Report

INTER COUNTY WEEKEND REPORT 2013

Another bumper crowd descended on Vauxhall Holiday Park for the National Inter County Finals, National Under 21 Singles and Mens and Ladies England Team Trials.


Under 21s National Singles Championship

With an entry of over one hundred, this was won by Michael Hope who beat John Egan 6-2 in the final. Hope defeated Jack Smithers 6-4 and Egan beat Joshua Riddaway 6-2 in the semi's.


Mens/Ladies England Trials

The Ladies and Mens England team trials took place on the Friday and after a long day, the Ladies qualifiers were Nicola Comrie (Herefordshire), Michaela Lester (Northamptonshire), Emma Senior (Leicestershire), Tina Allton (Northamptonshire), Sarah Nicklin (Worcestershire), Anne-Louise Arkle (Cleveland) and Sue Osborn (Suffolk).

Anne Taylor has been appointed as interim Manager after the retirement of Shirley Jewkes who had served for fifteen years.

The qualifiers for the Mens team were, Robert Wharne (Staffordshire), Joe Prince (London), Kevin Rainbow (Durham), Mark Singleton (Derbyshire), Darren McVicar (Devon), Andy Lakin (Humberside), Daniel Eaton-Lees (West Midlands) and Darrell Bareham (Worcestershire).


INTERCOUNTY FINALS

Juniors

The Inter County Finals commenced with the Juniors section at 8-00pm Friday evening and it was Lancashire who set the pace with a big 23-8 win over Hertfordshire. Leicestershire beat Surrey 23-11 and Kent beat Suffolk by the same score. Reigning champions Cleveland got off to a good start with a 23-14 win over Gloucestershire. Bristol A beat new boys Lincolnshire 23-15. Fancied Bedfordshire overcame another fancied side Staffordshire 23-19. GMC, last years KO Cup winners, beat Nottinghamshire 23-17 and Warwickshire beat Somerset 23-18.

In the winners matches a very close encounter between GMC and Kent saw the latter take the match 23-20 thanks to a 6-4 final leg. Leicestershire v Bedfordshire saw our first play-off and Josh Riddaway and James Molloy made sure it was Beds that progressed to the semi-finals. Warwickshire made a terrific start against Lancashire winning the first leg 8-3, but Lancs hit back in the second for a 9-2 leg win. Incredibly, Warwick won the third leg 9-2 and although Lancs won the final leg they could not prevent Warwickshire going through to the semi's. Champions Cleveland had a fairly easy 23-16 win over Bristol to take the final spot in the semi's.

In the semi-finals Kent won the first leg 6-5, but Warwickshire reversed that in the second to level, they then won the third leg by the odd frame to lead 17-16 into the final leg and they won six more to take the match 23-20. The other semi saw the holders take the leg 7-4, before Beds came back with a 6-5 win in the second. Beds won the third leg by the same score to trail by the odd frame into the final leg but the champions, Cleveland, took the match 23-19.

In the final, Cleveland stormed into an 8-3 first leg win, Warwickshire hit back to take the second 6-5 but they were overrun in the third leg 9-2 and Cleveland retained their title with a 23-13 victory.


Ladies

In the Ladies, champions Kent looked in good form when they dispatched Norfolk in their first match 23-11 and this seemed to set the trend in the section as Cleveland, last years KO Cup winners, beat Devon 23-16. North Yorkshire won 23-14 against Northants, Staffs beat GMC 23-15, Somerset had an easy 23-12 win over Worcestershire, Leicestershire beat Oxfordshire 23-10, and Lancashire beat South Yorkshire 23-16 with Hampshire overcoming Cambridgeshire 23-18.

The winners then played on Saturday and Cleveland beat Hampshire 23-15. A close match resulted in Lancs beating Staffs 23-21, favourites Kent beat Leicestershire 23-20 and Somerset had a comfortable 23-13 victory over North Yorkshire.

The trend of comfortable victories continued in the semi's where Kent beat Cleveland 23-14 and Lancashire beat Somerset by the same score.

The final turned into a shock defeat for holders Kent as Lancs took the first two legs 6-5 and then the third 7-4 to go on and win the match 23-16 for a great victory.


Mens B

In the Mens B, Nottinghamshire made a flying start defeating Somerset 23-10. Staffordshire beat Devon by the same score. Essex put up some resistance against Surrey but went down 23-16. Lancashire beat Northants 23-17, as did West Midlands against Leicestershire. GMC had a comfortable 23-13 win over Cleveland. Buckinghamshire won the first leg against London but lost the second 7-4, Bucks then dominated the third leg with an 8-3 win but it was nip and tuck to the end as Bucks won 23-21. Durham edged the first leg 6-5 against Norfolk but lost the second 8-3, back came Durham with another 6-5, and winning six of the first seven frames in the final leg looked likely winners but Norfolk won the final four frames for a 23-21 win.

In the winners matches, GMC Cruised into the semi's with an easy 23-12 win against Bucks. Lancs made a flying start with an 8-3 first leg against Notts but Notts won the second 6-5. Winning five frames in a row Lancs took the third leg 7-4 but were made to fight for the final frame as Notts won the first six in the final leg before Lancs secured a 23-19 win. Staffordshire and West Midlands fought out a very tight match which eventually went to a play-off and although Daz Henshall won one for Staffs, Paul Waterfield and Ryan Killian made sure West Midlands won the match 24-23. Surrey won the first leg 7-4 against Norfolk but were pegged back 8-3 in the second. Surrey then won the third again by 7-4, and went on to win the match 23-20, in the semi-finals G.M.C. Lost the first leg by the odd frame 6-5 but took the second 7-4 and then the third 6-5 to lead 18-15 into the final leg and although they lost the first two frames went on to win the match 23-18. In the other semi Lancs won the first leg by the odd frame, then took the second 8-3. With another 6-5 win in the third leg they won the match 23-13.

The final turned into a rather one sided affair as Lancs took the first leg 8-3 and although G.M.C. Won the second 6-5, Lancs won the third 8-3 and took the match 23-12.


Mens A

Northumberland started with a good 23-13 win against Warwickshire. Humberside were too good for Essex 23-15. Somerset won the first leg 7-4 against Surrey but then lost the second 6-5. A 6-5 for Somerset in the third set them on their way to a 23-20 win. Champions Staffordshire did not have any problems beating Devon 23-15. Lancashire had a big win 23-12 over West Midlands and Northamptonshire beat Cheshire 23-15. North Yorkshire won the first two legs 7-4 against Cambridgeshire but lost the third 8-3 to go into the final leg just one frame ahead and they could not stop Cambs winning the final leg 7-4 to win the match 23-21. In the other match, two of the favourites, London and Leicestershire were against each other and London stormed to an 8-3 first leg win. This was repeated in the second leg before Leicestershire made a fight back in the third leg to win it 7-4. Incredibly Leics won the first eight frames in the final leg and it was down to Frank Costello and Jon Runghen to get London a draw but in the play-off Shaun Payne and Gavin Lomax made sure it was Leics who won the match.

In the winners matches, Northumberland and Northamptonshire were locked in a terrific battle before it finished all square. Danny Smith won the first in the play-off for Northants but Nikki Murtaugh levelled and after a very tactical frame, it was Graham Berruto who came out on top for Northants to win 24-23. Staffs, and Leics were 11 all after two legs but Staffs took a strong hold on the match with an 8-3 third leg win and it was 4-4 in the final leg when Staffs clinched the match 23-18. Humberside edged the first two legs 6-5 against Cambs but Cambs hit back in the third for an 8-3 win. Then Humberside took the last five frames to force a draw but Cambs won the play-off 2-1 to take the match 24-23. Somerset were too strong for Lancs and won 23-13.

In the semi-finals, holders Staffs found themselves 7-4 down after the first leg but levelled in the second. Staffs took the third leg 7-4 and although they lost three of the first four in the final leg went on to take their place in the final 23-20. The other semi saw Cambs go 6-5 up but Somerset took the second leg 8-3. After taking the third leg 6-5 they had a comfortable 19-14 lead into the final leg. The first six frames were shared but Cambs won the last five to force a 22 all draw. In the play-off Antony Doble and Gareth Manning won to put Somerset into the final 24-22.

In the final, champions Staffordshire got off to a good start with a 7-4 leg win, the second leg was very close but the holders edged it 6-5. Somerset reversed the score in the third and they started the final leg by winning four in a row before Jonathan Hughes and England captain Lee Kendall won two for Staffs but Mark Burr, Ben Holley and Mark Bell won the next three to send Somerset wild with delight in winning the match 23-20.



KO CUP

Juniors

On Saturday afternoon the KO Cup commenced and in the Juniors sections, four easy victories saw Stafforshire win 23-14 against Bristol A, GMC 23-16 winners over Hertfordshire, Leicestershire won 23-13 against Lincolnshire and Lancashire beat Suffolk 23-15 to progress to the semi's. Staffs beat GMC 23-20 and Leicestershire beat Lancashire by the same score to reach the final.

In the final Leicestershire took the first leg 6-5 only for Staffordshire to level in the second. Back came Leics to win the third again 6-5 but Staffs would not lie down and levelled again to force a play-off. Zac Cooper and Ryan Dimarco won two frames for Staffs to take the title 24-22.


Ladies

In the Ladies KO Cup, Leicestershire beat Devon 23-11, Staffs beat Worcestershire by the same score, South Yorkshire won 23-15 against North Yorkshire and Hampshire had a narrow 23-21 win over Norfolk.
In the semi's Staffs beat Leicestershire and South Yorkshire beat Hampshire both winning 23-13.

The Final saw South Yorkshire go 7-4 up but Staffs won the second leg 8-3. They repeated that score in the third leg, and went on to win the match 23-18.


Mens B

In the Mens B, Nottinghamshire beat Essex 23-19, Buckinghamshire beat Devon 23-21 as did Staffs against London and Somerset beat Norfolk 23-14 to make the semi's. Notts beat Bucks 23-12 and Staffs had a narrow 23-21 win over Somerset to reach the final. The final proved rather one sided as Staffs beat Notts 23-12.


Mens A

Essex beat Lancashire 23-21, as did Northumberland against London. Surrey beat Humberside 23-20, and Leicestershire beat Cheshire 23-13 to go into the semi-finals. In the semi's Northumberland won the first two legs 6-5 before Essex won the third 6-5 and then won the final four frames to snatch a 23-21 victory. The same score saw Leicestershire beat Surrey in the other semi. In the final Essex won the first leg, and never really looked back as they ran out 23-16 winners.