Page 4 - Winter 2019 2020 FINAL_Neat

Page 4_Layout 1 15/01/2020 12:11 Page 1

NORFOLK AT THE BRITISH ISLES CHAMPIONSHIPS
NORFOLK AT THE BRITISH ISLES CHAMPIONSHIPS
High hopes shattered in Aberdeen
High hopes shattered in Aberdeen
Despite Norfolk’s “Magnificent
4
Seven” heading to Scotland with
high hopes to represent Eng-
land, it proved to be a weekend
of disappointment despite a
great effort all round.
In the Premier Individual
event current National Triples
Champions Jack Marshall &
Chris Mann of Wymondham and
Neil Davidson of Hempnall, had
their eyes on adding a British
Isles Triples title to their National
one but endured a poor start.
Left to right Ryan Fox, Chris Mann, Jack Marshall, Their first opponents were
Neil Davidson, Jason Woods, Simon Willies Scotland’s A Higgins, S Ander-
and David Lamb son & D Kelly. This was gener-
ally viewed as the easiest game of the three that Norfolk would face.
Unfortunately, it did not turn out that way as the triple from the host nation cheered up their
supporters with an impressive and unexpected 13-11 win. In the other opening triples match the
favourites from Ireland, G McCabe, K Trainor & J Murnaghan, were held to a 12-12 draw by A
Hudson, J Gladstone & P Hudson of Wales.
This piled pressure on to the Norfolk triple who now knew a good result against the Welsh in
their second triples game was essential to keep their hopes alive. Davidson, Marshall & Mann
delivered in style as they swept to a 16-7 win.
This set up a crucial last match against the Irish triple who had beaten Scotland 21-4 while
the Welsh triple would face Scotland. As seen so often in the past it was the Irish who conjured
up the magic when needed and they beat the Norfolk triple by a convincing 18-7 margin. In the
other game D Kelly’s triple produced another good result for Scotland beating Wales 19-8 to
claim the runners-up position behind the Irish triple leaving Norfolk in third place and the Welsh
fourth.
Norfolk’s other four bowlers were all playing in the “A” section of the event. Halvergate’s
Ryan Fox & his father David Lamb were representing England “A” in the pair’s event. In their
opening game they faced Scotland’s R Gillies & D McHutchinson and enjoyed a brilliant start
winning by 21-10 while the Welsh pair of D Howell & A Edwards beat Ireland’s D Witherspoon
& N Todd by 16-13. The two winning pairs faced each other in the second round and despite a
solid performance by Ryan Fox & David Lamb they went down by just 16-14 leaving the Welsh
in the driving seat.
In the other second round match the Irish beat the Scots 23-8. The third and final round of
the pairs saw Fox & Lamb play the Irish pairing and they produced another great performance
before going down by just 13-12 while the Welsh produced their third straight win beating Scot-
land 16-13 to lift the title with six points. Ireland finished in second place with four points with
the Norfolk pair in third place for England with two points. Scotland were fourth with no points.
With their two defeats by such narrow margins the Norfolk pair will be disappointed that they
came so close to collecting silverware.
Norfolk’s other two players Jason Woods of Bob Carter and Simon Willies of East Tud-
denham were playing in the “A” Team International event along with David Lamb who was dou-
bling up for England “A”. The Irish “A” side proved to be unstoppable as they won all their six
matches to finish with a maximum 12 points. England had to be content with second place hav-
ing beaten Wales and Scotland twice each but losing both games against Ireland.