The 6th edition of our annual Christmas Break took place at Hemsby over the weekend of 30th November to 3rd December.

FOURS
The warm up to the main event was the Fours which took place over Friday and Saturday nights.

Each team had 2 games per night with the winners decided on the results of those games.

Only 2 teams made it through the first night unbeaten, those of Keith & Prim Hume and Tony & Patricia Staines and Angela Gee and Mick Harpley and Alan & Kath Powis.

However on Saturday the Gee/Harpley/Powis team were unable to repeat their performance from the night before, leaving it for the Hume/Staines team to win as they won another 2 games, finishing 2 points clear of the runners-up Tony & Lin Cooke and Jim & Janet Squares.

PAIRS
Saturday
Ten teams came through Saturday morning's pair of games with 2 wins. Leading the way were Tony & Lin Cooke who had managed to amass 27 shots in their pair of wins.

They were followed closely by Sam & Trish Agnew, Ken Drane & Val Game, Ray & Jennie Collins, Betty Johnson & Chris Tilbrook and Mike & Judy Easy, all of whom had scored at least 20 shots so far.

The remaining double winners were Dave Cask & Mike Daniels, Bob & Ruth Withers, Keith & Prim Hume and Aubrey & Sheila Mann.

But as usual these things never last for long and perhaps lunchtime took it's toll on one or two of the teams. First to slip up where the leaders. Taking on the team that were laying last but one they would no doubt have fancied their chances of extending their winning run, but Lin & Tony unexpectedly lost and as a result fell back in the standings, although they were still just inside the top 10.

Taking their place at the top were Betty Johnson & Chris Tilbrook, while Ray & Jennie Collins, Sam & Trish Agnew, Ken Drane & Val Game and Mike & Judy Easy also went to 3 wins out of 3.

Saturday's final round of games knocked the number of teams with a perfect record down to a mere 3. Betty Johnson & Chris Tilbrook were still leading the way, followed by Sam & Trish Agnew, with Mike & Judy Easy in third place.

Next up were a further 3 teams who were still unbeaten but who had each drawn one of their games. They were Peter & Kay Masters, Gordon Bloomfield & John Whiting and Bob & Ruth Withers.

With 12th place, the final qualifying spot now held by a team on just 4 points the top 3 teams had all but done enough to see themselves through to Sunday afternoon's games. And the next 3 were all but there also, but behind them it was all to play for.

Sunday
Sam & Trish Agnew continued their perfect run with a fifth win and became the first team to qualify for the Knockout Stages.

Although Mike & Judy Easy were unable to maintain their run of wins they did manage a draw which was enough to see them through. Also moving on to 9 points, still undefeated and booking their place for Sunday afternoon were Gordon Bloomfield & John Whiting and Bob & Ruth Withers.

Betty Johnson & Chris Tilbrook duly completed their 5th win to guarantee their qualification, along with Peter & Kay Masters who finished their 6 games with a total of 9 points.

Half of the qualification spots were now spoken for, with perhaps 11 teams in with a realistic chance of capturing one of the remaining 6 places.

The next batch of qualifiers were Ken Drane & Val Game and Lin & Tony Cooke and the next round of matches saw David & Julie Hurr, Keith & Prim Hume and Jim & Janet Squares.

And so with one round of matches still left to go there was just one place left to fill and it was going to be between 2 teams. Alan & Josie Long were finished on 7 points and the only team that could still overtake them were Alan & Kath Powis who needed only a draw, provided they scored more than 6 shots. However, going into the last end they were 5-2 down and seemingly out of it, but remarkably they came back with a 5 shot haul to win the game and qualify.

So out of those teams the top 4 who would go straight through to the Quarter Finals were the only one not to have lost a game, Betty Johnson & Chris Tilbrook, Sam & Trish Agnew, Gordon Bloomfield & John Whiting and Bob & Ruth Wither, the first two of whom won all their games, while the next two dropped only one point each.

Knockout Rounds
First Round
Ken Drane & Val Game took a comfortable 15-2 win over Alan & Kath Powis and the same was true for Keith & Prim Hume who beat Peter & Kay Masters 12-4.

Tony & Lin Cooke were tied 5-5 with Jim & Janet Squares with 2 ends to go, but the Squares took the 6th end and on the final end forced their opposition into a shot which took the jack off, leaving the Squares 9-5 victors.

And equally close was the game between Mike & Judy Easy and David & Julie Hurr which yielded just one shot per end. It was the Hurrs, though, that got the better of it, winning 5-2.

Quarter Finals
Gordon Bloomfield & John Whiting had a 6-4 lead over Jim & Janet Squares with 2 ends to go, but the Squares came through to overhall their opponents and go through with an 8-6 win.

Keith & Prim Hume took 4 on the first end against Sam & Trish Agnew and never looked back. The previously unbeaten Agnews were never bale to recover and finally lost 9-2.

The other team that had previously won all their games, Betty Johnson & Chris Tilbrook finally met their match, losing 6-3 to David & Julie Hurr.

But closest of all were Bob & Ruth Withers and Ken Drane & Val Game. The Withers had been 5-2 ahead with 2 ends to go, but Ken and Val came back to draw level after 7 ends and take the game to an extra end which they went on to win.

Semi Finals
Jim & Janet Squares kept it pretty close with Keith & Prim Hume over the first half of the game, but the Humes came strong in the last half, running out to an 8-1 win.

Ken Drane & Val Game were only 4-3 up with 2 ends to go against David & Julie Hurr but had the best of the last couple of ends to finish 7-3 ahead.

Final
If the semi-finals weren't as closely fought as one might have expected, the same was not true of the final which went all the way down to the wire.

Keith & Prim Hume made a promising start with 2 on the first end. The next end was tied, but Ken & Val levelled the score on the third.

The Humes were back in front with a shot on the 4th end and added another on the next to lead 4-2, in a game as close as this one it was a promising lead.

But once again Ken & Val fought back, getting back to level and leaving it all to be settled on the last end.

And that final end was another cracker, which eventually went to Ken & Val, denying the Humes of their double.

Both teams played so well that it was a shame that anyone had to lose, but it was a great climax to the weekend.

Once again we owe a debt of thanks to everyone who joined us for the weekend, and for helping us to raise another £250 for the East Anglia Air Ambulance.

tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
5th December 2012