Complacency almost costs Chaplin and his boys victory against Connaught
Complacency so nearly cost the Romford boys in the county triples quarter-final on Thursday evening as they threw away an 11-shot lead to find themselves going into the final end all square.
In a tense, dramatic finish against Tim Mould and his Connaught boys at the Silver End Bowls Club, the Romford team of Trevor Sayers, Richard Bolton and skip Lee Chaplin held their nerve to squeeze through 18-17 to make next weekend’s semi-finals.
“At 16-5 it could have been an eas night, but unfortunately I think that is what we all thought,” admitted Chaplin afterwards.
“We had one eye on the other quarter-final where Wanstead Central were struggling, so it was complacency and once they started coming at us, they played better and we started falling off the wagon.”
Early on, Romford were in dominant form as Sayers set them up for some fine heads and some big scores, picking up a five-count on the first end and then from 8-5, winning five consecutive ends to open up at that big 16-5 lead.
“Trevor was setting the foundations early on which was great, Richard was backing him up and I was backing them both up,” said Chaplin. “We were looking good at that stage.”
However, it was at that point that things started to go wrong and the Connaught boys hauled themselves back into the game, with Mould at the heart of things.
“Tim is a very good player,” said Lee. “A lot of players at 16-5 would have just given up, but he was never going to give up, he just kept plodding along.
“We all kept saying, ‘don’t worry about it, we are still six up, we are still five up’ and all of a sudden we weren’t up at all.
“They played it a lot better than we did. It all went wrong from the start with Trevor starting to struggle and the Richatd and I couldn’t change anything.”
The match went into the final end and after the jack had sprung forwards, it was Bolton who got close to it and in the end Mould could not move it as Romford grabbed the vital winning shot.
That means a semi-final at Westcliff next weekend against the Central boys.
“It will be a tough game, but I am looking forward to it,” said Lee. “On the one hand we wouldn’t have minded playing the Stock & Buttsbury boys as we may have a better chance, but on the other hand you want to play the big games and this will be a big one.
“You have got to fancy your chances, we will try our best and see what happens.”
The other semi-final will see Silver End take on Happy Valley.
Romford will also have a team in the county fours at Westcliff next Saturday after their team showed their form in their quarter-final at Grays Town Bowls Club on Friday evening.
The team of Steve Mitchinson, Richard Bolton, Scott Reading and skip Nigel Smith took on a team from Silver End and cruised to a fine victory by 26-8.
That earned them a clash in the last-four against the Silverthorn team of Mark Banning, Les Mercer, Dave McFarquhar and Richard Haley who overcame Mersea Island by 25-11.
The other semi in that one will see Wanstead Central take on Essex County.
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