The 2023 English Rinks were hosted by Hertfordshire on 30th April 2023 at Needham Market
Community Centre.

There were 34 entrants on the day with representatives from Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk,
Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Durham & Sunderland.

The 34 teams were drawn into 7 groups of five teams (one group with a bye). The seven group
winners and best runner up progressed to the knockout stages.

Group 1
Claydon/Barking took control of the group by comfortably winning their first three games 8-2, 13-1
and 11-0. Despite being beaten 9-3 in their final group game by Belstead/Claydon they had already
done enough to win the group on 6 points and 35 shots ahead of Claydon (6 points 28 shots) and
Belstead/Claydon (5 points 32 shots).

Group 2
A clash of the two Herts teams in the first group game saw C beat A 6-3. Herts C opened the group
up by subsequently losing in their next match to Kenninghall 7-5. With the two Herts teams and
Kenninghall continue to win their matches it always looked like coming down to the final fixture
between Herts A and Kenninghall to decide the group.

Herts C had played all their matches and were sat on top of the group 6 points and 27 shots.
However, it was impossible for them to stay there as no matter the result between Herts A and
Kenninghall one of them would move above them. It was Herts A that did so by taking a close game
6-4. That left Herts A as group winners on 6 points and 37 shots ahead of Herts C (6 points 27 shots)
and Kenninghall (6 points 25 shots).

Group 3
This group proved to be the closest of all with no more than a four shot winning margin in any one of
the group games. Unfortunately for Hintlehsam B they were on the wrong side of all four group
fixtures. There were just 2 points that separated the remaining four teams.

Ellesmere having drawn with Hunters earlier in the group kept their chances of progression alive in
their penultimate game of the group by beating West Bergholt 5-4, at the same time bringing West
Bergholt’s chances to an end.

Ellesmere would need just a draw in their final game to progress against Stanningfield, but they fell
to a 6-3 loss, which meant that Stanningfield leapfrogged them to take the group on 6 points and 25
shots. Hunters took second (5 points 22 shots) with Ellesmere in third (5 points 21 shots).

Group 4
Three teams made the running in group 4 (Soham/LVH, Suffolk/Sunderland and Lakeside). The
matches between the three teams looked like they would end up being decisive. The first of the day
saw Soham/LVH take a close 7-5 win over Lakeside. This made them the early front runners.
Lakeside kept themselves in the running with a 9-4 win over Suffolk/Sunderland.

The final group game would see Soham/LVH play Suffolk/Sunderland. Lakeside sat atop of the table
on 6 points and 37 shots but were reliant on Soham/LVH not winning to stay there. Soham/LVH had
drawn their penultimate group game with Barrow A 6-6, but a win would see them progress.
Suffolk/Sunderland, who were likely too far back to catch Lakeside on shots to win the group, were
looking for a victory to give themselves a chance to progress as best runner up. In the end it was
Suffolk/Sunderland that took a 7-1 victory.

That left Lakeside top of the group on 6 points and 37 shots. Suffolk/Sunderland took second on 6
points 30 shots, which was enough to see them advance as best runner up by just two shots.

Group 5
Nobody was pulling away in group 5. After two rounds of fixtures all five teams had won 1 and lost 1.
Hundon and Sewards End both won their 3rd games to put themselves in a good position to advance
through the group. Both teams were on 4 points and 19 shots, and it would come down to who
could score the most shots in their final group game against Reepham A.

It was Sewards End that played their match first. They did record a win but only by a score of 6-3.
Hundon would need a victory and at least 7 shots to ensure that they would progress. They managed
to do so taking the match 8-1. That left Hundon top of the group on 6 points and 27 shots just ahead
of Sewards End in 2nd (6 points 25 shots).

Group 6
It was Sherburn and Elmsett that made the early running in group 6, both winning their first two
games. Knodishall remained in contention too having won 1 and lost 1.

The decisive games in the group would not come to the later stages. Firstly, Knodishall played their
final group game against Sherburn knowing only a win would keep them in contention to progress.
They were unable to do so going down to a 7-5 loss. Elmsett had won their first two games, but a
heavy defeat to Herts B in their 3rd game meant that they would need a 13 shot winning margin
against their opponents Sherburn. They were unable to do so as Sherburn took the win 8-3 to
progress as one of only two teams to win all their group games.

Group 7
The group started off with narrow wins for Suffolk/Durham over Bottisham (5-4) and Tostock over
Hitcham B (6-4). Those two teams won their remaining games in the group to set up a winner takes
all encounter. Suffolk/Durham could afford a draw as they held a 4-shot advantage over their
opponents.

It was Suffolk/Durham that come out on top with an 11-2 victory. That left them top of the group on
8 points and 40 shots, progressing as the second team to progress by winning all their group games.
Tostock finished in second place (6 points 27 shots) but narrowly missed out (by 3 shots) as best
runner up.

Quarter Finals
Claydon/Barking (Winner Group 1) v Herts A (Winner Group 2)
The match started closely with singles exchanged over the first three ends to see Herts A take a 2-1
lead. Claydon/Barking took control of the match with consecutive 3’s on ends 4 and 5 to take a
commanding 7-2 lead. Herts A really did need to score on the 6th end to give themselves a chance in
the game, but they dropped a further 2 shots to fall 9-2 behind. They did manage to take two shots
on the final end, but Claydon/Barking were comfortable winners 9-4.

Stanningfield (Winner Group 3) v Lakeside (Winner Group 4)
After dropping a single on the first end Stanningfield took consecutive 2’s to move 4-1 ahead after
three ends. Lakeside responded by taking a count of 5 on the 4th end to move into a 6-4 lead. Singles
were exchanged over the next two ends meaning Lakeside maintained their two shot advantage
going into the final end. Lakeside managed the final end, taking a single shot and with it an 8-5
victory.

Hundon (Winner Group 5) v Sherburn (Winner Group 6)
A very tight start to the game saw each side take consecutive singles to make it 2-2 after four ends.
From there Sherburn took control, taking 3 shots on the 5th end and further counts of 2 on the 6th
and 7th ends to complete a 9-2 victory.

Durham/Suffolk (Winner Group 7) v Suffolk/Sunderland (Best Runner Up)
Despite winning the first four ends Durham/Suffolk had not pulled away from their opponents,
taking singles on each they led 4-0. Suffolk/Sunderland picked up 2 shots on the 5th end to get back
into the game at 4-2. They were unable to score on the 6th end, Durham/Suffolk reopening their four
shot advantage by taking 2 in reply to make the score 6-2. Suffolk/Sunderland were not able to score
the big count they needed on the final end, with Durham/Suffolk taking two further shots and an 8-2
win.

Semi-Finals
Lakeside (David Templeton, Steve Templeton, Adam Wilson & Ian Clarke) v Sherburn (Jenny
Sanderson, Lavinia McGahan, Colin Young & Frank Froud)
Scores of 2 were exchanged on the first and second ends with Lakeside responding to Sherburn’s 2
on the first end. Lakeside scored what appeared to be a decisive 5 shots on the 3rd end to take a 7-2
lead, Sherburn scored a 3 followed by a 2 to level the scores at 7-7. Lakeside re-established their
lead on the 6th end taking a 9-7 lead into the final end. They were able to see the game out, taking a
further two shots and with it an 11-7 win.

Claydon/Barking (Emma Watling, Marilyn Cook, Clint Watling & Sam Runnacles) v Durham/Suffolk
(Jaxon McKenna, Neal Ridley, Steven Cain & Neil Jolly)
Durham/Suffolk took early control of the game scoring a single on the first end, 2 shots on the
second and followed by a 3 on the third end. Claydon/Barking made some inroads into that lead by
taking singles on the 4th and 5th ends to reduce the lead to 6-2. On the sixth end and holding three
shots, Clint looked to protect with his first bowl by playing short of the head. However, at that point
the whistle went signalling that this would be the final end. Now requiring a further shot to take it to
an extra end, Clint attempted to draw round his short wood to count for a 4th. Neil thinking he may
be four shots down attempted to alter the head with his final wood but was not able to do so.

The extra end was dramatic with Sam playing a great shot to hold match lie with his first wood. Neil
did the same with his final wood to also hold match lie. With the last wood of the match Sam played
a wide black on to another to push it in to the head to take shot and with it a 7-6 win.

You can see footage of the last end here.

Final
Claydon/Barking (Emma Watling, Marilyn Cook, Clint Watling & Sam Runnacles) v Lakeside (David
Templeton, Steve Templeton, Adam Wilson & Ian Clarke)
Lakeside took early control of the final scoring four shots on the 1st and 3rd ends, with
Claydon/Barking scoring a single in between. From there, it was a case of Claydon/Barking trying to
score a big count to get back in the game. They never managed to do so. They scored a single on the
4th end to reduce the deficit to 8-2. Lakeside replied with a single of their own on the 5th end and a
further single on the 6th to extend their lead to an almost unassailable 10-2 lead. A large count never
looked likely on the last end; a single was scored by Claydon/Barking to make the final score 10-3 in
the favour of Lakeside.

Congratulations to both team on making the final. Special congratulations to Dave, Steve, Adam &
Ian who defended their title.

You can watch the final here.

Results

Winners David Templeton, Steve Templeton, Ian Clark & Adam Wilson (Sunderland/Durham)

Runners-Up Sam Runnacles, Clint & Emma Watling and Marilyn Cook (Suffolk/Herts)

You can find a list of the previous winners here.

updated 01/05/23