Norfolk
Win The 2005 Anderson Shield
Report by David
Kitson
 By
the narrowest of margins Norfolk won the Anderson Shield at Newport
on Saturday and Sunday, May 28th and 29th.
Inaugurated last year, the tournament pits the six counties in the
Federation against each other with teams of four playing advanced
doubles. Each player must have a handicap of 0 or more.
At
the end of the first day Herts were in the lead, having won 2
matches out of 3 (both pairs winning their games in each match),
with all the other counties bar Suffolk winning one match. On Sunday
morning only Cambridgeshire managed a win, drawing them level with
Herts, but the other teams were breathing down their necks and it
looked as though any of 5 counties were still in with a chance.
So
it proved in the afternoon. Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk all won their
games to leave those three counties and Herts level on 2 wins each,
leaving the manager, Jim Potter with some complicated arithmetic to
determine the winner. Fortunately, he had had the foresight to
publish very detailed procedures for dealing with this situation and
in due course he announced that Norfolk had won, just beating Essex,
both counties having won 2 matches and 7 individual games with
Norfolk winning 2 games within time and Essex none. It was fitting
that the winning point was scored by Norfolk’s captain (and EACF
Chairman) Terrey Sparks.
The
winning Norfolk team were Terrey Sparks (capt), John Christmas, Don
Cornelius, and Feargal Smith.
Results:
Round
1 Essex beat Suffolk 2-0,
Herts beat Beds 2-0, Norfolk beat Cambs 2-0
Round 2
Beds beat Suffolk 2-0, Cambs beat Herts 2-0, Essex drew
with Norfolk 1-1
Round 3 Herts
beat Suffolk 2-0, Beds drew with Norfolk 1-1, Essex drew with Cambs
1-1
Round 4
Cambs beat Beds 2-0, Essex drew with Herts 1-1, Norfolk drew with
Suffolk 1-1
Round 5
Norfolk beat Herts 2-0, Suffolk beat Cambs 2-0, Essex beat Beds 2-0
Final Order:
|
1.
Norfolk
|
2
matches, 7 games, 2 wins within time
|
|
2.
Essex
|
2
matches, 7 games, 0 wins within time
|
|
3.
Herts
|
2
matches, 5 games, 1 win within time
|
|
4.
Cambridgeshire
|
2
matches, 5 games, 0 wins within time
|
|
5.
Suffolk
|
1
match, 3 games, points for/against –14
|
|
6.
Beds
|
1
match, 3 games, points for/against -30
|
|
