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National Championships 2018
Over the weekend of 9th to 11th November teams representing the nine member counties of the ECBA competed in the 27th Annual National Championships, at Potters.

Each county is represented by 6 Rinks all of whom play against their opposite number in each of the other counties, with an even spread of matches across the Saturday and Sunday.

Session 1
Suffolk and Sunderland were both off to strong starts, picking up maximum points over Norfolk and Essex respectively, whiile Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire took 4 points each against Durham and Northumberland.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

3

6
Sunderland

3

6
Bedfordshire

3

4
Cambridgeshire

3

4
Durham

3

2
Northumberland

3

2
Essex

3

0
Norfolk

3

0
Hertfordshire

0

0

Session 2
Hertfordshire opened their account a 6-0 win over Durham and Essex did the same against Northumberland. Suffolk and Sunderland played one another to determine who would make the early showing and it was Suffolk who picked up 5 of the 6 points on offer to establish themselves at the top of the standings. Cambridgeshire meanwhile moved into second with 4 points against Norfolk.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

6

11
Cambridgeshire

6

8
Sunderland

6

7
Essex

6

6
Hertfordshire

3

6
Bedfordshire

3

4
Durham

6

2
Norfolk

6

2
Northumberland

6

2

Session 3
Suffolk dropped 2 points to Hertforshire and remained top, but Cambridgeshire with all 6 against Bedfordshire, were now only a point behind. Northumberland will have been very happy with their 4 points against Sunderland which lifted them off the bottom and Norfolk were at last getting going, dropping only 1 to Durham.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

9

15
Cambridgeshire

9

14
Sunderland

9

9
Hertfordshire

6

8
Norfolk

9

7
Northumberland

9

6
Essex

6

6
Bedfordshire

6

4
Durham

9

3

Session 4
Again it was the top two playing one another and again it was Suffolk who came out on top with a clean sweep, this time over Cambridgeshire to go 7 points clear at the top. Sunderland and Hertfordshire took 3 points each from their encounter, Norfolk were moving up with another 4 against Northumberland and Essex took 4 off Bedfordshire.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

12

21
Cambridgeshire

12

14
Sunderland

12

12
Hertfordshire

12

11
Norfolk

9

11
Northumberland

9

10
Essex

12

8
Bedfordshire

9

6
Durham

9

3

Session 5
Northumberland put up a great fight against Suffolk, securing 2 draws and only just losing out in the other game. Sunderland couldn't close on the leaders as they dropped 2 to Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire and Essex both picked up 4, against Norfolk and Durham.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

15

25
Sunderland

15

16
Hertfordshire

12

15
Cambridgeshire

12

14
Essex

12

14
Norfolk

15

13
Northumberland

15

10
Bedfordshire

12

8
Durham

12

5

Session 6
Suffolk picked up a maximum against Bedfordshire to extend their lead as Cambridgeshire beats Herts 4-2. Essex also picked up 4, against Norfolk while Durham will have been delighted with 5 points out of 6 against Sunderland.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

18

31
Cambridgeshire

15

18
Essex

15

18
Sunderland

18

17
Hertfordshire

15

17
Norfolk

18

15
Durham

15

10
Northumberland

15

10
Bedfordshire

18

8

Session 7
Suffolk took all 6 points again, this time off Durham. Behind them Cambridgeshire and Essex, in 2nd and 3rd and tied on points, played one another with Essex winning all three to go clear in second. Norfolk won all three against Bedfordshire to go third and Hertfordshire moved into 4th with 4 against Northumberland.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

21

37
Essex

18

24
Norfolk

21

21
Hertfordshire

18

21
Cambridgeshire

18

18
Sunderland

18

17
Northumberland

18

12
Durham

18

10
Bedfordshire

18

8

Session 8
Suffolk sat out the session giving the others a chance to make ground on them. Unfortunately for nearest rivals Essex they lost all their games to Hertfordshire, leapfrogging them into second place. Cambridgeshire took 5 off Durham while Bedfordshire had their best session of the day, with the same score over Northumberland, lifting them off the bottom. And 4 points for Norfolk over Sunderland kept them in third.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

21

37
Hertfordshire

21

27
Norfolk

24

25
Essex

21

24
Cambridgeshire

21

23
Sunderland

21

19
Bedfordshire

21

13
Northumberland

21

13
Durham

21

11

Session 9 (Day 1 end of play)
Northumberland and Durham split the points as they faced one another, while Bedfordshire picked up 2 points against Hertfordshire, that meant that the bottom 3 were covered by just 2 points.

Cambridgeshire took 4 points off Sunderland but Essex could only get 2 off Suffolk, so 3rd to 6th were just 6 points apart.

Second place now though was nicely in the hands of Hertfordshire who were 4 points clear of third placed Cambridgeshire. However it was Suffolk that finished the day on top where they had been since the first session, 10 points clear, but still with plenty of work to do on day 2.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

24

41
Hertfordshire

24

31
Cambridgeshire

24

27
Essex

24

26
Norfolk

24

25
Sunderland

24

21
Northumberland

24

16
Bedfordshire

24

15
Durham

24

14

Session 10
If anyone thought that it was all over by the end of the first day they were very much mistaken. Suffolk must still have been half asleep as they lost all three games to Norfolk. Cambridgeshire also took a maximum, against Northumberland, Essex took 5 off Sunderland and Durham took 4 against Bedfordshire.

Suffolk's lead was now down to 8 points, over Cambridgeshire and of course Hertfordshire now had games in hand having sat out the session.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

27

41
Cambridgeshire

27

33
Essex

27

31
Norfolk

27

31
Hertfordshire

24

31
Sunderland

27

22
Durham

27

18
Northumberland

27

17
Bedfordshire

27

16

Session 11
And it didn't get much better in the next session for the leaders as they only came away from their encounter with Sunderland with 2 points. In fact it was 4-2 results all around, for Northumberland over Essex, Norfolk over Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire over Durham.

Suffolk's lead was still 8 points, over Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Hertfordshire (who still had those games in hand) and Essex were only 2 points further back.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

30

43
Cambridgeshire

30

35
Norfolk

30

35
Hertfordshire

27

35
Essex

30

33
Sunderland

30

26
Durham

30

20
Northumberland

30

20
Bedfordshire

27

17

Session 12
Every session would of course be vital, but this one especially so as Hertfordshire took on Suffolk, a clear win for Herts would put them in a great position.

Luckily for Suffolk they finally pulled their socks up, taking 5 of the 6 points on offer, giving themselves a little breathing space. Meanwhile Cambridgeshire kept up their push with 6 against Beds, Norfolk stayed in 3rd with 4 against Durham and Northumberland did well to win 2 of their 3 games against Sunderland.

Suffolk were now just 7 ahead of Cambridgeshire and while Herts were 12 points back they had a session in hand.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

33

48
Cambridgeshire

33

41
Norfolk

33

39
Hertfordshire

30

36
Essex

30

33
Sunderland

33

28
Durham

33

24
Northumberland

33

22
Bedfordshire

30

17

Session 13
Cambridgeshire now had a chance to bite into that lead, which they did, winning twice against Suffolk, leaving them just 5 points behind. Meanwhile Hertfordshire got all 6 against Sunderland taking them to within 8 points of the lead and with games in hand.

Norfolk's chances were fading as they only picked up 2 points off Northumberland who themselves were now up to 6th. And Essex took all 6 off Bedfordshire, keeping them in the fight for one of the top spots.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

36

50
Cambridgeshire

36

45
Hertfordshire

33

42
Norfolk

36

41
Essex

33

39
Northumberland

36

28
Sunderland

36

28
Durham

33

22
Bedfordshire

33

17

Session 14
While Suffolk dropped one of their games to Northumberland, Hertfordshire took all the points from Norfolk to move closer and were now just 6 points behind with that all important session in hand.

Essex took 4 off Durham and Befordshire had a great session, winning all 3 games against Sunderland.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

39

54
Hertfordshire

36

48
Cambridgeshire

36

45
Essex

36

43
Norfolk

39

41
Northumberland

39

30
Sunderland

39

28
Durham

36

24
Bedfordshire

36

23

Session 15
Suffolk managed to take all 3 wins over Bedfordshire, but had to work for it. Meanwhile Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire were playing one another with 2 wins going to Herts.

Sunderland and Durham took 3 points each and Essex took 4 off Norfolk.

That left Herts 8 behind Suffolk but 5 ahead of both Cambridgeshire and Essex.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

42

60
Hertfordshire

39

52
Cambridgeshire

39

47
Essex

39

47
Norfolk

42

43
Sunderland

42

31
Northumberland

39

30
Durham

39

27
Bedfordshire

39

23

Session 16
Ahead of the session they would have to sit out Suffolk needed to make the most of their games against Durham, and they did, winning the lot while Northumberland did very well against Hertfordshire, taking 3 points. Cambridgeshire and Norfolk also took maximum points, against Essex and Bedfordshire.

All of that meant that Suffolk had now stretched their lead over Herts to 11 points who were now the only other team with a mathematical chance of taking overhauling them.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

45

66
Hertfordshire

42

55
Cambridgeshire

42

53
Norfolk

45

49
Essex

42

47
Northumberland

42

33
Sunderland

42

31
Durham

42

27
Bedfordshire

42

23

Session 17
Hertfordshire were going to need all 6 points against Essex to keep up the pressure, but unfortunately for them it was a good session for their opponents and Herts could only come away with 2 points.

That left Suffolk 9 points clear with just one session to play and the title now secured.

Cambridgeshire took 4 points from Durham and were now equal on points with Herts so the two of them would be playing for the runner-up spot.

Northumberland took all 6 against Bedfordshire to cement 6th place and Norfolk took 4 off Sunderland and still had a hope of 4th place.

Pl

Pts
Suffolk

45

66
Cambridgeshire

45

57
Hertfordshire

45

57
Norfolk

48

53
Essex

45

51
Northumberland

45

39
Sunderland

45

33
Durham

45

29
Bedfordshire

45

23

Final Session
With the title already decided the final session was all about the fight for second place. Although Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire were tied on points, Herts had a considerable shot advantage. Winning all three games would definitely get the job done and that was exactly what happened, so the fact that Cambridgeshire dropped one of their games didn't come into it.

Hertfordshire's success in the final session came at the expense of Bedfordshire who had suffered a difficult second day, totalling only 8 points, the one bright spot being the session against Sunderland which brought them 3 of their day's 4 wins.

After being part of a three way tussle on Sunday Durham pulled clear of Beds on Sunday, lifting themselves off the bottom to finish 8th.

If Sunderland thought that their Saturday had been poor, Sunday turned out to be even worse, they only took 14 points all day and 7th place will have been a disappointment to the and a surprise to everyone else.

Just 2 points off the bottom overnight Northumberland had a tremendous Sunday, scoring 29 points, they finished 10 points clear of Sunderland in 6th place, their best result at the Nationals since 2012.

Essex looked to be in the fight for a top 3 spot overnight but a repeat of 2017's 5th was the best they could do as the teams ahead all outscored them on Sunday.

Having picked up second place last year, fourth was the best Norfolk could manage, having said that they overtook Essex on Sunday and were only 5 points down on last year's total.

The best performing team on Sunday were Cambridgeshire with 34 points, unfortunately after Saturday they had left themselves with a little too much to do, so it was another 3rd place finish for them this year.

Seventh in 2016, fourth in 2017 and now second in 2018 for Hertfordshire and it might have been still better if not for Sunday's thrid session which saw them pick up just one point against Suffolk. If that result had been reversed they could well have been going home with the trophy. Having said that this was by far and away their best showing in the Nationals and they'll be the team to watch next year.

But it was Suffolk that held on to take a 6th successive win. After a very good Saturday they started very poorly on Sunday, although they finally pulled themselves together in the afternoon to only just be outscored by their nearest opponents on Day 2. On paper a winning margin of 9 points may look comfortable, but it was anything but that in reality and they can certainly expect another tough fight next year.

The full set of results can be found here.

Sat

Sun

Total
Suffolk

41

31

72
Hertfordshire

31

32

63
Cambridgeshire

27

34

61
Norfolk

25

28

53
Essex

26

25

51
Northumberland

16

29

45
Sunderland

21

14

35
Durham

14

15

29
Bedfordshire

15

8

23