Result: Newbury (-5) 373 points Hurst (+7) 354
Team: Angela Gearing, Julia Eatwell, Suzy Mugford, Dan Woolley, Nigel Coombs, Pedro Cosa
The first round of the Blackford Cup got underway at Trinity School last night with Newbury entertaining Hurst in the first leg of their tie. Newbury started slowly trying to get to grips with the handicap and it wasn’t until the sixteenth end that the scores were only one point apart. The home side won 14 of the 20 ends but due to the handicap and slow start were only 19 points ahead at the end of the evening. Most of the success was in the ladies and mixed doubles and it was only the singles and mens doubles that dropped games.
The second leg takes place on Thursday at Hursts temporary home at Theale Green Community School. This may reduce the “home advantage” but with the handicap and potential team changes who knows?