2011/12

Quarter Final

Wymondham 8 (74) v Connaught B 0 (23) - 16/01/2012

Another home tie in the county and cup and another comfortable win this time against Breckland opponents Connaught B. The captain left himself out for the match knowing that just three wins would seal the tie. This gave a good oppourtunity for Chris to change a couple of blocks around and see how they played. The first session saw both regular blocks win as on mat 1 saw R. Steele, M. Barker and B. Saunders beat L. Thurston, S. Hall and A. Marshall 20-7. Len at lead for Connaught is an ex Wymondham player and reads the mats well at lead, but was not as consistant in previous visits as the home side controlled the match from the start. Sweeping into an early 8-0 lead after only four ends, already gave Connaught a huge task of winning the game and was made even harder after seven ends with the score at 11-1. The Connaught trio did start to come back into the match, which did not surprise, as they won the next four ends to reduce the arrears to 11-7. Brian did the trick of switching Roger and Melvyn around again and as it has done so often this season bought the match back into Wymondham's hands as they cruised to the finish line scoring 2,2,2 and 3 for a posistive start. On mat 2 P. Saunders, M. Fisher and M. Linsdell beat H. Winup, P. King and A. Rush 17-4. The home side again flew into an 8-0 lead after four ends and never looked back as they only dropped 4 singles throughout the fifteen ends. This was again another strong performance from Pat, Mary and Mark who gave their opposistion little room for error and were for the majority of the time outplayed to be fair. The second session went the same way as the first as on mat 1 B. Barker, A. Jackson and D. Phillips beat M. Eades, K. Lurcock and J. Hazell 21-8. The Connaught triple did battle hard against Wymondham, taking an early 0-2 lead after the first end but it didn't last long as the home side regained the lead just two ends later at 4-2. From there they went on to score the next eight out of ten ends to lead 21-4. Andrew playing at two had a very strong game playing some key woods at times, Billie was steady at lead while Deb was at her usual high standard for most of the match. On mat 2 H. Stratton, J. Barrett and A. Stratton beat P. Hambling, R. Ramm and J. Li-Rocchi 16-4. Yet another strong display from Wymondham especially from Jack and Andrew who played with confidence and ease at times throughout. Hayley played competently and while having very little match practice applied herself well although maybe not setting the world alight. Again the Connaught triple battled early on with the socres tied at 2-2 after three ends but out of the remaining twelve ends Wymondham scored on ten of them as they controlled the game well. Joe again is an ex Wymondham player but he alone could not grind out the results every end as they sucummed to the Wymondham dominance. Overall this was another solid home display by the team who now have a semi final against Forncett in the Breckland five pairs to look forward to on Wednesday.

It's sad to hear of Ken's poor health again and the club wish him all the best of health and a speedy recovery for the future.

First Round

Wymondham 6 (66) v Hempnall 2 (31) - 21/11/2011

Home advantage certainly paid off for Wymondham in the end as they romped to victory in the second half as they displayed real tenacity against a strong Hempnall side who on the night could not match them. The first session on mat 1 saw P. Saunders, M. Fisher and M. Linsdell lose 5-20 to M. Pearce, R. Parker and N. Davidson. As Neil had previous knowledge of the mat from yesterday's Breckland league match for Carleton Rode and with Mike and Roger with him, they were a formidable force as the scoreline showed. But this was partly caused by some lapse concentration from the home side, especially Mark who just never got into the match and let the occasion get the better of him again, as at least three ends ended up going to Hempnall when Wymondham were holding. A change of bowls was maybe not the ideal thing to do in a crucial match but Hempnall for the majority of the match were in control as they lead 9-0 after only three ends with a five dropped on the second. On mat 2 R. Steele, M. Barker and B. Saunders carried on from yesterday as they cruised to victory against C. Stevenson, J. Cann and P. Baker 21-2. This was a much needed result looking at the other mat as Roger again carried on his rich vain of form as only one bowl went a miss throughout the whole match and dictated the play nearly every end. This made life easier for Melvyn as most of time he was consolidating and doing it well. Joan found herself up against it most ends and found it difficult also to adjust as more of her woods were trying to break up the heads. This left Paul in all sorts of trouble the majority of the time and adopted playing a ten pin bowling style most of the night which had little reward apart from cutting shots down. Wymondham did the majority of the damage early on taking a 12-0 lead after six ends, then a three on end eight, then six singles in the last seven ends as Brian did what was needed when down and controlled the match well for a deserved result.

Second session saw two superb wins as Wymondham looked "up for it". On mat 1 M. George, P. King and C. Mann beat S. Harman, J. Sparham and R. Harrowing 19-4. Again Wymondham played the mat well and worked it to their advantage. Mikey was consistant at lead for the majority while Peter had a very strong game at two. This caused Syd and Jon to be more controlled but being on foreign mats made it difficult. Chris was in determined mood and lead 7-0 after four ends,this prompted a change for the away side as Jon and Richard swapped places but this did little to change the tide as Wymondham increased their lead to 11-2 after nine ends. The home side continued their form picking up four shots on end thirteen, while Jon had some very good attacking woods but just didnt get the results most ends as too many Wymondham woods were in the head. On mat 2 B. Barker, A. Stratton and D. Phillips beat C. East, B. Cudden and C. Archer 21-5. Again Billie, Andrew and Debs were all on form apart from a slow start where Hampnall took an early 1-3 lead after three ends. But Wymondham's response was excellent as after six ends then lead 10-3 with back to back fours on ends five and six. It seemed that Hempnall were not doing much wrong but found the home side in no mood to lose as Deb again played some superb shots throughout to gain the initiative. Chris, Bernie and Charlie will feel the result was a little harsh on them but this just showed how well the home side played as they only conceded two more shots on ends seven and fourteen while Wymondham picked up another four on end eleven to eclipse another fine home victory.

At the end most of the Wymondham players were a tad surprised by the size of the result as Hempnall had visited Wymondham in the Norwich cup last season but this seemed to have not gained them much of an advantage, as they came up short on the night. Hempnall will be disappointed with the result but will have little complaints. Maybe Hempnall may get their revenge if both progress to the Norwich Cup quarter finals where Wymondham go to First Bus Thursday night in high spirits!