularly as Bill and Sylvia registered 5-shot wins in the opening matches; those margins proved crucial. The Bill and Sylvia triples stand out for contributing more points and more shots and for keeping their nerve.
The Ollie and Sheila triples were slightly below par in comparison but in a team game still contributed well by keeping things tight. Also we must take nothing from Horsford, who recovered well from a bad start and played their usual aggressive game
CONNAUGHT 'A' v CROMER
Connaught 'A' beat Cromer at home on Monday 10 October 2011 in a 1st round match by 13-7 and 54-45.
Ollie Allen (skip), Diana Adcock (lead) and John Winup (2): 7-3, 5-6 and 6-4 (Won 2 Lost 1)
Sylvia Parsons (skip), Christine Musk (lead) and Ray Wells (2): 9-4 and 2-10 (Won 1 Lost 1)
Owen Secker (skip), Rita Secker (lead) and Mike Parsons (2): 9-2, 4-3 and 5-5 (Won 2 Drew 1)
Sheila Bragg (skip), Russell Hales (lead) and Ty Musk (2): 4-3 and 3-5 (Won 1 Lost 1)
With memories of last season's narrow defeat at Cromer in a February County Cup match played in the coldest conditions imaginable (outside the hall and inside it!), Connaught 'A' wondered what might lie ahead at home! Things did not go at all smoothly.
Bill Adcock had to withdraw through illness and the side was reshuffled.
Two Cromer players did not turn up at the start, having mistaken the evening of the match, and embarked on a fast and perilous drive after a telephone summons.
Then just before the start of the match the lights failed and it took some time to fix them (thank you to Alan Sparrow, club electrical wizard, who rushed from home to help out). At least the delay gave Cromer's errant players more time and only two matches were played with 2 instead of 3 on the mat. All the confusion led to a disjointed evening.
Connaught 'A' got off to a good start, winning the first four matches with an aggregate of 29-12. Things then went pear-shaped as three of the next four matches were lost. The final two matches were close, with a nervous Connaught winning one by 6-4 and drawing the other 5-5.
Cromer proved a spirited side, not worrying about the mats, and played a more aggressive game than their hosts who were rather tentative. Some of Connaught's players obviously were rusty and others are not playing enough on home mats.
Owen Secker's triple, undefeated, took the honours, with Mike steady at 2 and Rita and Owen both adjusting very well to what for them are still unfamiliar conditions.
Everybody else did contribute and Ollie's triple held their nerve to win a tight match at the finish. "Winning ugly" was the verdict as Connaught 'A' stuttered and spluttered to victory.
The evening, already delayed by the lights failure, concluded with a raffle which decided not to end.
Cromer's players, facing arrival home at about 12.30 earliest, sat patiently as ticket after ticket went unclaimed - with the new laminated tickets we had simply put too many into the hat! It was that sort of night, but the match was played in a sporting way and things like refreshments all went well - Cromer were well-fed for that long and late trek home!