The day was blessed by warm sunny conditions, after the match draw had taken place defending champions Thurlton’A’ were paired to play Ipswich Division 1 newcomers Laxfield Kings Head, the other semi saw Cornard ‘A’ matched with Ipswich BC.
County President Mike Walker, League Chairman Mike Salter together with a good number of team supporters and locals witnessed some excellent bowling on the day, with the matches played in a competitive spirit and on an increasingly fast Borough of Eye green.
The second semi final saw a slightly depleted IBC team have one rink suffer a heavy defeat in the face of some excellent bowling from the Cornard Triple, but IBC had 2 decent rink wins, with the final rink very close. The match was never a runaway win, but Cornard comfortably getting home by 8 shots.
The Thurlton v Laxfield semi was an altogether more exciting affair. For much of the game a victory for the spirited Laxfield side looked like the more likely outcome, on the 3 finished rinks Thurlton lead by 9, but the final rink having 2 ends to play and losing by 10 there was 1 shot in the game in favour of Laxfield. The 17th end was a heartbreaker for the Laxfield rink dropping a 6, the match score was now 5 up to Thurlton. The final end again saw a large score this time in favour of Laxfield rink, but only a 4 so the defending champions scrapped through by 1.
Just when you thought that was the excitement for the day over, all present were treated to a marvellous league season finale. Cornard battled back in the second half the contest from a 10 plus shot deficit which remained until about 4 ends to play on all rinks, the tide then turned.
Once again with 3 rinks finished it was all to play for, Cornard needing 1 for extra ends, 2 for the win, both front ends played their part with each team holding on more than one occasion. The jack was moved more than once then the excellent throughout the day Richard Leeder delivered his final bowl, turning Thurlton’s nearest bowl out leaving Cornard holding enough shots to win the match. Thurlton’s skip had a chance to change things, but his bowl got snagged on one of the many bowls in his path, the last end of the day proved to be decisive!
After the League Shield presentation by County President Mike Walker, a buffet was provided for the teams and officials, with thanks to the Borough of Eye BC / Paul Jackson and his helpers In addition thanks must go to the green keeping and bar staff along with umpires David Nightingale & Julie Spice.
Finally to all those who attended I’m sure you will think you witnessed a day’s bowling that will be remembered for a long time, from the of quality bowling on show; to comebacks; to sixes; to final end final bowl deciders, what more could you want.
Congratulations to Cornard who return to the winners circle for the first time since 2015.
Thanks to Andrew Drummond for the Pictures in this report and to Paul Wildon for the photo on the Men's Triples page
Chris Love
Men's Triples League Secretary
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