South Norfolk visited Heritage at Leiston Sports Centre on 24th July for the 5th running of this annual match, with Heritage still looking for their first win.

South Norfolk were represented by Alburgh, Brockdish, East Harling, Garboldisham, Old Buckenham, Roydon, Tasburgh and Wortwell.

Heritage consisted of teams from Darsham, Kelsale (2 teams), Knodishall (3 teams), Middleton and Sizewell.

And things started very badly for the home team with South Norfolk winning 5 of the 6 games in the opening session and only Knodishall 1 able to pick up a win. South Norfolk led 10-2 and it looked very much as if they were heading for yet another win.

However the second session saw Heritage bounce back in the best possible way as they swept the board, winning all 6 games to take what was, after a dismal first session, a surprise 14-10 lead at the half time break.

The third session saw the points shared evenly as each side picked up 3 wins and so with just one session to go Heritage held a 20-16 lead, but it could still go either way.

Heritage needed to pick up at least 5 points to be sure of taking the trophy.

As the games went on it was still evenly poised, but as the ends ticked down Heritage appeared to have a slim advantage, the first 2 games to finish went their way but the next one went to South Norfolk. Heritage still needed to find one more point from the last 3 games. And they go it. Middleton picked up the win they needed win to secure the title. The last 2 games were shared, giving Heritage 8 of the 12 points from the final session to complete a 28-20 win (shots 200-184).

All the Heritage team contributed to the success with Knodishall 1 providing the standout performance by taking 3 wins out of 3. Kelsale 1 & 2, Knodishall 3 and Middleton all won twice and Darsham, Knodishall 2 and Sizewell each picked up one win.

On the South Norfolk side the standouts were Wortwell who won 3 out of 3 and Brockdish and Garboldisham who each won twice.

Many thanks to everyone who took part and contributed food for the tea break and we are all looking forward to defending the trophy next year in Norfolk.

This year's entry was up to 18 teams, so without being able to divide the teams into groups of 5 but still give everyone 4 games, everyone was placed in a single group with the top 8 going through to the Knockout Rounds.

Knodishall dominated the opening stages of the event with 4 qualifiers, all of whom finished in the top 6. Knodishall C finished top as the only team to win all of their games. Three teams won 3 games and lost 1, Kelsale B, Knodishall B and Knodishall F. Leiston St Margarets FC came home in 5th with 5 points and so close was the competition (every team won at lead one game), that the final three qualifiers could only manage to win 32 and lose 2. They were Knodishall E, Middleton A and Kelsale A.

Four other teams all finished on 4 points, but just missed out on shots.

QUARTER FINALS
Leiston St Margarets FC v Knodishall F
Knodishall were off to a flier with 5 shots on the first end, after which Leiston never got a look in. At 5 ends they were comfortably 10-1 ahead and while Leiston picked up the last 2 ends to bring it back to a more respectable 10-5, Knodishall were never in danger.

Knodishall E v Kelsale B
The opening 5 ends were closely fought with only a single shot scored on each, although Knodishall took 4 of them. Kelsale were still in with a chance, but the 6th end saw Knodishall take a decisive 3 shots to break the back of the game. They won the last as well to finish 8-1 winners.

Middelton A v Kelsale A
Kelsale started the better of the 2 teams and slowly but surely pulled away and led 6-0 after 4 ends. Middleton finally got started on end 5 with 3 shots, but Kelsale were able to keep the game under control as thier opponents chased shots. The last 2 ends went to Kelsale who finished 9-2 winners.

Knodishall C v Knodishall B
The top team after the round robin games, C were off to a slow start as B won the first 2 ends to go 4-0 up. However, true to form C brought themselves back level with their opponents over the next 3 ends. But B put a stop to the comeback in no uncertain terms with 3 on the 6th and capped the game with one on the last to win 8-4.

SEMI-FINALS
Knodishall F v Knodishall E
F started the better of the two teams, winning the first 2 ends, although by just one shot on each. E chipped into that lead with 1 on the next, and from then on in it was all E. They took the lead with 4 on the 4th end and followed that up with 3 on the 5th and another 3 on the 6th, at which point they had an unassailable 11-2 lead, at which point a halt was called to the game.

Kelsale A v Knodishall B
Knodishall were off to a great start with 2 on each of the first 2 ends. Kelsale were off the mark with one on the third which was matched by Knodishall on the next to now lead 5-1. The fifth end saw no score as the closest woods could not be seperated. Time was running out for Kelsale and although they won the 6th end it was only by 1 shot. One end to go and Knodishall led 5-2.
Kelsale would need at least 3 and finally got going, building a decent head until Knodishall's No3 came in to cut the score down to just 2. That wood was sitting out to the side and offered a clear target but Kelsale's skip missed. The next Knodishall wood did nothing so Kelsale's final wood needed to get third. At last it was on target, knocking the best Knodishall wood through to hold 5. Kndoshall's skip needed to hold his nerve and, resisting the urge to play with weight, followed his No3's instructions and drew in to cut the count all the way down to just 2 and deservedly win the game 5-4.

FINAL
David & Julie Hurr and Doug & Eileen Adamson (Knodishall E) v Cedric Bennett, Howard Saxby, Jane Robinson & Josie Smith (Knodishall B)
End 1 – Josie's first wood is crucial, rolling one of B's earlier woods in. David almost takes it out, but it remains shot. B lead 1-0.
End 2 – A good start from Howard, dropping just in front of the jack with his first, while the others fall in behind. David gets the jack free, but it's still 3 to B who lead 4-0.
End 3 – Plenty of loose woods to start, but finally Julie draws shot and there is stays. E are on the board. 4-1.
End 4 – With B starting well Doug finally moves the jack to the back of the carpet. E now hold 2, to which David adds another 2. Now it's E who suddenly lead 5-4.
End 5 – With B holding, David finally gets into the head to push the jack out out and take one. 6-4.
End 6 – A great start from Eileen and Julie puts B under pressure. And there the jack stayed, surrounded by 4 black woods. E have an almost unassailable 10-4 lead.
End 7 – Any hope E might have had was ended by Julie's second wood which draws shot and stays there. 11-4.

On Tuesday 23rd February, at Tunstall Village Hall, Kelsale Carpet Bowls Club organised a Ladies Fours Tournament and Lunch to help raise funds for The Woolverstone Wish Appeal.

Fifteen teams from across Suffolk entered with each team playing 4 games across the day. The winners would be the team at the top of the standings once all the games had been played.

With 3 games played and one left to go there were still 5 teams in the running. Belstead and Knodishall A led the way with 6 points, while Knodishall B, Harkstead and Darsham had each won two games and drawn one to stand just one point behind.

Knodishall B would play Harkstead, which ended up in a resounding 14-2 win for Harkstead. That meant that they had gone undefeated all day, but one dropped point meant that they would be out of the running for the overall win.

The penultimate round of games saw Belstead just edge out Darsham 6-5 to finish on maximum points, meaning that only Knodishall A could now beat them.

Knodishall were going to need to win and score 9 shots in their final game against Bramford, to make sure of overall victory. They started well with 2 on the first end, but suffered a disaster on the second, losing 5 shots. However the next 3 ends saw them claw their way back ahead, and with 2 ends to go were 8-5 up. That put them level on points and shots with Belstead but they had more shots against, so not only would they need to hang on to the win, but they would also need one shot more.

However the 6th end went to Bramford to make the score 8-6 to Knodishall. Still one end to go and still one shot needed. But although they knew they needed to win the team had no idea how many shots were required. Despite that they still fought to win the end and got the one shot they didn't know they needed to take the win.

Knodishall A (Val Game, Jane Robinson, Rosemary Timms & Shirley Tilbrook) finished on 8 points and 35 shots, while Belstead (Maureen Howes, Sue Holder, Margaret Southgate & Ann Smith) finished on 8 points & 34 shots.

Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to everyone who were there to compete and those who were there to help (including the men who did all the washing up), all of whom helped us to raise £487 for the charity, the cheque for which was presented on 29th March.

35 men played in seven groups of 5, with the winners, runners-up and two best third placed players going through to the knockout rounds.

Group 1
Mike Daniels topped the group with three wins out of four. Second place went to Mick Jeffries who was the best of 3 players on fours points.

Group 2
The group finished with three players on 6 points. First place went to David Hurr (42 shots), ahead of John Whiting (34 shots) and Peter Masters (25 shots), who also went through as the best third placed player.

Group 3
Chris Tilbrook and John Collyer topped the group, both with 6 points. Chris took first place by 5 shots.

Group 4
David Collins won all 4 games to take the group win. Steve Newson was comfortably second with 6 points.

Group 5
John Threadkell (6 points & 31 shots), just finished ahead of second placed Tim Hambling, by a single shot. Cedric Bennett's 4 points and 38 shots meant that he was third and the final qualifier.

Group 6
Michael Easy dropped just the one point on his way to winning the group, finishing two points clear of runner-up Basil Baker.

Group 7
Paul Daniels took 4 wins out of 4 to win the group, while second place went to David Nash who finished on 6 points.

ROUND 1
Paul Daniels edged away from Mike Daniels and went into the last end 4 shots up and did enough to take the game 7-4.

David Hurr and Cedric Bennett fought closely, with David 4-3 up with an end to go. It could have gone either way, but David took all 4 on the last to win 8-3.

David Collins was never behind against Mick Jefferies, but there was never much in it. David finished 5-2 up.

David Nash was 3-2 up with two ends to go against Tim Hambling, but Tim took those last ends to win 5-3.

Basil Baker never got a look in as John Threadkell powered his way to a 15-0 win.

Four shots in the 5th end gave Michael Easy a big lead against Peter Masters and finished the 8-3 winner.

John Collyer came back to just one shot behind Chris Tilbrook with an end to go, but Chris took the last to win 6-4.

A strong start for John Whiting saw him 8-3 up over Steve Newson, coming home to an 8-6 win.

QUARTER FINALS
There was never much in it between John Threadkell and Michael Easy and it took a shot on each of the last two ends from Michael to edge a 6-5 win.

It was a great start for David Collins against Tim Hambling, taking all 4 on the first end, followed by a single on the second. But Tim was back in it with a full house on the third end, eventually taking the winning shot on the last to finish 7-6 up.

For Paul Daniels and David Hurr it was just a shot an end for most of the way through their game. But the clincher was 3 for Paul in the middle of the game. He finished 7-2 ahead.

John Whiting led from start to finish against Chris Tilbrook. At 8-3 up after 6 ends the game was all sewn up.

SEMI FINALS
Five ends in, between Paul Daniels and Tim Hambling, it 2-2 and as close as you'd like. But a slip by Paul brought the jack free on the 6th end and on a tricky hand Tim did well to take the jack back with his final wood for 3 shots. Needing at least 3 on the last Paul was too heavy and Tim took the win 6-2.

John Whiting edged away from Michael Easy one shot at a time for the first 4 ends, but the fifth saw him take a full house and all but finish the game. Another single on the 6th end meant that it was was all over at 9-0.

FINAL
Tim Hambling (Yoxford) v John Whiting (Knodishall)
End 1 – Tim is a little wayward while John is generally closer, taking 3 shots.
End 2 – John's early wood sticks to the jack and won't be moved. He leads 4-0.
End 3 – Another early wood of John's can't be budged. 5-0.
End 4 – John is on the jack again, forcing Tim to try and play into the head which he finally does, getting off the mark with 2. 5-2.
End 5 – Tim selects a ¾ length jack and then proceeds to drop short, but by the end he's close enough for a single. 5-3.
End 6 – The jack gets moved back to John's advantage, taking one to lead 6-3 going into the last end.
End 7 – Tim draws shot with his second wood but can't get any more as the head fills up. He's restriced to just the one shot to give John the win 6-4.

There were 26 Ladies entered this year, up on last year. They played in 5 groups with the winners going straight through to the Quarter Finals. The 5 runners-up and best third would play off to join them.

Group 1
This was an incredibly closely fought group. Once all the games had been played the five players were separated by just 5 shots. Each of them had won twice and lost twice, giving them 4 points. The group winner, just, was Kay Masters who made it by virtue of having scored 24 shots, just one ahead of both Kath Nash and Barbara Barker. Those two not only scored the same number of shots (23), but conceded the same number too (20). So a play-off was called for, a one end shoot out, which went to Kath Nash.

Group 2
With 3 wins out of 4 Mona Goldsmith won the group by a clear 2 points. The runner-up, the best of 3 players on 4 points, was Sue Moore.

Group 3
Clare Nessling won all four of her games to take first place. Yet again three players finished on 4 points, with Sheila Mann's 33 shots making her runner-up.

Group 4
Linda King finished on top of the group with maximum points while Molly Elmy lost just one to finish second.

Group 5
Another close finish with 3 players all finishing on 6 points and had to be seperated by shots scored. First was Jane Robinson (34 shots), second went to Margaret Branton (32 shots) while Jean Childs (27 shots) finished third. All three qualified as Jean was the best third placed lady on the day.

ROUND 1
After a close start Sheila Mann ran away from Kath Nash to win 10-2.

Molly Elmy was off to a good start (5-0 up) after 2 ends against Sue Moore. And while Sue came back towards the end, Molly held on for a 6-5 win.

Jean Childs was able to win the first and last ends against Margaret Branton, but it was just a shot on each and inbetween Margaret piled on 9 shots, winning comfortably.

QUARTER FINALS
A crazy last 4 ends between Molly Elmy and Jane Robinson saw the lead swinging back and forth. Jane took all 4 to lead 5-2. Molly it with 3. Jane took back 3 to go back in front 8-5 with an end to go. But Molly grabbed 4 on the last to win 9-8.

Margaret Branton opened with 5 shots on the first 2 ends against Linda King. Over the next 4 ends Linda levelled the score, only for Margaret to knick it on the last, 6-5.

A back and forth game between Clare Nessling and Kay Masters saw Clare grab the lead on the penultimate end only for Kay to take 2 on the last to win 5-4.

Mona Goldsmith and Sheila Mann went through the game winning alternate ends, and while Sheila won 4 of the 7, she was only picking up ones and a two, while Mona took threes and a four to win 10-5.

SEMI FINALS
Mona Goldsmith had built up a 6 shot lead by the time Kay Masters had even scored. But Kay was able to go into the final end with a slim chance, needing all 4 to level the scores. However she could only get 3 as Mona won 7-6.

Margaret Branton took three on the first end against Molly Elmy and that proved decisive. She was able to maintain a lead of a least 2 shots throughout the game, finally winning 7-3.

FINAL
Mona Goldsmith (Orford) v Margaret Branton (Sizewell)
End 1 – Mona removes the jack from the carpet with her very first wood, not a great start. Margaret leads 2-0.
End 2 – This time the jack stays on and Mona has a chance to redeem herself, just touching the jack back with her last wood to go from one down to three up. Mon leads 3-2.
End 3 – Mona falls short of the long jack that she chose, but with her last forces her one of her woods up to take shot and lead 4-2.
End 4 – Margaret strikes back, reaching a long jack while Mona falls short. 3 to Margaret to retake the lead 5-4.
End 5 – A lot of wayward woods, but Margaret is just the closer of the two on a very long measure. 6-4.
End 6 – Margaret suddenly starts bowling too heavy, running off the end with her last wood and allowing Mona to take all 4 and regain the lead 8-6.
End 7 – This time it's Mona who struggles. Margaret takes two to draw level and take the game into an extra end. 8-8.
Extra End – Mona holds with a wood 6 inches short of the jack. Margaret has one wood left, she manages to move the shot wood a little off to the side, but her own wood rolls through and Mona still holds, winning the game 9-8.

This year's Pairs tournament attracted 35 teams which were drawn into 7 groups of 5. The winners and runners-up from each group would qualify for the knockout stages, along with the best 2 third placed teams.

Group 1
Sizewell B dominated the group, winning all 4 of their games. Behind them everyone else struggled, Kelsale A cound only manage 2 wins and 2 losses, but that was enough for the runner-up spot.

Group 2
With 4 wins out of 4 it was Knodishall A who came home in first place, while Riverside B finished comfortable runners-up on 6 points.

Group 3
Before the last game was played the top 2 teams were already decided. So the final game would only decide who was the group winner. Kelsale C won the game to finish on a maximum 8 points, while Riverside A finished second on 6 points.

Group 4
The top 2 teams each finished with 3 wins and a loss. Knodishall E's 46 shots, gave them the group win, ahead of club mates Knodishall B, who managed 28 shots.

Group 5
The closest fought group of the day saw Knodishall J go undefeated, although they won only 2 games and drew the other 2. Behind them Yoxford, on 5 points and 28 shots just edged out Kelsale D (5 points and 23 shots), but Kelsale would qualify as the best third placed team.

Group 6
Kelsale B took the group with a maximum 8 points and second place went to Knodishall C who won 3 and lost 1. Knodishall K only had 2 wins, finishing third, but their 23 shots was two better than the next best so they were through as the final qualifiers.

Group 7
Knodishall I won 4 out of 4 to finish on 8 points, while Knodishall H dropped just one game to finish second on 6 points.

With the greatest number of teams entered Knodishall, unsurprisingly dominated the last 16 with 8 teams. Kelsale provided 4, Riverside 2 and Sizewell and Yoxford 1 each.

ROUND 1
Knodishall A came back from 6-3 down with 2 ends to go against Kelsale D, to win 7-6.

Knodishall J led Riverside B from the start and finished 7-2 winners.

Similarly Kelsale A won the first end against Sizewell B and were always ahead, winning 10-2.

Knodishall H won the first, middle and last ends against Knodishall B, but 'B' made the wost of the ends they won, taking the game 9-4.

After a tied first end, Knodishall E took the first end against Knodishall K. It was 4-3 after 4 ends, but 'E' ran away with the last 3 ends to finish 13-3 ahead.

Knodishall I, after going 4-0 up over Knodishall C, were all square at 5 ends. 'I' took 2 on the 6th and managed to hang on, edging the game 6-5.

Riverside A led Yoxford 4-2 after 3 ends, but 8 shots over 3 ends saw Yoxford take the lead , winning 10-5 at the end.

Kelsale B took a single on the first end against Kelsale C, but 'C' took the next 3 ends to lead 5-1. 2 shots for each team over the next 2 ends saw 'C' with a 4 shot lead going into the least end, doing enough to win 7-4.

QUARTER FINALS
Kelsale A edged into a 5-1 lead over Knodishall A and despite losing the last 2 ends, clung on to win 5-4.

Knodishall B, 4-0 up after 2 ends, were always ahead of Yoxford and went on to win 8-4.

Knodishall I versus Knodishall E was as close as you like with 5 ends played. 'I' lead, just, 3-2, but the 6th end saw them blow the game apart with 5 shots, Knodishall I finally taking the win 9-2.

The difference between Kelsale C and Knodishall J was the big scores that Kelsale managed on the ends they won, getting a 3 and a 4 while Knodishall were only getting 1s and 2s. Kelsale C finished 9-4 winners.

SEMI-FINALS
Kelsale C again scored big, this time against Knodishall B. The final wood of the first end saw the count swing from 1 to Knodishall to 5 to Kelsale. And the 3rd end saw a maximum 6, by which time the game was all but over. An end was called to the game after 6 ends with Kelsale leading 18-1.

Another Kelsale-Knodishall affair, but a very different one, with the lead swapping back and forth. Kelsale A 1-0 up, Knodishall I 2-1 up, Kelsale 3-2 and then 4-2. Three to Knodishall gave them a 5-4 lead and Kelsale brought it back all square with an end to go. But the final end went to Knodishall I who had the jack covered and left their opponents nothing to work with, winning 7-5.

FINAL
Knodishall I (Chris & Shirley Tilbrook) v Kelsale C (Paul & Rita Daniels)
Fittingly the final came down to the 2 teams who had been the best two qualifiers from the Group Stages.
Knodishall took the first end but were kept down to just the one shot. Kelsale came back with 2 on the second end to take the lead, but Knodishall did the same on the third and led 3-2. Kelsale drew level on the 4th but Knodishall edged ahead 4-3 after 5.

The 6th end saw the jack pushed to the back of the carpet, but Kelsale had a wood inbetween the jack and the edge. Knodishall came down for second, Kelsale beat that one and held 2. Knodishall couldn't get close enough and although there was space for another with their final wood Kelsale were perhaps overly cautious and didn't get close enough for another. they now led for the first time since the second end 5-4.

Knodishall held a single shot for most of the final end, although it was very close for second. An extra end looked on the cards but on a straightish hand with a wood to be pushed up and in for Kelsale, Knodishall declined to try for a block, opting to go for another shot. They failed and Kelsale were left with an opportunity. Their final wood did the job, pushing a short wood in for shot and itself stopping short to act as a block. Knodishall had nothing much to go for and a heavy final wood did nothing but add another shot for Kelsale who finished 7-4 winners.

It was the second win for Paul & Rita in 3 years and a 7th Pairs win for Paul (Note: James Rous & Jon Jordan won the title 4 years on the trot from 2009/10 to 2012/13 and 6 times in 9 years).

The 18th running of the Charity Fours saw 32 teams from across Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk to help us to raise funds in aid of East Anglia Air Ambulance and East Anglia's Children's Hospices.

The teams competed in a single group, playing four times, with the top 16 going through to the Knockout Stages.

None of the teams were able to win all of their group games, but 3 teams took 3 wins and a draw, Bealing, Kelsale and reigning champions Old Felixstowe. The other qualifiers were from Wissett, Copdock, Martlesham, Witnesham, Knodishall (3 teams), Tithe Barn, Middleton, Darsham/Kelsale, Felixstowe URC, Yoxford and Occold.

The final was played out by Witnesham A and Knodishall D.

Witnesham made it through the First Round with a comfortable 10-4 win over Middleton. The Quarter Final, though was a different story, at 5-1 down to Tithe Barn after 4 ends, they looked down and out, but 2 ends later they were level and took 2 on the final end to win 7-5. And they also had to come from behind in their Semi-Final against Kelsale/Darsham, although they were only 2 down before they got on the board. It was always close, but they came home 5-3 winners.

For Knodishall it was much more straightforward. They beat Yoxford 16-1, Kelsale 8-4 and Bealings 8-2, all comfortable wins in which they led all the way.

The final itself was very close, until the very end. Knodishall took one on the first, with Witnesham drawing level on the next and then leading 2-1 after 3 ends, with Knodishall then drawing level on the fourth.

The fifth end was moving very much in Witnesham's direction as they held 4 and just needing to block out their opposition. But they got too greedy and managed to do what Knodishall couldn't and moved the jack into the open, only to snatch the end back with their final wood to lead 3-2. Unfortunately they managed to shoot themselves in the foot on the sixth end as well, taking the jack off to hand Knodishall the lead, 4-3, going into the last end.

And at last Knodishall hit their stride, nailing the jack and, on a carpet that didn't respond well to weight, Witnesham couldn't get in. Knodishall were left with a 5 on the final end to finish 9-3 winners. But for a couple of unfortunate woods the game would have got to Witnesham, but it wasn't to be.

We would like to thank everyone to joined us and for their generosity which helped us to raise £688, an amount which makes the total raised over the years from this event, to more than £25,000.