This year's event was held
over 3-4 June at the Stanley Indoor Bowling Centre, County Durham.
Rinks
Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Sunderland were all off to winning
starts. But only Suffolk were able to repeat their win in the
second round of games, and therefore led the way. Sunderland
were second, still undefeated, after drawing.
Suffolk took a comfortable
victory over nearest rivals Sunderland in the next session, extending
their lead at the top to 2 points, with Herts moving into second
with their first win, although they hadnt yet lost a game.
Saturday ended with the
top 2 teams playing one another, a game which ended in a draw,
leaving Suffolk still 2 points clear, Herts still unbeaten, and
tied with Essex and Sunderland for second place.
Suffolk and Sunderland
both won at the start of Sunday. Suffolk maintained that 2 point
gap at the top, but Essex lost, to fall out of contention.
Just as the competition
was starting to look like it might be settled, along comes a
curveball. Durham dropped Suffolk to their first defeat, but
with Sunderland only able to draw, Suffolk still held the lead,
although it was now down to a single point over both Sunderland
and Durham.
The closest challengers
did all they could in their final games, by winning, but Suffolk
did so too, with their result in little doubt after picking up
4 on the first end.
Suffolk finished on 11
points, Sunderland and Durham were a point back, and Hertfordshire
one further point behind.

Winners - Tom & Sam
Runnacles and Clint & Emma Watling (Suffolk) |
Triples
Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, and Sunderland all won
their first games. Of those four, only Essex and Hertfordshire
won their second games, although Cambridgeshire drew to stay
undefeated.
Herts continued their winning
streak, and were now sole leaders, as Cambridgeshire dropped
Essex to their first defeat, and moved into second. Both Herts
and Cambs both won again in Saturdays final games, and
were pulling away from the rest of the field. They were on 8
and 7 points respectively, with Essex next best on 5 points.
For Hertfordshire, Sunday
started as Saturday finished, with fifth win, but Cambridgeshire
fell to a last end defeat against Norfolk. That mean that with
2 games to go, Hertfordshire were now 3 points clear of Cambridgeshire,
and had one hand on the trophy.
However, Hertfordshire
throwing away a good start in their penultimate game, against
Essex, and fell to their first loss. But luckily for them, Cambridgeshire
could only manage a draw, which meant that with a game to go,
Herts led both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire by 2 points. Herts
would play Cambridgeshire in their final game, so it was still
possible for the title to go one of three ways.
Norfolks challenge
faltered as they lost heavily, so it was all going to be down
to Herts v Cambridgeshire. It should have been a close game,
but it wasnt. Cambridgeshire go their noses in front early,
and pulled away to a comfortable 11-2 victory, to take the overall
win by 7 shots.
The top two finished on
10 points, followed by Suffolk and Essex, both just one point
behind.

Winners - Jamie Smith and Amy & Simon Missing (Cambridgeshire) |
Pairs
Hertfordshire, Northumberland, Sunderland and Durham all began
with wins, with Herts and Northumberland repeating that result
in their second games, to jointly lead the way.
Those two teams made it
3 wins out of 3, putting them already 3 points clear of the pack.
Hertfordshire continued
their runs of winning games, as Saturday came to a close, but
Northumberland finally faltered, suffering a big loss against
Sunderland. Herts now led the field by 2 points, with Northumberland
still second.
Sunday began with Hertfordshire
continuing their run of wins, and extending their lead to 3 points,
with Sunderland now moving into second.
And it was those two teams
who would meet in the penultimate round of games, a win for Sunderland
would open the competition up again, but it didnt go that
way. Herts ticked off end after end, to win the game 9-2, and
secure the title.
Having already won, Hertfordshire
almost stumbled at the last, having been behind from the first
end, they picked up a 3 on the final end against Northumberland,
to grab one final win, and finish with a perfect record, fully
5 points clear of Cambridgeshire and Sunderland.

Winners - Craig & Rebecca
Hearn (Hertfordshire) |
Singles
Likely to be the most competitive of the four competitions, Durham,
Suffolk, Northumberland and Norfolk started with wins, and of
those, only Northumberland were unable to repeat that win, making
it a three-way tie for the lead.
Suffolk took on Durham
in the third round of games, and won, and with Norfolk falling
to an unexpected loss, it was now Suffolk in the sole lead.
Suffolk and Norfolk played
one another in their final game on Saturday, and it went the
way of Norfolk, meaning that they both finished the day on 6
points, to jointly lead the way, while Durham, Sunderland, Essex,
Hertfordshire and Northumberland were all on 4 points. Seven
of the eight still in with a shout.
Things became a little
clearer as Sunday began, Norfolk won, and Suffolk lost, meaning
that there were now the sole leader, with Durham, Suffolk and
Essex 2 points behind.
Norfolk won again to maintain
their 2 point lead. Durham and Suffolk also won to keep within
range. And with Norfolk and Durham facing off in the last round,
it was all up for grabs.
A draw would do it for
Norfolk, but it was never going to be that easy, Durham had pulled
out a 4 shot lead with 2 ends to go. Norfolk grabbed back one
on the next, and with one final wood to be bowled by Durham,
were holding the 3 needed to pull off a miraculous draw, and
take the overall win. But Durham made that last wood count, doing
just enough to get third, and take an 8-7 win.
Suffolk also won, which
meant all three were tied on 10 points, but Durham already had
a big shot advantage, and took the title by 11 shots over Suffolk,
with Norfolk finishing third.

Winner - Ian Clark (Durham) |
Team
With two sessions played, it was incredibly close, Hertfordshire,
Durham and Essex were all on 10 points, with Suffolk a point
behind.
The third round was good
for Herts and Suffolk, who each collected maximum points, while
everyone else struggled, and a big gap opening up over the rest
of the field.
Saturdays final session
saw Hertfordshire do well, while Suffolk struggled. Herts were
on 25 points, Suffolk 20, and Sunderland and Essex were on 16
points.
Hertfordshire and Suffolk
held their relative positions after the first round of games
on Sunday, but the gap at the top narrowed slightly in the next
round, to just 3 points. Meanwhile, Sunderland had moved into
in a clear 3rd place.
The penultimate round of
games saw no change, Hertfordshire led on 33 points, Suffolk
were next best on 30, and Sunderland were third on 26, with Norfolk
closing in on them, just a point further back.
Suffolk were only able
to match Hertfordshire in the final round of games, which meant
that Hertfordshire regained the title by a 3 point margin.

Winners - Hertfordshire |
RINKS |
Pts |
Shots |
Suffolk |
11 |
66 |
Durham |
10 |
65 |
Sunderland |
10 |
57 |
Hertfordshire |
9 |
63 |
Cambridgeshire |
6 |
51 |
Norfolk |
5 |
50 |
Essex |
5 |
46 |
Northumberland |
0 |
36 |
|
|
TRIPLES |
Pts |
Shots |
Cambridgeshire |
10 |
63 |
Hertfordshire |
10 |
56 |
Suffolk |
9 |
63 |
Essex |
9 |
50 |
Norfolk |
8 |
56 |
Sunderland |
5 |
56 |
Northumberland |
3 |
47 |
Durham |
2 |
43 |
|
|
PAIRS |
Pts |
Shots |
Hertfordshire |
14 |
75 |
Cambridgeshire |
9 |
57 |
Sunderland |
9 |
54 |
Northumberland |
8 |
52 |
Suffolk |
6 |
50 |
Norfolk |
4 |
56 |
Durham |
4 |
31 |
Essex |
2 |
36 |
|
|
SINGLES |
Pts |
Shots |
Durham |
10 |
71 |
Suffolk |
10 |
60 |
Norfolk |
10 |
53 |
Sunderland |
6 |
50 |
Hertfordshire |
6 |
48 |
Essex |
6 |
47 |
Cambridgeshire |
4 |
42 |
Northumberland |
4 |
36 |
|
|
TEAM |
Pts |
Shots |
Hertfordshire |
39 |
242 |
Suffolk |
36 |
238 |
Sunderland |
30 |
217 |
Cambridgeshire |
29 |
213 |
Norfolk |
27 |
215 |
Durham |
26 |
210 |
Essex |
22 |
179 |
Northumberland |
15 |
171 |
|
|
You can find all the weekend's
results here.
Full list of the past winners
here.
And there's a series of videos of some
of the weekend's games here. |