Essex vs Norfolk -Away
Essex started the season with a tough away fixture against Norfolk SMBA, the reigning champions for the past two years. We always knew this was going to be a difficult game, especially playing away from home, and unfortunately we lost two players the day before the match due to family emergencies.
We never expected it to be easy, and Norfolk certainly proved why they are the current champions.
The first session started positively and gave us plenty of hope for the rest of the day.
We won one of the Singles, lost the other, and then unfortunately went down heavily in the Pairs. The Triples managed to win one game and draw the other on the final end, while the Fours narrowly lost one game, with the other ending in a fortunate draw.
That left us 6–10 down after the first session, keeping us firmly in the game and giving us plenty to fight for.
The Singles were closely contested, but unfortunately drifted away from us over the final few ends. The Pairs were again involved in some very close battles, but ultimately we just ran out of steam.
We lost the entire session and both bonus points, leaving the score at 22–06 and putting the overall win out of reach.
However, we still had a strong chance of finishing with a respectable points total.
The Triples had performed well earlier in the match, and if they could do it again, we had the potential to pick up another six points. If the Fours could split their games and secure the bonus points, despite being only four shots behind, we could have potentially walked away with a 24–16 defeat.
That would have been a fantastic points haul against the reigning champions, so there was still plenty to play for.
Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.
The Triples were beaten well, losing both of their shot bonus points. Although the team that had lost their previous game managed to turn things around and win, the other Four were beaten comfortably by a strong Norfolk side.
The quality and strength of the Norfolk team ultimately shone through, with the final score finishing:
Despite the final score, the team fought incredibly hard and did an amazing job competing away from home against the current champions, particularly with the significant home advantage Norfolk had.
I am extremely proud of everyone's performances. I genuinely believe the final score does not reflect how competitive some of the games were or how hard Norfolk had to work for their points. We deserved to come away with more points than we did.
There are plenty of positives to take from the day, and we now look forward to our first home game of the season on 18th October.
Well done to everyone who represented Essex — onwards and upwards! 💪🎯
County Manager - Anthony Fautley