Friendly Matches - 2010

Leicestershire CBA  121,   Surrey CBA   115   -   Played at St. Margaret's Co-Operative BC on Tuesday 13 July 2010

In recent years Surrey have always found it difficult to travel to Leicestershire as they have not won an away fixture for several years. Always strong at home, the host County proved just too good for Surrey although the visitors did make a good fight of it towards the end to only lose by 6 shots. The recent heat wave gave way to a persistent drizzle at the admirable St. Margaret’s Co-Operative BC in Leicester for the first half of the match and Surrey struggled in the unusual conditions. They were nearly 30 shots down at one stage but gradually clawed their way back into contention. In the drier latter ends of the match, it was very close and the result could have gone either way. Twice the scores were level and twice there was only 1 shot separating the two Counties. The fact that no more than 6 shots decided each rink emphasised just how close the game was. Stephen Sanderson (Monotype), David Sowden (Epsom), Mike Smith (Croydon) and Frank Dodd (Old Coulsdon) were Surrey’s best rink on this occasion.                                               

Surrey CBA  152,  Northamptonshire CBA  106  -  Played at Croydon M.O. BC on Wednesday 21 July 2010

Northamptonshire have an unwelcome record when they come up against the might of Surrey and that record continued last Wednesday at Croydon M.O. BC. Surrey have won at least the last 7 matches in a row against their rivals who, over the years, have only won 15 of the 52 matches played between the counties. Last Wednesday Surrey won on four of the six rinks but two of these were by just a single shot. The home victory relied largely on two rinks, one of which won by 18 shots and the other achieved the biggest winning margin of the season. They won by a massive 40 shots and the rink, made up of Martin Harbottle (Epsom), Michael Ware (Shirley Park), David Candeland (Shirley Park) and Paul Bennett (Purley Bury) were deserving of the top rink prizes. Dave Botting (Chipstead) was presented with his County Badge for reaching the quarter-finals of the Unbadged Singles competition in 2009.                                                                   Surrey's season record is now Played 14, Won 10, Drawn 1 and Lost 3.