CORNWALL started their Inter County Championship campaign with a visit to Okehampton to face Devon on Sunday.

This weekend’s matches were the first to be played under the new English Short Mat Bowls Association format for the Inter County Championship which has removed the designations of Premier and A Teams and replaced them with team names.

For Cornwall, what was the Premier team is now called Cornwall Tinners and face Devon Premier and Dorset Destroyers in Group Two, while the A team, now known as Cornwall Smugglers, face Devon A, Dorset Dynamos and Somerset Scrumpies.

The Tinners started with a shared first session, winning both Pairs via Andy Jiggens and Chris Page (20-8) and Lee Rowland and Mark Slack (17-12). Both singles lost after close games.

The second session saw Devon edge into a lead with Cornwall taking three points from the session.

In the Triples, Steve Williamson, Nicholas Truscott and Steve Smith drew 14-14 and in the Fours, Sandra Worton, Nathan Waters, Oskar Bryan and Peter Hore won 18-5. At the halfway stage, Devon led 9-7 on points with Cornwall ahead on shots, 104-98.

The third session saw Devon take command of the match, winning three of the four games.

Lee Rowland and Mark Slack secured a 16-11 win in the Pairs where Cornwall also picked up the bonus points. The match score moving onto Devon 17 points Cornwall 11 and 148 shots to 146.

The final session again saw Devon winning three of the four games, Cornwall taking a win in the Triples with Steve Williamson, Nicholas Truscott and Steve Smith winning 12-11.

The final match score ended 27-13 in Devon’s favour and 211 shots to 175 on points.

Scores: (Cornwall First) – Singles: Nigel Nicholls* (Penlee) lost 12-11 and 14-10; Luke Jolly* (Holmans) lost 16-12 and 13-8.

Pairs: Andy Jiggens (Kensey Vale) and Chris Page (Duloe) won 20-8 and lost 12-8; Lee Rowland (Camelford) and Mark Slack (Duloe) won both, 17-12 and 16-11.

Triples: John Worton* (St Newlyn East), Ian Crossett (Saltash Kernow) and Mike Dyer (Penlee) lost 17-8 and lost 15-7; Steve Williamson (Luxulyan), Nicholas Truscott* (Holmans) and Steve Smith* (Holmans) drew 14-14 and won 12-11.

Fours: Nick Trewin (Kensey Vale), Kate Richards (Luxulyan), Elise Daniell* (Holmans) and Martin Boraston* (Duloe) lost both, 14-4 and 11-6; Sandra Worton (St Newlyn East), Nathan Waters (Luxulyan), Oskar Bryan (Camelford) and Peter Hore* (Holmans) won 18-5 and lost 26-4.

The Smugglers, with a number of debutants, struggled to get to grips with the Devon mats.

In the first session, John Worth in the Singles was the sole points scorer for Cornwall with a 14-12 win.

The second session again saw just one win for Cornwall with Chris Mortimore, Christine Worth, Elaine Nowell and David Topliffe emerging victorious, 12-7. At the half way point, Devon led 12 points to four and 132 shots to 75.

The third session brought two sucesses for Cornwall, Rob D’Agostino 18-14 in the Singles and Rosemary Young and Dennis Shorthouse 17-13 in the Pairs. Devon led 20 points to eight and 198 shots to 120.

The final session saw Devon win three of the four games. Only Chris Mortimore, Christine Worth, Elaine Nowell and David Topliffe (12-8) were victorious as Devon won 30-10 and by 257 shots to 149.

Scores: Singles: Rob D’Agostino (Kensey Vale) lost 15-11 and won 18-14; John Worth* (Withiel) won 14-12 and lost 22-6.

Pairs: Craig Strippel* (Penzance) and Tony Jago* (Withiel) lost both, 23-10 and 17-4; Rosemary Young* (Blisland) and Dennis Shorthouse* (Saltash Kernow) lost 21-9 and won 17-13.

Triples: Graham Luke* (Withiel), Nigel Taylor (Penzance) and Lynne Davey (Liskeard) lost 14- and 21-4; Jack Jeskins (Tintagel), Mark Richards (Luxulyan) and Mark Payne (Holmans) lost both, 22-8 and 19-4.

Fours: Sally Dewdney (Penzance), Pat Coward (Luxulyan), Steve Nowell (St Keverne) and Austen Runnalls (Luxulyan) lost both, 18-3 and 11-9; Chris Mortimore (Saltash Kernow), Christine Worth* (Withiel), Elaine Nowell (St Keverne) and David Topliffe* (Boscastle) won both, 12-7and 12-8.

Both teams are back in action this Sunday when they make the journey to the Dorset Bowls Resort to face Dorset.