Worcestershire's involvement in the Worthing fortnight ended on the Thursday as both singles competitors went out.
Edric Vorsterman (Malvern Victoria) went out 21-14 against Calvin Carpenter of Oxfordshire in the morning. Steve Parker (Gilt Edge)
faired a little better strolling his first game 21-6 against Mick Wakeling from Writtle in Essex. In his second round match he went out
21-16 against Paul Allenby (Riverview, Yorkshire). At the time this was a disappointing
result but as Paul went on to lift the trophy
on Friday afternoon, perhaps it was a better performance than thought at the time.
Paul Allenby's performance meant that Worcestershire's conquerors went on to lift the title in four of the six competitions Worcestershire
competed in (Fours, Top Four, Pairs and Singles). With the results in most of these games being in doubt right down to the wire. Worcestershire
can be proud of the performances (lead by Simon and Mark) over the fortnight and can look forward to next year's competitions hopefully bringing more
success.
Simon Jones and Mark Atkins were involved in a monumental tussle in the semi
finals of the Pairs before going through to the final. They trailed 8-4 after
seven ends against John James and Steve Mitchinson from Romford in Essex. After
ten ends they had reduced the deficit to two shots (8-10) and this remained
constant over the next five ends at 12-14. After eighteen ends this had been
reduced to one (14-15) but two singles for Romford on the 19th and 20th ends
appeared to have ended Worcester's hopes leaving them needing four on the last
end to win. However a brilliant last end saw Simon and Mark get three shots to
force the game into the extra end. Losing the toss meant that Romford would have
the last bowl and with Mark having two bowls left it did not look good for
Worcester. But with his second bowl the Essex skip gave shot away by moving the
Jack back to one of Simon's bowls and with no apparent shot on the game appeared
to be over. With their third bowls neither skip changed the situation, but with
his last bowl Mark drew the shot bowl. The Essex skip then played with a little
weight, just dropped inside a short bowl, removed Mark's shot bowl, but
fortunately for Worcester just ran out of the head leaving Worcester with one
and a place in the final. To win a national title you need to bowl brilliantly
and get a few bits of luck. Unfortunately in the final against John Rednall and
Clive Webb from Felixstowe & Suffolk they were up against a pair who had
vast experience who also seemed to have luck on their side. In both their
quarter final and semi final they had picked up big counts on the 20th end when
they appeared to be in trouble. In the final Simon and Mark did not get off to
the best of starts trailing 10-3 after eight ends and 19-5 after fourteen ends.
It wasn't that Simon and Mark were playing badly it was more a case of their
opposition playing well and none of the rubs going their way. They continued to
battle on and started picking up shots but eventually went down 20-10 after
twenty ends. This has been a great performance for Simon and Mark having reached
a semi final and a final in the space of a week and they will be hoping that the
selectors remember their performances over the thirteen games that they played
when they meet to discuss next year's international trial teams.
Edric Vorsterman was obviously determined to not miss too much of the pairs final despite having to play a preliminary round
of the singles at the same time. He took just eleven ends to demolish Perry Cook from the Poplar club in Essex 21-4. He now takes
on Calvin Carpenter from Banbury Borough in Oxfordshire on Thursday morning.
This time last week Simon Jones and Mark Atkins had reached their first ever semi final in 'the big four', now just seven days later they are at it again. Following a tight first few ends in their third round match (they lead 5-3 after 5 ends) they went on to dominate the game with Simon bowling exceptionally well and Mark pulling off the big shots when necessary. Their opposition (Tom Griffiths and Martin Wilks from Frampton on Severn in Gloucestershire) were struggling to stay with them and a five on the eleventh end put the Worcester pair 16-4 in front. They went on to win 22-8 after 16 ends. In their quarter final they played against Malcolm and Dean Harrison from Holgate in Yorkshire and won 20-16 (sorry about the lack of detail but I was travelling back to Worcester at the time). In Wednesday's semi final they play John James and Steve Michinson from Romford in Essex. If they reach the final they will play either John Rednall and Clive Webb from Suffolk or Simon Leader and Nicky Brett (the conquorers of Worcester's other pair) from Huntingdonshire. This is the third year running that Worcestershire have had a pair through to this stage of the competition and after falling at the semi final stage in 2001 (Dean Hemming and Rob Stanley) and at the Final in 2002 (Marc Stones and Grant Burgess) everybody is hoping that it will be third time lucky. Simon and Mark already have experience of their semi final rink (they played on it in last week's semi final) and will be hoping to make use of their local knowledge.
Mark Atkins and Simon Jones returned to action after a three day break and were back in the winning grove. They won both their matches on Monday although both proved to be tight affairs. They won their first round game Mark Sykes and John Tee from Banbury Central in Oxfordshire by 17 shots to 13. And then having looked in control leading by nine shots just after the half way point of their second round game against Neil Rees and Paul Broderick of Wellingborough (Northants) they let their lead slip and went in to the last end one shot down (18-19). Two superb bowls from Mark Atkins on the last end allowed them to score the two that they needed to go through. In the third round on Tuesday morning they face local neighbours Tom Griffiths and Martin Wilks from Frampton on Severn (Gloucestershire). In the other half of the draw Dean Hemming and Rob Stanley made a great start to their first game picking up two fours and a six in the first six ends to lead 15-6. The Worcester pair continued to have the better of the game and ran out comfortable 26-12 winners on what was a very heavy 'E' green. In the afternoon they were in for a tough ride against Simon Leader and nicky Brett from Hunts who had knocked out Ian Jenkins' triple earlier in the fortnight. The game was very tight early on and Worcester lead 3-2 after 4 ends. The looked like holding a good two shots on the next end when Nicky Brett drew shot bowl with the jack moved off center and Worcester's shot bowl only an inch and a half in front of the jack. The next two ends were to prove decisive. On he sixth end Dean and Rob were 1 shot down but had the best six back woods. The Worcester duo decided to try to trail the jack, Rob appeared to be on target but a slight deflection meant that he removed his second bowl and the Hunts duo earned a three after a measure. This obviously affected the Worcester pair and the next end Hunts drew 5 shots within eighteen inches and with the drive blocked, Rob was a little heavy with his last allowing Hunts to take command 11-3, when the score could have been very different if the trail had come off two ends earlier. Hunts continued to bowl exceptionaly well and ran out comfortable winners with the Worcester duo being forced into more and more desperate attempts to pick up a score. The final score was 24-7. Sorry still no photos and to make things worse I have been unable to get an internet connection at the green for the last two days and hence no 'live updates'.
Despite having reached the semi final stage on six occasions (4 times in the last 5 years), Worcestershire's have yet to lift the
Top Four trophy. Their latest quest was ended in the semi final by Yorkshire by a single shot. The Worcestershire rink of Marc Stones,
Steve Parker, Rob Stanley and Grant Burgess lost 17-18 against Mark Walton's Yorkshire rink. Yorkshire appeared to have colour blinded
Worcestershire in the early ends as their combination of Dark Blue, Light Blue, Black and Red bowls dominated the first five ends.
Yorkshire lead 7-0 at this point despite Worcestershire holding shots on several of the ends only for Chris Kelly (Yorkshire's number 3) or
Mark Walton (skip) to turn the head round in Yorkshire's favour. Worcestershire struck back on the next end with a two and went on to win the
next four ends to tie the scores at 7-7 after nine ends. Worcestershire appeared to be on top at this stage as Yorkshire had resorted to
firing killing the ninth end on two occasions before Worcestershire finally scored a single shot. Despite playing a decent tenth end
Worcestershire
dropped a three as Yorkshire drew three shots within six inches. Shots continued to be exchanged and by the seventeenth end
Worcestershire had edged in font 15-14, when they picked up two shots having seemed on course for a six, before Mark Walton removed four
Worcestershire bowls with a single bowl. However this was to be the only time the Worcestershire lead and they went in to the last end
two shots behind (16-18). Three drawn shots within six inches appeared to have given Worcestershire a chance with Chris Kelly set
to play his first bowl, He appeared to be slightly wide but a glance off a Yorkshire bowl about a yard wide and a yard short deflected his
bowl onto the jack and it finished an inch or two behind the jack. Yorkshire celebrated. Grant Burgess
played a superb first bowl to remove the Yorkshire bowl, but unfortunately it also removed one of the Worcestershire bowls but it still meant
that Worcestershire held the two they needed for an extra end. Worcestershire celebrated. Mark Walton then pulled off another great bowl (as he had done all match)
to wrest Worcestershire's second bowl leaving them with just one. Yorkshire celebrated. The Worcestershire decided that their best chance
was to take the jack into the ditch where they had the best three back bowls. Grant Burgess played his last bowl but it drifted just wide of the head
and Yorkshire celebrated their place in the final. In the final Yorkshire went on to beat Northamptonshire 23-21 and Worcestershire were left
to wonder what they need to do to win this elusive title. Sorry that there are no photographs from this competition as I was playing and forgot to look for a volunteer.
Focus returns to the main four competitions on Monday morning when the pairs take centre stage. Simon Jones and Mark Atkins (Worcester) will
be hoping to continue the good runs that they have had in the Fours and Triples, whilst Dean Hemming and Rob
Stanley (Worcester) will
be hoping to better their performance of two years ago when they reached the semi finals.
It was always going to be difficult for either of the Worcestershire's triples to emulate the success of the fours.
Phil Moule's Droitwich Spa triple with Richard Hall and Rob Dawson at the front end had a difficult task on paper taking on Andy Thomson's
Blackheath and Greenwich triple that included the experienced Terry Heppel at number two. The task was as difficult as everyone had
expected with Andy Thomson playing very well and Kent lead 11-3 after 8 ends with the Spa's only success being a three on the third end.
However Droitwich then bounced back with a one and a four. The next end turned out to be the most important of the game as Droitwich held
two or three shots including a front toucher. Andy Thomson was forced to use weight and played it superbly pushing Droitwich's second shot onto their
shot bowl, moving the jack back. The jack finished in the perfect place for Kent allowing them to score two shots. This proved to be Droitwich's
last chance and Kent ran out winners 21-8 after 15 ends.
Three of the successful Worcester four found themselves back in the first round with a lot more attention than when they started the Fours
on Sunday afternoon. Simon Jones, Mark Atkins and Ian Jenkins were up against Simon Broom's triple from Culm Vale in Devon. This proved to be a
very tough match for Worcester with them leading 3-0 after the first three ends. On the fourth end Ian Jenkins showed off his rediscovered
confidence in his drawing ability when with his last bowl he was two down with the shot bowl about a foot from the ditch (with the jack in the ditch).
He drew on his backhand within six inches of the ditch for shot, unfortunately Simon Broom removed the bowl with his last delivery and Worcester
dropped two anyway. The next few ends were shared and Worcester were 5-4 in front after 7 ends. On the
eighth end Worcester looked like dropping
their customary big score being 5 down with on bowl to play. Ian Jenkins played a couple of yards of weight hoping to stop on the Devon bowls
or trail the jack, he was successful, trailing the jack for one shot. Shots continued to be shared and Worcester went into the last two ends
leading 11-10. On the seventeenth end the Devon front end out bowled the Worcester front end (not something that had happened very
often in the match)
and held four of five shots when Ian Jenkins went to bowl. He fired with his first two bowls hitting the head on both occasions and with his
second removed Devon's two closest bowls to leave Worcester holding two. With neither skip having any further impact on the head Worcester went into the last end three up.
Despite a scare half way through the end when Mark Atkins unfortunately sliced the jack to two Devon bowls, Worcester held on to score one
and to progress in to the second round.
Was this to be the start of another great run? Worcester's second round opponent was Nicky Brett from Huntingdonshire (a former National Singles winner) who
had a very experienced and skillful triple. Throughout the five days that they had been playing Worcester had always had a good start
to every game. This was not the case in this one though they trailed 11-0 after five ends and looked all at sea. However, they pulled themselves
together and pulled the score back to 11-5 two ends later. They were in trouble on the next end with Hunts holding four shots, but Ian
fired and killed the end. Things continued to go the way of Nicky Brett however and they lead 17-8 after 13 ends. Worcester then
decided to move up a gear and played a more attacking style of bowls. This paid off and they managed to claw back 6 shots over the next four
ends to trail 17-14 going in to the last end. They held two good shots on the last end but the third just eluded them as Ian Jenkins,
forced on to the tricky forehand, just missed turning Mark's bowl in to a counting position. So they went out in the second round, but Simon
and Mark will have yet another chance in the pairs.
The next Worcestershire action will be on Sunday when Marc Stones, Steve Parker, Rob Stanley and Grant Burgess take part in the semi
final of the Top Four competition against Yorkshire.
After Worcester's two tremendous wins on Tuesday they had to do it all again on Wednesday morning when they met Richard Bray's
Cornwall four from Stenalees in the semi final. At the start of the match everything seemed to be going well for the Worcester quartet
(Simon Jones, Arthur Jackson, Mark Atkins and Ian Jenkins) and they made a good start leading 5-2 after 5 ends. The sixth end proved
costly for Worcester when the jack was moved to the corner of the rink, Richard Bray drew shot with his first bowl only for Ian Jenkins
to respond with a bowl about three inches behind the jack and seemingly hidden out of sight. Richard Bray fired with his last bowl and
appeared off target. However he hit one of his own short bowls from about three yards short onto his own second bowl, which took Ian's
bowl out to leave Cornwall with two. Worcester had increased their lead to 9-5 after 9 ends before a costly tenth end saw Worcester drop
a six. Worcester held shot throughout the end but Cornwall's bowls were building up about a yard behind the jack but despite numerous attempts
Worcester's bowls kept falling short or drifting through when they were hoping to cover the danger. Richard Bray got shot with his
first bowl and trailed the jack with a brilliant last bowl. It looked like it might be an eight, but fortunately two of the Cornwall
bowls proved to be just out of the count on a measure. As usual Worcester bounced back with a three on the eleventh end to again lead 12-11.
Cornwall then went on a decisive scoring spree winning six out of the next seven ends as nothing seemed to go right for Worcester.
This meant that Cornwall lead by seven shots (20-13) with three ends to go. A two and a one gave Worcester some hope going in to the
last end but despite killing the last end on the first occasion, Worcester never really looked like picking up the necessary four
shots. To reach the last four is a tremendous achievement and the Worcester team should be very proud of their performances.
Cornwall went on to become worthy champions when the beat Lancashire in the final.
There is very little time for the Worcester team to celebrate though as Simon, Mark and Ian begin their assault on the triples title on
Thursday against Simon Broom's Devon triple from Culm Vale. Richard Hall, Rob Dawson and Phil Moule open up with a tough assignment,
playing against Andy Thomson's Kent triple from Blackheath and Greenwich.
After Worcester's high scoring second round encounter the crowds gathered expecting more of the same, but instead were greeted
by a Worcester four that were determined to overcome their underdog tag in their clash with Trevor Taylor's rink from Courtfield in Cumbria.
Worcester started brightly and were 7-1 in front by the fourth end, but then lost the next three ends, but in contrast to the second round match
they ensured that this did not hurt them too much dropping only 4 shots. Worcester then picked up a three but dropped a six on the next end.
Whilst this looks a poor end on paper the reality was far different, with Ian Jenkins hitting his target with his first bowl only to
see two of his own bowls disappear from the head with an unlucky deflection.
Worcester responded well to this set back, as they have
done all week winning the next three ends to lead 13-11 after 12 ends. They continued to have the best of the next four ends and
lead 18-12 after 16 ends. Six up with five to play is a great position to be in but Trevor Taylor's team found their form over the
next four ends scoring 5 shots to trail by just one going in to the last end. In a ding dong battle shot changed hands several times
over the last end, but with each skip having one bowl left each Worcester held one shot courtesy of Mark Atkins' front toucher. Trevor
Taylor played on to the shot bowl with just enough weight to tap the jack back to his two woods waiting just behind, fortunately Mark's
bowl went with the jack and Cumbria held just one. Will Worcester settle for the extra end, NO, Ian Jenkins plays into the head with a
couple of yards of weight, but despite hitting his target the situation did not change and an extra end was needed. On the extra end Worcester
decided to take last bowl having one the toss for the jack. The end was decided by Arthur Jackson's first bowl (a front toucher) when, despite
several close calls, the bowl remained and Worcester had won through to the quarter final. Despite the number of times that Ian Jenkins has
qualified for Worthing this was to be his first quarter final in one of the four main competitions.
The question was going to be could Worcester maintain their fine form against Chris Young's Surrey team from Cheam Village. On a very
difficult end rink, with the players only demonstrating confidence on the ditch hands it proved to be another close encounter.
The scores were five five at five ends, nine - six to Worcester after ten, with Worcester 12-10 up after 15. The final few ends were
tight but with the help of a three on the seventeenth end Worcester lead by two going into the last end (16-14). Worcester set up a
good head and with Surrey forced on to the inside hand Worcester won without too many problems or scares. The records will show a
17-14 win but Worcester appeared to hold three shots on the last end, but however many it was it didn't matter as Worcester now meet
Richard Bray's four from Stenalees in Cornwall in Wednesday mornings semi final.
With Worcester having already qualified for the second round the stage was clear for Bredon to begin their assault on the title.
Unfortunately they did not get off to the best of starts and trailed 8-0 after only three ends (1,2,5) but bounced back straight away
with a single and a five to trail 8-6 after five ends against their Northumberland opponents. Northumberland again had slightly the better
of the next five ends and had stretched their lead to 14-10 after 10 ends. Northumberland then went on a run of 4 consecutive ends, scoring
seven shots to effectively tie up the game, although Bredon hit back with two two's to trail 21-14 after 16 ends. However they could
not maintain this surge and eventually lost 28-15 after 20 ends.
Worcester took centre stage again in the afternoon in their second round match against Tunbridge Wells from Kent having spent the
morning relaxing on the Beach. For the first sixteen ends Worcester seemed determined to throw the game away by dropping a four and two
fives on the 2nd, 6th and 14th ends. Fortunately, they were picking up shots themselves on many of the other ends and trailed by 5
shots at the sixteen end point (20-15). However, nothing that had gone before could prepare the vociferous crowd for what was to come.
The Tunbridge Wells team had been playing well particularly towards the stand but for some
inexplicable reason they failed to get
anything within a yard of the jack on the seventeenth end, where as Worcester got most of their bowls somewhere near. The Kent number
three started to remove Worcester's shot bowls (1,2,3,4,5,6,7), Mark Atkins measured for an eight but the Worcester
bowl proved to be about
six inches too far away. However this meant that Worcester lead by two shots (22-20) with four ends to go. Normality appeared to have returned
on the 17th end with Kent getting one shot (although the Kent skip nearly took Worcester's second shot out which would have left
them with another five. Then on the 19th end it appeared to be a case of history
repeating itself with Kent again getting nothing within a yard. This
time Worcester picked up a six and with the last two ends being shared Worcester ran out 31-22.
We will have to hope that Worcester can play as well in the morning as they obviously do in the afternoon as they take on Trevor Taylor's
four from Courtfield in Cumbria. Many people are predicting an all Cumbrian final, but Worcester fancy their chances of progressing
beyond the last 16 in this year's competition.
Worcester's quartet made an early start to the Championships having been drawn in one of the two first round games to be played on Sunday. It proved to be a relatively easy passage into the second round as they beat Frank Turner's four from Haxby Road, Yorkshire. After a tight start which saw Worcester trail 5-3 after 6 ends, they then picked up fours on the 8th, 12th and 16th ends and lead 23-11 after 18 ends. Despite Yorkshire winning the last three ends (including a five on the 20th) Worcester eased home to a comfortable 23-18 win. The advantage of having played the first round early means that they don't have to play again until Monday afternoon when Simon Jones, Arthur Jackson, Mark Atkins and Ian Jenkins will take on Derek Millward's Kent four from Tunbridge Wells. Bredon's four (Pete Griffin, Doug Holmes, Pat White and Maurice Pullin) enter the Competition on Monday morning when they face John Tweddle's four from Walker in Northumberland.
Marc Stones (Gilt Edge) was involved in two games with drastically different outcomes. In his first round match he comfortably beat Carl Brooks of Berkshire 21-9, but when he returned to the green to play fellow Junior international David Bolt (Durham) he found himself on the wrong end of a 21-7 scoreline. Marc returns to Worthing next Sunday as part of Worcestershire's Top four team. Worcestershire's next hope of success is in the Fours when Ian Jenkin's team plays an early first round on Sunday afternoon (a report and photo's will appear here on Monday morning).