Pl Pts Essex 6 8 Suffolk 6 6 Sunderland 6 6 Durham 6 6 Bedfordshire 6 5 Hertfordshire 6 5 Northumberland 6 4 Norfolk 3 4 Cambridgeshire 3 4

Pl Pts Suffolk 9 12 Essex 9 12 Sunderland 9 10 Norfolk 6 9 Durham 9 7 Northumberland 9 6 Cambridgeshire 6 6 Bedfordshire 9 5 Hertfordshire 6 5

Pl Pts Suffolk 12 16 Norfolk 9 15 Essex 12 14 Sunderland 12 12 Durham 12 11 Cambridgeshire 9 9 Hertfordshire 9 8 Northumberland 9 6 Bedfordshire 12 5

Session 5
With Durham beating Suffolk 4-2, Norfolk, who took 4 points off Essex, moved to the top. Although they were only a point ahead of Suffolk, they still had games in hand.

Cambridgeshire's 6 point haul from their encounter with Bedfordshire moved them up the table, as did Hertfordshire's 4 points against Northumberland.

Pl Pts Norfolk 12 19 Suffolk 15 18 Essex 15 16 Durham 15 15 Cambridgeshire 12 15 Hertfordshire 12 12 Sunderland 12 12 Northumberland 12 8 Bedfordshire 15 5

Session 6
Another solid session from Norfolk, 4-2 over Sunderland, saw them stretch their lead as Suffolk sat out the round. Durham's 4 point score over Cambridgeshire took them into second place.

Norfolk were now 4 points ahead of Durham, who had played more games, and 5 points ahead of Suffolk and Hertfordshire (who took 6 points off Essex) who were on the same number of games as the leaders.

Bedfordshire lost 2-4 to Northumberland, but that was the first points they had picked up since the second session.

Pl Pts Norfolk 15 23 Durham 18 19 Suffolk 15 18 Hertfordshire 15 18 Cambridgeshire 15 17 Essex 18 16 Sunderland 15 14 Northumberland 15 12 Bedfordshire 18 7

Session 7
Durham were beaten 4-2 by Northumberland, which meant that they slipped to third as Norfolk and Suffolk met one another. Suffolk could take the lead by winning all 3 games, but in the end the points were shared. That was enough to move Suffolk up into second place, but Norfolk were now 5 points clear.

Cambridgeshire and Essex also shared the points in their matchup, while Sunderland took 4 points off Hertfordshire.

All of that meant that Norfolk were edging away while behind them the next 6 teams were seperated by just 3 points as we moved towards the end of Saturday.

Pl Pts Norfolk 18 26 Suffolk 18 21 Durham 21 21 Hertfordshire 18 20 Cambridgeshire 18 20 Essex 21 19 Sunderland 18 18 Northumberland 18 16 Bedfordshire 18 7

Session 8
Norfolk fought hard to get the better of Hertfordshire (4-2) and maintain the lead, although with Suffolk winning all 3 games against Cambridgeshire, the gap was now reduced to 3 points.

Essex also had a full haul of points (against Bedfordshire), pushing them up to third, while Sunderland had the best of Northumberland (4-2).

Pl Pts Norfolk 21 30 Suffolk 21 27 Essex 24 25 Hertfordshire 21 22 Sunderland 21 22 Durham 21 21 Cambridgeshire 21 20 Northumberland 21 18 Bedfordshire 21 7

Session 9
The final session of the day saw a big turn around. Having had a great day, leading all afternoon, often with games in hand, Norfolk finally stumbled.

Cambridgeshire had scored nothing in the previous session, but took the whole lot this time, against Norfolk. Meanwhile Suffolk were winning two of their three games against Northumberland. That would be enough to give them the lead at the close of play, but only by a single point.

It was a disappointing finish to the day for Norfolk, but they could console themselves with the fact that they were second by only the slimmest of margins and were 4 points clear of third.

And that fight for third was intense with Cambridgeshire, Durham (who took 5 points off Hertfordshire) and Sunderland (winning 4-2 against Bedfordshire) all on 26 points. Meanwhile Essex, who had to sit out the session just one point further back.

Hertfordshire were in seventh, but they were on 23 points, only 3 points behind third. And 8th placed Northumberland (20 points) were not that far behind.

Bedfordshire were someway adrift in last, but did add a couple more points as the day ended.

It really was going to be all to play for on Sunday. Not only was it close between first and second, but the top six were covered by as many points.

Pl Pts Suffolk 24 31 Norfolk 24 30 Cambridgeshire 24 26 Durham 24 26 Sunderland 24 26 Essex 24 25 Hertfordshire 24 23 Northumberland 24 20 Bedfordshire 24 9

Pl Pts Suffolk 27 37 Essex 27 31 Cambridgeshire 27 31 Norfolk 24 30 Hertfordshire 27 27 Durham 27 26 Sunderland 27 26 Northumberland 27 21 Bedfordshire 27 11

 

Session 11
Suffolk picked up 4 points against Hertfordshire to stay out in front, but Norfolk got all 6 off Northumberland to close the gap. They were now 5 points behind with a session in hand.

Essex lost ground on the leaders as they only won one of their three games against Sunderland, but the result of the session and perhaps the weekend so far, was Bedfordshire's three wins out of three against Durham. Although they were still last, they were at least within spitting distance of Northumberland.

Pl Pts Suffolk 30 41 Norfolk 27 36 Essex 30 33 Cambridgeshire 27 31 Sunderland 30 30 Hertfordshire 30 29 Durham 30 26 Northumberland 30 21 Bedfordshire 30 17

 

Session 12
Suffolk won all three of their games against Bedfordshire to retain the lead, but Norfolk, in a repeat of Saturday's final session, missed their chance to keep in touch, by losing all three games to Durham. That gave Suffolk an 11 point lead over both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire (who took 5 off Sunderland), although both teams had a s ession in hand.

Meanwhile Essex missed their chance to keep pace by picking up only one win against Northumberland.

Pl Pts Suffolk 33 47 Norfolk 30 36 Cambridgeshire 30 36 Essex 33 35 Durham 33 34 Sunderland 33 31 Hertfordshire 30 29 Northumberland 33 25 Bedfordshire 33 17

Session 13
While Norfolk were able to pick up 5 of the 6 shots on offer against Bedfordshire, Suffolk maintained their pace with a clean sweep over Essex. That edged their lead out to 12 points, although Norfolk still had games in hand.

Cambridgeshire slipped back as they shared the points with Hertfordshire, while Sunderland moved ahead of Durham by winning 4-2 in their encounter.

Pl Pts Suffolk 36 53 Norfolk 33 41 Cambridgeshire 33 39 Essex 36 35 Sunderland 36 35 Durham 36 34 Hertfordshire 33 32 Northumberland 33 25 Bedfordshire 36 18

 

Session 14
Suffolk stayed top with 5 points over Durham, extending their lead slightly as Norfolk beat Essex 4-2 and Cambridgeshire picked up 5 against Bedfordshire. While Hertfordshire moved up with 4 against Northumberland.

Suffolk's lead was now 13 points, although both Norfolk and Cambridgeshire had games in hand over them, added to which all three teams would be playing one another later in the day.

Meanwhile a gap had now developed back to third, although Essex, Herts, Durham and Sunderland were seperated by just 2 points.

Pl Pts Suffolk 39 58 Norfolk 36 45 Cambridgeshire 36 44 Essex 39 37 Hertfordshire 36 36 Durham 39 35 Sunderland 36 35 Northumberland 36 27 Bedfordshire 39 19

Session 15
Leaders Suffolk sat out the session, so it was time for the chasers to make the most of their games in hand.

And that was just what Cambridgeshire did, picking up all 6 points against Durham. That put them into second place by 2 points as Norfolk and Sunderland finished 3-3.

Essex improved their chances of securing fourth place by taking 4 points from Hertfordshire, while Northumberland took all six from Bedfordshire to remove any chance of finishing last.

Pl Pts Suffolk 39 58 Cambridgeshire 39 50 Norfolk 39 48 Essex 42 41 Hertfordshire 39 38 Sunderland 39 38 Durham 42 35 Northumberland 39 33 Bedfordshire 42 19

 

Session 16
Although they were now 10 points off the lead, Norfolk had a chance to get back into the reckoning with their game against Suffolk. However it was Suffolk that got the better of the encounter, picking up another full house.

Cambridgeshire took 4 points off Essex, taking them into a clear second place, but they were now 10 points adrift.

Sunderland's 4-2 win over Hertfordshire meant that the two teams switched places in the standings and Northumberland's 4-2 victory over Durham meant that the two were now tied.

Pl Pts Suffolk 42 64 Cambridgeshire 42 54 Norfolk 42 48 Essex 45 43 Sunderland 42 42 Hertfordshire 42 40 Durham 45 37 Northumberland 42 37 Bedfordshire 42 19

Session 17
The only two teams left who could now take the title, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire met each other in the penultimate round of games. Cambridgeshire would need all three wins to keep their hopes alive, while Suffolk knew that one win would give them the title.

As it was Suffolk took yet another clean sweep, pushing them 16 points clear and into an unassailable position.

Norfolk, meanwhile, took 5 points against Hertfordshire which put them just one point behind Cambridgeshire.

Essex beat Bedfordshire 4-2 leaving them fourth, but having now played all their games, were vulnerable to those not far behind.

And with Durham sitting out, Northumberland won two of their three games against Sunderland, lifting them up to 7th place.

Pl Pts Suffolk 45 70 Cambridgeshire 45 54 Norfolk 45 53 Essex 48 47 Sunderland 45 44 Hertfordshire 45 41 Northumberland 45 41 Durham 45 37 Bedfordshire 45 21

 

Session 18
Despite a first day where it looked as if this year's competition was wide open, Sunday was a very different story, and the final standings, at least at the very top, had a familiar ring to it.

Bedfordshire's Sunday was better than their Saturday, but sadly they finished in last place, well adrift of the rest of the field.

Northumberland, having spent most of the weekend in 8th place, went into the final session ahead of Durham, but unable to gain any further points in the final session, dropped back to 8th.

Following a good Saturday, which saw them finish tied for third, just 5 points behind the leaders and having beaten Suffolk to the Inter-County title on Friday night, Durham looked as if they would at the very least match their 2014 third place finish. However they had a disappointing Sunday, picking up just 15 points (Saturday's tally was 26 points). Their only consolation will have been picking up 4 points in the final session, thereby managing to regain 7th place, by just 4 shots.

Hertfordshire started Sunday in 7th and finished 6th, one point fewer and one place lower than in 2014. It could and should have been a better finish for them, but the final four sessions saw them accumulate only 7 points allowing them to drift down the standings.

For the majority of Sunday, Essex looked to heading for a fourth place finish, but it was snatched away from the as they sat out the final session. However they finished 3 points and one place better than 2014.

Having finished in 7th for the last 2 seasons, 2015 saw a big improvement for Sunderland. They too had begun Sunday tied for third and added 24 points to Saturday's 26 points, which enough for a solid fourth place finish, clearly the best of the Northern teams and fully 11 points better than last year.

Norfolk had spent much of Saturday leading the way, but couldn't quite maintain that pace into the second day. However they did go into the final session against second placed Cambridgeshire only a point behind. Two wins out of three would see them finish second, but they could only get one of the games. Nevertheless it was a very good weekend for them and they were never in danger of finishing outside of the top three.

After a middling Saturday, Cambridgeshire had a much better Sunday, successfully chasing down Norfolk to secure the runner-up spot in the final session. But they finished some way behind the eventual winners, mostly due to the fact that they had been unable to capture a single point from them across the weekend. And they will know that if those results alone had been the other way around, it would have been a very different story.

But it was Suffolk who, for the third consecutive year came home as winners. After only just finishing Saturday at the top of the standings, they spent all of Sunday edging further and further away from the rest. In the end they scored 45 out of a possible 48 points available to them on the second day, to finish fully 18 points clear of second place.

You can download a copy of all the weekend's results here.

Pl Pts Suffolk 48 76 Cambridgeshire 48 58 Norfolk 48 55 Sunderland 48 50 Essex 48 47 Hertfordshire 48 43 Durham 48 41 Northumberland 48 41 Bedfordshire 48 21