COUNTY FINALS 2005
Mixed success for the
Warwickshire teams at the 2005 inter-county finals at Great Yarmouth March 4-6th.
The Warwickshire A team got
drawn against Kent in their opening match and were immediately under the cosh as
they found themselves trailing 8-3 at the end of the first section. Obviously,
the late night card session round Corner’s van was taking its toll on some
team members.
It served as a wake up call
because the won the next section 7-4 which made it 12-10 to Kent.
Kent returned to form in the 3rd section, winning 4 consecutive frames at one point, to end the section 19-14 in front. Steve Mullan lost as Kent went 20-14 up, Karl Knight pulled one back, Kent made it 22-15, Roger Hunt took the Warks tally to 16 only to see Kent get the winning frame from Baz Hinde.
The only bright spot in an otherwise dull performance was that of Roger Hunt who won 4 out of 4 whilst Paul Willis was still whinging and trying to dry out his clothes which Knighty had very kindly “watered” for him the previous evening – “That C***’s sleeping in the bath tonight” moaned Willis.
Warks A made a promising start to their second match as Andy Barnett and Steve Mullan put them 2-0 up against Hertfordshire, but that was the last they were to see of the lead as they lost the 1st section 4-7. Similar fate befell them in sections 2 and 3 as the lost 5-6 in both cases to go into the final section 14-19 down. 3 wins in a row saw Herts take a 22-14 lead, Paul Willis and Chris McDermott dragged it back to 16-22 before Herts got their match winner from Matt Cooke. Best performances in this match came from Paul Willis and Andy Barnett, who both got 3 out of 4.
They may have lost on the tables, but they were definitely winning at the bar as Barney and Webby attempted to empty the Vauxhall’s cellar with catastrophic results. Webby was later seen singing at the Albion, “I bought my missus a vibrator and now she’s cracked her teeth”
JOHNNY WEBB - The Poor Man's Barry Manillow
Team: Andy Barnett, Steve
Mullan, Paul Willis, Karl Knight, Matt Cooke, Surinder Singh, Baz Hinde, Johnny
Webb, Martin Kirby, Chris McDermott & Roger Hunt.
So it was back to the
drawing board for the A team as they left the arena feeling like someone had
pissed on their fireworks and, judging
by the state of his caravan … it was probably KNIGHTY!
Warwickshire B’s
opening match was against Northumberland and they went 2-0 in front and then had
to start again because Mark Winham and Chappers had played the wrong people.
Poor Mark lost his replay, but the team ended the section 6-5 in front.
A better performance in the 2nd section which saw the lads win
7-4 to go into a 13-9 lead.
Northumberland began to
find a touch of form in the 3rd section which they won 6-5, but Warks
B went into the final section with an 18-15 advantage. Chappers took the score
to 19-16 and Roy Pontefract made it 20-16 before Northumberland started to turn
the tables by winning 3 straight frames to make it 20-19.
Dave Lane made it 21-19,
Steve Sears took it to at least a play off, but it was never goona get there as
Steve Rees saw off the opposition to win the match 23-19. Roy Pontefract was the
man of the match with 4 out of 4 whilst Chappers, Scott Varden, Dave Lane, Steve
Sears and Steve Rees all got 3 from 4.
So now the B team had to
play the winners from the other match in their group who was Staffordshire. Gaz
Calcott recalled that the last time Warks B had been a Yarmouth, they had beaten
Staffs B in their first match, lost the next match and then been beaten by
Staffs in the 2nd place decider, so there was a score to settle.
What a dream start as the
Lads won 5 consecutive frames to take an 8-3 lead into the 2nd
section. The trend continued as Warks B went 13-5 in front, but Staffs pegged
them back to 14-8.
Staffs moved up a gear in
the 3rd section which they won 7-4, but warks still went into the
final section with an 18-15 lead. However, wheels were about to fall off as
Staffs won 4 frames to take a 19-18 lead, but Ian Jones levelled it at 19
apiece.
The match seemed to be
slipping from Warwickshire’s grasp as Mark Winham, V Man and Dave Lane all
lost to leave Staffs needing just 1 more frame from the remaining 3. Westy
silenced the opposing fans to pull it back to 22-20, Steve Sears dished up to
take it to 22-21 which then left it up to Steve Rees to save Warks B. The Hand
was shaking, sweat dripped slowly down the forehead and the teeth ground noisily
…… and that was just Gaz Calcott – Steve on the other hand held his nerve
superbly and played a MASSIVE frame to earn the Lads a 3 man play off.
Steve Rees with that familiar, "I'm so happy I could buy a round" look whilst Gaz reckons it's a good excuse to go to the Bar anyway!
Steve Sears and Ian Jones
were obvious choices having both won 3 from 4, but Andy West had played solid
throughout as had Steve Rees, again both players winning 3 from 4. In the end,
captain Gaz decided that if it hadn’t been for Steve Rees, the team wouldn’t
have had a shot at a play off, so he put him back in to play.
No messing for Steve Sears
who destroyed the bloke from the start, but Steve Rees was playing against the
break and one bad shot proved to be his downfall and so the attention turned to
the big Fella. “Smack, Bang, Wallop” – Sit Down! Ian Jones had won the
frame and booked Warwickshhire B a place in Sunday morning’s semi-finals.
It was a bleary eyed bunch
that assembled itself at 8-55am on Sunday morning, however it proved to be just
the tonic on the table as Warks B went 6-3 against Norfolk, ending the 1st
section 6-5 in front. An even better performance in section 2 as they won 7-4 to
take a 13-9 advantage into the 3rd section. It was at this point that
the match took a turn for the worst as Norfolk won 5 in a row to go 14-13 ahead.
Only the Vard, Steve Sears and Steve Rees won in section 3 as Norfolk went into
the final section 17-16 in front.
Norfolk increased their
lead to 19-16, Ponty pulled one back , Norfolk made it 20 and Dave Collins
pulled out a massive shot to make it 20-18.
No luck for the Vard as Norfolk went 21-18 up, Dave Lane gave the team a
glimmer of hope at 21-19, but Steve Sears got dished off the break as Norfolk
ensured themselves of at least a playoff. Andy West played brilliantly to bring
it back to 22-20 and it looked as if Steve Rees was going to pull it out of the
fire as he doubled the black, but it hit the jaw of the middle pocket, leaving
his opponent and easy clearance to put Norfolk through to the final. Ian Jones
had a failed attempt at the black, but it was too late.
It was an excellent
performance from a bare 11 players who all knew that they had been so close to
getting into the final, but as we all know to our cost, you need that little bit
of luck and sadly it deserted us that morning.
The Team: Gaz Calcott
(captain) Dave Collins, Steve Rees, Mark Winham, Mark “Chappers” Chapman,
Martin Groves, Andy West, Steve Sears, Scott “the V man” Varden, Dave Lane,
Ian Jones and Roy “Pool for Pensioners” Pontefract, who won an impressive 9
out of 12 frames over all 3 matches.
Westy gets "Nicked" in the line of duty whilst Tor developes TWO nipples on one TIT!