By Lincolnshire County Pool once again had a successful outing at the National Finals, with three of the five teams claiming the National Champions title in Southport.
The county, which is led by proud manager Graham Ladds, has been the best-performing region in the country across the past two years.
For the second year on the trot, the B team – captained by Martin Lamming – secured the big prize after winning all ten of their matches.
The group stage was plain sailing for the side, winning all seven matches. The 14-5 quarter-final victory against West Midlands marked an excellent start to the final day.
Lincs then faced sterner opposition in the semi-finals against South Yorkshire, but a calm Guy Smith finish secured a 14-12 victory and a place in the final.
The final against Teeside went late into the night and was neck and neck throughout. The score was 5-4 in favour of the Greens after the first set, however, a turnaround in set two resulted in a slight swing in proceedings as Teeside headed into the final set up 10-8.
They then raced into a 12-8 lead at the start of the third set, but Lincs sprang into life at the perfect time and went on to win five of the next six frames to take the match to a one-frame decider.
Smith once again kept his nerve to get over the line and claim a 14-13 victory. The final’s success was made all the more convincing by the B team’s impressive record in the competition, where they won all 10 of their group stage and knock-out round matches.
Matthew Smithson’s C team also left Southport as National Champions for the first time in similar fashion, winning all 10 of their games en route to lifting the trophy.
They got their finals campaign off to a strong start by seeing Devon off 14-3 to send out an early statement of intent. They finished off the group stages unbeaten, with Lincoln’s Aaron Joseph the top shooter with 13 frame successes.
The side went on to dispatch Essex 14-10 in the quarter-finals, before beating West Midlands – who knocked Lincs out in the quarters last year – by the same score in the semi-finals.
The final against a tough Nottinghamshire side began perfectly, with the Greens romping into a 10-0 lead.
Notts then stormed back into the match, winning six of the next seven frames to make it 11-6. But Lincolnshire had more than enough left in the tank to get over the line, with the white-hot Ryan Knox winning his third frame of the final match to secure a 14-7 win and the National title.
Lincolnshire Masters – captained by Jason Ericson – navigated through the group stage as runners-up, although an 11-4 defeat to Bristol early on was a slight concern.
The side also drew 10-10 with West Midlands, but the group stages were still relatively straightforward for the Masters. A Martin Hazell deciding frame victory was enough to claim an 11-10 quarter-finals victory over Merseyside.
They then dispatched Kent 11-6 in the semi-final to set up a final showdown against Bristol, with Lincs looking to avenge their defeat against the same side earlier on in the group stages of the competition.
And they did precisely that, as Lincolnshire turned on the style to claim an 11-7 victory and retain their National Championship title.
But it was a different story for Ashley Ellis’ Lincolnshire A team, who were unable to retain their National title. They did, however, still manage to reach the final day knock-out stages and gave a good account of themselves by winning their final two group games to qualify.
The Seniors side also made the final day of the finals after progressing through the group stages in third place. Unfortunately, the quarter-finals were the end of the line for them, though, as they fell to an 11-6 defeat against Essex.
In the individual singles knock-out competitions, Martin Hazell retained his Masters title, defeating West Yorkshire’s Andy Appleton 7-5 in the final.
All Lincolnshire sides will begin qualification for next year’s finals on 6 November.
