Nottingham beat Bowdon 5-2

[<<] [>>] by Michael Finnigan
22nd May 2006 (AC - Longman Cup)

There was no over-confidence amongst the Nottingham team when, after a morning's rain sodden play at Bowdon, three close games resulted in Nottingham leading three-nil. Been there before, and learned the hard way that this does not guarantee an overall win! The lead had fluctuated in all three of the games, but eventually William Gee, in an immaculate Longman debut, pegged out his opponent's forward ball and managed to stay clear to win +3. The Nottingham pair wrapped up the doubles soon afterwards, but Michael Finnigan kept everyone waiting for lunch until a lucky hit in after time led to his winning on the "golden hoop".

In the afternoon William demonstrated the ability of youth to adapt quickly to the fast lawns of Bowdon (at least, Nottingham thought they were fast, but the home team assured us they were the slowest they had been all season) by beating Lorna Frost with considerable panache, thus securing the overall result in Nottingham's favour. Just as well, as Barry Keene found his form to beat Martin Beacon, and Michael Finnigan was overwhelmed by Janice Moir. However, Nigel Hames-Keward added to the Nottingham total by wining another hard fought game against Steve Reynolds.

Individual results (Nottingham names first)

Martin Beacon & Nigel Hames-Keward bt Lorna Frost & Steve Reynolds + 6
William Gee bt Janice Moir + 3
Michael Finnigan bt Barry Keene + 1 Time
William Gee bt Lorna Frost + 23
Martin Beacon lost to Barry Keene - 23
Michael Finnigan lost to Janice Moir - 21
Nigel Hames Keward bt Steve Reynolds +5

Handicap change - William Gee 6 to 5