INDOOR SEASON 2007

18 November- Haden Hill Leisure Centre - Birmingham

This Sunday was another good weekend for the club, returning home after winning three weights (680, 640 and 580Kg).

11 November- AAA Championships - Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre

Norton become 600Kg AAA Champions. Also finished 1st, 2nd, 2nd in the 600, 620 and 640Kg respectively

28 October- Midland Championships - Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre

Norton become 600Kg Midland Champions and finish second in the 620 and 640Kg.

21 October- Haden Hill Leisure Centre - Birmingham

Norton take the catchweight, 640Kg weights and finish second in the 660Kg.

14 October- Haden Hill Leisure Centre, - Birmingham

Norton make an impressive start beating Sheen in the 600, 640, 680 and 720Kg finals.

OUTDOOR SEASON 2007

18 August- UK Outdoor Championships - Halkyn - North Wales

Norton represented England in the 600Kg category. Both of the England teams progressed to the semi finals having gone 1 end a piece with each other, and it was close between the other teams also, which saw Scotland A and Northern Ireland A also progress to the semi finals. England B in their match managed to defeat Northern Ireland A by 2 ends to 0, and England A had to grind down a strong Scotland team to reach the finals with England A winning through by 2 ends to 0.

Northern Ireland went on to secure the bronze medal before England A and England B met in an eagerly anticipated final. The first end saw both teams eager to make an impression. Both teams opted to try and defend, and with the first end going to almost 9 minutes, England B took the pull after England A received three cautions. On the second end, England A attacked from the drop, and took England B over the line in 2 minutes. England A won the coin toss and chose the winning end, and again took England B over the line in 2 minutes 30 to secure the gold medal.

5 August- Inter Counties Championships - Cranleigh

Norton take the 640Kg title representing Staffordshire.

16 June- National Championships - Malvern

Norton finish second in the 560Kg weight, because of dubious refereeing.
Video evidence courtesy of uTube and recorded (with many thanks) by Linda.

Norton Win the Gold medal in the 600Kg weight, finished a well pulled forth in the 680Kg and beat a few teams in the 640Kg until injuries hampered performance.

22 April- East of England Championships - Kempston Hammer Sports Club

Once again the Bedford Ladies hosted a good competition with many teams in attendance. The weather was just right, warm and bright but not too hot. This provided the basis for an improved performance from the Norton squad in all weight categories. Norton completed the day with convincing victories in the 600kg and 640kg respectively.

15 April- NATIONAL LEAGUE WEEK 1 - Congleton TOWC

Well not a bad day for Norton on the whole at the first national league competition of the outdoor season. Although its not really worth attending and accruing the points throughout the season as points DON'T make prizes come the final!!! (Stupid make it up as you go along and someone moans rules). Anyway enough of the sour grapes. The day was lovely and sunny and congratulations should go out to Congleton/ Kilroe for putting on an excellent smooth running competition.

We pulled first in the 720 kg which was the second weight of the day after deciding to sit out of the first weight which was the catch weight. With a considerable weight disadvantage and some inexperienced pullers we faired well to finish a credible 3rd. The next weight was the 640Kg, this was our arguably our best weight of the day with some good tight controlled pulling giving us a fairly comfortable win.

The 600 Kg followed and we were undone in the first pull by a good display from a youthful Bosley side. However we overcame our disappointment to claim 2nd place after ripping out Hanging Bridge whom never seem be able to beat us!! After taking the confidence of our hard fought 2nd place into the final weight of the day, the 680 Kg we fancied our chances of a top 3 finish but the completion proved too strong and our tired bodies couldn't cope with the power of the other sides. On the whole not a bad day some very good pulling took place and all the weights were very close and hard fought.

8 April- Wiltshire County Open - Christian Malford

Easter Sunday turned out to be an excellent day to start the outdoor campaign. The club turn out was good and the weather was excellent, an early summers day. The pulling ground was uneven which made winning the toss of the coin all important for some teams and produced some battling displays. Norton first pulled in the catchweight and performed very well to finish second. In the 600Kg Norton beat two teams to win the weight category. The 680Kg was up next, Norton performed well in their group and went on to beat Sandhurst by 2 ends to nil in the final. The last weight of the day was the 640Kg. Norten pulled valiantly after a hard days pulling, but were beaten by Hedge End in the group stages.