STOCKPORT METRO
LEAGUE
versus
NORTH
YORKSHIRE
VENUE: THE
GALTRIES CENTRE, EASINGWOLD, NORTH YORKSHIRE.
MATCH RESULT: STOCKPORT: 15 POINTS.
NORTH YORKSHIRE: 25
POINTS.
SHOT SCORES: STOCKPORT: 169
NORTH YORKSHIRE: 192
North Yorkshire welcomed
Stockport to the Galtries Centre, Easingwold
on Sunday 18th January, 2009. The centre has recently been revamped
and is certainly a first class venue for all types of activities. The match
commenced at 10.45am.
Representing Stockport in the singles games was:
Adam Smith (Avons)
and Lesley Fennell (Hazel Grove)
The first game saw
the rematch between England
squad member Gareth Townend and the talented Adam Smith, with Gareth looking to
avenge an early season 13-9 defeat at the hands of Adam. After 9 ends it was
all square at 5-5 with both players looking to establish control of a tightly
fought game. It continued this way through to the 13th when Gareth
established a 2 shot lead. The Yorkshire player finally broke Adam’s resolve
and took 5 shots over the last two ends to run out a 14-7 winner; again, an
excellent contest between these two very good young players. Adam’s second game
was against Paul Williamson and again this was a very tightly fought contest.
At the end of the 10th Adam had a 1 shot lead over Paul at 7-6; the Yorkshire lad was matching Adam bowl for bowl. Then the
game completely turned round in Adam’s favour. Over the next five ends he
recorded 9 shots with no reply from Paul; Adam running out a 16-6 winner.
Lesley’s first game
was against Paul and we watched as Lesley took complete control of the game
from the start. At the 8th Lesley had racked up 14 shots to Paul’s
4. Paul took the next 3 ends to cut Lesley’s lead to 14-7; then Lesley took a
further 4 shots and waltzed over the line an 18-11 winner; this was an
excellent result for Lesley who is also an England squad member.
Lesley’s second game
was against Gareth who was certainly showing top form. The Yorkshire
player raced into a 17-0 lead after 10 ends. Lesley took a 2 in the 11th.
Gareth replied with 2 singles and Lesley finished the game with 4 shots off the
last two ends; Gareth winning the game 19-6. Still, this was an excellent 4
points for Stockport.
Representing Stockport in the pairs matches was:
1. Win Thompson (Woodley
Sports A) and Billy Burn (Bramhall Village A)
2. Rhona Mason
(Poynton A) and Scott Smith (Avons)
Win and Billy opened
up against Jill Townend and Derek Williams. Winnie, as usual, was spot on with
her leads and backed up well by Billy really romped through this game. Scoring
3 shots 6 times showed their complete control over Jill and Derek; Winnie and
Billy finally winning the game 21 shots to 9 shots; a cracking game by the Stockport pair. Their second game was against Dennis
Jarvis and Roger Green. This game was a complete contrast to their first, with Dennis
and Roger proving to be a much harder nut to crack. At the 10th Win
and Billy were 9 shots to 5 down and it was really anybody’s game at this
stage. 3 more shots and it was 8-10 but the last two ends saw the Yorkshire
pair pick up 2 singles to pip the Stockport
pair 12-8. A great effort by Billy with the last wood of the game was very
close to getting the Stockport pair a draw at
the very least.
Rhona and Scott’s
first game was against Dennis and Roger which proved yet another hard fought
game. At the 10th the Yorkshire
pair had established a 10 shots to 5 lead. Over the next five ends Rhona and
Scott took five shots to Yorkshire’s 2 shots
but it was not quite enough as Dennis and Roger got home by 12 shots to 9.
Their second game against Jill and Derek was another affair that was in
complete contrast to their first. They hit top form from the outset and by the
12th had opened up a 12-6 lead. In the 13th and 14th
they scored fours and finished 20-7 winners; a great performance from Rhona and
Scott.
The heavy scoring by
both Stockport pairs in two of their games had established an excellent
aggregate score thus ensuring an extra 2 points to go with their 4 points for 2
wins; 6 points in all which was an excellent result for Stockport.
Representing Stockport in the triples was:
1. John Pajak
(Woodley Sports A), Graham Edwards (Woodbank A) and
Bernard Fennell (Hazel Grove A)
2. Charlie Cooper (Denton A), Ron Hamilton
(Woodley A) and John Metcalfe (Europa A).
In their first game,
John, Graham, and Bernard faced Jim Almond, Rolph Parsons, and David Newsome. They
started very brightly and soon raced into an 8-3 lead at the end of the 6th
end. Then came a setback in the 7th when they conceded a four to the
Yorkshire team. The next two ends were won by
Stockport to give them a 10-7 lead which was pulled back by Yorkshire
with a 2 in the 10th. The last end was nip and tuck as both sets of
players tried to get the all important counting shots to win and save the game.
The honours went to Yorkshire with the all important single to tie the game,
but congratulations to Stockport for keeping
them down to 1 shot. Their second game was against Richard Lochman, Richard
Clark and Gary Burnham. This was a very strong trio which was evident as the
game wore on. By the 8th they had a 10-4 lead. Then Stockport struck back in the 9th with 2 shots.
Both scoring shots were quite exquisite. The block was in the ditch and Yorkshire had the winning shot which lay about 8 inches
from the ditch line and virtually opposite the block. Graham sent his last wood
on the forehand, straight down the edge of the mat; it skirted all the woods
surrounding the long mark, pegged across and parallel with the ditch line,
resting the Yorkies wood and became the winning shot. With his last 2 woods,
Yorkshire skip Gary
tried to dislodge this shot and failed. Bernard bowled the last wood and
following Graham’s line rested his wood on Graham’s thus making the 2 shots;
two fantastic woods.
The all-important end
was the 10th when, despite all their efforts, Stockport conceded 3
shots to the Yorkies and went into the 11th end 13-6 down. The Stockport lads really showed their class and trimmed the Yorkies
for a great 5 shots, finally going down 13-11.
Charlie, Ron and John
came up against the two Richards and Gary in their first game and were never in
the hunt as the Yorkies hammered them 16-4. Apart from a 3 in the 7th
the Stockport lads showed nothing at all.
Their second game against Jim, Rolph and David followed the same pattern as
their first game; a paltry 4 shots were scored against the Yorkies 15 shots. This
was the triples worst performance in the 6 league games played by Stockport this season.
Representing Stockport in the fours was:
1. Paula Moores
(Queensgate), John Lax (Phillips), Lesley Chadwick (Europa) and Geoff Griffiths
(Woodley A)
2. Louise Smith
(Avons), David Bates Gt. Moor), Allison Boulton (Denton
A) and Barrie
Chadwick (Europa)
Paula, John, Lesley
and Geoff met Jean and Ken Calvert, Danny Brown and Alan Banthorpe in their
first game and what a game it was. At the 6th end Stockport
were 8-2 down and the game seemingly over. Stockport, however, had other ideas
and took the 7th with 2 shots; they then took with 8th
with another 2 shots and started the 9th end 6-8 down. The Stockport team really dug in and took 3 more shots to
slide over the line 9-8; three fantastic ends which illustrated the
never-say-die attitude of the fours, another great result and 2 more points.
Their second game found them up against Dennis Mather, Sally Roocroft, John
Pennock and Andrew Mather. Whether the result of their first match affected
them, I am not sure but they were soon down 9-1 by the 5th end. Then
came another great fight back. Ends 6, 7 and 8 brought 6 shots and they went
into the 9th and last end 7-9 down. This time they failed to pull
off the ‘great escape’ again as the Yorkshire
four took the end with 1 shot and winning the game 10-7. This was a tremendous
effort by these four and two superb games for the watching spectators to enjoy.
Louise, David,
Allison and Barrie were matched against Dennis, Sally, John and Andrew, in
their first game. They never really recovered from a sticky start which saw
them 8-1 down by the 3rd end. An excellent four in the 4th
put them back on track but by the 8th they were back under the cosh
at 12-6 down. They took the 9th with 1 shot and finally losing out
12-7. Their second game was against Jean, Ken, Danny and Alan. Losing a 3 on
the first end seemed to waken them up and away they went. By the end of the 5th
they had sailed into a 10-3 lead courtesy of a brilliant 5 shots in that 5th
end. A hiccup in the 6th saw the Yorkshire team register a four but
in the 7th and 8th Stockport
took 2 singles to lead 12-7 going into the last end. Good tight bowling from
Stockport led to Yorkshire only managing 1shot and the game was won by Stockport 12-8. This game also settled the aggregate
score with Stockport taking the extra 2 points
by the margin of 3 shots. 6 excellent points from the Stockport
fours; well played.
This was not too bad
a result overall as our last visit here saw us come back with just three
points. Yorkshire captain Rolph Parsons paid Stockport
the compliment of being a steady team and one not to be taken lightly. We also
won a couple of the raffle prizes and enjoyed a nicely cooked meal. Thanks also
to Barrie
Chadwick for organising the coach, it made the trip much more enjoyable. I
guess the only thing that was missing was ‘Valleerrriiee’ what happened to her,
Billy?
Stockport’s next
match is away against West Yorkshire on Sunday
1st February, 2009. If a coach is to be booked notification will be
given to all team members.
At present the NESMBA ICC - Division 1 League Table which was updated
on the 19th January, 2009 and reproduced here with the very kind
permission of Roger Green NESMBA League Secretary reads as follows:
Stockport: Played
6: Won 4: Drawn 1: Lost 1: Points 155: Shot Diff +263
North
Yorks: Played 5: Won 3: Drawn 1: Lost 1: Points 116:
Shot Diff + 76
West
Yorks: Played 4: Won 2: Drawn 2: Points 101: Shot Diff +149
Derbyshire: Played 3: Lost 3: Points
33: Shot Diff - 158
Durham: Played
4: Lost 4: Points
31: Shot Diff - 330
Ron Hamilton
Stockport
19th
January, 2009.