STOCKPORT METRO LEAGUE

 

VERSUS

 

DERBYSHIRE

 

 

VENUE:                 SHIRLAND VILLAGE HALL, SHIRLAND, DERBYSHIRE.                                                     

 

MATCH RESULT:              STOCKPORT:                    28 POINTS.

                                                DERBYSHIRE:                    12 POINTS.        

 

 

Stockport and Derbyshire met on Sunday 26th October, 2008. The match commenced at 10.45am.

 

 

Representing Stockport in the singles games was:

 

 

Adam Smith (Avons) and Geoff Griffiths (Woodley)

 

Adam continued his excellent form from the North Yorkshire match and showed this by beating Ivan Lunn in a very hard fought game. Ivan is well known on the circuit and opinion is that he is one of the best players in the league. However, he was taking on a young man who is rapidly making a name for himself with Adam finally pipping Ivan 13-12.

Adam’s second game was against Ross Martell and a defeat for the Stockport player looked on the cards as he slipped behind 8-0 to the Derbyshire man. Adam then showed his true form and staged a great come back eventually running out with a fine 16-12 win.

Geoff’s first game was against Ross and the Derbyshire player was totally overwhelmed by the play of Geoff with the game ending 17-6 in Geoff’s favour.  Geoff then met Ivan and a real battle ensued with both men playing excellent bowls. Going into the final end Ivan was leading by 13-11 but such was their skill that the end was drawn with both players having a bowl resting against the jack.

Once again the singles lads scored six points from their three wins and the extra two points for the aggregate.

 

 Representing Stockport in the pairs games was:

 

 

1. Win Thomson (Woodley) and Billy Burn (Bramhall Village)

2. Lesley Fennell (Hazel Grove) and Scott Smith (Avons)

 

The first game saw Win and Billy taking on Anne and Graham Fish. It proved to be a pretty tight affair to start with then we saw the Stockport pair getting ahead and going home by a score of 16-11.

Their second game against Maureen Flint and Ellen Lunn was a real close shave. The game ebbed and flowed with both teams looking for that three or four that would open up a gap in the scores, but it never happened and Win and Billy finally bowed out to the Derbyshire pair by 8-12.

 

In their first game Lesley and Scott took on Maureen and Ellen and produced an excellent performance that saw them take the game by 15-9.

The second game against Ann and Graham proved a tougher proposition but they dug in and slipped over the line with an 11-9 result.

This was a fine performance from the pairs team which saw them taking six points from their three wins, and the extra 2 points for the aggregate score.

 

Representing Stockport in the triples was:

 

(1) John Lax (Phillips) Ron Hamilton (Woodley) and John Metcalfe (Europa).

(2) Bernie Fennel (Hazel Grove) Charlie Cooper (Denton) and Graham Edwards (Woodbank)

 

The triples teams also continued their fine form from the North Yorkshire match by winning all four games (8pts) which also gave them the extra 2 points for the aggregate score (10pts in total). All the games proved slightly tougher than the last match against North Yorkshire.

 

The first game saw the two John’s and Ron seeing off Elaine Manderfield, Rachel Cooper and Mick Fowler 10-5. Another game that ebbed and flowed but neither side could really get away from the other. A four from the Stockport trio really settled the match.

Their second game against Jack Fisher, Stewart Alison and Alan Barton was very similar to the first game with the Stockport lads getting home 11-8.

Charlie, Graham and Bernie were also involved in two tight games. Against Jack, Stewart and Alan they got home 14-10. Their second game against Elaine, Rachel and Mick was also a hard fought affair but they finally overcame their opponents 11-6.

Once again a 100% result from the triples.

 

Representing Stockport in the fours was:

 

1. Allison Boulton (Denton) David Bates (Gt. Moor) Louise Smith (Avons) and               Barry Chadwick (Europa).

2. Rhona Mason (Poynton A) Liz Thomas. Paul Mason (Poynton A) and Bob Thompson (Woodley)

 

Again the fours are struggling to get going with only one win coming from their four games, but it was still 2 more points to the team total and 2 less for Derbyshire.

The first game saw Louise, David, Allison and Barry putting in an excellent effort against Margaret Kirby, Marnie and Phil Wright and Howard Cooper finally going down 9-6 in a very hard fought game.

Going into their second game against Richard Crookes, Avis Barton, Olive Needham and Ted Howarth and, as against North Yorkshire, they were looking to salvage a score deficit of eight chalks to share or even win the points aggregate. An excellent effort saw them fail by just two chalks (33-35) as they reached the winning post with a 12-6 victory. This really was a great effort by the team which, on one end saw a 6 to the Stockport side, but sorry team, you need an eight for the badge!!

Stockport’s other four of Rhona Mason, Liz Thomas, Paul Mason and Bob Thompson were also involved in two tight games. In their first game against Richard, Avis, Olive and Ted, Rhona, Liz, Paul and Bob put up a tremendous scrap but saw their efforts thwarted by the Derbyshire four and the Stockport team went down to a score of 12-10.

Going into their second game against Margaret, Marnie, Phillip and Howard proved to be yet another tough battle which saw them being pipped yet again to a score of 8-5. Both games had instances of bad luck for the Stockport side which could have dramatically changed the scoreline in their favour.

 

Overall this was an excellent team result for Stockport. There are members of this team who can remember a visit to Shirland only two seasons ago and coming away with just one point! Team captain Allison Boulton, to nobody’s surprise was like the cat with the proverbial cream, especially when Stockport really rubbed Derbyshire’s nose in it by taking seven out of the eight raffle prizes!

This was a great day out with our friendly hosts really making us feel at home and providing us with first class refreshments.

 

Stockport’s next game is against West Yorkshire which takes place on Sunday 23^rd November, 2008, at the Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre, Wythenshawe, commencing at 11am.

Why don’t you come along and support YOUR team; you may just fancy putting yourself up for selection.

Team Captain Allison Boulton’s details can be found in your Indoor League handbook on page 1.

 

 

Ron Hamilton (Stockport)

27^th October 2008.