Page 39 - Summer Issue 2018 Final

Norfolk 4:Layout 1 30/05/2018 07:11 Page 1

Certainly having Josh Baxter as lead gave him a huge advantage over the other pairs on 39
the night. A wasted wood was as rare as hens teeth when Josh Baxter was on the mat and
all that spectators could do was marvel at the sheer talent that this young man possessors.
It is a crying shame that for various reasons the Nor-
folk County Team have been deprived of his breath
taking talent, it is almost like Josh Baxter was born
to be a short mat bowler.
Whether he was drawing to the jack, putting in
a positional wood or sinking the jack into the ditch
he never looked as though he would fail to produce
the perfect bowl. One can only hope that the day will
come soon when he again makes himself available
for Norfolk duty. As in the previous night’s Bure
Triples event it was once again an all Halvergate af-
fair.
In the semi-finals Baxter & Cooke had beaten Bure Pairs Champions
Hevingham’s David Sharpe & Steve Hall 6-5 in a Josh Baxter & Keith Cooke
tight game that had seen the Hevingham pair 2-0 up after two ends.
The Hevingham pair missed a couple of opportunities during the game that could have seen
them spring a surprise and they will know that this was a game they could have won. In the other
semi-final Jason Woods & David Lamb cruised to a 15-2 win against Woodbastwick’s Derek Shel-
drake & David Brawn.
In the final with Josh Baxter & Keith Cooke facing Jason Woods and David Lamb with David having
just arrived back from representing England in the World
Championships in Sweden. The first end was decided by
the last bowl of the end played by Keith Cooke who took
shot for a 1-0 lead.
On the second end Jason Woods was forced into attack
mood and ditched the jack but the bowl and jack went in
different directions. This gave Cooke the opportunity to
draw two perfect bowls to the ditch line.
David Lamb attacked Cooke’s bowls but was only
able to remove one and Baxter & Cooke moved 2-0 up.
Another single moved them 3-0 up.
Bure Pairs Finalists On the fourth end followed the now familiar pattern
Jason Woods & David Lamb of Baxter drawing in with machine like accuracy forcing
Jason Woods to attack with varying degrees of success.
When David Lamb stepped up to play his first bowl of the end he was three shots down but he
saved the day with two super woods to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The roles were reversed on the fifth end as Jason Woods drew in three excellent woods and
it was Keith Cooke under pressure for once. Cooke retrieved the situation with a brilliant last wood
to move 4-2 up. The sixth end saw Jason Woods kill the end once again under pressure from Josh
Baxter. On the replayed end Baxter & Cooke took another shot as Lamb failed to retrieve the sit-
uation with a heavy last bowl.
The following end saw Woods & Lamb forced to attack yet again and the unfortunate result
was another killed end costing them three shots. With the end now in sight there was to be no
way back for them as Josh Baxter & Keith Cooke became the new Bure Pairs Champions.
Halvergate dominate Bure Triples Finals
Halvergate dominate Bure Triples Finals
The Finals Night of the Bure Triples Championships were held at Horsford Heroes venue at St
Faiths where Halvergate dominated proceedings. Both their triples contested a tight final which
saw Ray Lamb, Morgan Warnes & Simon Warnes emerging as champions.