Suffolk 103 Bedfordshire 131SUFFOLK went down to a 28-shot defeat to Bedfordshire in their opening Eastern Counties League match played at the Felixstowe & Suffolk BC.

Suffolk 103 Bedfordshire 131

SUFFOLK went down to a 28-shot defeat to Bedfordshire in their opening Eastern Counties League match played at the Felixstowe & Suffolk BC.

Suffolk selectors who where using this match as trial for the 2007 Middleton Cup campaign will have some positives to take out of the performance along with some concerns. Without the executive's rink score, who lost by 20 shots, the result would have been much closer.

On rink one David Wellington and his rink of Colin Hunting, David Freear and Daniel Ramsbottom did not have one of their better afternoons, going down by 20 shots against an in-form Bedfordshire rink. Suffolk gave themselves a mountain to climb early on by failing to score in the opening seven ends, conceding 14 shots in the process. Suffolk managed to win just five of the 21 ends in their 26-6 defeat.

Roger Adams, Geoff Ramsbottom, Ian Catchpole and Brian Andrews had a much better afternoon, although they won only 10 of the 21 ends when they did score they scored heavily on their way to a 24-18 shot victory. All players contributed in the win with young Ian Catchpole (son of Under-25 manager John) having a solid game at No. 3.

The executive rink had a difficult afternoon against their Bedfordshire counterparts. Winning nine of the 21 ends they only managed to score 12 shots while there opponents amassed 32 shots on their 12 scoring ends.

Rink four saw the tightest of the matches with Ian Wisesman, Steve Botten (sub for his son Lee), Chris Love and Andy Catchpole losing by a single shot 16-1`5. Trailing 11-4 after 11 ends they had the better of the second half of the match, scoring 11 shots to their opponents' five.

Performance of the day came from the rink skipped by Andrew Friend, who was making a return to the county set-up after several years away from the scene. Well supported by Richard Leeder, Colin Chick and John Catchpole they dominated from the off and after 11 ends they led 22-5.

It was from here that Bedfordshire started to make a comeback, winning the next six ends to reduce the deficit to just seven shots (22-15). It was the Suffolk quartet who finished the stronger, scoring six shots to one over the last four ends to secure a 28-16 victory.

John Rednall, Ben Beamish, Andy Meikle and Adrian Holden for Suffolk went down by seven shots. Ten shots in arrears after 15 ends they made a spirited comeback to reduce the deficit to just a single shot with just two ends to play, but then conceded six shots over those ends to lose 18-25.

Suffolk's next ECL match and final match before the Middleton Cup gets under way is away to Hertfordshire on Saturday, May 26. Hertfordshire will be a tough test for Suffolk as they are traditionally a stronger team than Bedfordshire.

Rink Details

(Suffolk names first)

Rink 1: C Hunting, D Freear, D Ramsbottom & D Wellington 6, L Arlawan, S Jennings, T Caldwell V J Allen 26.

Rink 2: R Adams, G Ramsbottom, I Catchpole & B Andrews 24, J Usher, N Martin, R Caldwell & S Peck 16.

Rink 3 (Executive): T Swift, P Wilson, R Ford & P Rowe 12, D Potter, P Geary, B Hirst & D Owens 32.

Rink 4: I Wiseman, S Botten, C Love & A Catchpole 15, B Usher, M Wilkinson, C Billington & D Taylor 16.

Rink 5: R Leader, C Chick, J Catchpole & A Friend 28, M Curtis, D Sale, A Manning & S Espie 16.

Rink 6: J Rednall, B Beamish, A Meikle & A Holden 18, R Mannig, L Bunn, E Swann & G Milbourne 25.

Final score: 103-131. Of the 126 ends played Suffolk won 56.