We were back at Hemsby once again in 2010 for our traditional Christmas Break.

The week prior to this year's event saw some of the worst weather for many a year.

With snow covering much of the country we wondered how many people were going to be able to make it to Hemsby.

As it was we need hardly have worried as all but 4 pairs were able to make it there. Actually there have been relatively little snow at Hemsby and although Friday had been freezing all day, the temperature rose overnight and rain had wiped out all of the snow come Saturday morning.

As usual everyone would get 6 games over the course of Saturday and Sunday, after which the top 16 teams would go through to the Knockout Stage.

Game 1
Janet Shinn & Peter Masters were the first team to top the leaderboard as they won their initial game with 13 shots.

Second place was being shared by Brian & Sheila Foreman and Mike & Judy Easy who both had 11 shots. Four teams were next up, all having scored 10 shots, Joe & Irene Woodward, Margaret Clemmet & Angela Newling, Pat Chapman & Joan Fairs and Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom.

Game 2
Of the 20 teams who won their first games, only 11 managed to repeat the feat in their second games.

Janet Shinn & Peter Masters continued to lead the way, with 24 shots from their 2 wins.

Moving up into second place now were Lin & Tony Cooke, 3 shots behind the leaders, while Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom were a couple more shots back. And George & Beryl Harrell and Mike & Judy Easy were equal fourth with 18 shots apeice.

Meanwhile there were some notable teams who had yet to get off the mark and who, despite their slow starts could yet make their way through.

Game 3
The halfway point of the round robin games and the first change of lead.

Lin & Tony Cooke had now ascended to the top spot, having won 3 games, scored 37 shots and conceded only 5 shots, far and away the best record of any of the teams so far.

They were one of only 6 teams who had not dropped a point, the rest of whom (in order) were Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom, Bob & Ruth Withers, Roy & Viola Thorpe, Bill & Carol Reeve and David & Julie Hurr.

Game 4
The final round of games for Saturday.

Experience tells us that another win for the undefeated teams at this stage will be good enough to all but see them through to the last 16.

But only 3 teams survived Saturday's play with their perfect records intact.

The new leaders were Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom who were 5 shots better off than second placed David & Julie Hurr, who in turn were 1 shot ahead of Bill & Carol Reeve.

The next 11 places were being held by teams who were now on 6 points, having won 3 and lost one.

Meanwhile the final 2 teams finishing out the top 16 were on just 5 points, meaning that the leaders were already 4 points clear of the 17th placed team. This meant that barring an utterly disastrous showing the last 2 games these top 3 were going to be in the last 16.

Game 5
Sunday's first games, the penultimate round, saw all but one team finally lose their unbeaten records.

Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom moved on to 10 points, and in doing so became the first team to secure their spot in the knockout rounds.

Next up were fully 10 teams who were all on 8 points, having lost just 1 game each so far.

The best of these were Lin & Tony Cooke, who had 57 shots, Janet Shinn & Peter Masters with 50 shots, Mike & Judy Easy on 46, Valerie Game & Ken Drane on 44 and Harold & Patricia Ball on 43. All of these were highly unlikely to miss out because of the shots they had accumulated.

In fact all of those teams already on 8 points were probably safe, but with one team on 7 points and 6 more on 6 points, they were all technically in with a chance of being dislodged.

Game 6
Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom safely negotiated their final game to finish on maximum points, 2 points clear of the rest of the field.

So the next best were a group of teams who had all gained 10 points from their 6 games.

They were, in order, Lin & Tony Cooke, Janet Shinn & Peter Masters, Harold & Patricia Ball, David & Julie Hurr and David Clemmet & Barbara Johnson.

Two further teams finished on 9 points while the rest of the qualifiers were on 8 points. However, the top of the table was so tightly packed that two teams who finished on 8 points missed out, falling 4 shots short of qualification.

Knockout Rounds

First Round
The game between Brian & Sheila Foreman and Valerie Game & Ken Drane was close, at 5-4 to Val & Ken, after 4 ends, but the Foreman's lost the last 3 ends, losing 13-4.

David Clemmet & Barbara Johnson and Mike & Judy Easy were also closely matched at 4-5 with 2 ends to go. But the Easys took a decisive 5 shots on the penultimate end, holding on to win 10-5. And it was much the same story with Roy & Viola Thorpe and Janet Shinn & Peter Masters. 4-4 with ends to go when Janet and Peter took 5 shots, finally finishing 10-4 up.

An early lead for previously undefeated Pauline Collins & Gloria Bloom, was swept away by Mike Walker & Adrian Bond, who came back from 5-2 down to win 8-6.

Betty Johnson & Patricia Bunch took the lead of their game against Bill & Carole Reeve with 4 ends down, taking the last 4 ends to win 7-2.

David & Julie Hurr were already 7-1 down to Les Buckton & Kay Masters before they hit their stride, by which time it was too late, as they lost 7-4.

Bob & Ruth Withers were 2 shots up going in to the final end against Harold & Patricia Ball. Unfortunately it was not enough of a gap. Harold & Patricia took 3 on the last end to win 7-6

And it was a nail-biter between Lin & Tony Cooke and Ron Dean & Paul Daniels. Lin & Tony took 2 shots on the last end to take the game into an extra end, only to lose it by the narrowest of margins on a measure.

Quarter Finals
It was a no contest between Ron Dean & Paul Daniels and Valerie Game & Ken Drane. The 4 shots that Val & Ken gained on the first end held them in good stead and the game was over by the 6th end by which time they had an unassailable 9-1 lead.

It was nip and tuck between Mike Walker & Adrian Bond and Betty Johnson & Patricia Bunch, with the advantage swinging first one way and then the other. In the end it took the final wood of the final end to win the game as Betty & Patricia went from 2 shots behind with the opposition holding, to one up as they took 3 shots to win 8-7.

Harold & Patricia Ball were another pair to leave it until the final end as they trailed Les Buckton & Kay Masters by one shot going into the last end, only to take 2 shots and win 5-4.

Mike & Judy Easy took the first 2 ends against Janet Shinn & Peter Masters to lead 4-0, but did not win another end until the last, which by that time was enough to draw them level, taking the game into an extra end which they won on a measure.

Semi Finals
The game between Betty Johnson & Patricia Bunch and Harold & Patricia Ball was unusually high scoring for this stage of the proceedings, thanks to each team getting 5 shots on an end within the first 3 ends, by which time it was 7-5 to the Balls. In the end it finished 12-8 in favour of the Balls in a game which they led the whole way through.

Mike & Judy Easy took a 3 shot lead on the first end of their game against Val Game & Ken Drane, a gap which they maintained for another 2 ends. But Val and Ken took a game changing 4 shots on the next end, from which point they were never behind, finally winning 8-5.

Final
Early on it looked like this one was going to be a one-sided affair. Only Ken's heroics on the first end stopped him and Val losing several shots, but he could not stop Harold & Patricia winning the next 2 ends to take a substantial 6-1 lead.

Although it looked like it was all over Val & Ken came back, winning the next 3 ends to take a 7-6 lead into the final end. And the shots could have gone either way on that last end. In the end it needed a measure to decide the end and the match which went the way of Val & Ken 8-6. A superbly played game and very worthy final match to round off the weekend.

You can find all the results here.

Once again we would like to thank everyone for helping to contribute to a great weekend's bowling. And for helping us to raise another £280 in aid of the Treehouse Appeal.

tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
6th December 2010