RAF TRIOS 2015
MFA Nottingham was the venue for this season’s fifth RAFTBA tournament, the RAFTBA Trios. 12 games
qualifying over three separate sessions followed by the top 16 teams going forward to a head to head
knockout final. With the event being handicap throughout and the scores zero’d for the final, the knockout
element is liked by many but hated by some as it certainly levels the playing field, rewarding those that
once qualified continue to bowl well.
63 bowlers (21 teams) took to the lanes and with bowlers ability ranging from a 208 to a 106 average and
there being 6 bowlers for whom this was their first tournament the scope of scores recorded was always
going to be wide ranging but not necessarily to the extent and by the bowlers you would expect, still that’s
bowling for you.
So onto the bowling and session one saw everyone bowl 6 games and whilst
there were only a few that managed to put 6 good games together there were
many that starred for one, two or even three and some personal bests as
well. Game wise it was Mac Macpherson that had the highest over the
session his 290 in game 2, the clear winner and when added to a 235 in his
first and 191 in the third gave him a 716 first set series which he then followed
with a 595 for a 1311 over the six. Understandably disappointed at missing
out on his first perfect game having only hit 9, spare in the first frame of the
game and then following it with 11 strikes, his anguish was only added to
when in the first frame of the next game he kicked off with a strike to record
12 in a row, still at least he now knows he can and just needs to concentrate
on getting them all in the same game, still a great start to the tournament for
both him and his team. Elsewhere Maddog hit a
268, Mark Coles and Chris Matthews recorded
257, Dave Connor a 255 and Kev Hunter a 265 but it was fellow Wycombe
bowler Brian Hallam that had the largest smile on his face as he hit 266 for a
new PB to continue his recent excellent run that had seen him finish top in both
the Div C Singles and All Events at the BTBA Nationals where he had recorded
his first 600 series with a 635. Hunter’s form in recording the 265 was
maintained throughout the set, his two series of 687 & 618 combined with team
mates Matthews 656 & 630 and Wildman’s 1135 launching them into an early
lead on 4074 with handicap. Closest to these albeit some 200 pins in arrears
came the trio of Al Hutchison, Mario Sinclair and
Mark Loughborough who all bowled with
consistency to register 1243, 1231 & 1217
respectively.
Mac Macpherson 290 Game
Shelly Metcalfe
HGH & HGS
Brian Hallam 266 new PB
For High Game Hcp
Session two and just a 3 game block this time with all teams on the lanes
simultaneously. Mac carried on where he left off with games of 269, 194 & 203
for a 666 series whilst Si Yeomans put in a 644 (209, 225 & 210) and Skid a
649 (235, 170 & 244) to keep both their teams hopes alive of qualification.
Elsewhere Tara Colcomb hit a new PB game of 175 whilst Sarah Metcalf one
of the RAFTBA Tournament newbie’s from Alconbury who was entered off a
76 handicap put in games of 137, 212 & 160 to record a 737 series with
handicap, the 212 a new PB game for her. Sarah’s scores were such that she
easily claimed both the Ladies high game and high series handicap for the
tournament. In the overall scheme of things the team positions stayed pretty
much the same, Wycombe now holding the top two slots whilst the one
exception to the non movement being the Brize trio of Dave Chapman, Rab
Lowthian and Martin Maybrey who thanks to a 672 series from Dave Chapman (246, 246 &180) coupled
with a 619 from Rab and a 503 from Martin saw them record the highest series of the set to jump from 13th
to 7th and make a giant push for the finals.
Sunday brought the final session of the qualifying rounds and not before time the second 700+ series,
although Si Yeomans would have made it 3 had he put in one more strike, eventually finishing with a 694
(234, 243 & 217), better luck next time Si. Still his series coupled with his
teammates Terry Jones 600 and Pete Bromley’s 546 was enough to elevate
them from 10th to 3rd and guarantee them certain qualification. Coningsby
too decided now was the time to make certain they qualified, this being both
Tony Lee’s and Chris Jaap’s last tournament as blue suits having both
decided the grass would be greener on the civilian side of the fence. Jaapy
led the way hitting a 704 with Tony and Porky registering 615 and 581
respectively for a 1900 scratch, 2002 with handicap to qualify second for the
finals but more importantly for them, to win the scratch element of the
tournament. Gav O’Brien despite having struggled in the tournament so far
chose now to show the form that had earned him his place in this years RAF
Team stringing together games of 221, 245 & 211 for a 677 series which
unfortunately was not matched by team mates Paul Caddy and Gareth
Holder and resulted in their exit from the tournament in 17th place albeit by a
mere 5 pins. Further down the rankings the Brize trio of Dave Greig, Chris
Smith (the multi-coloured trouser variety) and leftie James Baker were not
having the best of tournaments having not managed a 600+ team series (or individually) in any of the
games or sets to date and just when they eventually thought they would needing only 8 pins to get there
they’re left handed anchor (I’ll leave you to work out which one of the three that is) could only manage
3…..unlucky boys!, still on a couple of positive notes Random Dave did roll a 621 series so at least one of
them sort of redeemed himself and they’re non qualification meant that he was not once again trying to
bowl and run the tournament ….sorry Dave.
Chris Jaap last tournament
as a ‘Blue Suit’
And so to the top 16 and the head to head matches,
the draw devised so that if they managed to make it
through the teams that finished the qualifiers in 1st and
2nd should not meet until the final, but then we all know
that things frequently don’t happen the way you
expect. The first batch brought some big catching up to
do for some with handicap differences between the
teams ranging from 16 in one case to 158 in another,
still that’s the fun of handicap tournaments. Marham
failed to bridge they’re deficit, Audrey and Steve
McAdams and Pete Steele’s 168, 144 & 150 with their
respective 60, 50 & 56 handicaps making sure of that,
Trios Scratch winners – Coningsby
whilst strong games from Whitbread, Broster and
Tony Lee, Chris Jaap & Porky Maddock
Maddog saw off the challenge from one of the Waddo
affiliate teams (Hutchison, Sinclair & Loughborough) and consistent bowling from ‘Brize Vader’ (Chapman,
Lowthian & Maybrey) put pay to the hopes of ‘A thorn between 2 roses’ despite Jacky Whitbread’s valiant
224. Another PB from Tara Colcomb (177) and the fact that the wheels literally fell of the Wan Hood
(Matthews, Hunter & Wildman) challenge meant the 50 shades of pink ladies (Colcomb, Church &
Edwards) progressed whilst the other Waddo affiliate team to make it through of Bromley, Jones and
Yeomans did just enough to beat the Cattell’s and Bryan Roberts. Lady and the tramp (Ade French, Kylie
Bromley & Wayne Willacy) did enough to see off the last remaining Brize team (Leader, Macpherson and
Clark) which just left 2 more Wycombe teams, Coningsby and the last minute team of Sean & Andy
McEwan and Mike Williams to do battle. Wan Tuck (Hallam, Crouch & Connor) hung on to relegate the
McEwan’s and Mike to the supporters stand, whilst Coningsby set about to pull back they’re 158 handicap
deficiency. Luckily for them Jaapy decided to show up again and his 223, Porky’s 204 and Tony’s 191 was
enough to plug the gap dispose of the Wycombe’s Wan Sheriff team and progress to the next stage.
Last 8 now and the girls in pink once again had a 105 pin advantage at the start but where unable to
continue their form and fell by the wayside although only by 10 pins, Dave Chapman’s 232 being their
undoing as the Brize Vader team progressed. Waddington too were 110 down at the start but a 210 from Si
Whitbread and consistent scoring from his teammates was enough to
overcome the Alconbury challenge to claim they’re spot in the semi’s whilst
in the 3rd match where a mere 3 pins separated the teams it was Waddo
affiliates that proved the stronger, Terry Jones this time the difference with
his 211. That just left Coningsby against the final Wycombe team and with
all 3 Coningsby bowlers topping the 200 with a team score of 658 (Tony
Lee 246) there was no uncertainty as to who was going through to take the
last semi-final slot.
The semi’s saw all four teams evenly matched on handicap but with
Coningsby repeating the previous game and all going 200+ for a 656 team
game (Jaapy 210, Porky 224 & Tony 222) there was little that the Waddo
affiliate team could do to stop their progression to the final. In the other
match it was the Brize Vader team that took the upper hand, Dave
Chapman again the man in form with a 224 as the fight drained out of
Waddington and they accepted defeat and elimination. And so to the final
which proved perhaps the closest game of all that had gone before.
Coningsby started the stronger only to fade in the mid section and by the 7th frame it was pretty much all
square again. It was at this point that Martin Maybrey seemed to remember how to strike and together with
Rab pushed home the advantage to take the game and the tournament in the tenth frame.
Dave Chapman
Finding Form in the Final
So another tournament over that saw some 882 games bowled, a rush of new bowlers competing in and
enjoying their first ever tournament, numerous PB’s achieved and a tournament average of 172.4 which
considering the spread of ability is none too shabby. 8 bowlers finished with a 200+ average and as Dave
was quick to point during the presentation this would have been 9 had Porky not opened in the 9th of his
final game. High Game handicap went to Brian Hallam for the boys with a 306 whilst as mentioned earlier
Shelly Metcalfe took the girls on a 288 and in the series it was Kev Hunter’s 753 and Shelley’s 737 that
took the awards. Thanks to Sarah and her team for all their hard work in looking after us all and guess we
will see everyone in June in Nuneaton when we do it all again…wonder if there will be any back to back
300’s this year?
Porky Maddock
2015 Trios Champions – Brize Vader
Rab Lowthian, Martin Maybrey & Dave Chapman