Hertfordshire competed in the 2013 ECCBA Team Bowl event on Sunday (29/09/13) hosted by Essex and held at Littleport Leisure Centre, Cambridgeshire.

The final standings are detailed below;

                                                    PTS        SF           SA

1. Suffolk                                     81       442           292

2. Cambridgeshire                   68       406           328

3. Norfolk                                    61       354           361

4. Essex                                     53       361           378

5. Hertfordshire                        51       325           413

6. Bedfordshire                        46       310           426

Even though we finished in our usual 5th position there were some encouraging signs as we only finished two points behind Essex. The day started off against Bedfordshire with the four singles matches. Only Alan was able to gain a single point which meant Beds took the session by a score of 7-1. Next the four pairs were in action, a more positive result with two wins and a draw. Reducing the overall deficit to 10-6. The triples were up last, needing to win three of the four games to half the session. They only managed to take two victories meaning Beds won the session 14-10.

Next up were Essex, the singles were halved two games all. Essex took a lead after the pairs games as they won two and drew one of the four games giving them a 9-7 advantage. The four triples games were split two each which left Essex with an overall victory of 13-11.

Cambridgeshire were up next. Both the singles and pairs were split two games leaving the scores tied 8-8 going into the triples. None of the games were particularly close, but Herts only managed to secure one victory which meant Cambridgeshire took the session 14-10.

Suffolk were the opposition for the penultimate session. They were the commanding leaders in the competition so a tough game was expected. The singles were split two games each. Herts managed to take a lead after the pairs games winning three of the four matches to take a 10-6 lead. Unfortunately all four of the triples suffered defeat which meant Suffolk took the session 14-10.

Norfolk were the opposition for the final session and with a chance of finishing as high as 3rd all was to play for. The singles were again split two games apiece. All four of the pairs games were incredibly close and could have all gone the way of Herts but they only managed a win and a draw leaving Norfolk with a 9-7 lead. The triples were a similar story with all four games being tight matches. However again Herts were only able to secure a win and a draw meaning Norfolk took the session 14-10.

Whilst we did not manage to beat any team we achieved double figures in every session which is a good effort. Hopefully we can improve a little further and go into the season with some optimism.