Worcestershire's entrants in the Singles both went out in the early stages of the Competition on Thursday. Rob McCaughtrie (Gilt Edge) had a tough encounter against current international, John McGuinness of Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire. Rob had a poor start before settling down well to produce some good bowls. However, he was never really recovered and went out 21-13. Rob Stanley was involved in a tight match with John Tweddle from Walker in Nothumberland and lead 14-8 having picked up two threes. His opponent found his line and length and went 18-15 in front. Rob bounced back tolevel it at 18-18 but then dropped a two. A last end treble put him through 21-20. In the second round match Rob played Joe Stamper from Lionmede in Essex and despite a much more consistent performance than in the first round went out 21-14. Rob was very much in the game at 10-13 down but then dropped a four and a two. Despite scoring a couple of two's his opponent was bowling too well to allow him back into the game and ran out winner when Rob's last attacking shot moved the jack but only to one of his opponents bowls.
Both Worcestershire pairs tasted disappointment on Monday as Alan Cox and Dave Coopey went out in the first round and Richard and Phil Moule went out in the second round. Alan and Dave were up against seasoned Worthing performers Greg Moon and Gary Lucas from Banbury Borough in Oxfordshire and were going to need a good start to keep the Oxfordshire pair quiet. Unfortunately this disn't happen and they slipped to a 6-0 deficit after three ends. Things looked better over the next couple of ends and the Worcestershire pair scored four shots over the next two ends. The Oxfordshire stepped up their game and scored on the next seven ends (4,1,3,3,3,1,1) to effectively end the game, the score standing at 22-4 after twelve ends. Worcetershire did bounce back with a two, three and a one over the next three ends to trail by twelve shots (22-10) with six ends to go. But a four to Greg and Gary on the sixteenth end stopped the revival and the game ended after nineteen ends with the Barbourne pair trailing 30-11. On another green Richard and Phil Moule had a great start leading 5-0 after two ends against Peter Taylor and Alan Pollard from Soham in Cambridgeshire, but a four for the Soham pair on the third end showed that this was going to be a tough battle. Despite this the Droitwich pair had opened up a 15-7 lead by the eleventh end. They then exchanged two's to lead 17-9 after thirteen ends and looked on course for victory. However the Cambridgeshire pair had other ideas and picked up eleven shots over the next six ends to Worcestershire's one to go into the last two ends leading by two shots 20-18. On the twentieth end Richard and Phil built up a good head and held four shots only for the Cambridgeshire skip to draw the shot. It looked like that bowl could be the match winner, but Phil produced a miraculous bowl to turn the shot bowl through the head for five shots. The Cambridgeshire skip could not repeat his heroics with his last bowl, so Richard and Phil went into the last end leading by three (23-20). They were never in trouble on the last end and picked up a one to emerge victorious 24-20. In their second round match they were up against David Brennan and John Arnett from Derbyshire on the tricky A3 rink. In a tight start to the match the shot regularly changed hands and the score lay at 3-3 after five ends. The Derbyshire pair then took charge and had moved into a 12-4 lead after ten ends and had stretched this to 14-7 after fourteen ends. The teams exchanged singles for the next four ends and so Derbyshire lead 16-9 with just three ends to go. A three on the nineteenth end gave the Worcestershire pair and their supporters hope. On the twentieth end they had built up a good head and looked to be holding four shots when the Derbyshire skip got a big wick to get shot. Phil just failed to recover the situation and Derbyshire went into the last end leading by five. Richard and Phil scored two on the last end to go out 17-14.
Richard and Phil Moule of Droitwich Spa progressed through to the first round of the pairs following a narrow victory over Richard Aves and Peter Boldero from Downham Ex Service in Norfolk. Despite bowling well Richard and Phil slipped to a 5-0 deficit after 4 ends. After this slow start the Droitwich pair started to score shots and scored six shots over the next four ends (1,2,2,1) to lead 6-5 after 8 ends. With the help of a three on the tenth end Richard and Phil had increased their lead to two shots (9-7) after ten ends. However, they then has their worst spell of the match conceding seven shots (3,3,1) in three ends to trail 9-14 after thirteen ends. The Droitwich pair won the fourteenth end and lengthened the jack and scored on the next five ends. However there was no big score amongst these six scoring ends (1,1,1,1,2,1) and Droitwich went into the last two ends leading by two (16-14). The twentieth end looked like being a disaster for Droitwich as they were four down with just the Norfolk skip's last bowl to come, but in attempting to draw another shot he moved the jack and held just two. This meant that it was all square going in to the last end and somewhat surprisingly Norfolk didn't give the jack away. When Phil came to bowl his first bowl he was one down with Norfolk having shot bowl about an inch in front of the jack and they also had best back bowl. Phil fired with his second bowl and took a little wick off a bowl about a foot short of the jack and killed the end. In the replayed end Richard put his third bowl right in front of the jack and, despite some valiant efforts, the Norfolk pair couldn't remove it and Droitwich went through to meet a Cambridgeshire pair on Monday morning. Also in action on Monday are Alan Cox and Dave Coopey of Barbourne who will take on Greg Moon and Gary Lucas from Oxfordshire.
Simon Jones, Arthur Jackson and Mark Atkins of Worcester B.C. almost pulled off one of the greatest escape acts ever seen at Worthing in the third round of the Triples against Eddie Henry's triple from Leadgate in Durham. The opening two ends went smoothly enough with the Worcester triple picking up two single shots. But the next ten ends went very much the way of the Durham triple with Worcester only scoring on two ends to trail 15-4 after twelve ends. On the next end there was a sign that Worcestershire were starting to find their range again. With each skip having one bowl to play, Worcester held six or seven shots, but the Durham skip played through the head, managed to move the jack to hold one shot. Mark dropped just short with his last bowl and the score was 16-4 with just five ends to play. Worcester started their comeback with an uneventful two shots on the next end and then picked up another one on the fifteenth end (having held 4 at one stage. The drama really started on the sixteenth end with Worcester piling bowl after bowl close to the jack, the Durham triple couldn't reduce the count significantly and Worcester picked up four shots. The Worcester triple were now using the new rule which enabled them to give the jack away so that they had last bowl, but it meant that Durham had control over the length of the jack. On the seventeenth end Durham's lead put two bowls very close only to see Simon Jones kill the end. At the second attempt Durham built up a good head and held four bowls with Mark Atkins just having one bowl left, but again Worcester killed the end. The third time the end was played saw a complete reversal with Worcester holding five good shots with the skips having one bowl each. Eddy Henry fired and hit the head, but only removed two bowls and with Mark ensuring that his last bowl counted they went into the last end just one shot adrift. Worcester again gave the jack away on the last end and when the two leads had finished Simon Jones had established a two shot advantage for Worcester. But it started to go wrong after that. Arthur attempting to get a really close bowl with his second was a little heavy and moved the jack to give Durham one shot. With his third bowl he played into the Durham bowl that was just short of the jack but rather than removing it, it hit the jack and this meant Worcester were two down with many bowls blocking the way to the jack. Mark Atkins tried to draw on the wide swinging forehand but unfortunately came up just short with each of his three attempts and Worcester went out 19-15. Worcestershire's next chance of success comes in the Preliminary round of the Pairs on Sunday in the form of father and son combination, Richard and Phil Moule from Droitwich Spa.
Simon Jones, Arthur Jackson and Mark Atkins provided the Worcestershire supporters with something to shout about on Thursday as they progressed through to the third round of the Triples. In the first round they were up against Andrew Briden, a singles finalist two years ago, and his team mates from Townsend St Albans in Hertfordshire. They were again playing on 'E' green where their Fours challenge had ended on Monday, but this time they coped with the conditions a lot better. In a high scoring match they had opened up a 20-6 lead after seven ends, scoring two fives, a four and two threes and conceding a four and a two. Hertfordshire bounced straight back with two more fours to trail 20-14 at the half way stage. With the help of another four on the eleventh end Worcestershire had moved 25-14 ahead. Fortunately this proved to be the last of the big scores because the Worcester triple only one one of the remaining seven ends. The Worcester triple held on to win 26-23 to earn a second round match against Edwin Young's triple from Dorchester in Dorset. The early morning storms had cleared up in time for the second match which was played in warm sunshine in the more familiar surroundings of 'B' green. In a much tighter match the Worcester triple lead 6-3 after six ends. After dropping a three on the next end, Worcestershire again looked in trouble on the eighth end, but Mark (attempting to trail the jack), got a big wick and ended up with a front toucher to turn a three down situation into a single shot for Worcester. The Worcester triple then won the next three ends as well to open up a healthy six shot lead (12-6) after eleven ends. Two ends later they lead by seven but then dropped four shots over the next two ends to lead by just three shots (14-11) with three ends to go. Dorset appeared to be in control on the next two ends, but the Worcester triple managed to pick up shots despite the heads not being in their favour and lead by six going into the last end. Worcester never looked like dropping a score and picked up one shot to win 18-11. They now face a third round match against Eddie Henry's Durham triple on Friday morning.
Pete Hale, Andrew Walters and Colin Cooper of Broadway played an early first round triples match on Wednesday afternoon but slipped to a 24-15 defeat against Danny McEwan from Banister Park in Hampshire. This was the first game at Worthing for Andrew and Colin and the first visit for a number of years for Pete. Despite this the Broadway triple started well leading 6-3 after five ends. The Hampshire triple bounced back scoring seven shots over the next three ends (2,3,2) to take a 10-6 lead. But not to be outdone Colin's triple responded with some great ends of bowls to reply with seven shots themselves (2,3,2) to lead 13-10 after eleven ends. Unfortunately in the next four ends nothing went right and they dropped eleven shots, including a disappointing six on the fourteenth end. Despite trailing by eight shots at this stage Colin had a chance to get them all back on the sixteenth end, but his attempted take out just missed and left the Broadway triple with just two shots. Trailing by six with two ends to go they needed to score on the next end but the Hampshire triple built up a good head of bowls, so Andrew and Colin were forced into attempting to kill the end. They failed to move the jack despite hitting the head and went out 24-15.
There were no victories to celebrate on Monday with Mark Weaver's four losing 25-19 and Adrian Burbridge's four losing 25-13. Mark Weaver, with Ray Vickers, Chris Lane and John Weaver, were up against a strong Yorkshire four from Nafferton skipped by England international Mark Walton. Mark's four made a good start leading 5-1 after three ends, but Yorkshire them moved in front to lead 18-9 after 11 ends. The Gilt Edge four then responded with seven shots over the next three ends to only trail by two shots. But this was as close as they got and lost 25-19. Adrian Burbridge's Worcester four were hoping for a good run, especially as they had reached the semi finals last year (when Ian Jenkins was the skip). But this time Simon Jones, Arthur Jackson, Mark Atkins and Adrian could not have had a worse start trailing 10-1 after just five ends. They were playing on 'E' green and it was proving to be very heavy and quite tricky. However their opponents from Berkshire continued to play the better bowls and had increased their lead to 18-3 after ten ends. The score could have been much different if the Berkshire skip hadn't drawn shot with his last bowl on the seventh end when the Worcester four held six shots. Worcester continued to battle and picked up a five on the sixteenth end, but it didn't alter the result and Berkshire won 25-13 after twenty ends.
Arthur Jackson (Worcester) was attempting to win the National Champion of Champions title for the second time on Sunday. In the Quarter final he was drawn against Eamon Nolan from Cheam Village in Surrey. After a good start, Arthur's opponent came back into the game in the middle period. Arthur, using his vast experience at this level, held his nerve to wrest his opponents bowl to win 21-19 just as it looked like the game would go to a last end decider. In the semi final Arthur played Steve Pickford from Romford in Essex. Arthur's opponent had had the easier of the first round matches, but it was Arthur who made the strong start by gaining a 14-6 advantage. Again the middle period of the match was to prove unfruitful for Arthur with his opponent rallying. The crucial shot came as the match was tied at 17-17. Arthur held two good shots, but his opponent played with weight and removed Arthur's two bowls and gained three shots (it was almost four on a measure). Arthur played a good final end but dropped one shot to go out 21-17. Steve went on to win the final beating Brian Taylor of Norfolk 21-13.
Marc Stones (Gilt Edge) was involved in two long games on Saturday but eventually went out in a nail-biting finish to his second round game. In the first round Marc played Adrian Finnie from the Preston Club in Sussex. Marc triumphed 21-16 after 30 ends and was the last to finish in the first round. He only had a half hour break before he was back on the green for his second round match. This didn't seen to bother him as he stormed into an 8-4 lead. However his opponent (Michael Chester from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire) rallied to go into a 20-11 lead. Marc suddenly found his form again and within four ends the match was 20-20 (Marc having scored a four and a three in those four ends). However the last end was not to go his way and he went out 21-20.