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ORIEL ARE TOP TEAM CHAMPS
32 ORIEL ARE TOP TEAM CHAMPS
The British Isles Top Team Championships took place over a
weekend at the Lowton High School in Warrington, Cheshire as
it was England’s turn to host the event. It was contested by the
English Premier Champions, Cheshire, plus the Oriel Zone from
Ireland and Pembrokeshire from Wales. Scotland does not enter
a team.
The format is played as the Individuals, which comprises
of two singles, two pairs, two triples and two rinks with each of
the 8 mats worth 2 points and each team plays the others twice.
Then there is the team event of 6 rinks worth 1 point each with an additional 6 bonus points for
the best aggregate shots. The teams only play once against each opponent.
Cheshire chose Lowton High school as the venue, where they triumphed three years ago
when last hosting this event. We had faced Pembrokeshire a few times in recent years however
Oriel were a team that we had not come up against before and they proved to be tough oppo-
sition.
Day one started with the usual formalities, including the march on by the teams. The
Deputy Mayor of Wigan Borough, Councillor Susan Loudon, and local MP, Andy Burnham, both
took time out of their busy schedules to open the event and the headmaster was also in atten-
dance.
The first session was the individuals and it was Cheshire who came out of the blocks on
good form, winning by 12 points to 4 against Pembroke. Session two was again individuals
and saw Cheshire take on Oriel for the first time. This was a hard fought match and another
good performance from Cheshire, finishing in a draw for 8 points each. Session three was Oriel
versus Pembroke and this finished 10-6 to the team from Ireland. So after the first round of
games the teams were very closely matched with Cheshire on 20 points, Oriel on 18 points
and Pembroke on 10 points.
First up in the Rinks sessions was Cheshire versus Pembroke. This proved to be a tough
session for Cheshire as Pembroke made a very strong start and by the half-way point in the
games they held an aggregate lead of 22 shots. Cheshire were unable to claw back this deficit
and the Welsh team closed the session winning five of the six rinks, giving them a victory of 11
points to 1. Oriel then took on Pembroke in the next rinks session. This was a more closely
fought affair, but Oriel finished strongly taking the session by 9 points to 3. So the points at the
end of day one were Oriel Zone 27, Pembroke 24 and Cheshire 21 points giving Oriel a slender
lead going into day two.
Day two started with the final rinks session between Cheshire and Oriel. Cheshire
changed all but one of the rinks and for a while this seemed to work with Cheshire putting up
a much stronger challenge. However the games got away from us again and with just one win
and a draw the session ended 10.5 points to 1.5 to Oriel. It was a long way back now!
Round 4 of the individuals saw Oriel beat Pembroke by 12 points to 4, then Cheshire
replicated their result from day one by again beating the Welsh side by 12 points to 4. The final
match of the weekend was between Cheshire and Oriel. Cheshire again had a strong session,
winning by 9 points to 7 but it was only enough to secure second position overall.
Oriel finished as the 2014 champions on 58.5 points, Cheshire second on 43.5 and Pem-
broke third on 30 points. Over the whole weekend, Cheshire won three from four sessions in
the individuals and drew the other one but it was the team rinks that proved costly.
Overall a fantastic weekend of competition between three great teams, and Oriel proved
to be worthy winners. The event was played in a great spirit and the venue was superb as
usual. Thanks must go to Lowton High School for their fantastic hospitality over the weekend;
we hope to be back there in three years’ time.
James Neal Cheshire Captain