It was pretty common knowledge that the London Men’s B Team had followed the lead of the Surrey Men’s B Team from the previous season and built a team with one aim in mind – to win the Region Seven Inter-county title then follow it up by winning the National Inter-County National title.
So it was no surprise that the Region Seven title decider part one between reigning Region Seven and National Champions Surrey B and pretenders to the crown London B was a tense nip-and–tuck affair with both sides desperate to beat the other for what could well be a National Inter-County Final come 2010…
And so it proved with the National Champions moving into a 7-4 lead after the opening quarter only to find themselves pegged back 12-10 then 17-16 after the second and third rotations.
Not surprisingly the match reached 21-21 and Surrey had ever-reliable captain Kevin O’Connor and rock-solid new boy Neil Callingham on last to try to secure the win or the draw.
Sadly the London B Team had other ideas and O’Connor didn’t get a shot as former international Tony Bailey broke and dished to give the visitors a 22-21 advantage.
But Neil Callingham also broke and had a chance to dish to secure the draw. Sadly for Surrey he ran out of position and a tense final frame slowly swung in London’s favour as Callingham and Surrey were left to look on as London B team claimed the final frame for a 23-21 victory.
The only two saving graces for Surrey were another superb four out of four from Dave Jones and Marc Burnett showing the type of passion off the table that so often makes Surrey tick as a unit.
The London Men’s B Team under former IPA pro John Kelly deserved the victory on the day and the match was played in excellent spirits between the two sides. It also gave the cockneys a 21-point lead at the top of the table at the halfway stage in the season.
Surely the race for the title was over? Wasn’t it?