Winter Season 2011/12

Forncett 12 (59) v Kirby Bedon 12 (54)

Norwich Cup Quarter-Final

Match Date 01/02/12

The Norwich Cup gives the club it’s greatest selection problems with several of our “two club” players already “cup tied” with their other teams. Add this to a trip to a venue we have not visited in years, and one that several of our players have never played at, and we knew we had a job on our hands. Forncett were also on a high after their giant killing defeat of South Norfolk giants Hempnall in the previous round. The team of necessity had an unfamiliar look about it. It was decided to put out two normal triples of Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson and the triple of Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter. In the remaining triples Peter Johnson led for Teresa Goldsmith & Gerald Chilvers, which looked a decent triple on paper even if they do not normally play as a triple. With Kirby forced to field too many lead players Jackie Tunmore led with Leonora Chilman at two while Selwyn Goldsmith skipped the triple. The thinking being that Selwyn would possibly be able to fire his triple out of any problems they found themselves in. The plan worked to a point as the team won six of the games and finished level at 12-12 on points although some of the points came from unexpected quarters. Unfortunately Kirby lost the match on points although we came within a bowl of winning the match on the last end of the last game. Jackie, Leonora & Selwyn opened on mat one with a surprise 6-5 win and Peter, Teresa & Gerald added a 5-4 win to give Kirby a 4-0 lead at the start. Forncett hit straight back winning the next two games as Carol, Jimmy & Alistair went down 5-3 on mat one and Jill, Jan & Phil lost 6-4 to leave the match level at 4-4. Selwyn’s triple won their third session game by 6-3 after Selwyn drew in a good wood on the final end when Forncett were laying four or five shots. Gerald’s triple were beaten by 6-3 though and the match was still level at 6-6. The fourth session failed to separate the teams as Alistair’s triple won by 9-2 but Phil’s triple lost by 5-1 and the score was 8-8 on points with Kirby one shot up. The fifth session saw Selwyn’s triple finally begin to struggle as they trailed 9-1 after five ends but a firing shot by Selwyn produced a count of four on the last end to reduce the deficit to 9-5. Alistair’s triple trailed by 3-2 with an end to go but also had a good final end scoring two shots to win 4-3 and keep the score level at 10-10. Everything rested on the final session and Phil’s triple picked a good time to collect their first win of the night by a narrow 4-3 margin when they won the last end. Peter, Teresa & Gerald’s game was still in play and all attention was then focused on the outcome which would decide the match. 5-4 down going into the last end Gerald’s triple needed just one shot to draw the game and win the match but unfortunately it was not to be. Forncett held shot with an early wood but the jack remained open to a draw shot with the skips still to play. Forncett skip Merv Boulter failed to draw or tuck in the jack with his opening wood and Gerald failed with his first bowl. Forncett still held just the one shot and once again Boulter failed to change anything. This left Gerald with the game’s last wood in his hand as well as Kirby’s cup hopes. Disappointment was the order of the day as Gerald played his wood too tight and pushed in two more Forncett bowls and Forncett were left celebrating an 8-4 win and a place in the semi-finals against Coltishall. Selwyn will remember the match for other reasons as he split the seam in his bowling trousers immediately prior to the start of the match and had to have emergency repairs conducted with safety pins to preserve his modesty! 

 

Kirby Bedon 4 (49) v Woodbastwick 6 (57)

Bure League

Match Date 30/01/12

A disappointing result on an evening when too many home players had indifferent games. Although we remain top of the table we have played more games than the rest and in reality look a mid-table side on current form. Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson opened on mat one against Peter Johnson, Norma Jablonowski & Peter Jablonowski. A super start saw Phil lead 13-2 after eight ends but Jabby’s triple reeled off a sequence of 2, 2, 2 & 1 over the next four ends and cut the lead to 13-9. Phil took a single on the thirteenth end to stem the tide but Kirby were rocked on the penultimate end as Jabby’s triple scored a four to move just one shot behind. Phil will have been relieved to take a single on the final end to win 15-13. Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers played Tony Wright’s triple on mat two. Carol did not display the form she had found the previous day and Gerald seems to be on a poor run. They struggled throughout and trailed 17-6 with two ends left. Five shots over the last two ends reduced the defeat to 17-11 but there was little cheer to found here. Dot Dawson was given a rare game at lead for Shirley & Joe Brown against Trevor Hallett’s triple but this just did not work and they slumped to a 14-7 defeat. Leonora Chilman, Peter Johnson & Alistair Hunter faced Jim Couling on mat two. Alistair’s liking of this mat helped him as he was effectively playing with two bowlers who normally play at lead. Trailing 12-9 after ten ends the Kirby triple won four of the last five ends to sneak home by 16-13. Unavailability of players for every match continues to make life difficult for Kirby Bedon in their quest to retain the title.  

Watlington 4 (40) v Kirby Bedon 4 (54)

County Cup Quarter-Final

Match Date 29/01/12

A new venue for Kirby Bedon to visit and a long trip out to the West Norfolk venue of Watlington so a Sunday afternoon start time of 2pm suited us well. With regular skip Selwyn Goldsmith unavailable due to work commitments another reshuffle of the team was necessary for this quarter-final tie to decide who would join Bob Carter, Wymondham & Coltishall in the semi-final draw. Jill Watson, Janice Hewitt & Phil Watson opened on mat one against R Dean, J Ablett & June Bush. The home triple started well scoring a three on the first end but a close game developed and after eleven ends the game was level at 8-8. Phil’s triple dug deep though to score singles on the final four ends to win 12-8. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Alistair Hunter faced Keith Ablett, Peter Dagnall & M Howard on mat two and found themselves trailing by 5-1 after five ends. They hit back winning the next four ends with a sequence of 1, 2, 1 & 4 to lead 9-5 and prospects of a win looked high but the home side had other ideas. With Leonora struggling at lead the pressure was on Teresa & Alistair but they could not stop the Watlington triple winning five of the remaining six ends to win 14-11. This left the teams level on points at the interval but Kirby with just a one shot lead. In the second half Peter Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown took on A Creasey, Brian Creasey & Bob Scully on mat one. Peter had an excellent game for Kirby at lead and the home triple were put under early pressure as Kirby led by 7-0 after four ends. This game turned out to be the big one for Kirby Bedon as Peter, Shirley & Joe all played well to produce a match winning 20-5 score-line. On mat two Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers were up against Pat Faint, Terry Foster & Michael Bush and an interesting encounter developed. Carol produced possibly her best performance of the season at lead but Jimmy did not find the mat and struggled. Gerald was pleased to still be level at 5-5 after eight ends but was less than happy when his triple dropped a five on the next end. They immediately hit back with a three to trail 8-10 but could not stop the Watlington triple winning by 13-11. With the match level on points at 4-4 the shots decided the issue and the excellent win of 20-5 by Peter, Shirley & Joe saw Kirby Bedon into the semi-finals with an over-all shots win of 54-40.  

Kirby Bedon 16 (67) v Hevingham 8 (52)

Bure Cup

Match Date 27/01/12

A full strength line-up for the visit of Hevingham in the Bure Cup earned Kirby a decent lead to take to Hevingham for the second leg. Apart from a poor fifth session Kirby Bedon were on top throughout the match. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith took maximum points by beating George Clarke 6-2, David Sharpe 5-4 & Vic Woods by 7-4. Vic Woods looked likely to win the last game but a running wood by Selwyn secured victory. Shirley Brown, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown beat Maurice Kemp 9-4 and Vic Woods by 9-2 but lost their final game by 5-4 against David Sharpe. Janice Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter won by 10-6 against David Sharpe & by 4-2 against George Clarke but surprisingly went down by 9-1 on mat two against Maurice Kemp. Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson went down by 8-0 against Vic Woods in their opening game and lost by just 4-3 in their second against Maurice Kemp’s triple. They finished on a high though beating former Kirby star George Clarke by 9-2, a result that left George pointless on the night.   

 

Kirby Bedon 2 (56) v Coltishall 0 (51)

Tens League

Match Date 23/01/12

Kirby did not field their strongest side for this Tens match but still produced three wins which was enough to earn a 2-0 home win. Carol & Peter Johnson went down to former England players Carol & John Aggas by 19-12 on mat two and considering that the Coltishall pair play for Kirby in the Summer League this was not a bad result. The other games all went Kirby’s way. Jackie Tunmore made a rare appearance as lead for Shirley & Joe Brown and they beat Willie Jefferies 15-12, another good result as Willie always plays well at Kirby. Jill Watson & Alistair Hunter faced Jeannie Barnett & Margaret Harman and will be delighted with a 15-14 win after taking three shots on the last end. Dot Dawson also came in for a rare outing as lead for Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson against Peter Barnett’s triple on mat one. An excellent 14-6 win saw Kirby home and dry with a 3-0 points win.  

 

Hevingham 4 (55) v Kirby Bedon 6 (54)

Bure League

Match Date 20/01/12

Kirby Bedon bounced back from recent defeats with an excellent 6-4 away win at Hevingham. It could have been even better as Kirby won on three mats but one heavy defeat cost us the match points. Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson were always in control against Maurice Kemp’s triple on mat one as they opened with a 17-11 win. Carol Johnson, Shirley Browne & Joe Brown had a tough battle against Vic Woods’ triple but a fabulous five shots on the last end gave them a 17-12 win. Leonora Chilman, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter continued the good work after the break beating George Clarke’s triple 16-14, the game was level with two ends left but Alistair’s triple scored two singles on the last two ends. Jackie Tunmore, Peter Johnson & Brian Saunders were never in contention against David Sharpe’s triple and trailed by 13-0 after seven ends. The final score of 18-4 earned Hevingham the two match points but could not deny Kirby a 6-4 away win.   

Woodbastwick 8 (60) v Kirby Bedon 2 (47)

Bure League

Match Date 19/01/12

Another away defeat will leave Kirby’s chances of retaining the Bure title that much more difficult. Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Brian Saunders opened on mat one against Trevor Hallett’s triple and took a three followed by a single to move 4-0 up after two ends. A close game developed but little went Kirby’s way over the next few ends and they were unfortunate to find themselves 10-6 down after eight ends. Shirley was not feeling 100% which did not help but they took a three on the ninth end to trail by just one shot. Hallett’s triple then found better form and won the next five ends to seal victory but Brian pulled four shots back on the final end to lose by 17-13. On mat two Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson suffered a poor start against Tony Wright’s triple and fell 9-2 behind after eight ends. Three super ends then followed with Phil picking up a sequence of 3, 3 & 2 to take a 10-9 lead. Wright’s triple recovered though to win 13-11 and leave Kirby 4-0 down on points and 6 shots adrift at the break. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith started off the second half on mat one against Peter Jablonowski’s triple with Norma Jablonowski at two. An entertaining game developed with the scores level at 5-5 after eight ends. Selwyn’s triple scored two shots on the ninth end but the tenth end saw them suddenly move 11-5 up after an attacking shot by Peter Jablonowski went wrong and gave Kirby four shots. Although Woodbastwick finished strongly scoring six shots over the last two ends Selwyn’s triple had done enough to win by 14-11. Jan Hewitt, Joe Brown & Alistair Hunter faced Jim Couling’s triple on mat two and after ten ends the game was level at 9-9. With Selwyn’s triple 11-5 up at that point an away win for Kirby looked on the cards but Jim Couling’s triple had other ideas as they won all the remaining ends to beat Alistair’s triple 19-9.    

East Tuddenham 8 (50) v Kirby Bedon 2 (45)

Bure League

Match Date 10/01/12

It was not a great start to the New Year for Kirby Bedon as the visit to East Tuddenham brought the first Bure League defeat of the campaign. Overall it was not a bad performance as the team only lost by five shots but only Brian Saunders’ triple managed a win. For the first half Shirley Brown, Joe Brown & Brian Saunders opened on mat one against Geraldine Potter, Madge Meachen & Russell Harris. After five ends the score was tied at 4-4 but a three followed by a four put Brian’s triple in control at 11-4 up. With Brian in excellent form the Tuddenham triple struggled to match the Kirby triple and the final result of 18-8 was well deserved. On mat two Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson faced the Sprowston triple of Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & Peter Smart who are now regulars in Tuddenham’s team. Early ends saw Jill & Gerald generally outdrawing the Chadwicks but some vital bowls by Peter Smart took his triple into a flattering 6-0 lead after five ends. Linda & Les then found their line and length and the East Tuddenham triple pulled away to record a 14-6 win. It was a frustrating match for Phil as Gerald did not display his best form when faced with playing some important woods, this left Phil in some difficult situations that he was unable to rectify. This left the match level at 2-2 on points at the interval with Tuddenham just 24-22 up on shots. Bob Pattison, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter were on mat one for the second half against Gillian Amos, Gerald Potter & Robin Amos. Alistair’s triple opened brightly to lead 5-0 after four ends, and despite dropping a two on the fifth end, hit straight back with a three to lead 8-2. Hopes of a good win though faded as the home triple reeled off a sequence of 2, 2, 1, 3 & another 3 on successive ends to take a 13-8 lead. With an end to play Alistair’s triple were six shots behind and could only manage a two on the final end to leave Tuddenham with a 15-11 win. The remaining game on mat two saw Janice Hewitt, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith face Tuddenham’s top triple of Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner & John Turner. A disastrous start saw Selwyn’s triple trailing 11-2 after eight ends with the home triple seemingly heading for a big win. Failure to cover the back against Turner’s triple is never a good idea and this cost them dearly on the early ends. Teresa is visibly struggling to play through the pain barrier with her knee problems and it cannot be long before she has to stop playing until after her operation. This will prove a massive problem for Kirby who have a shortage of good number two players and too many leads. The ninth end saw the Kirby triple score two shots which gave Selwyn the chance to shorten the jack length. The change worked for Selwyn’s triple who won the next three ends as well to cut the deficit to 11-7 after twelve ends. On the next end Kirby held two shots, both tight to the jack, with just John Turner’s last bowl to come. His forehand attach shot worked out perfect taking the Kirby woods out for the home side to take a two. This shot was to prove vital. Selwyn’s triple took another two on the penultimate end and a single on the last but it was not enough to stop Turner’s triple winning 13-10. The result of 8-2 to East Tuddenham was disappointing as this venue has yielded some good results for Kirby in recent years and the team now faces potentially difficult trips to Woodbastwick & Hevingham in the Bure League.    

Kirby Bedon 10 (66) v Anglian Windows 0 (26)

Bure League

Match Date 09/12/11

The last game before Xmas saw Kirby win 10-0 at home to Anglian Windows. Shirley Brown, Bob Pattison & Joe Brown opened on mat two with a 17-6 win against Alan Williamson’s triple after leading 11-0 after four ends. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith also began strongly moving into a 9-0 lead after four ends but then went off the boil failing to score for the next five ends. With one end left Kirby led 13-10 but got into all sorts of trouble on the last end and Selwyn was more than happy to concede two shots without playing his last wood to win 13-12. Russell Daynes and David & Avril Walker all played well for Windows. In the second half Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter had a great 23-4 win against Ken Dease’s triple while Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson played well winning 13-4 against Mike Boswell’s triple.

Bob Carter 4 (72) v Kirby Bedon 0 (29)

Tens League

Match Date 07/12/11

A visit to defending champions Bob Carter is always difficult and with Gerald Chilvers, Alistair Hunter & Teresa Goldsmith unable to play there was little prospect of success. Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Selwyn Goldsmith started well against Sue Hunt, Jean Woods & Robert Howlett moving into an early 5-1 lead. Then Sue Hunt & Jean Woods settled into their game while Carol struggled badly on the Carter mat. Far too many early Kirby woods were wasted which put Jimmy under extreme pressure at number two and Selwyn even more at skip. Once Carter got their noses in front Selwyn found himself firing to try and keep the shots down and there can be no complaint about Carter’s 18-8 win. On the other mat Kim Bridge & Trevor Brown were on top form against Jill & Phil Watson and the final score of 24-4 sums up the game. After the break the Kirby triple of Leonora Chilman, Peter Johnson & Joe Brown struggled badly against Frank Edy, Malcolm Reynolds & Nigel Willard. Leonora could not cope with the fast Carter mat and Willard’s triple produced another big win of 23-4. Shirley Brown & ex Carter player Brian Saunders scored Kirby’s only win of the match beating Jason Woods & England international Melly Woods by 13-10. Both Shirley & Brian played well while Melly Woods was not able to find his form.      

Kirby Bedon 2 (52) v Connaught 0 (46)

Tens League

Match Date 05/12/11

After winning at Connaught last week Kirby Bedon were confident of completing the double on their own mats. Shirley & Joe Brown opened on mat two against Chris Musk & Sylvia Parsons and gave Kirby a great start winning 23-6. Sylvia Parsons has been in superb form for Connaught this season so the margin of this defeat would have been a surprise. On mat one Jackie Tunmore, Janice Hewitt & Jimmy Dye went down by 10-8 to John Winup, Joe LiRocci & Alison Rush but this still left Kirby fifteen shots up at the break. The second half saw Carol Johnson & Alistair Hunter on mat two against the experienced pairing of Di & Bill Adcock. Alistair’s mat knowledge enabled the Kirby pair to win 16-11. Mat one proved to be a disaster for Kirby as Dot Dawson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers went down by 19-5 against Mike Parsons, Tyrone Musk & Bob Oatway but Kirby had done enough to be good value for a 2-0 home win.

Connaught 0 (56) v Kirby Bedon 2 (59)

Tens League

Match Date 29/11/11

A late team change brought the in-form Janice Hewitt into the side after Bob Pattison withdrew. Jan slotted in at number two with Jill Watson leading and Phil Watson at skip and they delivered an excellent 19-11 win. The opening pairing of Peter Johnson & Brian Saunders were beaten 17-12 and it left Kirby defending a three shot lead at the interval. The second half was also shared but Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter won by a margin of 20-9 and Leonora Chilman & Gerald Chilvers lost their pairs game by 19-8 leaving Kirby Bedon still three shots ahead.   

Kirby Bedon 14 (61) v East Tuddenham 6 (40)

Bure Cup 1^st Rnd, 2^nd Leg

Match Date 25/11/11

After achieving a 12-12 draw at East Tuddenham in the first leg Kirby Bedon fielded a strong side in an attempt to reach the next round. The match started well with Kirby picking up nine out of the first twelve points. After four sessions had been played Kirby led by 12-4 and only needed one more point to secure victory. A 5-2 win for Janice Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter in the fifth session clinched the tie with Tuddenham conceding with a session left remaining. Alistair’s triple finished with five points out of six and were the night’s top triple while Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson won both their games played by 11-4 & 5-2.   

Kirby Bedon 0 (45) v Bob Carter 3 (57)

Tens League

Match Date 18/11/11

Kirby Bedon welcomed the Tens League champions Bob Carter to their venue. The first half went Carter’s way as Carol Johnson & Joe Brown went down 5-20 & Jackie Tunmore, Bob Oatway & Gerald Chilvers lost 8-16. The visitors must have thought that they had the maximum four points in the bag but a second half fight-back limited them to a 3-0 result and at one stage it looked like it could have been an even better result for Kirby. Dot Dawson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter won by 17-10 and Peter Johnson & Brian Saunders won by 15-11.

Anglian Windows 2 (41) v Kirby Bedon 8 (70)

Bure League

Match Date 15/11/11

It was back to Bure League action for Kirby at Anglian Windows excellent venue. In the first half on mat one Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith opened against Maurice Curchin, Maureen Dease & Ken Dease. All three Kirby players drew in good woods on the first end and Selwyn’s last wood pushed the jack just enough to pick up three shots. After that they struggled for consistency while Ken Dease had a superb game at skip for Windows with some excellent bowling. With Maurice & Maureen also both playing well Selwyn was left with some difficult heads to face. Windows had a great run of success between the seventh & thirteenth ends to pull back from 7-4 down to lead 14-8 while too many short or out of position bowls left Kirby with few options. Despite Selwyn’s best efforts to pull a five out of the bag on the final end they ended up with just two shots due to a lone Maureen Dease bowl sitting amongst five Kirby woods when Selwyn took the jack back with his last bowl. The final score of 14-11 to Windows was well deserved and the Kirby triple can have few complaints as they failed to function as a cohesive unit on the night. On mat two Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson faced Avril Walker’s triple and controlled the game throughout. Windows took a single on the first end and that proved to be the only time they led. A three on the second end for Phil’s triple was followed by a two on the third end to put them 5-1 up. Jill, Gerald & Phil only lost four ends as they powered to a superb 23-7 win. After the break Shirley Brown, Janice Hewitt & Joe Brown were on mat one against Keith Halford’s triple. Janice has been in good form in recent games and that continued as they eased their way into a 12-2 lead after eight ends. There was no way back for Halford’s triple as Shirley, Janice & Joe completed a 20-6 rout. On mat two Anglian Windows’ captain Mike Boswell was skipping with ex St Faiths players Pam & Russell Daynes at lead and two. It was fitting that Kirby captain Alistair Hunter was skipping against him with Peter Johnson at lead and Jimmy Dye at number two. Boswell’s triple opened with a three on the first end but Alistair’s triple dug deep to win the next five ends scoring one shot on each to lead 5-3. Boswell’s triple picked up two shots to level the game on the seventh end and then came the Kirby triples only bad end as they dropped a four. For once Peter & Jimmy failed to get near the jack and Alistair played too heavy with his first wood. Mike then closed up the head with his next bowl and all Alistair could do was to run at it and hope for the best. Although he was on target Boswell’s triple still took four shots to lead 9-5. This seemed to spur Peter, Jimmy & Alistair on and they produced three good ends to take back the lead by one shot. Boswell’s triple then scored a two to lead 11-10 but the thirteenth end proved to be a big one. With all three Kirby players sending down excellent bowls they held three or four shots when Alistair stepped up to play his last wood. Windows only had one wide bowl in the vicinity of the head and Alistair ran at it on his backhand to try and remove it. He narrowly missed it but the measure came out and rewarded Al’s triple with four shots to give them a 14-11 lead with two ends left. The penultimate end looked like going Kirby’s way and their bowls were well positioned but Mike Boswell produced a cracking last wood that somehow conjured up three shots to level the game at 14-14 going into the last end. Kirby got woods in the head and held shot but with a Kirby bowl on the jack and Windows with a toucher in the ditch waiting to receive the position was perilous. Somehow both Russell Daynes & Mike Boswell failed to contact their intended target and Alistair declined to play his last bowl and took two shots for a 16-14 win. An excellent win for Kirby in the “battle of the captains”. The final points score of 8-2 for Kirby Bedon means that its now four wins in a row in the Bure League after two home games & two away games. Lets hope we can keep it up in defense of the title.      

Hempnall 4 (76) v Kirby Bedon 0 (36)

Tens League

Match Date 14/11/11

Three close games as Kirby players put on a good performance at a venue where they traditionally struggle but a heavy second half defeat in the triples allowed Hempnall to pick up all four points. Leonora Chilman & Joe Brown faced a strong home pairing of Joan Cann & Paul Baker and pushed them all the way going down by just 11-12. Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Jimmy Dye were up against Colin Stevenson, Bernie Cudden & Neil Davidson and were not disgraced losing by 10-16. This left Kirby just seven shots behind at the break. Janice Hewitt & Alistair Hunter also found themselves up against a top pairing of Debbie Phillips & Chris Mann in the second half. Once again Hempnall found themselves under pressure but survived to win by 15-13. The remaining game saw Hempnall make sure of maximum points as Dot Dawson, Bob Pattison & Gerald Chilvers crashed to a 3-33 defeat against Mick Pearce, Jon Sparham & Richard Harrowing. An unfortunate score-line that detracted from the good performances in the other three games. 

Kirby Bedon 2 (51) v Hevingham 0 (47)

Tens League

Match Date 11/11/11

An unfamiliar Kirby side took to the mats for the home Tens League match against a strong looking Hevingham team but proved more than a match for their rivals. Carol Johnson led for Joe Brown in the pairs and took on the formidable pairing of Ian MacLean & Vic “Quiet Man” Woods and were delighted to gain a 16-11 win. The other Kirby pair of Bob Pattison & Brian Saunders faced Gill Bunn and former Kirby Bedon player George Clarke. Despite George having played many more games on the Kirby mat than either home player it was the Kirby pair who emerged with a 12-10 win. Kirby’s third win came from the triple of Jackie Tunmore, Janice Hewitt & Jimmy Dye who beat Pat Bunn, Pat Williamson & Maurice Kemp by a convincing 17-8. Jackie has little league, or short mat experience, under her belt but improved throughout the game. Janice has been in excellent form of late and once again looked impressive. Hevingham’s only win came from Mervyn Williamson, Alan Bunn & David Sharpe who won 18-6 against Dot Dawson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers but Kirby had enough shots from the other games to take two league points.

East Tuddenham 12 (60) v Kirby Bedon 12 (54)

Bure Cup 1^st Round 1^st Leg

Match Date 08/11/11

A great start to the match saw Kirby Bedon reel off four straight wins to lead 8-0 but East Tuddenham struck back with four straight wins of their own to level the match at 8-8. The last two sessions were shared to leave the tie level at 12-12. The tactics were to hold Tuddenham on their own mats to give us a good chance of progress in the Bure Cup on our own mats and it was a case of “job done”. East Tuddenham are a good all round side with plenty of experience but if we fail to finish the job on our own mats we will not deserve to go through. Leonora Chilman, Gerald Chilvers & Brian Saunders won two games out of three with Brian pulling off a great shot to beat John Turner’s triple in their first game. Leonora & Gerald also played well all night. Teresa Goldsmith, Alistair Hunter & Selwyn Goldsmith also won two games and made sure of the 12-12 draw beating Russell Harris’ triple 6-1 in the last session. Jill Watson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson picked up a 5-3 win against Les Chadwick’s triple & Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Joe Brown beat Russell Harris 9-5.  

Kirby Bedon 8 (91) v Cromer 0 (26)

County Cup 1^st Round

Match Date 06/11/11

This proved to be a comfortable victory with the job done in a one sided first half. Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson opened on mat two against a triple skipped by ex Coltishall player Jane James and the score-line of 31-3 reflects the Kirby triples superiority in this encounter. 23-0 down after eleven ends the Cromer triple were relieved to take two shots on the following end just to get off the mark. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith scored a six on the first end against Nigel James’ triple and at 15-1 up after six ends also looked set for a cricket type score. A change of playing order in the Cromer triple, that saw Dave Marriott move from lead to skip, stemmed the tide as he put in some vital woods to avoid any more disastrous ends and Selwyn’s triple had to be content with a 22-6 win. Carol Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown played Aleck Haynes’ triple on mat one in the second half and will be happy with a 20-6 win in which the outcome was never in doubt. Peter Johnson, Janice Hewitt played John Andreae’s triple on mat two and had the hardest game of the night. The score was level at 7-7 after nine ends but with Janice in good form once again they took the next five ends to move 15-7 up with two remaining. They dropped an unnecessary four on the penultimate end with a bad choice of shots to give Cromer a glimmer of hope but then finished the game off with a three on the final end to win 18-11.

Kirby Bedon 6 (47) v Coltishall 4 (43)

Bure League

Match Date 04/11/11

At the end of the day a hard fought 6-4 home win against one of our main title rivals was satisfactory although it could easily have been either an 8-2 home win or a 6-4 away win. Shirley Brown, Neil Davidson & Selwyn Goldsmith opened on mat one against Mally Catchpole, Eddie Edridge & Willie Jefferies with the home side fully aware that Willie always plays this Kirby mat exceptionally well. After three ends the Kirby triple had edged their way to a 6-2 lead and looked set for victory but the Coltishall triple gradually took control winning five of the next six ends and went on to win 14-11. Neither Shirley or Selwyn were displaying their normal form and will be disappointed with this result although it must be said that all three Coltishall bowlers had good games. On mat two Janice Hewitt, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown faced Martin Edridge, George Munford & Margaret Harman and by the tenth end had built up a 10-4 lead. With Margaret playing well Coltishall hit back winning three ends with a 2, 2 , 3 sequence to move 11-10 up. A fabulous four shots on the penultimate end was greeted with relief by Kirby and Joe’s triple took a 14-11 lead into the last end. A worrying last end saw the visiting triple put themselves into a great position but Margaret’s last wood still left Coltishall holding just two shots and Kirby winning by 14-13. Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson opened the second half on mat one against Vernon Bunn, Peter Barnett & Les Harman. Jill was in super form at lead and with Gerald & Phil also having good games this produced Kirby’s biggest win of the match, a 12-4 result. These shots were to prove vital in giving Kirby a home win. On mat two Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter played Carol Aggas, Brian Bunting & John Aggas. With John & Carol both playing for Kirby in the Summer League they are both used to this mat and by the ninth end Coltishall led 10-5 and things looked bleak for Kirby. A good comeback left Alistair’s triple only 11-10 down with an end to play and Peter held shot for Kirby early on the last end. A short wood by Jimmy on the backhand proved fatal though as a forehand bowl from Brian Bunting wicked off it and ran on to take the jack back leaving Coltishall in a strong position. Coltishall held on to take one shot and win 12-10 and a possible 8-2 home win on points had turned into a 6-4 win but over-all on the night we probably did not deserve any better.  

Kirby Bedon 19 (90) v Framingham Earl 5 (39)

Norwich Cup 2nd Round

Match Date 25/10/11

With all our "two club" players unavailable for selection, due to being cup-tied, a very weak looking Kirby side was fielded at home to Framingham Earl. Never-the-less it was more than capable of inflicting a heavy defeat on the visitors although whether it would have been strong enough against any of the big teams is a mute point. On the night all the Kirby triples picked up points with Dot Dawson, Jan Hewitt & Gerald Chilvers leading the way with three wins of 12-1, 5-3 & 4-3. Jill Watson, Peter Johnson & Phil Watson picked up two wins of 14-0, 10-2 and a 5-5 draw with Phil pulling off a great shot with his last wood to avoid defeat at the hands of Colin Emms' triple. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith were unbeaten with a 10-3 win and two draws of 5-5 & 7-7. Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter opened with a 7-2 win but lost their second game against Colin Emms by 4-7. For their last game Jackie Tunmore was brought introduced as a substitute in place of an ineffective Carol Johnson and they beat Karl Bunn's triple 7-1 to complete a comfortable home win against a friendly and jovial Framingham Earl. Glenda Kidd, Joan Blaza & Colin Emms were without doubt the only visiting triple to shine as they collected four of the five points that Framingham earned.    

Horsford B.C 2 (48) v Kirby Bedon 8 (63)

Bure League

Match Date 10/10/11

A solid performance at Horsford BC earned an 8-2 away win but a disappointing showing by Joe’s triple after the break dropped two points. Peter Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith (mat one) won 19-5 & Jill Watson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson won 16-12 on mat two. After the break Janice Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter (mat one) won 21-8 and Carol Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown lost 7-23 against R Ayers triple on mat two.

Kirby Bedon 10 (71) v Horsford Heroes 0 (25)

Bure League

Match Date 03/10/11

The opening match of the season saw Kirby entertain Horsford Heroes who have decided to re-enter the Bure for the 2011/12 season. As defending champions Kirby were looking for a good start to the campaign and achieved just that with a crushing victory against their old City League rivals. Jill Watson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson won 18-6 and Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith won 21-4 in the first half. After the break Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter won 17-7 and Peter Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown won 15-6. Job done!

Kirby Bedon “B” 6 (57)  v Kirby Bedon “A” 2 (51)

Summer League Div One

Match Date 03-05-11

The opening match saw Kirby Bedon “B” score a creditable 6-2 home win against the “A” team. The “B” side will be delighted with a great start to the season while the “A” side had their worst fears realized. On mat one Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Joe Brown opened for the “B” team against Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith. Joe’s triple were in great form from the start scoring a four on the opening end and were 9-0 up after four ends. With Leonora failing to find any form, and Teresa struggling to play through the pain barrier, Selwyn found himself forced into fire shots throughout. Joe’s triple continued to outdraw their opponents and can be delighted with their eventual 20-9 victory. On mat two Jill Watson made her comeback appearance with John Aggas at two and Phil Watson at skip for the “A” side. They faced Kirby “B” captain Gerald Chilvers with Bernie Cudden at two and Peter Johnson at lead. Phil’s triple led by one shot after six ends but Gerald’s triple then scored a five to move 9-5 up. After that Gerald’s triple held their nerve and their lead to win 15-11. With the “B” side 4-0 up at the break changes were made by the “A” side. Leonora was replaced by Carol Aggas and Teresa, unable to continue, was replaced by Jim Couling making his Kirby “A” debut. Carol, Jim & Selwyn then went to work against Gerald’s unchanged triple moving into a 12-4 lead after eight ends. Bernie Cudden had switched with Gerald and moved to skip after just six ends but it did little to change the flow of the game as Selwyn’s triple completed a 24-7 win that included a full house 6 on the twelfth end. Jim Couling made an impressive first appearance playing consistently well throughout. On mat two Jill, who the “A” side had intended to rest for the second half, had agreed to play on and her performance bodes well for the “A” team but Shirley, Jimmy & Joe were still “in the groove” and completed a great night for the “B” side with a 15-7 win to ensure a 6-2 points win. The teams will play the return game next Monday but probably without Teresa who could now face a lenghthy lay-off from Kirby "A" action.     

 

Kirby Bedon “A” v v Kirby Bedon “B”

Summer League Div One

Match Date 09-05-11

 

Coltishall 4 (71) v Kirby Bedon 0 (38)

Tens League

Match Date 16-3-11

 

A typical end of season match with nothing at stake but pride for either team. The first half was shared with Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith beating Jean Barnett & Margaret Harman 14-11 but with Leonora Chilman, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson losing 17-6 against Ann Ducker, Edy Edridge & Willie Jefferies. In the pairs game Teresa & Selwyn were level at 6-6 after six ends before losing the next three ends to trail 10-6. The Coltishall pair were only able to add a single shot on the eleventh end though as Teresa & Selwyn won five of the last six ends to clinch victory. Phil’s triple were just 10-6 down with three ends to go but it was unlucky 13 for them as they dropped five shots on the thirteenth end followed by two singles to leave Kirby eight shots down at the interval. The second half started badly as Shirley Brown & Jimmy Dye dropped a full house six on the first end against Carol & John Aggas and another five on the third end. They fought their way back to narrow the margin to 12-9 after seven ends but with Kirby hopes rising they were dashed again as they conceded another five on the eighth end. A costly ten shots were conceded on ends 11, 12, 13 & 14 with the score finishing 27-12 to the Coltishall pairing. Dot Dawson, Bob Pattison & Joe Brown faced Mally Catchpole, Peter Barnett & Les Harman on mat two and the first six ends were tight leaving Coltishall 4-3 up. Things went downhill after that with Coltishall winning 16-6 to gain maximum points.

Kirby Bedon 10 (95) v St Faiths 0 (30)

Bure League

Match Date 07/03/11

 

It was vital for the team to take maximum points at home to the bottom club and the job was done quietly and effectively. It has been another difficult season for St Faiths, who are adrift at the foot of the Bure League with only ten points, and their task was made harder by bringing only ten players. Much credit should be given to St Faiths for the way they played throughout against overwhelming odds. In the first half Selwyn’s triple won 23-8 against a St Faiths triple playing without a number two. Pam Daynes played mat two confidently throughout the game. Phil’s triple won 25-8 to complete the job in the first half on mat one. After the break Alistair’s triple played another St Faiths triple without a number two and won 23-9. This time Russell Daynes played well to keep the score down. On the other mat Joe Brown’s triple won 24-5 as Kirby Bedon secured the ten points needed from this game to maintain Kirby’s title push. 

 

Kirby Bedon 0 (50) v Hevingham 4 (71)

Tens League

Match Date 04/11/11

After the great result at Hevingham in our last game we entertained Hevingham in a Tens League match with nothing riding on the result. With an important Bure League match coming up on Monday the selection committee put out a mixed strength side resting Phil, Selwyn, Alistair, Teresa & Jimmy. Carol & Peter Johnson opened on mat one against Gill Bunn and former Kirby player George Clarke. Carol & Peter started well against the former England international and a tight game developed with the Kirby pair 6-5 up after seven ends. The next five ends proved decisive though with the Hevingham pair scoring 12 shots without reply to move 17-6 up. Carol & Peter scored two’s on the next two ends before Gill Bunn & George Clarke scored a single on the last end to win 18-10. Mat Two saw another unfamiliar combination taking to the mat for Kirby with Dot Dawson at lead, Bernice Adcock at two and Peter Adcock at skip to face Hevingham’s David Sharpe triple. A superb start saw the Kirby triple move 8-1 up after six ends. Sharpe’s triple exploded into the game on the eighth end scoring a five and followed that with two shots on both the ninth & tenth ends and a single on the eleventh to lead 11-8. Back came Peter’s triple with a two and a three to move 13-11 up with two ends to go. This remarkable game then took another turn as Sharpe’s triple finished with a four and a two to win 17-13. After the break Leonora Chilman had a rare outing in the pairs skipped by Gerald Chilvers. They faced Ian MacLean & Vic Woods, always formidable opponents, and once MacLean & Woods got the feel of the mat they pulled away to win 21-7. On mat two Jackie Tunmore had a rare outing as lead for Shirley & Joe Brown. This triple produced Kirby’s only win of the night with Jackie reportedly playing well. After conceding a two on the first end Joe’s triple scored a full house on the second against Pat Williamson’s triple and a three on the third to lead 9-2. 14-9 up after eleven ends Joe’s triple suffered a blow dropping a five on the twelfth to leave the match tied at 14-14. They hit back immediately though scoring three’s on the next two ends before conceding a single to record a solid 20-15 win. Obviously the result was vital to Hevingham in their attempt to overhaul Carter for the Tens League title but it gave Kirby a chance to try players in unfamiliar roles and give players a competitive game.

 

 

Hevingham 4 (45) v Kirby Bedon 6 (60)

Bure League

Match 22/3/11

Two withdrawals meant late changes to the Kirby side for this vital top of the table clash at Hevingham with Kirby looking to at least repeat their their 6-4 win at East Tuddenham. They did so with an excellent first half performance that left Hevingham trailing 4-0 on points and 25 shots adrift at the break. Shirley Brown, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith were on mat two against Pat Bunn, David Bunn & Pat Williamson. They looked set for a great start holding four on the first end as Pat played her last wood which looked far too tight. A wick off a short wood saved Hevingham bacon as Pat’s bowl found its way through Kirby’s woods to take shot. Playing well but 6-2 down after six ends the Kirby triple kept their heads and continued to pressure the home triple and were just 7-5 down after seven ends. From then on it was one way traffic as Selwyn’s triple scored 18 shots over the last eight ends to win 23-8 with only a single on end 14 going the home sides way. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson faced ex Kirby player George Clarke who had Gill Bunn at lead and Alan Bunn at number two. The triple produced a solid performance leading 9-3 after eight ends and finally won 15-5. After the break Jan Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter kept it tight against Ian MacLean, John Richardson & Vic Woods with the score 10-7 to Hevingham with three ends left. Five shots to Vic Woods’ triple increased the score to 15-7 for Hevingham by the end. On mat one Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Joe Brown played Mervyn Williamson, Betty Richardson & David Sharpe but trailed 9-0 after four ends. Kirby’s halftime 25 shot lead looked in danger but Joe’s triple roared back to lose by just 17-15, a superb showing by a triple not used to playing together. The result ended Hevingham’s interest in the Bure League title race and all eyes are now on Coltishall who have games in hand. 

Kirby Bedon 0 (46) v Connaught 3 (57)

Tens League

Match Date 21/02/11

 

Back to the rigors of the Tens League and a home match against Connaught and with a reasonable looking team put out this was a game we would expect to win. Once again though the team failed to perform in the Tens League and another defeat was inflicted on our own mats. Teresa Goldsmith & Phil Watson slipped to a 14-8 defeat against Diane & Bill Adcock and after ten ends were 11-2 down. Teresa & Phil changing over helped to stem the tide and Kirby won four of the last five ends to limit the Adcocks to a 14-8 win. On mat two Leonora Chilman, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown played Ty Musk’s triple and also had a bad start 6-1 down after five ends. A comeback brought Joe’s triple to within two shots of Connaught by the end with Ty Musk winning 14-12. After the break Janice Hewitt & Alistair Hunter played Chris Musk & Sylvia Parsons and were 6-0 down after four ends. 15-6 down after thirteen ends a single on the fourteenth and a four on the last end cut Connaught’s win to 15-11. Kirby’s only win came from Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers against Ollie Allen’s triple but that was tinged with disappointment. 15-8 up after fourteen ends looked enough to limit Connaught to a 2-0 points win but a terrible last end saw Gerald concede a full-house 6 and Connaught grabbed a 3-0 points win. 

 

East Tuddenham 4 (51) v Kirby Bedon 6 (55)

Bure League

Match Date 15/02/11

 

Kirby Bedon fielded a full strength side for the visit to East Tuddenham as they attempted to win their tenth Bure League match out of eleven and stay top of the league. Shirley Brown, Joe Brown & Gerald Chilvers opened on mat one against Russell Flint, Madge Meachen & Russell Harris and opened brightly with a two followed by a four. A five on end eight moved Gerald 14-5 up but Tuddenham clawed their way back into the game and four shots on the thirteenth end cut the lead to 15-12. Three shots over the last two ends though saw Gerald’s triple home and dry. On mat two Peter Adcock, Bob Pattison & Brian Saunders faced Geraldine Potter, Denny Cross & Gerald Potter and found the early stages a struggle. By the seventh end they were 11-2 down and Brian switched to lead with Peter Adcock taking over the skips role. This altered little at first with the score 17-3 to Gerald Potter after eleven ends but with Brian drawing well at lead Kirby won the last four ends to reduce the deficit to 17-9. This left the teams level at 2-2 on points at the interval with Tuddenham two shots up. Mat two saw Janice Hewitt, Teresa Goldsmith & Phil Watson playing Tuddenham’s top triple Albert Palgrave, Chris Turner & John Turner. A poor start left Phil 9-0 down after just five ends but four singles over the next five ends left them 10-4 down. Tuddenham kept in front finishing winners by 13-6. Jimmy Dye, Alistair Hunter & Selwyn Goldsmith were up against Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & Robin Amos on mat one and dropped singles on the opening two ends before taking eleven shots on ends 3, 4, 5 & 6 to lead 11-2. A comeback saw the home triple score three counts of two on ends 7, 8 & 9 but Kirby then took control and led 21-9 with an end remaining. With Phil’s game already over Kirby Bedon were three shots up overall with just Selwyn’s last end to play. Good woods by Jimmy & Alistair left Kirby holding three shots but with nothing at the back Selwyn had to cover the back to avoid any chance of the match points slipping away. He did this with his first wood and after Robin fired with his last bowl Kirby took a single to win 22-9 leaving Kirby four shots up overall.

Hevingham 4 (77) v Kirby Bedon 0 (36)

Tens League

Match Date 11/02/11

 

The Tens League is not a priority but the team would have liked to have done better than this. In the first half on mat one Dot Dawson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson played Pat Bunn, Alan Bunn & Pat Williamson and slipped to a 24-10 defeat. On mat two the only close game of the night took place as Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith took on Ian MacLean & Vic Woods. 5-1 down after four ends the Kirby pair fought back to lead 8-6 after nine ends. With three ends to go Teresa & Selwyn led 9-8 but the last three ends all went Hevingham’s way and Kirby lost 12-9. Never-the-less it was a great game of bowls enjoyed by those watching as well as the players. Selwyn missed a couple of chances that could have given Kirby the win but all four players can be satisfied with the standard of play. After the break Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers played David Sharpe’s triple and the game was tight up to the eleventh end with the score 10-9 to Hevingham. Ten shots to Hevingham over the last four ends left the Kirby triple suffering a 20-9 defeat. Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter were on mat two against David Bunn & John Richardson. Both Jimmy & Al started well and looked in fine form leading 8-4 after eight ends. Their form than seemed to disappear as the Hevingham pair dominated the remainder of the game winning 21-8.

 

Woodbastwick 4 (49) v Kirby Bedon 6 (50)

Bure League

Match Date 07/02/11

 

Going in to this game Kirby Bedon stood top of the Bure League with eight wins and only one defeat. The game was switched from the flood damaged Woodbastwick venue to Thorpe End where Kirby had not played before. In the home fixture Kirby had snatched a late win in a game that Woodbastwick had looked like winning and again a tight finish went Kirby’s way. Session one saw Bernice Adcock, Peter Adcock & Gerald Chilvers drop two shots on the opening end against Tony Wright’s triple but that was the only time they were behind as they produced a 16-8 win. Leonora Chilman, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson faaced Jim Couling’s triple and Jim has played for many years at Thorpe End. His knowledge of the venue paid off and Woodbastwick won this game 13-10. After the break Carol Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown went down 15-10 against Peter Jablonowski’s triple leaving the game between Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter against Norma Jablonowski’s triple the decider. Going in to the last end the game was level at 13-13 and the shots total over-all was 49-49. A win for Alistair would give Kirby a 6-4 win but a win for the Woodbastwick triple would see Kirby suffer an 8-2 defeat. Kirby’s captain came up trumps and kept the teams title push on track scoring a single for a 14-13 win.

 

Kirby Bedon 11 (59) v East Tuddenham 9 (54)

Bure Cup Semi-Final 2^nd Leg

Match Date 28/01/11

 

Despite losing the first leg 17-7 Kirby went into this game confident of success but another disappointing showing by the team saw Kirby Bedon exit the Bure Cup by 26-18 on aggregate. A good start in the first session was seen as essential and with one end to go on each mat both Kirby triples led by three shots. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith were playing Les Chadwick’s triple on mat two and the last end turned into a complete fiasco. Leonora’s first two woods were horribly short and Linda Chadwick drew around them to the jack. Teresa then attempted to draw around on the back-hand but went narrow and light with both bowls as Denny Cross consolidated Tuddenham’s position with two good bowls. With no back-hand draw shot now on Selwyn attempted to push one of Kirby’s four short woods up into the head. With his second bowl he partially succeeded but the bowl only cut Tuddenham done to three shots leaving the game drawn. On mat one Shirley Brown, Bob Pattison & Joe Brown were holding shot and 9-6 up with just the skips left to bowl. The backhand was open for a draw and Kirby needed another wood into the head to make their position safer. Unfortunately Joe pushed both his woods slightly too wide and neither came in. To his credit Tuddenham skip Russell Harris played a perfect last bowl on the back-hand moving the jack to take three shots for a 9-9 draw. The second session saw Kirby recover from this disappointing start with Jan Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter thumping Robin Amos 10-2 and Bernice Adcock, Peter Adcock & Gerald Chilvers beating John Turner 7-6. Joe & Selwyn’s triples then came back on and things went from bad to worse. Joe’s triple drew again, this time by 5-5 against Les Chadwick but Selwyn’s triple were never in the game against Russell Harris losing 7-2. The fourth session was shared with Alistair winning 6-4 against John Turner while Gerald lost 5-2 against Robin Amos. With hopes fading fast Gerald’s triple came on against Russell Harris and won well by a 9-5 margin but any faint chance Kirby had was extinguished as Joe’s triple lost 6-4 to John Turner.

 

Kirby Bedon 8 (83) v Horsford BC 2 (33)

Bure League

Match Date 24/01/11

 

Another eight points in the bag that kept the team top of the Bure League but it was marred by the loss of what could be two vital home points. Jan Hewitt, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers were on mat one against Horsford’s John Bately and were stunned to concede three shots on each of the first two ends. Disbelief was the order of the day as they lost the next four ends as well to trail 10-0 after just six ends. Jan & Peter were way off the pace leaving Gerald bemused by the hole his triple had dug themselves into. A single on the seventh end finally broke their duck and this was followed by a welcome three on the eighth. Two singles were then scored by Horsford before a two and a three reduced the deficit to just 12-9. Another single by Horsford left Gerald four shots down with two ends to play but they could only score a single on the penultimate end. Needing three shots for a draw on the last end was a big ask but they so very nearly did it. When Gerald stepped up to play his last wood his triple were holding two and as his wood went down the mat it looked a good one. Unfortunately it wicked off one of their holding woods and failed to get in the count leaving the Horsford triple celebrating a narrow 13-12 win. On mat two Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith faced Simon Warnes’ triple. Simon had looked impressive on his last visit to Kirby and again was in no mood to go down quietly. Selwyn’s triple were never behind in this game but some vital shots by Simon Warnes kept the game tight on the opening ends. After ten ends the Kirby triple had built a 9-4 lead but had not been able to relax. A single shot to Horsford on the eleventh end was followed by a single to Kirby on the twelfth but the game finally swung firmly in Kirby’s favour on the thirteenth. With Horsford looking for shots the number two called an attacking wood as Horsford were one down but had several woods on the left of the mat. Unfortunately for them disaster struck as the Horsford bowl chipped the jack to the other side of the mat leaving Kirby to pick up a four and lead 14-5 with two ends to go. A no-scoring end followed on the fourteenth end before Kirby finished with a five to win 19-5. The second half proved to be one-way traffic as Carol Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown won 25-7 against Mick Dale’s triple and Dot Dawson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter won 27-8 against E Cheney’s triple. Alistair’s triple opened with two fours and led 16-0 after five ends while Joe’s triple opened with a five and led 15-3 after eight ends with neither triple ever troubled by the opposition.   

 

Kirby Bedon 8 (58) v Coltishall 2 (51)

Bure League

Match Date 21/01/11

 

A typical full blooded encounter against Coltishall that left Kirby celebrating an 8-2 home win. All four games were hard fought and the result was in doubt up to the last end of the last game. Bernice Adcock, Peter Adcock & Gerald Chilvers opened for Kirby on mat one against Vernon Bunn and two former England squad players Jean Barnett & Margaret Harman. Coltishall led 6-2 after five ends but Gerald’s triple won three ends in a row to lead 9-6. Three singles by Coltishall leveled the score at 9-9 after eleven ends. Gerald then scored a two but Margaret Harman’s triple replied with a single to leave the score 11-10 to Kirby with two ends remaining. The penultimate end proved crucial as Bernice, Peter & Gerald scored a five that saw them home by 16-12. A good all round performance by the three home bowlers. Mat two saw Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith face ex England players Carol & John Aggas with Brian Bunting at number two. A good start saw Selwyn’s triple 5-0 up after three ends but a determined performance by the Coltishall triple saw the match tied at 7-7 after eleven ends. The twelfth end proved to be decisive as John Aggas took shot with his last wood with a lovely drawing wood. Unfortunately for the Coltishall skip his bowl was perfectly positioned for Selwyn to take out with a forehand shot and convert a three to move his triple 10-7 up. The thirteenth & fourteenth ends both produced two shots for Kirby and a single on the last end made the score 15-7 in Kirby’s favour. Teresa can be pleased with a much improved performance in this game. 4-0 up on points and 12 shots up overall was a good platform for the second half but it was Coltishall who roared back in the early stages. On mat one Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter were 14-4 down after ten ends and Alistair has switched himself to number two and sent Jimmy to skip against Willie Jefferies. On mat two Peter Johnson, Bob Pattison & Joe Brown were up against Mally Catchpole, Peter Barnett & Les Harman and found themselves 11-8 down after ten ends. This left the visitors one shot up overall and the good first half appeared to be in vain but the home triples dug deep to retrieve the situation. Four ends in a row were won by Shirley, Alistair & Jimmy to narrow the gap to just 14-10 with an end to play and although they will be disappointed to have then dropped a four to lose 18-11 they still played their part in Kirby’s win with a greatly improved second half. Peter Johnson, Bob Pattison & Joe Brown kept the pressure on Coltishall with some great drawing and won five of the last six ends of their game. They still trailed 14-9 after twelve ends so to score a three and two twos to win 16-14 was a great result.

 

East Tuddenham 17 (93) v Kirby Bedon 7 (46)

Bure Cup Semi-Final 1^st Leg

Match Date 19/01/11

 

With eight players unavailable Kirby went into this match with only eleven players. The task was simply to score a few points to at least give the team some hope of turning things around in the second leg. The first session went badly as Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Brian Saunders went down by 7-6 against Gerald Potter’s triple, despite scoring five shots on the last two ends, and Jackie Tunmore, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson lost 8-4 to Russell Harris. The second session was shared as Dot Dawson, Leonora Chilman & Jimmy Dye scored a surprise 5-2 win against Linda Chadwick, Les Chadwick & Robin Amos. Jan Hewitt & Alistair Hunter, playing throughout the match without a number two, lost 13-1 against the strong Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner & John Turner triple. The third session was again shared as Phil’s triple came back from 4-0 down to beat Gerald Potter’s triple 7-5. Brian’s triple lost 6-2 against Russell harris on mat one. East Tuddenham finally increased their lead in session four as Kirby had to be content with a 5-5 draw courtesy of Jimmy’s triple against John Turner’s triple. Jan & Al continued to battle against the odds but went down 10-2 against Robin Amos. In session five Brian’s triple broke their duck with a 4-3 win against John Turner’s triple while Jan & Al lost 14-1 to Gerald Potter. With East Tuddenham leading 13-7 on points it would have been nice to have picked something up in the last session but unfortunately the home side took all four points as Phil’s triple lost 11-5 against Robin Amos and Jimmy’s triple lost 9-4 to Russell Harris. A special mention is deserved for Dot, Leonora & Jimmy who picked up three points from six and were Kirby’s top triple of the evening despite both Dot & Leonora normally both playing only at lead. 

Horsford Heroes 4 (75) v Kirby Bedon 0 (40)

Tens League

Match Date 14/01/11

 

With the late withdrawal of two players, and the change of date of a Bure Singles heat to the same day as this Tens League match, the Kirby Bedon side fielded was quite different to the one originally chosen. This could be some excuse for a poor and lack lustre performance that handed struggling Horsford four easy points from a match they would have expected to lose. Carol Johnson, Jan Hewitt & Bob Pattison opened on mat three against a Richard Dix skipped triple and were immediately in deep trouble dropping nine shots over the opening two ends. By the fifth end they trailed by 16-1 before suddenly picking up a fabulous five to bring the score back to 6-16. This did not prove to be the start of a comeback as just two more shots were scored by Kirby over the remaining ends as they slumped to a 29-8 defeat. On mat four Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith faced Lynn Frank & Keith Chapman and nothing seemed to go their way over the opening four ends as the Horsford pair moved 6-0 up. The rub of the green seemed to change on end 5 as Kirby scored a four and added a single on the next end to trail by just one shot. It was a game of nip and tuck over the next few ends but the Horsford pair still led 9-7 after eleven ends. The last four ends saw Lynn Frank’s lead bowling pressurize the Kirby pair and the game slipped away with Horsford posting a 15-8 scoreline. Leonora Chilman, Peter Johnson & Joe Brown were on mat 3 after the break against Chris Woodhouse’s triple and the first four ends were tight leaving the score at 3-3. After that key shots were missed by Kirby and shots given away cheaply as the Horsford triple pulled away to win 19-9. Kirby’s only successs came in the closing pairs game on mat four as Shirley Brown & Alistair Hunter beat Derek Gaskin & Mick Dale 15-12. Shirley & Al fought hard throughout and the game was tied at 12-12 with one end remaining. They produced the goods with a three but sadly it counted for nothing after the dreadful results in the other games. 

 

Kirby Bedon 2 (57) v Hempnall 0 (53)
Tens League
Match Date 07-01-11

Title chasing Hempnall visited Kirby eager for points to aid their pursuit of leaders Bob Carter but left empty handed after a gutsy Kirby performance. Shirley & Joe Brown had a tough game against Bernie Cudden & Neil Davidson and honours were even in an 11-11 draw. Leonora Chilman, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson faced a strong Hempnall triple of Chris East, Steve Oldfield & Roger Parker but produced an excellent 22-13 win. After the break Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter played Colin Stevenson & Chris Mann and Chris was in superb form inflicting a 20-9 defeat on the Kirby pair. Janice Hewitt, Brian Saunders & Peter Adcock played Charlie Archer's triple and a good 15-9 win clinched a 57-53 shots win for Kirby earning two league points.   

Kirby Bedon 6 (49) v Woodbastwick 4 (47)

Bure League

Match Date 13-12-10

Billed as a top of the table clash Kirby Bedon owe this narrow victory to the last Kirby bowl of the night. In the first half Shirley Brown, Janice Hewitt & Phil Watson played Tony Wright’s triple on mat 2 and found themselves just one shot up going into the last end. With Woodbastwick holding one shot and a draw the almost certain result the Woodbastwick skip had the bowl of the match. With Kirby holding a close second in front of the jack the home side did not expect the wood to be bowled but bowl it the visiting skip did and pushed the Kirby wood in for shot giving Phil’s triple an unexpected 13-11 win. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Damian Lamb, Derek Sheldrake & Jim Couling. In keeping with other displays on the night the Woodbastwick lead & number two outdrew their Kirby counterparts throughout looking totally at home on the Kirby mats. Far too many lead Kirby woods were bowled straight into the ditch or off the side and Teresa found herself 2 or 3 down almost every end when her turn came to play. Normally one of Kirby’s most reliable number twos would respond accordingly but her game also disintegrated leaving the skip with a mountain to climb. A series of attacking bowls cut the shots conceded down and the final result of 11-8 to Jim Couling’s triple could have been far worse for Kirby. The interval score was 2-2 on points and 22-21 to Woodbastwick on shots. After the break Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter were up against Peter Jablonowski’s triple on mat one. After scoring a three on the opening end Jabby’s triple took control opening up a six shot lead. A gritty comeback levelled the score at 10-10 after twelve ends but the thirteenth end proved unlucky, and fatal, for Kirby. With Woodbastwick building up a good head Alistair asked Jimmy to fire on the forehand. Normally accurate with this shot Jimmy got his delivery wrong hitting the block. Al asked Jimmy to draw in with his second wood but Jimmy went long as Woodbastwick continued to draw in woods. The head though remained open to a backhand draw but Al went narrow with his first wood. Unfortunately he did the same with his second and Jabby’s triple scored a four in a game they went on to win 15-11. On mat two Peter Johnson, Gerald Chilvers & Joe Brown played Roger Green, Elaine Cole & Norma Jablonowski. Again Kirby found themselves trailing as Norma’s triple moved 7-3 up after six ends. Norma was in superb form with some great last woods saving the day for her triple. Norma’s number two never looked happy on this mat and the game could easily have handed Kirby a big win if it were not for the visiting skip. Woodbastwick led 10-8 after twelve ends but a four on the thirteenth end and a two on the penultimate end put Joe’s triple 14-10 up. With the game on mat one already finished a lot of calculations were being done by both sides and it was realized that a single shot to Kirby on the last end would mean a 5-5 draw while two shots for Kirby would earn them the match points and a 6-4 win. Things looked bleak when Joe stepped up to play his last bowl with Woodbastwick holding and no easy or obvious way in. Joe elected to come in to the head on his forehand and played a perfect bowl coming in off a side wood to move the jack to the left leaving Kirby holding three shots. Norma had the last bowl of the match and so often through this match her last bowl had saved the day for her side. To the relief of Kirby though this time she could not produce a winner and Joe’s triple had won 17-10 and Kirby had won 6-4 on points. Despite the win this match produced another disappointing display from a Kirby side who are struggling badly on their mats. It is difficult to pinpoint reasons why for the third match in a row Kirby have been outdrawn on their own mats. The wins against Anglian Windows and Woodbastwick cannot disguise the fact that too many woods are being wasted and frankly Kirby were fortunate to have won both these games. Other problems need to be addressed. A Kirby number two standing behind the fender at the finish of an ed initially claiming three shots when it is obvious even from the other side of the hall that Kirby is holding four or five would have been costly against a sharper opposition number two. Another end in the same match saw a measure taken place with a Kirby toucher in the ditch totally ignored. The fact that the opposition number two had already conceded two and taken the bowls out pushing them into the ditch beside the Kirby toucher only contributed to the messy measure.

Kirby Bedon 8 (62) v Anglian Windows 2 (52)

Bure League

Match Date 06-12-10

 

The double achieved over Anglian Windows keeps the momentum going in the Bure League but it was never comfortable. The team failed to look convincing and far too often Anglian Windows bowlers looked more at home on our mats than some of our players. The first half Peter Johnson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson faced Ken Dease’s triple on mat two and the score was still level at 8-8 after 11 ends. Kirby scored a single on end 12 followed by a big 5 on end 13 which finally put the game to bed. The final score was 15-10 to Phil. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Keith Halford’s triple. After 8 ends the score was tied at 8-8 but scores of 1-3-3 on the next three ends gave Kirby a 15-8 lead. With Keith playing better than ever before at Kirby Windows hit back with four shots over the two ends to cut the deficit to three shots but Selwyn’s triple saw the game out winning 19-12. Anglian Windows started the second half in great style and it looked like a shock home defeat was possible. Shirley Brown, Jiommy Dye & Alistair Hunter were 9-4 down after six ends against Mike Boswell and Carol Johnson, Gerald Chilvers & Joe Brown were 11-4 down after six ends against Alan Williamson’s triple on mat two. Gerald & Joe changed places and the move worked with nine shots scored over ends 7, 8 & 9 to move 13-11 up. End 8 will be remembered by spectators as Alan Williamson fired with his first wood at a head where Kirby held 4 shots and went over the fender. Gerald’s triple did not claim the shots but elected to continue. With his second bowl Alan again fired at a big Kirby head with all the Anglian Windows bowls at the back ready to receive. To the relief of Kirby he again missed and once again went over the fender. A nervy last end saw Kirby concede two shots but won the game 17-15. Meanwhile Alistair’s triple had fought back to 14-11 with one end remaining. After playing his last wood Al’s triple held 3 shots but a perfect drawing wood by Mike Boswell earned his triple a consolation 15-11 win. Special mention for Diane Boswell at number two who had a great game for the opposition with a series of deadly attacking woods.

 

Kirby Bedon 0 (34) v Bob Carter 4 (71)

Tens League

Match Date 03-12-10

 

A dreadful home result for Kirby in the Tens League. Three games were quite close but Carter edged them all. Shirley Brown & Phil Watson lost 17-12 in one pairs  game while Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter lost 13-9 in the other against England’s Trevor Brown & Robert Howlett. It was Brown’s first appearance at Kirby since signing for Carter. Peter Johnson, Peter Adcock & Joe Brown lost 15-10 to ex Kirby player Nigel Willard but the serious damage shots wise was in the remaining triples game. Dot Dawson, Bob Pattison & Gerald Chilvers suffered a massive 26-3 defeat against David Lamb’s triple in the worst loss on home mats in years. The Tens League is not our target this year and this was not our strongest team but the magnitude of this defeat was disappointing and I am sure Hempnall will agree when they see the result!

Horsford BC 2 (45) v Kirby Bedon 8 (60)

Bure League

Match Date 22-11-10

 

A good first half for Kirby as Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith beat David Claxton’s triple 14-8 on mat one and Peter Adcock, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson won 15-7 against C Walsgrove’s triple on mat two. Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter started the second half on mat one dominating the game against P Isgate’s triple and led 12-1 after eight ends. Shirley was in excellent form at lead, as were Jimmy & Al in their roles,  and the Horsford triple were put under the cosh. 17-4 up after eleven ends and the game was as good as over but Horsford did put a few shots on the board as Al’s triple won 22-10. Kirby’s one defeat came on mat two where Peter Johnson, Bob Pattison & Joe Brown lost 20-9 against Bob Burrage’s triple with Avril Grapes at number two. A terrible first end saw Kirby drop five shots and the one good end for Joe’s triple in the entire game was on the sixth where they took a four against the run of play. The score finished up at 20-9 in Horsford’s favour and neither Peter, Bob or Joe will want to remember this game. Overall though an excellent result away from home on difficult mats.

 

Kirby Bedon 8 (52) v Hevingham 2 (39)

Bure League

Match Date 19-11-10

 

It was back to winning ways at home to Hevingham as Kirby won on two mats with the other two games drawn. Peter Johnson, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown enjoyed another good night beating David Sharpe’s triple 13-4, they led throughout after establishing a 6-0 lead after four ends. Carol Johnson, Bob Pattison & Gerald Chilvers beat Alan Bunn’s triple 17-13 but had to fight back after trailing 12-6 after eight ends.  Shirley Brown, Janice Hewitt & Phil Watson found it tough going against Ian MacLean, David Bunn & Peter Smart but gained a 12-12 draw after winning the last two ends after the Hevingham triple had led throughout. Jackie Tunmore, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter drew 10-10 with Pat Williamson’s triple with a one on the last end securing the draw for the Kirby triple.

 

Coltishall 8 ( 63) v Kirby Bedon 2 (39)

Bure League

Match Date 17-11-10

 

The first Bure League defeat of the season came at Coltishall. Peter Johnson, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown earned our two points with a 15-10 win against John Aggas’ triple but Dot Dawson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter were close losing by just 12-10 against Les Harman. The other two games saw big Coltishall wins as Leonora Chilman, Bob Pattison & Gerald Chilvers lost 19-6 against margaret Harman and Shirley Brown, Janice Hewitt & Phil Watson lost 22-8 against Willie Jefferies.

 

Kirby Bedon 17 (98) v Horsford BC 7 (36)

Bure Cup 1^st Rnd, 2^nd Leg

Match Date 08-11-10

The second leg started with two defeats before Kirby picked up their game to make sure of victory.

Horsford BC 8 (49) v Kirby Bedon 16 (72)

Bure Cup 1^st Round 1^st Leg

Match Date 04-11-10

 

The Bure Cup format, like the Norwich Cup format, gives each triple three games of just six ends so away games can prove difficult for the visiting players to find the mats speed and line. Kirby arrived at Horsford with a decent looking team with the aim of establishing a good lead to take home for Monday’s second leg. In that respect it was mission accomplished as Kirby proved too strong for the home side.

Session one was shared with Peter Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith beating J Bately’s triple 8-1 on mat one. On mat two Carol Johnson, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson were 7-1 down after four ends but singles on the last two ends reduced the arrears to 7-3. Session two saw Kirby move into a 6-2 points lead as both triples won. Dot Dawson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter won 7-1 against David Claxton’s triple on mat one while Shirley Brown, Peter Adcock & Joe Brown beat Mick Dale’s triple 8-4 on mat two. Session three saw Selwyn’s triple win again this time beating Bob Burrage’s triple 7-3 on mat one. Phil’s triple again found themselves in trouble on mat two with Carol struggling on the awkward Horsford mat. They eventually lost 8-2 against J Bateley’s triple. Session four saw Kirby turn the screw winning both games to move 12-4 up. Alistair’s triple won 6-1 on mat one while Joe’s triple won 7-5 on mat two. The next session was shared although Kirby moved further ahead on shots as Selwyn’s triple moved onto mat two for the first time of the night and hammered David Claxton’s triple 12-0. Alistair’s triple slipped to a 7-1 defeat against J Bateley’s triple. The final session was also shared as Joe’s triple won 8-1 but Phil’s triple, with Bernice Adcock subbing for Carol Johnson, lost 11-3. Overall an excellent result with Selwyn & Joe’s triples winning all their three games and Alistair’s triple winning twice and only losing one game. J Bateley’s triple was Horsfords best winning games by 8-2 & 7-1 after losing their opening game to Selwyn’s triple.

 

Anglian Windows 2 (71) v Kirby Bedon 8 (43)

Bure League

Match Date 2-11-10

 

The first half saw Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith playing M Curchin, Maureen Dease & Ken Dease on mat one and the first two ends left them level at 2-2. The next four ends all went Window’s way with Leonora struggling to find the mat and the rub of the green in the home sides favour and with the scoreline at 9-2 Selwyn switched Teresa to lead for the seventh end. Teresa drew in her woods to put Windows under pressure for once and Kirby took a three. The Kirby triple then switched back to their original order and suddenly the match changed course as they reeled off end after end to win 24-9. On mat two Bernice Adcock, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown played B Sizer, T Johnson & A Johnson and a four on the fourth end helped them into a 6-3 lead after six ends. After that there was only going to be one winner as Joe’s triple pulled away to win 20-7 and complete a great first half for Kirby Bedon. After the break Peter Adcock, Gerald Chilvers & Phil watson played P Curchin, D Halford & Mike Boswell on mat two and Phil found himself in plenty of trouble on the early ends. Some excellent bowls by Phil stopped Windows getting a good start as Peter struggled at first to find the lines. A two on the fifth end moved Kirby 5-3 up and Phil decided to switch Gerald to lead. It proved an inspired decision by the skip as Gerald produced a flawless display at lead and Peter settled down to play well at number two leaving Phil to produce an excellent performance to score a 19-8 win. Mike Boswell was not allowed to dominate the game as he often does at home and will not be pleased with the result. Anglian Windows clinched their only win of the night on mat two with Jan Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter losing 19-8 to R Whitmore, Keith Halford & Alan Williamson. It was a disappointing display for the Kirby triple who never really found the mat and there was no-way back from 16-5 after ten ends.     

 

Hevingham 6 (67) v Kirby Bedon 2 (49)

Norfolk County Cup

Match Date 26-10-10

A tough draw gave us a visit to Hevingham and on the night Kirby came up short. Both first half games were lost but Carol Johnson, Peter Adcock & Phil Watson came close losing by just one shot against Pat Bunn, Noel Harmer & Pat Williamson. A good start saw Phil 5-0 up after three ends but that was followed by seven lost ends leaving his triple 12-5 down. A 5 on end 11 brought them back to just 12-10 down and they finished up losing by just 17-16. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Mervyn Williamson, Ian MacLean & Vic Woods on mat 2 and a below par performance saw them lose by 15-9. They paid the price for a dreadful start trailing 12-3 after nine ends and never looked like troubling the home triple who were in top form but managed to keep the shots down. This left Kirby 4-0 down on points at the interval but just 7 shots behind so two wins were needed after the break. Janice Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter put on a stunning display against Janet Kemp, E Hayward & David Sharpe with all three in sparkling form. The home triple were simply ripped apart as Alistair’s triple won 22-6. Unfortunately on mat 2 Kirby’s goose was cooked as Dot Dawson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers went down by a horrible 29-2 scoreline against Gil Bunn, Alan Bunn & George Clarke.  

 

Hempnall 4 (75) v Kirby Bedon 0 (39)

Tens League

Match Date 25-10-10

Visits to Hempnall never bring much success and with a rather mixed side we did not hold out too much hope of points in the league where total shots are everything. The first half saw an unusual combination as Dot Dawson, Leonora Chilman & Selwyn Goldsmith took to the mat as a triple. This was due to holidays and unavailabilities leaving Kirby short of number twos for the triples. They were on mat 2 against a home triple skipped by county player Neil Davidson and with the always consistent Chris East at lead. The match had an amazing start as Selwyn’s triple moved into a 10-1 lead after seven ends with the home side looking increasingly tense. A three on the eighth end, when too many short woods left Kirby in trouble, seemed to galvanize Neil’s triple and they struck back winning five straight ends to lead 11-10. A two on the thirteenth end stopped the rot and Kirby led again by 12-11. Neil’s triple replied with a two on the penultimate end and moved in front by one shot. The last end saw Dot draw in two good woods and Leonora place a nice back bowl in position. Neil had no option but to run into the head but Kirby’s bowls were well positioned and by the time Selwyn stepped up to bowl the last wood of the game Kirby held one shot and the jack was open enabling him to draw the bowl in for two shots and an unexpected 14-13 win. Well done to Dot & Leonora for some excellent woods against class opposition. A late change saw Jimmy Dye & Phil Watson pair up on mat one against Colin Stevenson & Bernie Cudden. Jimmy had not been feeling well and needed to go on first to get home early. The home pair started well and after ten ends led by 16-2. Jimmy & Phil then launched a good comeback scoring a 4, 2 & 2 on ends 10 to 12 to cut the deficit to 16-10. The home pair rallied though on the last two ends scoring two shots on each to win 20-10 and leave Kirby 33-24 down at the interval. After the break Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers faced Joan Cann, Richard Harrowing & Jon Sparham on mat two but were completely out-bowled early on as the home side built up an 18-2 lead after nine ends. Gerald’s triple staged a mini recovery winning five of the last six ends to finish 19-9 down. A few odd shot choices did not help Gerald’s triple. On mat one Hempnall fielded the formidable pairing of former Norfolk star Roger Parker and young England player Chris Mann.  Fresh from another County Fours triumph on Sunday Chris was on fire and seems to improve with every game while Roger was in superb form. Kirby’s pair were Teresa Goldsmith & Alistair Hunter, no strangers themselves to success in Norfolk County Championships. On their own mats though the home pair were in no mood to give much away and after seven ends led 11-1. There was no way back for the Kirby pairing and Parker & Mann finished with a four on the last end to win 23-6. Another defeat at Hempnall in the Tens League was no surprise and hopefully it will be payback time when they visit Kirby but the priority remains the Bure. 

 

St Faiths 0 ( 29) v Kirby Bedon 10 (97)

Bure League

Match Date 22-10-10

Our first game in defense of the Bure League title saw Kirby visit St Faiths with a strong line-up. The top teams normally do damage to St Faiths even on their own mats but so often teams drop the odd points there that they can regret later in the season. The opening session saw Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith play Russell Daynes’ triple on mat two. Russell had little support from his number one & two and with both Leonora & Teresa playing well Selwyn was able to relax as they notched up a huge 37-4 win. On mat one Shirley Brown, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown started slowly dropping a 3 and a 2 to fall 5-0 down after two ends. A full house of six on the third end stopped St Faiths in their tracks and two counts of five on ends 9 & 10 set Joe’s triple on their way to a 26-10 win. Second half saw mat two again kind to Kirby as Jan Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter won 19-4 in a relaxed manner against J Elvin’s triple. Al’s triple won 12 of the 15 ends but they were limited to single shots on eight of those ends as the St Faiths skip resorted to mainly firing which cut out a lot of shots. Peter Adcock, Gerald Chilvers & Phil Watson played R Hart’s triple on mat one and a great start saw Phil 9-0 up after four ends and coasting. After 11 ends they still led by 13-4 and all ten points looked in the bag but a three for St Faiths on end 12 heralded a worrying finish. A pair of two’s on the next two ends left Kirby hanging on to a 13-11 lead with an end remaining. Peter Adcock drew in a lovely backhand opening wood onto the jack and Phil’s first bowl was also vital in consolidating the end as they won 15-11. 

 

Bob Carter 4 (88) v Kirby Bedon 0 (35)

Tens League

Match Date 19-10-10

It is a rarity indeed for Bob Carter to lose at home so it was no surprise to lose this match after our opening two wins in the Tens League. The fact that this was not a strong Kirby side on paper was due to unavailability of several players but the result would probably not have been very different. Session one saw Jimmy Dye & Phil Watson go down 23-8 to Jean & Melly Woods in the pairs. A poor opening six ends saw the Kirby pair 15-1 down, after that they held their own scoring seven shots over the last nine ends against Carter’s eight shots. On mat two Carol Johnson, Peter Adcock & Gerald Chilvers were 7-2 down to Robert Howlett’s triple after seven ends and just like the other first half game they then held the Carter triple with both triples scoring six shots over the remaining eight ends with Carter winning 13-8. After the break Shirley Brown & Alistair Hunter faced Kim Bridge & Nigel Willard on mat two. It followed the pattern of the other games with Carter getting a flyer and leading 16-4 after nine ends. Shirl & Al then won four of the last six ends to reduce Carter’s win to 21-13. On mat one Kirby’s Leonora Chilman, Peter Johnson & Joe Brown took a beating as they went down 31-6 to David Lamb’s triple – “nuff said”. 

 

Kirby Bedon 4 (80) v Horsford Heroes 35 (0)

Tens League

Match Date 11-10-10

A more than comfortable win against a decent enough Horsford Heroes team. Jan Hewitt & Teresa Goldsmith opened in the pairs with Teresa making a rare appearance in the skips role. They faced a good Horsford pair in Mally Kemp & Keith Chapman but did a good job winning 15-12. Dot Dawson, Shirley Brown & Phil Watson played Lynn Frank, Carol Kemp & Roger Frank and notched up a solid 23-9 win to give Kirby a 17 shot interval lead. After the break any hope Horsford had of recovering disappeared as Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers, a late replacement for Alistair Hunter, enjoyed a huge 26-3 win. Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Joe Brown beat Russell Hubbard’s triple 16-11 to complete a maximum 4-0 win.

Kirby Bedon 3 Coltishall 0
Tens League
Match date 08-10-10
A solid start to the Tens League season with a 3-0 win against Coltishall in the same week we had knocked them out of the Norwich Cup. Wholesale changes to the Kirby team from Wednesday saw Bob Pattison, Peter Adcock, Brian Saunders and Joe & Shirley Brown back in the side while key players Phil, Teresa & Selwyn were all rested. The match was dominated by one result, a superb 25-4 win for Leonora, Bob & Joe against Martin Edridge, Mally Catchpole & Eddie Edridge. Bob & Joe were in brilliant form hardly missing a shot and the away triple visibly wilted under the onslaught. Their 21 shot win was helped by a 6 shot win for Peter J, Peter A & Gerald against Vernon Bunn, Brian Bunting & Peter Barnett. The other two games went Coltishall's way with Les & Margaret Harman showing good form beating Jimmy & Alistair by 7 shots and Ann Ducker & Willie Jefferies winning 15-12 against Shirley & Brian as the pairs proved a happy hunting ground for Coltishall.    

Coltishall 7 (53) v Kirby Bedon 13 (51)
Norwich Cup
Match Date 06-10-10
With all our "2 club members" unavailable for Norwich Cup action Kirby did not envisage surviving a tough first round draw at Coltishall. Pre-match instructions amounted to "just relax and enjoy the game" and expectations were of an early bath and a quick exit from the Norwich Cup. Our club captain Alistair arrived as the first two 6-end games were being played and was no doubt surprised to see Dot, Teresa & Selwyn on their way to a 7-0 win against Vernon Bunn, Les Harman & Margaret Harman and Leonora, Janice & Phil completing a 7-6 win against Ann Ducker, Eddie Edridge & Coltishall captain Willie Jefferies. Both teams were playing their first game of the winter season but while several Kirby players had been involved in recent county games and club championships, some Coltishall players still looked as they were in outdoor mode and struggling to find their weight. The second session was shared with Carol, Peter J & Gerald beating Martin Edridge, Mally Catchpole & Peter Barnett 6-5 and Jackie, Jimmy & Alistair losing 6-2 against Carol Aggas, Brian Bunting & John Aggas. The third session saw Phil's triple earning their second win beating Margaret Harman's triple 8-4 but Selwyn's triple lost 5-3 in a tight game against Willie's triple in a game that could have gone either way. The fourth session was a big one for Kirby as Gerald's triple grabbed a last gasp 3-2 win against John Aggas and Alistair's triple drew 6-6 with Peter Barnett. This left Kirby 11-5 up on points and just two points were needed from the fifth session to clinch victory. Selwyn's triple moved across to mat 2 to play the John Aggas triple and were quickly put under the cosh. A poor start turned into a poor game as they struggled to find line and length and John's triple cruised to victory scoring 14 shots without reply. Alistair's triple faced Margaret Harman's triple on mat 1 and with Margaret having lost her first two games hopes were high of our captain finishing off the match. He did not disappoint as he produced a great attacking wood with his last bowl of the game to sweep the jack into the ditch for four shots and a 9-5 shots win. This gave Kirby Bedon an unexpected 13-7 points win as Coltishall conceded leaving the last session unplayed. Special mention must be made of Jackie & Dot, two players who would not normally have been expected to be selected for an away game at Coltishall. Both players produced some great woods and can be proud of their efforts against a strong Coltishall side.   

MATCH REPORTS SUMMER 2010

Thorpe Marriott "A" 6 (47) v Kirby Bedon "A" 2 (56)
Div One
Match Date 11-08-10
A poor result in the last match of the season just about sums the entire campaign up. Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith opened on mat one against Janet Pinchen, Ted Redwood & Will Hoggan. 5-1 down after four ends Kirby did not panic but won the next five ends to lead 10-5. Marriott hit back winning the next four ends but it was the 12th end that cost Kirby the match as they conceded a five. With no back woods and just one Kirby bowl in the head Will Hoggan took Kirby's bowl out with his last wood. Selwyn tried a fire shot to try and lessen the damage but hit the block and Kirby were 13-10 down. The last two ends went Kirby's way but the result was 14-13 to Will Hoggan's triple but it must be said that Ted Redwood's form contributed greatly to this result. On mat two Leonora Chilman, John Aggas & Phil Watson played Sylvia Turner, Trevor Pinchen & Tony Turner and found themselves 9-3 down after six ends. Winning four of the last six ends the Kirby triple pulled the deficit back to just 13-11 but ran out of ends. After the break Alistair Hunter subbed for Leonora against Will Hoggan's triple which had Sheila Redwood subbing for Janet Pinchen. Another close game developed but Phil's triple always seemed to trail by one or two shots eventually going down by just 11-10. The remaining game saw Kirby produce their only win of the night with Carol, Teresa & Selwyn producing their best form beating Tony Turner's triple 22-9. Marriott tried all three players at skip at various points of the game but there was only ever going to be one winner in this one after Kirby built up a 19-3 lead after eleven ends. The end result virtually hands Wymondham second place who only need a 6-2 home win in their final match which is also against Thorpe Marriott "A". 

First Bus 4 (57) v Kirby Bedon "A" 4 (54)
Div One
Match Date 02-08-10
First Bus entertained the Kirby "A" team for the last match of the First Bus season. First Bus still needed points to keep the pressure on Marriott "A" in the relegation battle while Kirby "A" needed points to keep Wymondham as far behind them as possible in the fight for the runners-up spot. The final score of 4-4 would have been quite acceptable to Kirby in normal circumstances but on this occasion a minimum 6 points was the target required and the result was a major disappointment. In the first half Leonora Chilman, Phil Watson & John Aggas played Bob Pattison, Lesley Crowe & Maurice Kemp on mat 2 and the game was still close at 8-8 after eight ends. Kirby got their noses in front with a 3 on the ninth end and led from then on winning 17-11.On mat one Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Colin Coman, Tony Gray & Bob Oatway and another tight game developed with the score at 8-7 to Kirby after eleven ends. The twelfth end proved to be massive as Carol & Teresa drew in tight to the jack while early First Bus woods went long. With Bob well known as a heavy hitter Selwyn attempted to cover the back but failed. Bob had the last wood of the end and with Kirby holding a possible four shots Bob attacked. His wood appeared at first to be too tight but came back off a side wood taking the jack with it to the edge of the mat. It looked as though the jack would go off but it stayed on and First Bus took a crucial four shots to lead 11-8. They followed this with a single on the thirteenth but two perfectly drawn long woods to the jack line by Selwyn took a pair on the fourteenth end after Teresa attacked the head and ditched the jack. 12-10 down on the last end Kirby held two shots with only Bob's wood to go. His attack shot hit the jack back and Kirby held only one shot after a measure gave First Bus second wood. A 12-11 win for First Bus but a good game. The second half saw Alistair Hunter subbing for Leonora and Al, Phil & John played John Cummins, Colin Coman & Tony Gray. The lads were in good form and built up a 14-6 lead after ten ends. A painful 5 was conceded on end 11 but a two and a single made it 17-11 with two ends to go. First Bus took 5 shots over the last two ends and the Kirby triple were winners by just 17-16. Carol, Teresa & Selwyn were up against Julia Cummins, Lesley Crowe & Maurice Kemp on mat 1 and led 7-5 after taking a 4 on the seventh end. Maurice then moved to number two while Lesley went to skip and the change worked wonders for First Bus. With Lesley setting a long jack Julia drew well to it while Kirby frustratingly lost their way. Too many short and wasted woods were played by the Kirby triple as First Bus dominated the game winning five of the last six ends to win 18-9. A depressing defeat for a triple who know they can do so much better than this. The result leaves Wymondham now in the driving seat for the runners-up spot.  
    
Wymondham 4 (47) v Kirby Bedon "A" 4 (44)
Div One
Match Date 01-08-10
With the prize of league runners-up the only thing left to fight for in a disappointing season by our standards, we traveled to rivals Wymondham for this crucial "double pointer". After losing heavily there in the cup a better performance was needed and all our players knew it. Alistair Hunter was brought in to lead for Phil Watson & John Aggas while the regular triple of Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith was back in place for this match. The first half proved to be good for Kirby with both triples winning. On mat one Al, Phil & John played Shirley Foster, Debbie Phillips & Steve Phillips and led 5-1 after four ends. The Wymondham triple fought back and the game was level at 8-8 after ten ends before the home side was stunned as the Kirby triple scored a full house of 6. 16-8 up with two ends to go disaster struck as Steve Phillips' triple scored a 5 to cut the deficit to three shots going into the last end. John's triple held firm though and scored a 2 to win 18-13. On mat 2 Carol, Teresa & Selwyn played Peter King, Mark Linsdell & Chris Mann and the game was close throughout. Only on the eleventh end did anyone grab a decisive lead as Mann's triple moved 8-5 up but Selwyn's triple clawed back to level the game at 8-8 with an end remaining. A classic last end left Selwyn's triple holding one shot but Chris Mann still had a bowl to play and acres of room to draw in. Unfortunately for Wymondham his drawing wood fell horribly short leaving the Kirby triple 9-8 winners. After the break Wymondham left their triples unchanged and this paid off for them. Chris Mann's triple found themselves in another tight game with the score just 8-7 in their favour against John's triple with 11 ends played. The home triple though took the last four ends to win 15-7. On mat 2 Selwyn's triple found themselves once again level, this time at 10-10, with an end to play. Selwyn had the last wood and was one shot down and attempted to chip the jack on the inside to where Kirby had bowls waiting. He failed to cut the bowl in enough but still got contact on the holding wood and jack but succeeded only in moving the jack to another Wymondham bowl leaving Steve Phillips' triple winners by 11-10 and a 4-4 points draw. Probably a fair result after a tremendous Div One match between two of the top teams and Kirby still hold their three point lead over Wymondham with two games remaining for both teams. 

Kirby Bedon "A" 8 (76) v First Bus 0 (33)
Div One
Match Date 26-07-10
First Bus arrived needing points for their battle against relegation but Kirby Bedon "A" were in no mood to be generous and took all eight points. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith opened on mat one against John Cummins, Lesley Crowe & Maurice Kemp and dropped just three ends as they won by a comfortable 22-5 margin. Leonora had a good game at lead and Teresa & Selwyn had too much fire power for the visiting triple. As the First Bus triple dropped further behind Lesley moved to skip in place of Maurice but to little effect. Lesley Crowe has always played Kirby's mats really well but on this occasion did not have a major impact on the outcome. On mat two Carol Aggas, John Aggas & Phil Watson played Colin Coman, Tony Gray & Bob Oatway and led throughout to record an 18-9 win. A full house of 6 shots on the twelfth end finished off any hopes Bob had of getting anything out of this game. After the break Carol, John & Phil played Bob Pattison, Lesley Crowe & Maurice Kemp and the game was level at 9-9 after ten ends and 11-11 after thirteen ends. Two great woods from Phil on the penultimate end gave Kirby a 13-11 lead going in to the last end and another two shots earned a 15-11 win. On mat two Alistair Hunter came in for Leonora Chilman and played at number two with Teresa at lead and Selwyn skipping. After losing the first two ends Selwyn's triple came back to lead 9-3 after six ends. After that there was never any doubt of how this game would go and the Kirby triple finished up 21-8 winners. Ralph Wilson had a good game for the visitors at lead and without his strong showing the defeat could have been much heavier.    
Kirby Bedon "A" 6 (62) v Framingham Earl 2 (43)
Div One
Match Date 19-07-10
A bad start for Kirby "A" as Teresa Goldsmith was taken ill just 25 minutes before the start. A late phone call to Alistair Hunter made sure that Kirby would have a full team for the second half but in the first half just 5 Kirby players took to the mats. Leonora Chilman & Selwyn Goldsmith played without a number two and frustrated the away triple of Peter Adcock, Debbie Bunn & Karl Bunn and the match was still level at 7-7 after seven ends. The extra bowls proved too much on ends 9 & 10 though and two counts of 3 left Leonora & Selwyn trailing at 13-7. They held their own after that but still went down 17-12. Carol Aggas, John Aggas & Phil Watson cruised into a 14-3 lead after eight ends before Colin Emms' triple fought back hard but the Kirby triple held on to win 15-11. After the break Alistair Hunter stepped in as number two with Leonora & Selwyn and quickly went into a 10-0 lead after 7 ends against Colin Emms. The game finished at 19-7 as the visitors picked up three shots on the last two ends. Carol, John & Phil had a tough opening nine ends against Karl Bunn with the game level at 7-7. A great finish, which saw the Kirby triple win 5 out of the last 6 ends, earned them a 16-8 win.    

First Bus 4 (52) v Kirby Bedon "B" 4 (56)
Div One
Match Date 19-07-10
Another good result away from home for Kirby "B" as a draw was earned at First Bus. In the first half Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers beat the strong home triple of Colin Coman, Tony Gray & Bob Oatway by 13-11. Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Browm slipped to a 14-7 defeat against Maurice Kemp's triple so it was level at 2-2 at halftime. After the break Shirley, Barry & Joe ran riot beating Tony Gray's triple 23-10 but Gerald's triple were unable to prevent Maurice Kemp's triple winning by 17-13 to earn First Bus a draw.  
Wymondham 8 (64) v Kirby Bedon "A" 0 (40)
Summer Cup Quarter-Final
Match Date 19-07-10
For the third successive round Kirby "A" found themselves drawn away from home and they traveled to Wymondham knowing that their opponents were eager to gain revenge for last season's defeat in the cup final. Leonora Chilman, John Aggas & Phil Watson opened against Peter King, Mark Linsdell & Chris Mann and it was a game they will wish to forget after losing 25-5. Leonora never got to grips with the long jack set by Chris Mann and Phil & John were unable to get into the match. After finding themselves 17-0 down after eight ends the closing ends were better as they lost the last seven ends by just 8-5 but it was a costly defeat shots-wise. On mat two Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith found themselves under intense pressure early on against Sylvia Archer, Shirley Foster & Steve Phillips. It was almost halfway in the game before Selwyn had his first draw shot after having to attack the head end after end. After trailing 8-2 after six ends the Kirby triple pulled back to just one shot down after nine ends but then conceded six shots over the next three ends. Another fightback ensured they lost by just 15-13 but it left Kirby "A" with a mountain to climb in the second half. Alistair Hunter made his first appearance of the season in place of Leonora against Steve Phillips' triple and it made a big difference to the triple who this time lost by just 11-10. Another close game on mat two saw Selwyn's triple lose by just 13-12 against Chris Mann's triple. Carol, Teresa & Selwyn all played well but not quite up to the high standards they have set in the past. Too many key shots were missed on the night and against a side of Wymondham's class this was fatal.

Kirby Bedon "B" 6 v Thorpe Marriott "A" 2
Div One
Match Date 12-07-10
Gerald Chilver's triple beat Tony Turner 14-10 and ex Kirby player Will Hoggan 11-10 as Kirby "B" pushed Thorpe Marriott "A" even deeper into the relegation mire. Another great result for the "B" team who are more than holding their own back in the top flight.

Kirby Bedon "B" 2 (47) v Bob Carter 6 (55)
Div One
Match Date 09-07-10
Bob Carter's new "dream team" are now almost certain to become Summer League champions but the "B" team made them fight for every point. Shirley Brown, Peter Johnson & Joe Brown should be pleased with a 16-13 win against Jason Woods, Nigel Willard & George Clarke considering that ex Kirby players Nigel & George know our mats like the backs of their hands. All the other three games were lost but were close. Joe's triple lost their other game by 15-13 to Melly Woods' triple, Carol Johnson, Gerald Chilvers & Bernie Cudden lost 15-10 to Melly Woods and Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers lost 12-8 against George Clarke. 
 
Kirby Bedon "B" 6 (72) v Framingham Earl 2 (31)
Div One
Match Date 02-07-10
Another solid performance from Kirby "B" in what is turning out to be a very good season. Chris East, Gerald Chilvers & Bernie Cudden enjoyed one of their biggest wins of the season beating Mervyn Blaza's triple 23-5 in a successful first half. Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Brown found Joan Blaza, Peter Adcock & Karl Bunn a more stubborn triple to beat but still won 12-7. After the break Joe's triple also cruised to a big win against Blaza's triple winning 26-6 but Chris, Gerald & Bernie dropped the only game of the night for Kirby "B" losing by just 13-11 to Karl Bunn's triple. 
 
Hevingham 7 (59) v Kirby Bedon "B" 1 (44)
Summer Cup 1st Round
Match Date 25-06-10
An away tie at Hevingham was always going to be difficult and so it proved. In the first half Jimmy Dye, Barry Herman & Joe Brown lost their way losing 15-6 to a strong home triple of Ian MacLean, Pat Williamson & Vic Woods. A close game on the other mat saw ex Hevingham player Chris East, Gerald Chilvers & Bernie Cudden lose 16-11 to Pat Bunn, Marjorie Hall & David Sharpe. In the second half Shirley Brown substituted for Barry and they lost by just one shot to David Sharpe's triple, going down 13-12. Chris, Gerald & Bernie will be pleased to have held Vic Woods' triple to a 15-15 draw but dreams of cup glory are over for another year for Kirby "B".  

Kirby Bedon "A" 7 (65) v Wymondham 1 (45)
Div One
Match Date 21-06-10
Following the disappointing result against Carter the team were determined to return to form against the up and coming Wymondham team. On Mat One Leonora Chilman, John Aggas & Phil Watson faced Sylvia Archer, Shirley Foster & Debbie Phillips and were put under immediate pressure dropping two shots on the first end and a painful five on the second to go 7-0 down. A gritty fightback was called for and they delivered pulling it back to just 9-8 down after ten ends. Phil's triple found themselves in trouble again 12-9 down with one end to go but at least Phil would have the last wood. By the time he came to play it he was glad he did as a Wymondham bowl just to the right on the jack needed moving out for Phil to score three and get a draw. Holding his nerve he played a superb backhand shot, out went Wymondham's wood and a 12-12 draw was the result.On Mat Two Wymondham's young county skip Chris Mann had Brian Saunders at lead and Peter King at number two while Kirby's triple were Carol Aggas, teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith. Selwyn's triple made a slow start and were 5-2 down after four ends. After that the Kirby triple stepped up a notch and only dropped a single on the seventh and two shots on the eleventh as Carol, Teresa & Selwyn racked up a 22-8 win. After the break the visitors made two substitutions in Chris Mann's triple bringing in Pat Saunders at lead and Steve Phillips at two to face Leonora, John & Phil. Leading 12-5 after eight ends Phil's triple looked comfortable but then lost four ends in a row and their lead was down to a single shot. When the final end was played Phil's triple were hanging on to a 14-13 lead but the Wymondham triple put them under intense pressure and Phil once again pulled off a great shot to bring his triple home by 16-13. On Mat One Carol, Teresa & Selwyn were having a much more difficult time against the unchanged Debbie Phillip's triple. Sylvia Archer was having a superb game at lead while Shirley Foster & Debbie Phillips were also playing well. 7-3 down after six ends Selwyn had to play a much more aggressive game than he did against Mann's triple killing a couple of ends along the way. With two ends to go Wymondham led 12-11 but a three on the penultimate end and a single on the final end gave Carol, Teresa & Selwyn a 15-12 shots win and a 7-1 points win for Kirby Bedon "A".
  
Kirby Bedon "A" 0 (32) v Bob Carter 8 (57)
Div One
Match Date 04-06-10
There can be no complaints about this result as the best team won on the night. Two tight games involving Carol, Teresa & Selwyn could have gone either way but both slipped away on the final ends. Leonora, John & Phil had a night to forget as they suffered two heavy defeats. Carter's line-up, with five past or present England internationals in their two triples, showed how important they viewed this game. The first half saw Carol, Teresa & Selwyn face Steve Bridge, David Lamb & Melly Woods on mat one. The home triple found themselves 7-1 down after just four ends but clawed their way back into a 10-9 lead after ten ends. This game was close with the scores at 10-10 after 11 ends and 11-11 after 13 ends. A single shot to Carter on the penultimate end left Selwyn's triple 12-11 down going into the last end. Selwyn found himself a shot down with a Carter wood blocking him on the forehand when he shaped up to play his first bowl. He drove the Carter bowl into the head in an attempt to force the jack back where Kirby held the best back wood but the jack hit Carter's best bowl at the back and stopped. When Selwyn played his second wood he again had a Carter bowl blocking his forehand. He had to pass as close as possible to this wood to try and chip out the Carter shot wood but he shaved the bowl and it deflected his wood away leaving Carter with a 13-11 win. On mat two Leonora, John & Phil faced Jason Woods and two former Kirby players Nigel Willard & George Clarke. With Nigel & George's knowledge of the Kirby mats making them dangerous foes they are always difficult to beat at Kirby and this match was no exception. Phil's triple took a single on the first end but were soon down by 10-1 after six ends. With all three Carter players on song they roared away to lead 16-4 after 12 ends with the final result 17-8. The second half on mat one started even worse as Phil's triple slipped 11-0 down after seven ends against Melly Woods' triple. The final result was 16-4 to the Carter triple on a night to forget for Leonora, John & Phil. Mat Two saw Carol, Teresa & Selwyn involved in another tight game against George Clarke's triple with the score 4-4 after 4 ends, 6-6 after 8 ends and 9-9 after 13 ends. Carter scored two singles on the last two ends to win 13-11 on a miserable night for Kirby "A" which effectively saw them lose their grip on the Summer League Championship title after an incredible ten year run. Last season's "perfect year" with the grand slam of the Norfolk Summer League, The Norfolk Summer Cup and the National Club Championship is something that will probably never be repeated. Certainly Jill Watson's injury in the National Fours Final has had its affect on the team with the successful tactic of switching lead players Jill, Carol & Leonora around to suit venues and opponents now denied to the selectors.
  
Thorpe Marriott "A" 1 (38) v Kirby Bedon "A" 7 (54)
Summer Cup 1st Round
Match Date 03-06-10
A good first half at Marriott with Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith beating Tony Frost, Will Hoggan & Kath Frost by 13-8. 10-3 up after ten ends the Marriott triple scored a four on the eleventh end but Kirby dug deep to win. On Mat Two Leonora Chilman, John Aggas & Phil Watson had a good start and were 7-1 up after five ends but Sheila Redwood, Ted Redwood & Tony Turner fought back to lead 11-9 after twelve ends. Phil's triple led 12-11 going into the last end but Tony Turner's triple scored a single to get a 12-12 draw. Sylvia Turner replaced Sheila Redwood in the second half but Selwyn's triple beat them 18-9. Phil's triple again were involved in a close game but beat Kath Frost's triple 11-9 and Kirby "A" were into the second round. After away games in the preliminary and first rounds lets hope for a home draw this time.

Wymondham 4 (50) v Kirby Bedon "B" 4 (55)
Div One
Match Date 30-05-10
After losing by 8-0 on points, and by an alarming 41 shots, at home to Wymondham just three weeks ago Kirby "B" visited a confident Wymondham side who were fully expecting to harvest another maximum points tally. Against all the odds Gerald's team tore up the script and re-wrote it forcing a 4-4 draw on points while becoming the first side to outscore Wymondham on shots on their own mats in the Summer League. Wymondham included their new signing, former Norfolk singles champion and Connaught star Andrew Stratton, who had taken two years off from the sport and has sprung a surprise by signing for Wymondham.In the first half Peter Johnson, Chris East & Gerald Chilvers faced Mark Linsdell, Steve Phillips & Chris Mann but could not stop the talented home triple winning 13-8. On the other mat Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Brown faced Andrew Stratton, Shirley Foster & Debbie Phillips. Debbie's Wymondham triple suffered a shock defeat with Joe's triple scoring a five on the last end to win 18-11. Debbie has been in tremendous form this season and with Andrew in her triple would not have expected this first half loss. In the second half Peter Johnson, Chris East & Gerald Chilvers played Debbie's triple and inflicted another defeat on Wymondham winning 17-11. The Kirby triple will be delighted with this result that included counts of 5 on both the tenth end and the thirteenth end. Shirley, Barry & Joe fought hard against Chris Mann's triple losing by just 15-12 as the match finished at 4-4 on points but with Kirby "B" scoring 55 shots against the home sides 50. This makes four super results in a row for Gerald's team after their home defeat against Wymondham.   

Framingham Earl 1 (34) v Kirby Bedon "A" 7 (84)
Div One
Match Date 26-05-10
A win and a draw gave Kirby "A" a good interval lead. Carol, Teresa & Selwyn beat Joan Blaza, Peter Adcock & Colin Emms 20-5 while Leonora, Phil & John drew 12-12 with Mervyn Blaza's triple.In the second half John's triple made a storming start and led Peter Adcock's triple 12-1 after 5 ends, eventually winning by a huge 29-9 margin. In contrast Selwyn's triple found Mervyn Blaza's triple a tough nut to crack and the game was level at 8-8 after ten ends. This all changed on the 11th end as Selwyn's triple scored a 5 and never looked back as they went on to crush the home triple 23-8.

Kirby Bedon "A" 8 (80) v Thorpe Marriott "A" 0 (31)
Div One
Match Date 24-05-10
Maximum points and a comfortable victory against Marriott. Carol, Teresa & Selwyn beat Will Hoggan's triple 21-10 and Leonora, John & Phil beat Tony Turner's triple 16-10 in a relaxed first half. It was easier still in the second half as Phil's triple beat Will Hoggan 20-5 and Selwyn's triple beat Sylvia Turner 23-6.

Kirby Bedon "B" 6 (65) v First Bus 2 (41)
Div One
Match Date 21-05-10
Another fine win as the "B" side dropped just one game. Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Joe Brown lost their opening game 14-11 to Tony Gray's triple but won their second one by 25-8 against Maurice Kemp's triple. Chris East, Gerald Chilvers & Bernie Cudden beat Kemp 13-12 and then beat Tony Gray 16-7.  

Thorpe Marriott "A" 2 (46) v Kirby Bedon "B" 6 (51)
Div One
Match Date 18-05-10
An excellent away win for Kirby "B". Carol Johnson, Gerald Chilvers & Bernie Cudden beat Janet Pinchin, Ted Redwood & ex Kirby player Will Hoggan 13-10 but Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Brown lost 13-11 to Tony Turner's triple in the first half. After the break Bernie's triple beat Tony Turner 12-9 while Joe's triple beat Will Hoggan 15-14 to finish in style.
 
Horsford "A" 4 (47) v Kirby Bedon "A" 4 (52)
Summer Cup Preliminary Round
Match Date 14-05-10
They don't come any closer than this! Through on shots after the game finished 4-4 on points. Carol, Teresa & Selwyn won 17-7 in the first half against David Woodrow's triple but Leonora, Phil & John let a 12-6 lead after 12 ends slip to lose 13-12 against Chris Woodhouse. After the break John's triple had a mountain to climb trailing 12-2 after 8 ends but did a great job reducing the defeat to 15-10 by the end. This left Selwyn's triple needing to win to see Kirby "A" through on shots but they trailed 12-11 with an end remaining. Two perfect opening woods by Horsford's lead left Kirby in a hole but Teresa opened up the head with weight. Kirby held just one shot when Selwyn stepped up to play the last bowl of the match but to his, and Kirbys, relief he drew in to earn his triple a 13-12 win and Kirby "A" were through to the next round.
   
Framingham Earl 3 (56) v Kirby Bedon "B" 5 (58)
Div One
Match Date 12-05-10
A great result for Kirby "B" to help erase the memory of the dreadful defeat two nights earlier against Wymondham. Peter Johnson, Gerald Chilvers & Bernie Cudden won 21-6 against Karl Bunn's triple while Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Brown won 15-12 against Mervyn Blaza. Joe's triple drew 14-14 with Bunn's triple after the break but Bernie's triple went down 24-8 to Mervyn Blaza's triple. A solid 5-3 away win though.

Kirby Bedon "B" 0 (26) v Wymondham 8 (67)
Div One
Match Date 10-05-10
A disaster for Kirby Bedon "B" on their own mats as a confident Wymondham side won for the first time at Kirby. Joe Brown lost 7-21 to Debbie Phillips and Gerald Chilvers lost 8-16 against young Chris Mann. The second half was no better as Joe lost 7-15 to Chris Mann and Gerald lost 4-15 against Debbie Phillips. Enough said! 

Bob Carter 8 (60) v Kirby Bedon "A" 0 (35)
Div One
Match Date 04-05-10
A game that so easily might have finished at 4-4 but instead resulted in a bad result for Kirby "A". Carter's new Verdie mats are slower than their old ones and on mat 2 Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith fought a hard battle against Melvin Woods' triple. A close game throughout which was level at 11-11 after 13 ends. A replayed 14th end saw Carter take two shots and another single on the last end gave Carter a 14-11 win. Selwyn's triple were disappointed not to have got anything out of this one. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Phil Watson & John Aggas lost 16-9 against Steve Bridge, Nigel Willard & George Clarke in a game that saw them 6-0 down after three ends. After the break Melvin Woods' triple again found themselves under pressure from Kirby as John's triple fought hard but the Carter triple edged home by just 12-11. On mat 2 Frank Edy replaced Steve Bridge at lead in George Clarke's triple and hardly put a foot wrong drawing to the jack throughout. The slower mats seem to have helped Frank. Carol, Teresa & Selwyn took a rare pounding in this game going down 18-4.  
 
Kirby Bedon "A" 8 (61) v Kirby Bedon "B" 0 (27)
Div One
Match Date 27-04-10
Stung by the previous night's defeat Kirby "A" hit back to score maximum points. Carol Aggas & Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith beat Peter Johnson, Bernie Cudden & Gerald Chilvers 19-3 while Leonora Chilman, John Aggas & Phil Watson beat Shirley Brown, Barry herman & Joe Brown 12-9. After the break Selwyn's triple beat Joe's triple 13-8 and Phil's triple beat Gerald's triple 17-7.
 
Kirby Bedon "A" 3 (49) v Kirby Bedon "B" 5 (58)
Div One
Match Date 26-04-10
With Kirby "B" gaining promotion back into Div One it was back to local derby times again! Kirby "B" got themselves off to a great start winning this game 5-3 as the "A" team suffered a surprise defeat. In the first half Carol Johnson, Bernie Cudden & Gerald Chilvers beat Leonora Chilman, John Aggas & Phil Watson 14-13 while Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Brown scored two on the last end to draw 11-11 with Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith. Selwyn's triple edged a close game 17-14 after the break against Gerald's triple but the "B" side secured a win as Joe's triple beat Phil's triple 19-8. A good win for the "B" side and a wake-up call for the "A" side who look to be without the injured Jill Watson for the season.

MATCH REPORTS WINTER 2009-10

Bob Carter 4 (78) v Kirby Bedon 0 (31)
Tens League
Match Date 06-04-10
The last game of the winter season in the Tens League was at Carter. Peter Adcock & Joe Brown lost 19-7 in the pairs and Jill Watson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson went down 30-3 to Robert Howlett's triple in a poor first half. Shirley Brown & Alistair Hunter drew 13-13 with Jason Woods & Melvin Woods after the break while leonora Chilman, Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers lost 16-8. One to forget!
Kirby Bedon 2 (49)v Hevingham 0 (46)
Tens League
Match Date 22-03-10
Despite nothing riding on this game a visit from Hevingham is always a "big match". The first half saw Shirley Brown & Gerald Chilvers draw 11-11 against John Richardson & Vic Woods on mat one. A good result for our pair who scored a three on the last end to draw the game. On mat two Jill Watson, Joe Brown & Phil Watson beat David Sharpe's triple 16-10 to give Kirby a 6 shot interval lead. After the break Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter faced Ian McLean & ex Kirby player George Clarke on mat one. 9-9 after eleven ends things were tight but the Hevingham pair won three of the last four ends to win 14-10. On mat two Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Pat Bunn, Pat Williamson & Alan Bunn. This game was tight throughout with Selwyn's triple unable to break away. Pat Bunn had a good game at lead for Hevingham and Pat Williamson was in inspired form at number two. 11-11 with one end to play the Kirby triple grabbed a single to win 12-11 and Kirby Bedon recorded a tight 2-0 home win. Too close for comfort!
St Faiths 2 (37) v Kirby Bedon 8 (66)
Bure League
Match Date 19-03-10
The last match of the Bure season provided the expected win at bottom team St Faiths and now we can only wait for the final games to be played by Hevingham & Coltishall to see if we finish first, second or third in the table. In the first half Jill Watson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson trailed 6-1 after four ends against R Hart's triple but then won four of the next five ends to lead 9-7. 11-10 up with two ends to go but a poor penultimate end saw them trailing 13-11. Holding two on the last end Phil unfortunately pushed up a St Faiths wood into the head with his first wood and they could only take a single and lost 13-12. On mat two Peter Adcock, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Ted Redwood's triple. Despite remaining quite close throughout Kirby always kept just ahead of the home triple and in control and won 14-9. After the break Brian Saunders, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter played on mat two and put on the best performance of the night winning 21-4. All three were in great form and can be pleased with their nights work. Mat One saw Shirley Brown, Gerald Chilvers & Joe Brown playing ex Kirby player John Pye with Pam Daynes at two. 4-0 up after four ends and 12-5 up after nine ends it looked as if a comfortable win was on the cards. It proved to be anything but though after Pam Daynes went to skip and a fightback was launched that resulted in Kirby leading by just 12-11 after thirteen ends. The game was finally put to bed on the fourteenth end as Kirby drew in six lovely woods for a full house and added a single on the last end for a 19-11 win.  
Coltishall 8 (67) v Kirby Bedon 2 (40)
Bure League
Match Date 15-03-10
With just two games left and the title between us, Coltishall & Hevingham this game was a "double pointer". Before the match we considered that a draw would be a good result but anything worse than a 6-4 defeat would severely damage our title hopes. Unfortunately the poor form of recent games was carried into this one by too many of our players with yet again poor shot decisions and a failure to cover the back when holding played into Coltishall's hands on too many occasions. In the first half Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Mike Edridge, Les Harman & Peter Barnett on mat one. This proved to be Kirby's only win of the night as an entertaining match finished with Selwyn's triple winning 13-11. The game was tight throughout, 3-3 after four ends, 10-10 after twelve ends but Selwyn's triple led 13-11 going into the last end. Two great woods by Teresa kept the end tight and it finished with a no-scoring end with Kirby's 13-11 lead intact. An excellent game for Leonora, possibly her best of the season. Teresa effective at two and Selwyn matching Peter at skip, who gave way to Les during the match in an unsuccessful attempt to turn the match Coltishall's way. On mat two Bernice Adcock replaced Jill Watson at lead, with Jill still suffering after Friday's game, and Bob Pattison at two with Phil Watson skipping. They faced Ann Ducker, Eddie Edridge & Willie Jefferies. The game slipped away from Phil's triple who trailed 17-4 after thirteen ends. They scored a great 5 on the penultimate end but lost 18-9. After the break Kirby needed a win on either mat but it was not to be. Gerald Chilvers, Peter Adcock & Joe Brown looked like they might provide it leading 8-7 against Carol Aggas, Brian Bunting & John Aggas after nine ends. Then a poor five ends saw the Coltishall triple score 2,3,2,3 and a 1 to lead 18-8 with an end remaining. A single on the last end reduced this to 18-9 but a disappointing result after a bright nine opening ends. On mat one Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter played Mally Catchpole, Jean Barnett & Margaret Harman. 6-0 down after three ends and 16-5 down after ten ends tells the story. A 20-9 defeat for Alistairs triple summed up the disappointing night for Kirby where the Bure title was probably lost.
Kirby Bedon 0 (43) v Coltishall 3 (58)
Tens League
Match Date 12-03-10
Another poor Tens League result and this one at home. Only one win and that was a 13-12 result for Leonora Chilman, Peter Adcock & Bob Pattison against Peter Barnett's triple on mat one in the first half. A good comeback this as Bob's triple were 12-9 down but scored a three on the fourteenth end and a single on the last end to snatch victory. Jill & Phil Watson faced Les & Margaret Harman on mat two and with Jill struggling with her hip the power play of the Harman's carried the day as they raced to a 17-7 win for Coltishall. After the break Shirley Brown, Joe Brown & Gerald Chilvers led 7-1 after six ends against Willie Jefferies on mat one and still led 12-7 with two ends remaining. Two bad ends cost them dearly as they dropped a two on the fourteenth and then dropped a four on the last end to lose 13-12. On mat two another last end collapse saw Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter drop a five to lose 16-11 to Carol & John Aggas.  
Hevingham 8 (57) v Kirby Bedon 2 (41)
Bure League
Match Date 05-03-10
This game was huge for both clubs with Hevingham's title chances already given a huge boost by a 10-0 win against East Tuddenham the same week. This result must have convinced Hevingham that they can get revenge for losing the title to us last season on shot difference. Going into the game top of the table failed to inspire Kirby as we failed again to stop the run of defeats on Hevingham's Mat One. The first half was as tight as they come with Shirley Brown, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith defeating Ian McLean, Lesley Crowe & George Clarke in a titanic struggle on Mat Two. A tight game throughout that was 3-3 after six ends and 8-8 after twelve ends tells the story. Leading 9-8 with one end remaining Shirley & Teresa played some great woods putting Clarke under pressure. Selwyn put in a short blocker with his last wood to severely hinder George's chances of success with the anticipated forehand attack shot. George did indeed attack but missed leaving Kirby winners by 11-8. On Mat One Jill Watson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson faced Pat Bunn, Pat Williamson & Maurice Kemp and were in deep trouble after seven ends trailing 10-2. A great comeback, which saw them get the better of the home triple over the second half of the game, narrowed the gap to just 14-12 leaving the teams level on points at the break with Kirby one shot up. Brian Saunders, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter faced Alan Bunn, Gordon Crowe & David Sharpe on Mat Two and neither triple found their rhythm at the start with Alistair leading 4-3 after five ends. After that Hevingham moved up a gear with Gordon Crowe playing well at two and David Sharpe effective at skip. Alistair's frustration grew as even when his triple drew in four great woods along came Sharpe to spring the jack and take two shots. A two on the eleventh end was all Kirby added to their score as Sharpe's triple pulled away to win 16-6. Kirby's misery on Mat One continued as Gerald Chilvers, Peter Adcock & Joe Brown went down 19-12. They had an awful start trailing 11-0 after five ends before scoring counts of 2, 1 & 2 in successive ends to make it 11-5. Unfortunately Hevingham then scored a four on the ninth end and there was no way back despite scoring a four of their own on the penultimate end. Changing playing order during the game failed to unsettle the home triple who went on to win 19-12.
Horsford BC 2 (41) v Kirby Bedon 8 (59)
Bure League
Match Date 02-03-10
A vital win at Horsford BC to maintain our position at the top of the Bure League. A late change to the team saw Bob Pattison replacing Alistair Hunter as skip with Alistair delayed in Warwickshire. The first half saw Jill Watson, Shirley Brown & Phil Watson on mat two in a new-look triple for the night. Shirley responded well to this responsibility and with all three playing very well they carved out an excellent trouble free 19-3 win. On mat one Carol Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith faced R Burrage's triple. Teresa & Selwyn can normally be relied upon to win on this mat but early on Carol was struggling with line & length and with the Horsford lead B Brown drawing consistently to the jack the pressure was on. After seven ends the game was 6-6 but gradually Selwyn's triple slipped back losing 16-9. After the break Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Bob Pattison played Mick Dale's triple on mat one and were 6-0 up after three ends. Dale's triple had a good spell between the eighth & twelfth ends leaving Bob's triple just 11-10 up but a four on the thirteenth end settled the nerves and Bob's triple went on to win by an excellent 18-10. Peter played well at lead while Jim drew some lovely woods in from the number two position. Bob did an excellent job at skip and proved again how versatile he is. Leonora Chilman, Joe Brown & Gerald Chilvers played Paul Isgate on mat two and were trailing 5-4 after six ends. A purple patch saw Kirby create a comfortable 12-7 lead after ten ends but with Leonora struggling a bit with line the game tightened up and with one end to go Gerald's triple led 13-11. A very uncomfortable final end saw Horsford holding shot with a bowl almost on the jack from early on. With Kirby holding second wood and the third wood a dangerous Horsford bowl just to the left of the jack Kirby spectators were happy that only Gerald had a bowl left to play and a 13-12 win was in the bag. To the consternation of all Gerald visited the head and after consulting with Joe elected to play his wood. Luckily he was slightly wide and didn't touch the Horsford bowl in so Kirby had won 8-2 to move ten points clear of second placed East Tuddenham.         
Kirby Bedon 4 (69) v Hempnall 0 (45)
Tens League
Match Date 05-02-10
A superb performance at home to the league leaders earned a maximum 4-0 win. First half on mat one Shirley & Joe Brown claimed the scalps of Bernie Cudden & Jon Sparham beating them 11-8. They led 11-5 after 13 ends and held on to win. On mat two Leonora Chilman,Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers faced a strong triple of Sid Harman, Neil Davidson & Roger Parker. 12-1 to Gerald after 5 ends left Roger's triple less than amused and the Kirby triple went on to score a notable victory. Second half on mat two Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Phil Watson played Paul Baker's triple. Apart from two blips, conceding a 4 on the second end and a 5 on the thirteenth end, Phil's triple controlled the game winning 21-13. On mat one Janice Hewitt & Alistair Hunter were up against Colin Stevenson & Chris Mann. 6-0 down after five ends Jan & Al pulled back to 13-13 with one end to go but dropped two shots on the last end. Hempnall had only lost one Tens League game this season before coming to Kirby so this was a great result in what has been a poor Tens League season for Kirby. 
Hevingham 4 (67) v Kirby Bedon 4 (39)
Norfolk County Cup Semi-Final
Match Date 04-02-10
Our hold on the Norfolk County Cup came to an end at Hevingham where despite drawing 4-4 on points we were beaten on shots. In the first half Jill Watson, Peter Adcock & Phil Watson were comprehensively defeated 24-3 by Gill Bunn, John Richardson & Vic Woods. The Hevingham skip was on fire, playing at the top of his form, and there was no stopping him on the night. Peter Adcock was making his debut for Kirby but could not have had a harder game to start in. On mat two Shirley Brown, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Pat Bunn, David Bunn & Pat Williamson and this game was a cracker. Both triples played well throughout and Hevingham led by just 12-11 with an end to go. Good opening woods from Shirley put the home side under pressure and Teresa & Selwyn tried to cover the back. Shirley's woods looked an easy target for a running wood but to Kirby's relief the pressure seemed to tell and Hevingham wasted their woods. Selwyn's triple took four shots to win 15-12 and the match was level on points at halftime. The second half was almost a re-run of the first half. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Joe Brown & Gerald Chilvers suffered the same fate as Phil's triple losing 21-4 to George Clarke and the game was up for Kirby. On mat two Jan Hewitt, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter traded wood for wood with David Sharpe's triple with the score 9-7 to Sharpe after ten ends. Eight shots over the next three ends, as all three Kirby players hit form, decided this encounter and Al's triple won 17-10. Another good run for Kirby in the County Cup but home advantage is vital. If this had been a two-leg semi-final, as in the Norwich Cup & the Bure Cup, we would have been expecting to finish the job in the second leg at Kirby Bedon.      
Kirby Bedon 8 (67) v Hevingham 2 (40)
Bure League
Match Date 22-02-10
It just does not make sense! The same points win and the same shot difference as we got at home to St Faiths three days earlier. Thats bowls I guess. Carol Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith beat David Sharpe's triple 23-7 on mat two. A close game until the tenth end, just 9-7 to Kirby, and then fourteen shots over the last five ends buried Sharpie's triple. Probably Carol's best performance of the season at lead & Teresa was back on song as well. Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson faced Vic Woods' triple on mat one and with Vic in top form the Hevingham triple were 13-6 up after ten ends. Five shots over two ends cut the deficit to just two shots but Vic's triple kept the lead winning 17-12. Both games went Kirby's way in the second half. Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter romped to a 20-5 win on mat two against Pat Williamson's triple which included Trevor Pinchin at number two, a player who came close to joining us this season before suddenly signing with Hevingham. On mat one it was an entirely different kind of game as Shirley Brown, Joe Brown & Gerald Chilvers played ex Kirby skip George Clarke. A tight game throughout, the score was level at 11-11 with an end to go and Kirby were relieved to see our triple take a single to win 12-11. Some inexplicable shot choices by the home triple left spectators mystified on both sides. Another excellent win against one of our title rivals that takes us back to the top of the Bure.  
Kirby Bedon 8 (66) v St Faiths 2 (39)
Bure League
Match Date 19-02-10
Two valuable home points dropped against a weak side but Kirby were without several key players so this was always a possibility. In the first half on mat two Peter Johnson, Bob Pattison & Gerald Chilvers won by a comfortable 17-7 after a tight opening period which saw them lead by just 6-4 after seven ends. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Janice Hewitt & Teresa Goldsmith led 7-1 after five ends but the opposition then took thirteen shots over the next five ends to lead 14-7. Despite staging a comeback Teresa's triple still went down 17-14. After the break Carol Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown played former Kirby player John Pye on mat two and recorded Kirby's biggest win of the night by 19-6. Mat one saw Chris East, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter trailing 7-4 after seven ends but they won six of the last eight ends to win 16-9. 
Kirby Bedon 10 (85) v Horsford BC 0 (27)
Bure League
Match Date 15-02-10
Looking at the completed result card, which shows a 10-0 points and 85-27 shots win, it would appear on the surface that this was another easy home win against one of the less successful teams in the Bure. In fact it was not, the opposition put up a strong rearguard action that could easily have cost Kirby valuable home points. In the first half Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson played Simon Warnes' triple on mat two and after winning just three of the opening eight ends found themselves 8-5 down. Fortunately normal service was resumed as they finally got back on course losing only one more end and winning by a big 21-9 margin. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Paul Isgate's triple and also found the going hard early on with the score tied at 3-3 after six ends. As in the previous match Selwyn again found himself having to use weight to get his triple out of trouble far too often for comfort. Just 9-8 up with one end to go the last end was vital and for once they got their early woods all in place and took two shots to win 11-8. A special mention for Horsford skip Paul Isgate who once again had a superb game at Kirby. After the break Shirley Brown, Joe Brown & Gerald Chilvers faced Dennis Seaton's triple and were 7-1 down after four ends on mat two. A change of playing positions with Joe swapping with Gerald, and setting short jacks, turned things around and 18 shots over the last seven ends gave them an excellent 23-9 win. On mat one Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter played Piero Cognetti's triple and Peter maintained the good form he found in the last match. With Jimmy & Alistair also playing at the top of their form Horsford had no chance as this was by far their weakest triple who at times struggled to even keep their woods on the mat. Never the less you can only play what the opposition puts up against you and Alistair's triple stuck to their task and earned valuable shots for Kirby winning 30-1 with the only shot conceded on the last end.
Kirby Bedon 8 (57) v East Tuddenham 2 (37)
Bure League
Match Date 12-02-10
A good home win, that completed a home & away double against one of our biggest Bure League rivals, is one to be celebrated. With three former England internationals in their squad Tuddenham always put out a strong side and so the stage was set for another fierce encounter on a bitterly cold night in our Church Hall. On mat two in the first half Jill Watson, Janice Hewitt & Phil Watson faced former Norfolk Singles champion Russell Harris who had his long time playing partner Denny Cross at two and Geraldine Potter at lead. 5-0 up after three ends hopes of a comfortable home win were high but the Tuddenham triple played themselves back into the game and by the eighth end Phil's triple were just 8-6 up. After that Phil's triple won three straight ends to move 13-6 up and finished with a good 14-8 win. On mat one Carol Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith played Rita Secker, Madge Meachen & Owen Secker. After opening with a four Selwyn's triple led throughout winning 16-9 but it was never comfortable for the Kirby skip who too often was forced to attack the head to get out of trouble against a visiting triple who were drawing well from the lead & two positions. After the break on mat two Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye and our former Scottish international Alistair Hunter played Gillian Amos, Gerald Potter & Robin Amos. With Robin's ability to draw or fire with either hand a great advantage Al's triple knew they would have a tough game. Trailing 6-2 after six ends they edged back to just one shot behind after eight ends. Again Robin's triple put the pressure on moving 9-6 up after eleven ends but Alistair's triple, out of the blue, scored a five on the twelfth end. That was the end for the Tuddenham triple who failed to score another shot as Al's triple went on to win 17-9. A good performance from Peter at lead who has struggled in recent weeks. The last game saw Leonora Chilman, Bob Pattison & Gerald Chilvers playing Tuddenham's top triple Albert Palgrave, Chrissie Turner & John Turner on mat one. A great start for Gerald as his triple moved 7-1 up after five ends but by the twelfth end they had only managed another one shot and Turner's triple were 9-8 up. Singles on the thirteenth and fourteenth ends left Gerald's triple 10-9 up going into the last end but a perfect final wood by John Turner took two shots and an 11-10 win. So close Gerald! Leonora played steadily but Bob would admit that he has had better games. 
Kirby Bedon 6 (61) v Hempnall 2 (38)
Norfolk County Cup Quarter-Final
Match Date 26-02-10
A cracking win against one of the strongest sides in the county takes us into the semi-finals. Hempnall obviously went out with the intention of putting Kirby under pressure in the first half with four of their best players straight into action. Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson faced a triple with Roger Parker at number two and Neil Davidson at skip but rocked the opposition by moving 8-1 up after five ends. Despite a high standard of play from both triples on mat one Phil's triple were never going to let this one slip and won 17-8. On mat two Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Selwyn Goldsmith had Bernie Cudden & Paul "Bakerman" Baker to contend with and the always reliable Ruth Penn at lead. Selwyn got his tactics spot on insisting Carol & Peter got their woods behind the jack while he played a forcing game. The Hempnall triple grabbed the first three ends to lead 5-0 but after that they only managed one more shot on the thirteenth end as the tactics paid off giving a 15-6 home win. Just one more point was needed in the second half to secure the win and Alistair Hunter's triple provided it with a stunning 22-6 win as Hempnall suffered what has been a rare taste of defeat this season. Gerald Chilver's triple were the only home triple to lose going down 18-7. 
Connaught 3 (58) v Kirby Bedon 0 (41)
Tens League
Match Date 02-02-10
Yet another defeat as Kirby's slump continues. More enforced changes as Selwyn Goldsmith's back prevented him from playing and Brian Saunders was brought into a revamped side. Janice Hewitt & Teresa Goldsmith played together in a pair for the first time and faced Norfolk county captain Bob Oatway with G Wilcox at lead. After eight ends the Kirby pair were looking good at 8-4 up but the home lead found his length and line and the game turned as Janice began to struggle. Six ends went Connaught's way without reply until a single for Kirby on the last end reduced the deficit to 17-9. Leonora Chilman, Bob Pattison & Gerald Chilvers faced Alison Rushs' triple and went down by just 13-9 but with an over-all lead of 12 shots at the interval Connaught were well on top. Shirley Brown, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown started well against veteran Ray Wells and led 6-1 after six ends but a flurry of shots gave Connaught a 15-9 win. In the remaining pairs game Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter played the strong pairing of Sylvia Parsons and the ever improving Ollie Allen. Former Scottish international Alistair Hunter dug deep and seven shots over the last three ends gave them a 14-13 win. Never-the-less an over-all defeat by 17 shots leaves Kirby Bedon struggling in a league that they came within one game of winning last season.   
Horsford Heroes 2 (56) v Kirby Bedon 0 (55)
Tens League
Match Date 29-01-10
This was a match that Kirby won with ease last season but we struggled to field a side this year and brought in Saxlingham's Alice & Geoff Payne as guests. Both Kirby pairs performed well with Alice Payne & Alistair Hunter recovering from 6-1 down after five ends to win 14-7. Geoff payne & Jimmy Dye also trailed early on by 10-3 after eight ends but won six of the last seven ends for a 14-11 victory. Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers worked hard against Mick Dale's triple and kept things tight losing by just 15-14.Sadly the final game on saw Leonora Chilman, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown go down by 23-13 against Vic Webster's triple which gave Horsford Heroes a one shot win for two league points, a cruel result for Kirby after some good performances.     
Hevingham 14 (60) v Kirby Bedon 6 (42)
Bure Cup 2nd Leg
Match Date 28-01-10
Leading by just 13-11 after the home leg it was essential to keep things tight from the start but Hevingham moved straight into the driving seat winning five of the first half games to build up a 21-15 aggregate lead. Two wins and a draw form the next four games sealed victory for Hevingham and Kirby conceded with a session to play. The only triple to emerge with decent stats were Shirley Brown, Janice Hewitt & Joe Brown who beat Maurice Kemp 7-5 and drew 5-5 with Gordon Crowe in their two games. Leonora Chilman, Brian Saunders & Gerald Chilvers beat Gordon Crowe 4-2 in their last game after losing their first two games. Pat Saunders, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter lost their two games narrowly by 5-4 & 7-6. 
Woodbastwick 8 (67) v Kirby Bedon 2 (37)
Bure League
Match Date 26-01-10
Another poor result at a venue where we always struggle to get a result. First half saw Janice Hewitt, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith 9-1 down after just four ends on the difficult mat one but they fought back against Roger Green, Elaine Cole & Norma Jablonowski to win 14-13. Leonora Chilman, Brian Saunders & Gerald Chilvers were 10-3 down after seven ends against Jim Couling's triple and there was to be no comeback here as the home triple won 17-12. Pat Saunders, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter fought hard against Tony Wright's triple and the game was tight at 8-7 against after ten ends but Woodbastwick won four of the last five ends to win 15-8. The remaining game saw Jill Watson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson play Peter Jablonowski's triple on mat two with the Woodbastwick triple storming to a 22-3 win.   
Kirby Bedon 2 (51) v Horsford Heroes 0 (42)
Tens League
Match Date 25-01-10
Horsford proved stubborn opponents and played the Kirby mats particularly well making every shot hard earned for a Kirby side seeking to improve their position in the Tens League table. Carol Johnson, Janice Hewitt & Gerald Chilvers played Roger Frank's triple on mat one and were in deep trouble 10-2 down after nine ends. Then the old Kirby spirit kicked in and a grandstand finish saw Gerald's triple win the last six ends to snatch a 12-10 win. On mat two Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith played the left-handed Mally Kemp & ex Sprowston player Keith Chapman. Both Heroes players were impressive from the start and Teresa & Selwyn found it difficult to get a foothold in the game as the visitors moved 6-1 up after five ends. On the occasions when the home pair built up what looked like a high scoring end Chapman always pulled a great attacking shot out of the bag to take shot. A four on the penultimate end for Kirby leveled the game at 12-12 but the visitors took a single on the final end to win 13-12. This left Kirby just one shot up at the break. Leonora Chilman, Peter Johnson & Jimmy Dye played Vic Webster's triple on mat two and the visitors moved 6-1 up after six ends. With Webster playing some great backhand shots towards the snooker table end Jimmy found himself with too much to do and the Horsford triple eventually won 12-6. The match was won for Kirby by Jill & Phil Watson on mat one against Chris Woodhouse and Mark "The Marvel" Tuttle. Both Jill & Phil were in very good form while the visitors attacking shots were less than successful on the night. A 21-7 win for the home pair saw Kirby home by 51-42 to earn two league points.
East Tuddenham 2 (52) v Kirby Bedon 8 (62)
Bure League
Match Date 19-01-10
A superb result at East Tuddenham for the team with everyone digging deep on the night. The first half saw Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers face Russell Harris' triple and after scoring a four on the opening end held the lead throughout. A spirited comeback narrowed Gerald's lead to just 10-9 after nine ends but after that they dropped just one end to win by an excellent 20-10 scoreline. Leonora Chilman, Bob Pattison & Joe Brown were up against Owen Secker's triple and led 6-1 after six ends. Secker's triple then won six straight ends to lead 9-3 but with Joe in super form the Kirby triple won the last three ends to win 11-9. Jill Watson, Teresa Goldsmith & Phil Watson built up a 14-5 lead after ten ends against Robin Amos' triple but a five and a two cut their lead to just 14-12. A vital two shots on the thirteenth end put them 16-12 up and the home triple were restricted to scoring singles on the last two ends and Kirby won 16-14. Janice Hewitt, Alistair Hunter & Selwyn Goldsmith faced the Palgrave-Turner-Turner triple in the remaining game and were 5-0 down after two ends. A comeback took the Kirby triple into a 10-9 lead after ten ends but their hard work was undone as they conceded a full house on the eleventh to drop 15-10 behind.The final result was 19-15 to Turner's triple but an 8-2 away win at East Tuddenham was a result Kirby Bedon would gladly have settled for beforehand!
Kirby Bedon 4 (77) v Connaught 0 (30)
Tens League
Match Date 18-01-10
After over a month without a match due to the snow chaos and the Xmas break Kirby got 2010 off to a successful start with a maximum point haul at home to Connaught. The opening pairs game gave Kirby a huge advantage as Jill & Phil Watson demolished Gordon Wilcox & Peter L. King 30-1 on mat two. 21-0 up before the visiting pair scored their one and only shot on the eleventh end Jill & Phil were unstoppable. Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers faced harder opposition in the form of Ty Musk, Sylvia Parsons & Ray Wells and after holding them to a 7-7 score after nine ends lost six of the remaining eight ends to lose 18-12. 23 shots up at the interval put Kirby in the comfort zone and after the break Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith played county players Christine Musk & young Ollie Allen on mat two. The home pair were always in control of the game and despite never really moving up into top gear dispatched the visitors by 17-5 in a good humoured game. Leonora Chilman, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter faced Mike Parsons, Bill Adcock & Alison Rush and kept in front in what was a tight game over the first seven ends before finishing with a full house six on the final end to win 18-6.    
Hempnall 4 (88) v Kirby Bedon 0 (41)
Tens League
Match Date 14-12-09
In a league where total shots are all the most important thing is to keep things tight if you are losing. A bad defeat can wipe away any chance of a win and this is what happened at Hempnall in the first half. Carol Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Gerald Chilvers were 12-0 down after just four ends against Sid Harman, Roger Parker & Neil Davidson and things went from bad to worse as they slumped to a massive 32-5 defeat. Jill & Phil Watson also had a nightmare start against Bernie Cudden & Paul Baker and were 12-0 down after seven ends but fought back bravely to 18-12 down after 12 ends before losing 21-12. The second half saw Peter Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith 6-0 up after two ends against Joan Cann, Chris East & Jon Sparham but as Peter struggled to reach the jack the game swung Hempnall's way and the home triple edged a 15-12 win in a game they should have won. In the pairs Shirley & Joe Brown faced Colin Stevenson and Chris Mann who was playing with his new green and yellow bowls. The home pair were 13-3 up after 9 ends but Shirley & Joe fought to the end losing 20-12 after dropping a three on the last end.   
Kirby Bedon 13 (66) v Hevingham 11 (55)
Bure Cup 1st leg
Match Date 11-12-09
It is vital to build up a good lead in the home leg against strong opposition and this is what Kirby failed to do in another low-key performance.Two triples delivered the goods for Kirby as Jill Watson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson won by 8-4 & 9-3 and drew their remaining game. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith did likewise winning 7-2 & 9-3 and drawing 3-3 against George Clarke's triple. Only three points from the six games played by the other two Kirby triples sums up the evening and sets the stage for a tough time at Hevingham in the second leg. 
Kirby Bedon 3 (60) v Bob Carter 0 (44)
Tens League
Match Date 27-11-09
Finally a win in the Tens League and against our old rivals and defending champions Bob Carter! Former Kirby player Nigel Willard employed his normal tactic of putting the pairs on mat two who had been carefully schooled in the art of playing our more difficult mat. To a degree this worked as Phil & Jill Watson and Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith were kept in check by Carter's pairs and were unable to build up the shots score they often do at home. On the other hand this meant that Carter's triples were weaker in composition than we have seen in the past and this gave our triples the chance to win the match for us. In the first half Leonora Chilman, Joe Brown & Gerald Chilvers opened strongly against Jean Woods' triple and led 13-2 after eight ends. A mini revival by Carter in which they won five of the last seven ends cut Gerald's winning margin to 17-12. Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith faced Jason & Melvin Woods in the pairs and for once found themselves struggling against a visiting pair in great form. After five ends the Carter pair led 7-2 but with the Kirby pair employing a lot of attacking shots they made it 9-9 after 11 ends. Again the Carter pair looked the likely winners leading 13-10 with one end remaining but their first 4 of the game on the last end saw Teresa & Selwyn win 14-13 and Kirby had a 6 shot interval lead. Jill & Phil Watson faced James Forster & Nigel Willard and the game followed the pattern of the previous pairs game with Carter in front most of the game. 4-0 up after two ends, 8-4 up after seven ends and 10-8 up after eleven ends Nigel's pair kept their noses in front. A two on the 12th end and a single on the 13th finally put Jill & Phil ahead though by 11-10 but they conceded two shots on the penultimate end to trail 12-11. A single on the last end made it a 12-12 draw and all eyes moved to the other mat where Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter were playing Malcolm Reynold's triple who had Frank Edy at lead and Sue Hunt at two. This game secured the eventual 3-0 points win for Kirby as Al's triple charged into a 13-3 lead after nine ends and with all three playing well recorded a 17-7 win. To finally have points on the board after four Tens League games is a relief and hopefully will set us up to start to climb the table after Xmas when we have some more home games to play.   
Anglian Windows 8 (59) v Kirby Bedon 2 (51)
Bure League
Match Date 17-11-09
A poor result at a venue where we should get a better result than this. In the first half Peter Johnson, Bob Pattison & Gerald Chilvers were 14-2 down after eight ends against David Walker's triple and despite picking up two 4's over the next three ends went down 22-13.Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson played Diane Boswell's triple and led up to the ninth end when they dropped a five to fall 11-7 behind in a game they lost 15-11. After the break Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter were involved in a tight match against Alan Williamson's triple and the score was just 9-8 to Windows with two ends left. A dropped 4 on the penultimate end proved fatal with Al's triple losing 13-11. Leonora Chilman, Chris East & Joe Brown earned Kirby's only points of the night beating Mike Boswell's triple 16-9 after building up a 13-2 lead after nine ends.

Kirby Bedon 8 (80) v Woodbastwick 0 (16)
Norfolk County Cup
Match Date 16-11-09
Its hard to say who was more surprised at the huge margin of this win, visitors Woodbastwick or the home players. Although we had beaten Woodbastwick heavily only Friday night in the Bure it was expected that they would give us a harder game but it was not to be. The game was more or less over by halftime after a stunning 25-1 win for Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter against Jim Couling's triple. Jim normally proves a difficult opponent but on this occasion there was only one triple in it. On mat one Jill Watson, Janice Hewitt & Phil Watson faced Peter Jablonowski's triple and the game was tied at 4-4 after six ends. Five shots over the next two ends settled any nerves though as Phil's triple went on to win 17-7. With a massive 42-8 lead on shots and four points in the bag Kirby Bedon could relax in the second half and Woodbastwick's troubles mounted as Leonora Chilman, Gerald Chilvers & Selwyn Goldsmith strolled to a 24-3 win against Avril Grapes, Elaine Cole & Norma Jablonowski on mat two. Dot Dawson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown played Roy Grapes' triple and after a tight seven ends gradually pulled away to win 14-5. After entering the Norfolk County Cup for the first time last season and winning it at the first attempt it would be nice to do well again but there are several strong sides still in and we can only hope that the draw will be kind to us again and give us another home draw.
  
Kirby Bedon 10 (70)v Woodbastwick 0 (36)
Bure League
Match Date 13-11-09
By no means a classic performance by Kirby but solid enough to send Woodbastwick on their way home well beaten & pointless. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Gerald Chilvers & Selwyn Goldsmith faced Roy Grapes, Elaine Cole & Norma Jablonowski. Roy was playing very well at lead putting Gerald under pressure in the number two spot and Selwyn was often called into action to attack with his opening wood. Norma is not a natural skip having spent so many years playing at lead or two but played well when she could make up her mind what shot to play. 9-2 up after nine ends Selwyn's triple always looked likely winners and finished up at 14-8. On mat two Carol Johnson, Chris East & Joe Brown faced Avril Grapes, Arthur Foster & Peter Jablonowski and were already 6-0 down after just three ends. Then came a terrific comeback with Joe's triple scoring twelve shots without reply over the next six ends. Just when things looked comfortable back came Jabby's triple and when they scored a 5 on the thirteenth end Kirby led by just 15-14. A great shot by Joe earned them a two on the fourteenth and a three on the last saw them win 20-14. After the break the visitors were on the back foot throughout with Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson winning 16-5 with Jill on super form, and Shirley Brown, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter winning 20-9 with Shirley having a good game at lead while Jimmy & Al pulled out the big shots when needed.  

Hevingham 4 (68) v Kirby Bedon 0 (44)
Tens League
Match Date 10-11-09
Three Tens League games played and three defeats but after two close games that could have gone either way this was a comprehensive defeat at a venue where we know we can get a result. Our present inability to put out our strongest team is no doubt a contributing factor in our current plight. The game was lost by halftime as Pat Saunders, Bob Pattison & Joe Brown lost 26-11 in the triples and Jill & Phil Watson lost 20-10 in the three wood pairs. Shirley Brown & Alistair Hunter lost 12-8 in the second half pairs with Lesley Crowe putting on another good performance against us as George Clarke's lead. Kirby's only win was produced by Peter Johnson, Brian Saunders & Gerald "True Grit" Chilvers who conjured up a 15-10 win.  
Kirby Bedon 10 (71) v Anglian Windows 0 (27)
Bure League
Match Date 09-11-09
A low key game after Friday's cup heroics with home advantage making it a comfortable win. Peter Johnson, Gerald Chilvers & Selwyn Goldsmith formed yet another new look triple and after building up a 9-2 lead after eight ends were never in any danger eventually winning 15-7. Dot Dawson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter were 4-1 down after three ends but with Dot faring better than expected Al's triple hit back strongly to record an excellent 22-7 win. After the break Jill Watson, Janice Hewitt & Phil Watson faced Alan Williamson's triple with Ken & Maureen Dease at lead and number two and dominated the match on mat two winning 19-5. Carol Johnson, Shirley Brown & Joe Brown took on Mike Boswell's triple on mat one and Mike, now playing in Norfolk's Premier side, kept the pressure on Joe with the score just 7-4 in Kirby's favour after eight ends. With Shirley playing some good bowls at number two Joe's triple slowing took a grip on the game winning by 15-8 to complete a solid 10-0 win. 
 
Kirby Bedon 18 (76) v Coltishall 6 (42)
Bure Cup 1st Rnd 2nd Leg
Match Date 06-11-09
Aggregate Score Kirby Bedon 25 Coltishall 23
A classic cup tie as Kirby Bedon fought back from a 17-7 deficit accrued in the first leg to send Coltishall crashing out of the cup by 25-23 after nail-biting finales to the last two games. Needing to limit Coltishall to no more than six points things did not start well in the first four games. Despite two big wins, 10-2 for Pat Saunders, Jimmy Dye & Selwyn Goldsmith against John Aggas and 10-3 for Brian Saunders, Gerald Chilvers & Alistair Hunter against Les Harman, Coltishall picked up three early points. Margaret Harman's triple drew 4-4 with Jill Watson, Bob Pattison & Phil Watson and Willie Jefferies' triple beat Shirley Brown, Peter Johnson & Joe Brown 8-2. Any hopes Coltishall had of getting those four extra points quickly were dashed as in the next four games Kirby won three and drew one. Phil's tiple slammed John Aggas 9-0, Joe's triple beat Les Harman 5-1, Selwyn's triple beat Margaret Harman 6-4 and Alistair's triple drew 4-4 with Willie Jefferies. Four games were left with Kirby needing to win three of them and session five saw Selwyn's triple complete a hat-trick of wins beating Mally Catchpole, Peter Barnett & Les Harman 11-1 but a 9-4 defeat for Joe's triple against John Aggas left Kirby needing to win both of the last two games. Jill, Bob & Phil faced Coltishall captain Willie Jefferies and found themselves 3-0 down after three ends. A three on the fourth end levelled the match and a single on the penultimate end gave them the lead. When Willie came to play his last wood Kirby held shot with a Coltishall wood inches away but there was no easy way in for Willie and the Kirby bowl survived to score a vital 5-3 win. All atention then turned to Alistair's game against Margaret Harman. A 4-1 lead after three ends had become just 4-3 with one end remaining and the outcome of the match rested on the last end. An early Kirby bowl sat on the jack and with a Coltishall bowl sitting behind ready to receive Al called for Gerald to try to get a wood in place behind. Because of the position of the bowls this was always going to be difficult and when the skips turn to play came Kirby were still holding but in a perilous situation. Not many Kirby players in the hall expected this position to remain unchanged but remarkably both Margaret's efforts to attack the head and force the jack back failed leaving Al's triple with a 5-3 win and Kirby Bedon in the semi-finals of the Bure Cup. 
Woodbastwick 2 (53) V Kirby Bedon 0 (49)
Tens League
Match Date 04-11-09
The first visit to Woodbastwick following the fitting of their new floor after their venue was flooded. Mat 2 seemed to play much like it did before but Mat 1 proved to be a beast of a surface! Once the home side find this mat with all of its new peculiarities it will be a huge advantage to them. Jill & Phil Watson played a pairs game against Roger Green & Trevor Hallett on mat two and played well throughout to win 14-10. On mat one a new look triple of Pat Saunders, Bob Pattison & Selwyn Goldsmith faced R Elliott's triple and the mat troubled both triples as they struggled to find a consistent line as the woods seemed to take on a life of their own. The odd "crack" that sounded if you stepped on the floor in certain places added to the entertainment value. The home triple won a tight game 13-11 leaving Kirby two shots up at the break. Leonora Chilman, Joe Brown & Gerald Chilvers played the strong triple of Avril Grapes, Norma Jablonowski & Peter Jablonowski on this mat after the break and were 9-3 down after nine ends. A change of order with Gerald & Joe swopping over paid dividends and they stormed back scoring 13 shots without reply over the next five ends. Jabby's triple scored a single on end 15 but the Kirby triple had scored a superb 16-10 win. On mat 2 Shirley Brown & Alistair Hunter played Roy Grapes & Derek Sheldrake and it proved to be a game where the home pair always seemed to get the killer bowl in everytime Shirley & Al looked set to score a big end. Only four ends were won by the Kirby pair who were 19-6 down after 13 ends. With Gerald's game finishing first Kirby were just 3 shots down when Shirley & Alistair started the last end but their cause was not helped when Shirley put one of her woods off the side. At one stage they held two shots but Derek got in a good second wood and Al tried a shot to nothing to try to get the three needed but the jack finished up near a Woodbastwick wood and it was all over as Shirley & Al went down 20-8 and Woodbastwick won by 53 shots t 49.

Coltishall 2 (55) v Kirby Bedon 0 (49)
Tens League
Match Date 28-10-09
Another defeat at Coltishall but a far better performance with just the closing ends in the second half costing Kirby the points. With two key players missing, Alistair & Teresa, another re-shuffled team took to the mats. Janice Hewitt replaced Teresa Goldsmith in the 3 wood pairs playing with Selwyn Goldsmith and they were quickly 5 shots down after two ends but settled well to lead 10-7 after ten ends against Mally Catchpole & Margaret Harman. Jan & Selwyn finished with a flourish taking a 5 on the last end to win 18-11. On the other mat new signing Bob Pattison was thrown in at the deep end skipping against Eddie Edridge, Peter Barnett & Willie Jefferies but with Brian Saunders at two & Carol Johnson at lead they led 7-3 after eight ends. Five shots over the next two ends gave the Coltishall triple a one shot lead and they eventually won 15-9 which left Kirby just one shot up at the interval. Jill & Phil Watson took four shots on the opening end against Carol & John Aggas but led by only 9-8 after nine ends. Little went well after that as the Aggas pair got the upper-hand to win 17-11. Pat Saunders, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers found themselves 5-0 down after four ends against Les Harman's triple but moved into a 10-7 lead after eleven ends. Again the closing ends went badly for Kirby as Les Harman's triple sneaked a 12-11 win.

Coltishall 17 (85) v Kirby Bedon 7 (34)
Bure Cup 1st round 1st leg
Match Date 26-10-09
We have left ourselves with a tough task to overhaul this deficit in the second leg after a disjointed performance on Coltishall's heavy mats. The carefully planned make-up of the team originally chosen to do a holding job on Coltishall was in vain because of player unavailability and Carol & Peter Johnson were brought into the line-up. The first two sessions saw Kirby holding the home side with Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & Phil Watson beating Willie Jefferies' triple 6-2 and Carol Johnson, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith beating John Aggas 5-4. After that Coltishall won four straight games to move 12-4 up but a 5-1 win for Peter Johnson, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter and a 4-4 draw for Phil's triple against Margaret Harman at least meant that we have some hope left of pulling back in the return match. Phil's last wood to earn a draw was remarkable considering the position he was in with short woods blocking every angle. The truth is that the Kirby side put out for this match was not fit for purpose. Certainly some players struggled with the Coltishall mats with Carol consistently short causing Selwyn to move Teresa to lead in an effort to get a wood in the head early on. Jimmy was struggling throughout due to his eye problem which will cause him to miss Wednesday's Tens League match at the same venue. Chris East made his Bure debut for Kirby and played well but will be disappointed that the triple he was in with Leonora Chilman at lead and Gerald Chilvers skipping was the only Kirby triple to lose all their three games. Once again debatable shot decisions did not help Gerald's cause.
 
Kirby Bedon 8 (60) Coltishall 2 (39)
Bure League
Match Date 09-10-09
Our first match of the season in defence of the Bure League title was at home to Coltishall which meant a return to Kirby Bedon for Carol & John Aggas. After spending the Summer League season playing with Carol & John in Kirby Bedon "A" it would have been strange to have to adjust to playing against them once again.As it turned out after the cards were marked their triple were playing Shirley Brown, Brian Saunders and Joe Brown, none of which play in Kirby Bedon "A". Jill & Phil Watson were unavailable for this match but the Kirby side still had a strong look about it as did Coltishall. Pat Saunders, Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter opened on mat two against Margaret Harman's triple. Margaret never looks comfortable on mat two but was 4-2 up after three ends. Alistair's triple were all playing well though and the Coltishall triple found themselves falling behind and only scored two more shots as Al's triple stormed to an 18-6 win with Pat, Jimmy & Alistair all having fine games. On mat one Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith faced Les Harman with left hander Peter Barnett at number two. Both players do not need any encouragement to attack so back woods were always going to be handy. This turned out to be a superb game with little to choose between the two sides and Selwyn's triple led by just 9-7 after ten ends. The eleventh end had to be replayed twice when Selwyn killed it with Coltishall holding four shots and then Les killed the end with Kirby holding a hatfull. Eventually the end was completed with Kirby taking two shots for a 12-7 lead. On the penultimate end Selwyn was five shots down when he played his first wood and to the relief of Kirby he drew shot. This did not last long as Les took it out leaving Selwyn facing a full house down with his last wood to play. Again there was relief for Kirby as he drew in third wood to leave his triple still 12-10 up. On the last end Leonora & Teresa drew in four good woods forcing Coltishall to attack but Kirby still emerged with shot wood for a 13-10 win. After the break Shirley Brown, Brian Saunders & Joe Brown faced Carol Aggas, Sid Harman & John Aggas on mat two. Joe's triple started well and led 7-0 after four ends but John's triple came back to level at 7-7 after seven ends. As to be expected John's game on mat two has improved greatly since joining our summer side but Shirley, Brian & Joe all played well to win 18-9 with a four on the eighth end a highlight. On mat one Janice Hewitt, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers faced Coltishall's captain Willie Jefferies with Ann Ducker at lead and Eddie Edridge at two. Willie is always a handful on this mat and seems to play it even better than his own mats at times. A perfect start for Gerald as they took a full house on the first end but confidence then evaporated as a succession of poor bowls and questionable shot choices let Willie's triple back into the game. Peter's form, which was so good in North Yorkshire only last week, disappeared and Jan looked uncomfortable in her role. The Coltishall triple won ten of the ends played and Kirby just five which sums up a game that gave the away triple a 14-11 consolation victory. The end result of 8-2 in Kirby's favour is an excellent start to the season and if we field our strongest side we are capable of getting a result anywhere. 
 
Kirby Bedon 22 (106) v St Faiths 2 (39)
Norwich Cup 1st Round
Match Date 05-10-09
The second round was reached, as expected, with some ease against a St Faiths side that does not travel well. With several of our "two club" members not available for this competition an unfamiliar looking side took to the mats but eleven wins from twelve games tells the story of this game. Dot Dawson,Jill Watson & Phil Watson won 8-1, 12-1 & 20-0. Leonora Chilman,Janice Hewitt & Teresa Goldsmith won 10-1, 8-1 & 9-3. Alan Compton,Jimmy Dye & Alistair Hunter won 5-4, 7-5 & 7-3. Carol Johnson,Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers won 9-3 & 9-7 but slipped up in their last game losing it 10-2.

The President's Day Match at Rugby Thornfield I.B.C
Match Date 13-09-09
Six members of Kirby Bedon were invited to take part in the ESMBA 25th Anniversary President's Weekend games in Warwickshire to play against England. Jill & Phil Watson, Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith and Carol & John Aggas received invitations as the winning National Club Championship team while Carol & John also received an invitation from former England manager Bob Weafer to play in one of his Old England rinks. The opposition to England was a mixed team comprising of the President's Select, Bob Weafer's Old England team and the National Club Champions. Despite the predictably easy win for England over-all, Kirby Bedon's members held their own against the England team with Jill, Teresa, Phil and Selwyn beating Lee Toleman's powerful rink before narrowly losing their second game. Carol & John played in an old England rink with East Tuddenham's Chrissie & John Turner and also won one and lost one. Each player was presented with a 25th Anniversary ESMBA badge to mark the occasion.
 
Kirby Bedon "A" 6 (53) v Thorpe Marriott "A" 2 (45)
Summer L. Div 1
Match Date 28-8-09
The last match of the season and with the title already won the result was unimportant to Kirby "A". The match was vital to Marriott though as they needed two points to avoid relegation. Jill Watson, Jan Hewitt & John Aggas were off the mark quickly with a three on the first end against Sylvia Turner, Ted Redwood & Tony Turner and by the eleventh end were 13-5 up. The visiting triple won the last four ends to cut the score to 13-11 but had left their comeback too late. Leonora Chilman, Carol Aggas & Selwyn Goldsmith also opened with style against Sheila Redwood, David Knights & Simon Warnes in a good natured game and were 8-0 up after four ends. The home triple then hit a sticky period, where a few poor shots cost them ends they should have won, and the Marriott triple pulled the match level at 9-9 on the eleventh end. That was as good as it got for the Marriott triple though as the twelfth, thirteenth & fourteenth ends produced one shot each for Kirby and a four on the last end made it 16-9. This left Marriott still looking for the two points needed to save them after the break and their triples were unchanged. The only change for Kirby was Phil Watson coming in to skip in place of Selwyn with Teresa deciding to remain "on the bench" to save her back for Sunday's opening Norfolk fixture against the City League at Wymondham. Leonora, Carol & Phil started well leading 12-3 after eight ends against Tony Turner's triple. Sylvia & Tony Turner changed and with Sylvia at skip looked a more balanced triple and fought back to lose just 16-12 although there was never any danger of Phil's triple losing this game. Marriott's hopes for survival rested on the shoulders of Sheila Redwood, David Knights & Simon Warnes who faced Jill, Janice & John on mat one. Marriott scored a four on the third end to move 5-1 up but John's triple won the next four ends to lead 7-5. The Marriott triple then lifted their game and with Sheila Redwood bowling consistently to the jack, and David Knights & Simon Warnes finding the line & weight, they controlled the game winning seven of the last eight ends to save Marriott from relegation with a 13-8 win.
    
Kirby Bedon "A" 6 (54) v Wymondham 2 (41)
Summer Cup Final at Thorpe Marriott
Match Date 25-8-09
Kirby Bedon "A" lifted the Summer Cup and completed a unique "triple crown" triumph comprising of the National Club Championship, the Norfolk Summer League Championship and the Norfolk Summer Cup on a marvelous night for the club. Even before the start it was evident that a huge amount of mutual respect exists between the sides with Kirby & Wymondham displaying a shared determination, this is perhaps the reason why Kirby "A" have achieved so much and Wymondham have come up through the divisions, like Kirby before them, and established themselves as a force in the top flight.With Carol & John Aggas unavailable Leonora Chilman was at lead with Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith while Janice Hewitt made her first appearence of the season at number two with Jill & Phil Watson. In the opening game on mat one Selwyn's triple faced Peter King, Steve Phillips & Chris Mann. Chris, a very talented and promising bowler, will have learned a lot in his first season in Div One but lacks the vast experience his counterpart has amassed over years of bowling at all levels. Selwyn's triple enjoyed a great start leading 9-1 after five ends before Wymondham fought back. With one end to go Kirby led 15-11 but a four on the last end earned them valuable shots in a 19-11 victory. On mat two Phil's triple were up against an all female triple of Sylvia Archer, Shirley Foster & Debbie Phillips. Sylvia is one of the most consistent leads in the game while Debbie has proved a talented skip since breaking through at county level. Phil found himself with plenty of work to do in this game. A good start saw them 4-1 up after five ends but a dropped four on the seventh end put Wymondham 6-4 up. Phil's triple replied in kind with a four on the next end but back came Debbie's triple again and it was 11-11 on eleven ends. Jill, Jan & Phil then dug deep to score a two followed by three ones to win 16-11. This left Kirby "A" 4-0 up at the interval and thirteen shots to the good, reminiscent of the situation at half-time against Warren Heath in the National Club Final. For the second half Wymondham brought in Pat Saunders in place of Peter King and Brian Saunders in place of Shirley Foster. The game between Phil & Chris Mann could not have been tighter with, for the majority of the game, only one shot seperating them. 11-10 down with one end remaining Phil's triple scored a vital shot on the last end to earn an 11-11 draw and Kirby Bedon had won the cup. On the other mat Selwyn's triples game against Debbie Phillips had been played at a snails pace and had also included two dead ends. Debbie had played two great last wood attacking shots on the swingy back hand to keep Wymondham in the game and long discussions between Debs & Brian had contributed to the delay as they reached six ends as Phils game was already entering its closing stages. Again there was little between the sides as Kirby were content to keep the game close knowing that Wymondham's hopes were fading as the game went on. Once Phil's game finished and the cup final was won for Kirby "A" the result of this game became meaningless and with the scores tied at 8-8 after twelve ends Selwyn & Debbie agreed to accept the draw and Kirby Bedon "A" had achieved an incredible treble that may never be seen again.   

Kirby Bedon "B" 8 (72) v Horsford "B" 0 (36)
Summer L. Div 2
Match Date 21-8-09
With memories of their early season struggles now firmly banished Kirby Bedon "B" went into their last match needing just four points to clinch second place and promotion. Wasting no time Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Brown swept Mark Tuttle's triple away 21-9 while Peter Johnson, Chris East & Gerald Chilvers beat Keith Chapman's triple 17-11 to take Kirby "B" back into Div One. After the break they increased Horsford's relegation worries as Joe's triple won 18-7 and Gerald's triple won 16-9. A great finish to the season for Gerald's team and much credit to them for storming up from the foot of the table to overtake Anglian Windows to grab the runners-up spot. It will be great for the club to have two teams in Div One once again.
    
Hevingham 2 (51) v Kirby Bedon "A" 6 (62)
Summer Cup Semi-Final
Match Date 20-8-09
Kirby Bedon "A" reached the cup final after a solid first half display gave them a 4-0 interval lead. Jill Watson, Phil Watson & John Aggas were 6-0 down after three ends against David Sharpe, Marjorie Hall & Alan Bunn but then moved up a gear to win by a convincing 18-9 margin. Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith looked to be on their way to a big win leading 14-5 against Pat Bunn, Pat Williamson & Ian MacLean after ten ends but when Pat Williamson switched to skip the home triple staged a great fightback but Kirby held on to win 14-11. Just a point was needed after the break and Carol, Teresa & Selwyn clinched the match beating Alan Bunn's triple 20-12 to earn a Summer Cup final place against Wymondham at Thorpe Marriott.
  
Horsford "B" 2 (49) v Kirby Bedon "B" 6 (60)
Summer L. Div 2
Match Date 7-8-09
A huge result for the "B" side who are now providing the results that their line-up suggests they should. Gerald Chilvers, Bernie Cudden & Chris East beat Keith Chapman's triple 14-10 in the first half and completed a good nights work beating Mark Tuttle's triple 18-10 after the break. Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Brown also beat Tuttle, by 16-12 in the first half, and only just lost 13-12 to Chapman after the break. A great result thats puts pressure on the sides around them in the promotion race.   
Sprowston SSC 4 (38) v Kirby Bedon "A" 4 (56)
Summer L. Div 1
Match Date 10-8-09
Kirby Bedon "A" clinched their tenth Norfolk Summer League Championship title in eleven years with a 4-4 draw at Sprowston. Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsith & Selwyn Goldsmith savaged both home triples either side of the interval. In the first half Pat Smart, David Dewing & Peter Smart conceded a four on the first end but had held on to trail just 8-5 after seven ends.An attacking wood by Selwyn swept the jack back to take a full house of six on the eighth and shortly after Dewing took over skips duties from Smart. With Leonora drawing consistantly, Teresa attacking with lethal accuracy and Selwyn not in the mood to leave any Sprowston wood near the jack if it could be removed, there was no way back for the Sprowston triple who were beaten 20-9. Carol Aggas, Phil Watson & John Aggas faced Colin Thornton, David Fuller & John Poynter and a close game developed with Poynter leading 10-8 with one end remaining. The home triple managed to take a two to win 12-8 to leave the match level on points at halftime. After the break just two points were required to retain the title and Selwyn's triple quickly got on top of Thornton, Fuller & Poynter. By the fifth end it was already 11-0 and Fuller & Poynter swopped over but failed to stop the rot as the score mounted. By the eleventh end it was 19-0 and when the Sprowston triple finally scored a shot on the twelth end it was almost a cause for celebration. The final score was a massive 21-2 win and the title was again in Kirby's hands. For the other game Linda & Les Chadwick came in for the Smarts with Dewing skipping against Carol, Phil & John. Despite trying throughout Kirby could not get into the game and Dewing's triple won 15-7 but the night belonged to Kirby Bedon "A". With both the National Club Championship & the tenth Norfolk Summer League Championship title now secured what a summer it has been.

Kirby Bedon "B" 8 (89) v Horsford "A" 0 (33)
Summer L. Div 2
Match Date 3-8-09
An excellent result for Kirby "B" that finally moves them into contention for promotion. Carol Johnson, Chris East & Bernie Cudden can be delighted with a good nights work after beating Vic Webster's triple 16-13 and then sweeping to a 29-4 win against David Woodrow. Shirley Brown, Peter Johnson and Joe Brown beat Woodrow 19-8 and then turned up the heat against Webster beating him 25-8 to move Kirby "B" up to fourth in the table with games in hand. 
Thorpe Marriott "A" 5 (50) v Kirby Bedon "A" 3 (51)
Summer L. Div 1
Match Date 6-8-09
Perhaps it was the anticlimax of returning to Norfolk League action after the National Club Championship glory of the weekend but Kirby "A" slipped to their first defeat of the season at Thorpe Marriott. On the positive side Kirby gained three valuable away points edging them closer to clinching the title and, on shots at least, Kirby finished ahead by 51 shots to 50. The first half saw Jill, Phil & John 9-0 down after six ends before pulling it back to 9-5 after ten ends. The fightback then faded away as they lost 14-7 to Kath Frost, Ted Redwood and Tony Turner. Carol, Teresa & Selwyn roared away to lead by 12-1 after eight ends against Sheila Redwood, David Knights and Will Hoggan before a complete and inexplicable collapse saw them lose 16-13. After the break Carol, Teresa & Selwyn made amends beating Tony Turner's triple 19-8 but Jill, John & Phil had to settle for a 12-12 draw against Will Hoggan.

National Club Championships
Played at Rugby Thornfield BC, Warwickshire
Match Date 1-8-09

A great day for the club as Teresa & Selwyn Goldsmith, Jill & Phil Watson and Carol & John Aggas lifted the National Club Championship title for Kirby Bedon against some of the top club sides in the country. In the group stage Kirby knew that they had some tough games coming up with Chanctonbury Foxes of West Sussex, Old Stratford Magpies of Northants and Middlezoy of Somerset to face. The opening match against Chanctonbury saw both teams evenly matched with Phil and John winning the pairs game and Selwyn winning the singles while the triples and rinks games went against Kirby. Total shots were 33-31 to Chanctonbury who won 5-4 on points. Not too disappointing as the West Sussex side were regarded as favourites by many to lift the title. Next on were Chris Hopkin's side Old Stratford but Kirby players have a good record against Hopkins in various National events and were well up for this one. A 7-4 win for Carol, Teresa and Selwyn against Hopkins in the triples left Chris quite critical of some of his teams woods but a win in the pairs for Stratford left the score level. Straight into the singles and rinks games and Kirby were buzzing as Selwyn beat England's Edward Sawbridge 15-6 and Jill, Carol, Phil and John beat a Chris Hopkin's skipped rink by 5-4. Total shots were 31-23 to Kirby and a vital 7-2 points win. The third match against Somerset's Middlezoy started well enough with Carol, Teresa and Selwyn winning 7-4 in the triples and Phil and John winning 10-8 in the pairs. Kirby then suffered a surprise setback as both the rinks and singles games went against them leaving Middlezoy 5-4 winners on points, 34-28 on shots. This left Old Stratford needing to beat Chanctonbury by at least 5-4 to eliminate Kirby Bedon but their match finished 5-4 in favour of Chanctonbury who beat Hopkin's side 31-29 on shots to earn the all important extra match point that sent Kirby Bedon through as group winners on 15 points with Old Strafford second on 14, Middlezoy third on 13 and Chanctonbury on 12. In the other group top Essex side Warren Heath, with World Pairs Champions Barry Hedges and Babs Morokutti in their team, dominated proceedings. Wins of 6-3 against Norfolk's Wymondham, 7-2 against Somerset's Templecombe and 7-2 against London's Cuaca won them their group convincingly. Warren Heath finished on 20, Templecombe on 15, Wymondham on 12 and Cuaca on 7. The final saw Kirby put Warren Heath under pressure from the start with Carol, Teresa and Selwyn taking a "full house" on the fourth end to move 9-1 up in the triples. They kept things tight after then and won 10-4. In the pairs Phil and John were also troubling World Pairs Champions Babs and Barry leading them 7-2 with three ends remaining. Phil and John were disappointed to have to settle for a 7-7 draw as the Essex pair fought back but a vital 3-1 points lead left Kirby needing just a win on either mat in the last session to win the title. The singles slipped away from Selwyn as Barry hit top form and attention switched to the rinks where Jill, Carol, Phil and John were 7-6 up with one end to play. Early woods by Jill and Carol left Essex deciding to attack the head early on with the first running wood played by the Essex number two with his last wood missing the target. As tension increased Kirby were trying, with little success, to cover an Essex back wood while Essex continued to attack the head and lose woods.By the time the Essex skip stepped up to play his last wood Kirby held three shots but yet again the head remained intact and Kirby Bedon became the first ever National Club Champions. Result Kirby Bedon 6 (35)  Warren Heath 3 (33).     

Thurton 7 (74) v Kirby Bedon "B" 1 (38)
Summer L. Div 2
Match Date 27-7-09
On paper Gerald put out a team to get a result against a side who had only won once in the league this season. The result though was little short of a disaster that now leaves the "B" side facing a relegation dogfight when they should really be at the top end of the table. Shirley Brown, Barry Herman and Joe Brown went down 22-6 in the first half and although conceding less shots after the break still lost 20-12. Chris East, Peter Johnson and Gerald Chilvers managed an 11-11 draw but after the interval were well beaten by 21-9. Time is running out and points are needed from their remaining four league games. With four Norfolk County players in their squad as well as former Hevingham "A" regular Chris East surely this team has too much class to drop into Div Three.

Hevingham 3 (34) v Kirby Bedon "A" 5 (70)
Summer L. Div 1
Match Date 28-7-09
Another solid performance from Kirby "A" that included one of the biggest defeats suffered by a Hevingham triple on their own mats for years. With Vic Woods back in action after a very short "retirement from short mat bowls" Hevingham are a stronger side than earlier in the season and with Ian MacLean also playing this Hevingham side is basically the Hevingham "B" side that gained promotion last summer plus two of the best players from the now disbanded Hevingham "A" side that used to grace Div One. Jill Watson, John Aggas & Phil Watson opened for Kirby with a deserved 15-7 win against Alan Bunn, Marjorie Hall & David Sharpe as they outdrew the home triple. 4-0 up after two ends they led throughout with skip David Sharpe changing over with Alan Bunn during the game though it did not change anything. Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith faced a tough looking home triple of Ian MacLean, Pat Williamson and Vic Woods and were 9-3 down after seven hard fought ends. Kirby hit back with two 4's on the next two ends to lead 11-9 and after that little separated them. Kirby were 13-12 up going into the last end but Hevingham scored a single to draw the game 13-13. 3-1 up on points at half time Kirby were now confident of winning on at least one mat after the break for an away win but no-one would have forecast the scoreline that would achieve this. Mick Barnard was brought in to replace Marjorie Hall in the second half with Bunn at skip and Sharpe leading while both Kirby's triples were unchanged. Carol, Teresa & Selwyn were 6-0 up after two ends but Bunn's triple took a three on the third end. That proved to be the last end the Hevingham triple would win as the Kirby triple controlled the game with some clinical bowling on their way to an amazing 32-3 win. Mick Barnard changed with Bunn as the scoreline mounted but there was only one triple in this game. The strong Vic Woods triple was unchanged but Jill, John & Phil moved 7-1 up after five ends with some super bowling. The Hevingham triple struck back winning the next five ends to move 8-7 up before Phil's triple stopped the rot with a single to level the game. Three singles for Hevingham followed leaving them 11-8 up with an end to play. Despite their best efforts Kirby could only take two shots so Hevingham won a tight game 11-10. A 5-3 away win at Hevingham, where many teams will lose, is always acceptable and good preparation for the ESMBA Summer Club Championship Finals Day at Rugby this coming weekend.         

Watton Yellow 2 (51) v Kirby Bedon "B" 6 (58)
Summer L. Div 2
Match Date 19-7-09
Kirby "B" won their second game in three days to finally begin to move up the table. Chris East, Peter Johnson & Gerald Chilvers led the way with an 11-8 win against Maggie Dibble's triple and a 15-11 win against Bryan Dibble. Shirley Brown, Barry Herman & Joe Brown clinched victory by beating Maggie Dibble 19-15. The only defeat suffered was by Joe's triple who went down 18-13 to Bryan Dibble's triple. Watton is never an easy venue to get a result and this is a great result following the victory against Window's two days earlier. 
 
Kirby Bedon "B" 6 (42) v Anglian Windows 2 (41)
Summer L. Div 2
Match Date 17-7-09
A good home result against promotion chasing Anglian Windows might just be the thing to kick-start the season for Kirby Bedon "B". The first half was tied with Carol Johnson, Peter Johnson and Joe Brown beating Alan Williamson's triple 11-10 but county regular Mike Boswell inflicted a 15-9 defeat on Kirby's strong looking triple of Chris East, Bernie Cudden and Gerald Chilvers. After the break though it all came good with Joe's triple winning again, this time by 9-8, against Boswell while Bernie & Gerald switched positions and beat Williamson 13-8.

Kirby Bedon "A" 5 (57) v Bob Carter Centre 3 (38)
Summer Cup Quarter-Final
Match Date 24-7-09
Kirby "A" entertained Carter for their third meeting of the season and having completed the double over Carter in the league were confident of victory but never-the-less expecting a tough match against their old rivals. Ex Kirby player Nigel Willard skipped one of Carter's triples with the two young players, Jamie Forster & Jason Woods at lead & two. Both Forster & Woods have impressed Norfolk manager Brian Saunders who has selected them for the forthcoming winter season. Melvin Woods skipped Carter's other triple with Frank Edy at lead & David Lamb at two. Both Woods & Lamb are in the England squad for the winter season. The first half opened with Jill Watson, John Aggas & Phil Watson surprisingly struggling to find their normal rhythm against Melly Woods and the Carter triple were 11-2 up after seven ends. A change of tactics paid off for Kirby with John & Phil switching round but they were still 13-10 down with one end to play. Kirby are often at their best when the chips are down and by the time John Aggas stepped up to play the last wood of the end Kirby held three shots. John played his last wood quite wide which was understandable as Carter had a short wood that he did not want to push into the head and the game finished at 13-13, a great result for Kirby after being so far down. On mat two Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith and Selwyn Goldsmith faced Nigel Willard's triple and did not give much away as they eased their way to a 20-9 win. On the occasions when Carter did build a good head Teresa was lethal with her attacking woods to open up the way for Selwyn and ex-England player Willard was unable to do much about it. After the break  Carol, Teresa & Selwyn proved too strong for Melly Woods' triple and won by a convincing 16-4 margin with the England pairing unable to get in the game at any stage. Carter achieved their only win on mat two as Nigel Willard's triple beat Phil by 12-8 but the result meant nothing as Kirby were into the semi-finals with a 5-3 win.

Kirby Bedon "A" 8 (70) v Wymondham 0 (37)
Summer L. Div 1
Match Date 20-7-09
The visit of Wymondham to Kirby Bedon was a chance for the team to kill off any lingering hopes the visitors had of taking the title as well as putting further pressure on the other title contenders Bob Carter. The final result shows that both objectives were met. With Jill Watson suffering severe back pain a decision was made to leave her "on the bench" for the first half with the option of bringing her in for the second half if either triple needed strengthening. Kirby's Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith & Selwyn Goldsmith opened on mat one against Peter L. King, Brian Saunders and Steve Phillips. Despite winning six of the first nine ends Kirby led by just 11-7 at that point with the Wymondham triple proving stubborn opposition. 2's on the tenth & eleventh ends eased the pressure though putting Kirby 15-7 up and they eventually won 20-10.On mat two Leonora Chilman, John Aggas & Phil Watson faced Shirley Foster, Debbie Phillips and Chris Mann. This game proved to be much like the one being played on mat one with the Kirby triple 11-6 up at nine ends. A four on the eleventh end eased any remaining worries for Phil's triple and they finished with an identical 20-10 win to ensure a relaxed interval for the home side. Despite travelling with two subs Wymondham decided to leave their triples intact for the second half as did Kirby who made the decision to save Jill for Friday's cup game fearing she might aggrevate her injury. On mat one the game was tight throughout but Phil's triple always kept their noses in front winning 12-8 with a typically gritty Kirby performance. On mat two Selwyn's triple struggled to take control early on with the score just 6-5 in their favour after seven ends. The next three ends brought three more shots for Kirby but Wymondham pulled level on the eleventh as Chris Mann took out Kirby's shot wood with the last bowl of the end to take a four. That proved to be the highlight for the visitors as the Kirby triple scored nine shots over the last four ends to win 18-9. There is still work to do for Kirby "A" but this result was without doubt a vital one.

First Bus 1 (33) v Kirby Bedon "A" 7 (68)
Summer L. Div 1
Match Date 13-7-09
Back to action after a break for holidays with a difficult away match at First Bus with their tricky mats. Kirby Bedon's unbeaten record was intact by the interval with two wins under their belts. Jill Watson, Phil Watson and John Aggas quickly got into gear and frankly played Maurice Kemp's triple off the mat winning by 20-2, a superb scoreline away from home. On the other mat things were tougher for Carol Aggas, Teresa Goldsmith and Selwyn Goldsmith facing county captain Bob Oatway with Janet Kemp at lead and Lesley Crowe at two. The fact that the score was level at 8-8 after 11 ends sums up how tight this game was with both triples struggling as much with the mat as each other! Two shots for First Bus on the twelth end put them 10-8 up but two singles and a three on the fourteenth clinched a 13-10 win for Kirby. After the break Carol, Teresa and Selwyn cruised to a 22-8 win against Maurice Kemp's triple with all three players pulling out big shots when it mattered. On the other mat Jill, Phil and John faced Bob Oatway's triple with Colin Coman now at lead in place of Janet Kemp. As always Bob proved a tenetious opponent with Lesley again in great form. 9-4 up after nine ends things were looking good for Kirby but a two on the twelth followed by a four on the thirteenth left Oatway's triple 11-10 up and in the lead for the first time. A three on the penultimate end restored Kirby's lead but back came First Bus with two shots on the last end to grab a 13-13 draw. A superb result for Kirby "A" that keeps them on target to achieve ten Summer League championship titles in eleven years.

Anglian Windows 6 (60) v Kirby Bedon "B" 2 (50)
Summer L. Div 2
Match Date 7-7-09
Despite only ten shots difference the trip to Windows ended in a disappointing defeat. Shirley Brown, Barry Herman and Joe Brown fought hard but suffered two narrow defeats losing 16-13 to Mike Boswell and 14-12 to David Walker. Carol Johnson, Bernie Cudden and Gerald Chilvers beat Walker 15-12 for Kirby's only win of the night but went down 18-10 to an on form Mike Boswell.

Kirby Bedon "B" 6 (64) v Thurton 2 (45)
Summer L. Div 2
Match Date 6-7-09
After a month without fixtures Kirby "B" were back in action at home to Thurton with on paper a very strong team that should be more than a match for any other in this division. Chris East, Bernie Cudden and Gerald Chilvers beat a triple that included ex Kirby player John Ford by 15-10 but lost 12-9 to Jenny and Peter Walker's triple. Shirley Brown, Peter Johnson and Joe Brown though made no mistakes winning by 23-9 and 17-14. Six valuable points!

Kirby Bedon "A" 8 (79) v Framingham Earl 0 (27)
Summer Cup 1st round
Match Date 16-6-09
A home tie against runaway Div 2 leaders Framingham Earl was a match expected to deliver a home victory for Kirby Bedon "A" and so it proved to be. Despite their great season so far in Div 2 it was fairly obvious from pre-match comments that the visitors did not rate their chances of success despite their victory here against Kirby "B" in the league. The first half saw Kirby dominate with Jill Watson, John Aggas & Phil Watson sweep away Peter Adcock's triple by 29-4. On the other mat Leonora Chilman, Teresa Goldsmith and Selwyn Goldsmith had little trouble beating Mervyn Blaza's triple 19-6. With this massive lead Selwyn Goldsmith rested himself for the second half bringing in former England star Carol Aggas at number two in an unfamiliar looking triple with Leonora Chilman at lead and Teresa Goldsmith having a rare outing as skip. After a close start to the game against Peter Adcock, this week named in the Norfolk Squad for the 2009/10 season, Leonora, Carol & Teresa got it together to win 15-12. Jill Watson, John Aggas & Phil Watson were untroubled in their second game beating Mervyn Blaza's triple 16-5 as Kirby Bedon moved into the second round and a home tie against old Div One rivals Bob Carter Centre.

Kirby Bedon "B" 2 (46) v Thurton 6 (55)
Summer Cup 1st Round
The result really sums up the season for Kirby Bedon "B" so far. With on paper at least the most powerful line-up in Div 2 the side has under-performed in the league so far and this was a chance to recharge the batteries in a cup match at home to a team unfamiliar to Kirby's mats. The chance was lost, as was the match, and new summer signings Chris East from Hevingham and Bernie Cudden from Hempnall must be utterly bemused as must "B" team captain Gerald "True Grit" Chilvers.