STOCKPORT METRO
LEAGUE
VERSUS
DERBYSHIRE COUNTY
VENUE: WOODHOUSE PARK LIFESTYLE CENTRE,
WYTHENSHAWE,
MANCHESTER.
MATCH RESULT: STOCKPORT: 24
POINTS & 179 shots.
DERBYSHIRE: 16 POINTS & 162 shots.
Stockport entertained Derbyshire on Sunday, 15th
March, 2009. The match commenced at 11am.
This match was the last of the current season and
Stockport required just 4 points to finish as runners-up to West
Yorkshire who successfully defended their 2008 title of Champions.
West Yorkshire again proved what a formidable
team they are and fully deserved their second title in succession.
Representing Stockport
in the singles was:
Adam Smith (Avons) and Geoff Griffiths (Woodley)
Adam’s first game was against Terry Flint and after 9
ends the Stockport player was way in front at
13 shots to 2. Terry then showed his mettle and took 6 shots over the next
three ends to trail 13-8. Adam then took 3 shots to 1 over the next three ends
thus securing 2 points with a 15 shots to 9 to register a comfortable win.
Adam’s second game was against his old adversary, Ivan
Lunn and at 8 ends the match was proving to be a tight affair at 6 shots apiece.
Ivan registered 5 shots over ends 9 and 10; Adam then came back with a 3 in the
11th to trail Ivan by 2 shots at 9-11. The Derbyshire man then
really showed his class collecting a further 7 shots over the last four ends to
take the game 9-18.
It was a warm welcome back to Geoff who was replacing
Lesley Fennell who was away on England
duty. Geoff was up against Ivan and met the Derbyshire player at his imperial
best. After 7 ends Geoff was just about holding his own at 4-6 down. Ivan then
rattled off another 8 shots over the next four ends to lead 4-14. Geoff came
back with 3 more shots and then Ivan finished the game with 4 shots over the
last two ends to register a 7-18 win.
In his second game Geoff faced Terry and we saw a
totally different performance from Geoff. Constant scoring saw Geoff with a 10
shots to 6 lead after 11 ends. Over the last four ends Geoff weighed in with 4
shots against Terry’s 3 to beat the Derbyshire man 14-9.
4 points collected, but due to the excellent
performances of Ivan which saw him score 36 shots, ensured the aggregate points
went to Derbyshire.
Representing Stockport
in the pairs was:
1. Win Thompson (Woodley) and Billy Burn (Bramhall Village)
2. Rhona Mason (Poynton A) and Scott Smith (Avons)
Win and Billy commenced their first game against Maureen
Flint and Ellen Lunn. The Stockport pair got
away to a decent start and at the 6th was leading the Derbyshire
pair 8 shots to 4. They then really got to grips with Maureen and Ellen and
took a further 7 shots from the next four ends going into the 11th
with a 15-4 lead. Maureen and Ellen then staged a fight back scoring 6 shots to
go into the last end 10-15 down. Win and Billy finished the game with another 3
shots to take 2 points with an 18-10 win.
Win and Billy’s second game was against Ray Crooks and
Mick Fowler and this game proved to be a very tight affair right through to,
and including, the 11th end where the score was 10-9 in favour of
the Stockport pair. Ray and Mick then got their game together and took 6 shots
to lead 10-15 going into the 15th; this was taken by 1 shot to Stockport losing out 11-15. An unusual occurrence
occurred in the 5th end when a mobile phone suddenly started
ringing. Billy left the mat to answer the call as he was on call regarding his
employment. The Derbyshire pair enforced their right according to the laws of
the game and claimed three shots and the end was terminated. This is the first
time that I have come across this type of incident and I find it sad that a
man’s employment should count against him. The three shots gave Derbyshire a
4-5 lead and certainly proved their worth regarding the outcome of the game.
With hindsight, maybe in future fixtures the opposing captains could be made
aware of these types of work commitments so players are not penalised unfairly.
Rhona and Scott took on the Derbyshire pair of Ray and
Mick. Sadly, the Stockport pair was completely
outplayed and never showed their real talent as they went down 7-18.
Their second game against Maureen and Ellen showed
them in a much better light as they finally found some form. At the 5th
they were 3-6 down but all the ends had been closely fought. The Derbyshire
pair then rattled off 4 shots to lead 3-10 going into the 9th. This
was taken by Stockport as was the 10th
as they now trailed 5-10. The 11th went to Derbyshire 5-11 as did
the 12th; 5-12. 13 and 14 went to Stockport
as they pulled back to 8-12 and so they went into the final end with the
outside chance of grabbing a well-earned draw. It wasn’t to be as Derbyshire
took a further 2 shots to skip over the line with an 8-14 win.
Representing Stockport
in the triples was:
1. Bernie Thorley (GMMC), Graham Edwards (Woodbank)
and Bernard Fennell
(Hazel
Grove)
2. Ron Hamilton (Woodley A), Paul Mason (Poynton A)
and John Pajak (Woodley A)
The Stockport trio opened up against the Derbyshire
trio of Rachel Cooper, Elaine Manterfield and Ross Martell; and what a tight
game this proved to be, although from the first end it did not appear that way
as Derbyshire took 3 shots to open their account. 2 shots to Stockport
then 2 shots to Derbyshire and they led 2-5 after 5 ends. Stockport then took 6
shots to lead 8-5 going into the 10th end which Derbyshire took; and
the game entered the 11th end with Stockport
clinging to an 8-6 lead. They settled the game with another shot to get home
9-6 and 2 excellent points.
Their second game saw them take on the Ann and Graham
Fish; and Marnie Wright. At the end of the 8th Stockport
were holding what appeared to be an unassailable lead of 12 shots to three. The
9th ended in a bit of a shock as the Derbyshire trio rattled Stockport by scoring a superb 5 shots to really open the
game up. The Stockport nerves were settled
over the next couple of ends though as they took another 3 shots to seal the
game 15-8 and collect another 2 valuable points.
Ron, Paul and John opened up their first game against
Ann; Graham and Marnie. Over the first 5 ends the Stockport
trio really went to town as they opened up a 12 shot to 0 lead. Then they went
to sleep and conceded a sloppy 4 plus another single as the Derbyshire trio
tried to get back into the game. Going into the 8th the score read
12-5 in Stockport’s favour; 4 more shots and
at the end of the 9th it was 16-7. Derbyshire then took 4 shots from
the last two ends, the final result being 16-9 in favour of Stockport.
2 more points to the Stockport total.
Stockport finished their afternoon against
Rachel, Elaine and Ross; and going into this game they carried an advantage of
17 shots over their opponents with regard to the aggregate score.
The game started slowly and at the end of the 6th
Stockport was holding a 4-3 lead over the
Derbyshire opponents. Stockport then had a run
and picked up 6 shots over the next 4 ends to lead 10-3 at the 11th.
This was taken by Derbyshire with the final result 10-5 in favour of the home
team. Stockport taking 2 more points plus, securing the extra 2 points for the
aggregate score; 10 points out of 10 for the triples; an excellent team result.
Representing Stockport
in the fours was:
1. Louise Smith (Avons), Chris Bates (Great Moor),
Allison Bolton (Denton
A) and
Barrie Chadwick (Europa)
2. Paula Moores (Queensgate), Bob Thompson (Woodley
A), David Bates (Great Moor);
and John Lax
(Philips).
Louise, Chris, Allison and Barrie’s first game was
against the Derbyshire quartet of; Avis Barton, James Hardwick, Phil Wright,
and Alan Barton: as has been the case previously this game was yet another
tight affair. After 6 hard fought ends Stockport
was in front 6 shots to 5. The next three ends were all won by Derbyshire; 1
shot scored in each to take the game 6-8.
In their second game they met Margaret Kirby, Eunice
Thompson, Brian Gratton and Howard Cooper. Stockport
had a change to their side with Charlie Cooper replacing team skipper Allison
Boulton. Stockport soon took total control of
this game as excellent bowling saw them with an 11-2 lead at the end of the 7th.
Derbyshire took 2 from the 8th but Stockport
wrapped up the game with 1 shot in the 9th to register an emphatic
12-4 win and 2 good points.
Paula, Bob, David and John took on Margaret, Eunice,
Brian and Howard in their first encounter; and at the 5th the teams
were all square at 5-5 apiece. Over the next 4 ends Stockport
emphasised their superiority and took a further 6 shots to Derbyshire’s 1 to
sail home 11-6.
Stockport’s second game against Avis, James, Phil and
Alan was a mirror image of their first. After 6 ends the teams were all square
at 5-5; Stockport then took 5 shots from the last three ends to saunter home by
10 shots to 5; 4 excellent points for the Stockport
quartet plus 2 extra points for the aggregate.
Skipper Allison Boulton congratulated the Derbyshire
team on their efforts and congratulated her own team on securing the runners-up
spot to West Yorkshire. Allison also thanked
all players who represented Stockport
throughout the season; it was an excellent team effort. The good news is that
Allison is carrying on as captain next year and to ease her commitments there
will be a committee responsible for the team selection.
One last thank you and that is to June Nield of
Woodley. She only came to watch the match but got stuck in, without being
asked, serving refreshments to both teams and also selling raffle tickets;
thanks, June.
Of course, this is the final report from your cub
reporter; a job I have certainly enjoyed doing and, health permitting; I will
be back on the mats and also at the keyboard next season.
Finally, earlier in this report I made mention of
Lesley Fennell away representing England, well it turned out to be a
very successful trip. Lesley’s fours team won the individual British
Isles A Team Championship. Congratulations to you Lesley.
Have a great summer all of you out there and enjoy
your crown green bowling and no doubt we will all meet up somewhere, and may
the best person win!
Ron Hamilton (Stockport)
17th March, 2009.