Match Report – Bristol 22-22 Cornwall 25 - 19 Bristol

Well the pink pants have to be our team mascot from now on Ladies don’t they – how fab were they! I think we need to get ‘Bristol Ladies’ embroidered on the rear! There was such a great atmosphere in Cornwall… Our team are really starting to come together and you could feel the energy from us the whole day. I knew it would be a close match when we finished the first leg 6 – 5 down. We struggled in the second leg, losing 8 of the 11 frames. We won the next leg 7 – 4 but lost the last leg 7 – 4!! So, something was right in that third leg for us wasn’t it!! All we need to do now is work out what!Well what a nailbiter!| We lost the first set a disappointing 8-3 with wins from only Merran, Zoe and Myself. Cornwall thought they would have an easy day until a second wind (or maybe it was the beer) got us all going and we showed what we could do in the second set, winning that 8-3 so we went into the third set 11 all. The third set was close, ending with us losing 5-6 so all was left to play for in the final set! The team all got behind each other and we went back and forth all through the games. The last match was down to Jess P who had it all to play for with everyone watching and cheering her on, well done Jess for pulling your game out of the bag to make sure we didn’t start the season with a loss.

Lady of the Match

Firstly, I’d like to say a big thank you to Lee and Kev who have given up their time to come and coach

us Ladies to help us with our games. I’ve certainly benefited from their coaching and I’ve noticed it making a difference to quite a few of your games. Please make sure you try to make it to the practice sessions every Thursday before the county match at the Three Crowns. I cannot stress how important it is for you to be there

as well as making sure you practice as much as possible between games. I’d like to mention Pee, who’s 2 from 4 does not reflect the way she played in Cornwall. It was outstanding and I am not the only none who noticed.

Plenty of others mentioned that to me at the Match – well done Pee! For the first time this season I opened the ‘Lady of the Match’ vote out to all you Ladies. The result was Me!! To be honest, I’m quite pleased at the way I played on that Sunday – I have been suffering a bit of a dry spell recently and it seemed it would never end! I

just had to keep playing through the rough and keep my head up – seems to have worked! I’ll open up the voting after each county match from now on as it’s important to me you all have your say in the team. Also, a quick announcement. I needed to choose a Vice Captain so I have spoken to Zoe and she has agreed to take on this role. Zoes job will be to help me out on the day of the match, agree the team with me and take over if I am on holiday. I’m sure you will all wish her well in her new job! Please remember that you are all part of the team and if you have a suggestion or comment, please make sure you let me know – I’m keen to make sure we all have our say and am more than willing to take on board any new ideas and suggestions. That’s what a team is all about

at the end of the day. Everyone in the team has a key role which is to carry on playing well, supporting your

team (including the Boys don’t forget) and making sure we have a great day.Thanks to Vicky C and Ali who despite feeling under the weather still turned up for the team – that’s commitment I like to see. I’d like to welcome Hayley to the team, once the nerves settle down I’m sure you will be showing us what you can do. Rachael, Becky, Kate and Michelle all achieved a very respectable 2 out of 4 wins. Jess P had a great start to the season with 3 out of 4. I managed a lovely 4 wins which was a great start to the season and how I’d like to continue. My Lady of the match has to

go to Zoe who is playing some of the best pool I’ve seen her play (must be the sparkly new case and cue!). I fully intend there to be a race to the top of the rankings this year and it looks like there are

some serious contenders!

Next Match

The next match is home against Devon. Let’s get our pink pants on again girls – I want to see you ALL wearing them this time as we will have our new pink shirts too! With the new pink shirts, pink pants and pink mascot pants I’m hoping it will give us the kick up the backside we need to get a win! Devon are a good side but I think we’ve proved we can play well – we just need to gather some consistency. I also expect you all at practice on Thursday 7^th August at the Three Crowns.. practice makes perfect!!We are away to Devon who are a great bunch of Girls so we’ll have a good day. Most importantly, they are definitely beatable. We need to get a win here Girls and show them what we can do – I know we can pull together to produce a good result. Attendance is needed as we have a couple of players who can’t make it this game. I want to see some more of you bringing home those 3’s and 4’s. I know you have it in you!

Table				Rankings
P	Team	Pl	Pts	P	Name	Pl	W	L	Pts
1	SomersetCornwall	61	18836	1	Kate McDonnellZoe Chilcott	24	134	110	3912
2	DorsetSomerset	61	18636	2	Merran LawrenceTina Harrison	24	104	140	3012
3	DevonBristol	61	17432	3	Tina HarrisonJess Palmer	24	103	14	309
4	WiltshireDevon	61	10817	4	Rachael YeandleMichelle Gibbs	204	92	112	276
5	CornwallDorset	61	10513	5	Michelle GibbsBecky Mitchell	24	92	152	276
6	BristolWiltshire	61	10113	6	Zoe ChilcottRachael Yeandle	204	82	12	246