Norfolk Ladies falter on home straight
After hauling themselves into contention with three successive maximum wins, Norfolk Ladies went to the other extreme with pointless visits to Maltravers and Arundel, thus ending their hopes of retaining their title.
It now appears to be between Arundel and Crablands, and Norfolk could still have a say in the outcome, their last match being against Crablands.
Against Maltravers, Norfolk lost 33:39 with rink scores of 19:20 and 14:19. Against Arundel, Norfolk lost 30:39 with rink scores of 17:19 and 13:20.
In the Mixed BML Div1 game against Southbourne, Norfolk maintained the pressure on top of the table, Middleton, with a 41:29 win, Hilary Claydon, Ted Jessup, and Jim Raggett winning 25:10. The other rink lost 16:19:
In the Men's WSBL Div1 leaders East Preston took away all points with a 54:75 victory although it was close on three rinks, the scores being 10:12, 14:17, and 16:21. The other rink was 14:25.
This leaves Norfolk ten points adrift at the bottom with two games to play. Realistically this means relegation and swapping divisions with neighbours Maltravers to whom we extend our congratulations on winning Division Two.
Norfolk BC ended the competitive week with the second leg of the Men's Armstrong Shield against Maltravers and although losing 46:78 the 82:48 home victory was enough to give Norfolk overall victory by two shots. Making his match debut for Norfolk was Tony Borg who has only been bowling for a month.
A mixed friendly was played away to Arundel and in very close rinks, Norfolk triumphed 2.5 to 1.5 rinks and by an overall score of 58:57.
The club's internal competitions are approaching their climaxes and a notable feature is the number of first team players who have been defeated in the singles competitions either by ladies or B team players. The latest count is 12 occasions, with Keith Ireland doing it three times, and Ted Jessup doing it twice, the latest one enough to take him to Finals Day.