The first of this seasons John Ford matches took place on 23rd October at South Cheshire. They hosted Northwich Meteors. South Cheshire fielded a relatively new team to John Ford. Dom Watkins, Chris Ridgeway and Frank Cody are three of the newer squad members. Jo Mos, Barbara Burton and Rose Hickson provided the experience. Northwich went for Matthew Simmons, Ben Huggon, Greg Hulme and Nicola Schofield as their newer players to John Ford with Jane Brumby and Rachel Wellings providing the experience.
The handicappers had sat the night before to assess the outcome. Unanimously they felt South Cheshire needed some help in this one. After some deliberation it was decided to award 133 to South Cheshire. Just in case you wonder why round figures never get used - it is because we average out several opinions. Even a late substitution didn't affect the handicap.
In the match, all 18 games went to Northwich - to expectation. 9 was the lowest score recorded on the night which is very respectable given the sometimes wide gap in playing experience. Most of the games resulted in mid teens scores for South Cheshire. It was a most entertaining match enjoyed by all the players. Northwich scored 378 as expected. South Cheshire compiled 244. With the addition of the handicap that meant Northwich triumphed by a single point. 378 to 377. Well done handicappers and congratulations to Northwich who proceed to the semi finals. The score sheet is attached for interest as a pdf and jpeg