What slender hopes Northants A had of retaining the English Bowling Federation’s Derbyshire Trophy were finally extinguished with an 86-84 defeat away to North Essex.
It was Northants’ second two-shot defeat of the campaign, the other coming against Hunts, who are now set to claim the southern section crown following their 98-75 home win against Northants B.
Rink honours were shared at the Turpins club, with the rinks of Simon Law and Tristan Morton responsible for Northants’ four points, but North Essex edged it overall to take the bulk of the points.
Meanwhile, Northants B took two points from Hunts, courtesy of Mick Linnell’s rink, although two of the other three rinks only had a deficit of six shots between them.
That was the B team’s final match of the season, but the A team are scheduled to conclude their programme away to Norfolk on Sunday (February 16) which may well be a ‘dead rubber.’
RESULTS
NORTHANTS A 84 (4), NORTH ESSEX 86 (10) – (Northants A rinks only):
Stuart Agger, Trevor Collins, Simon Law won 25-17; Wayne Morris, Brian Martin, John Earl lost 17-27; Michael Humphreys, Paul Dalliday, Tristan Morton won 23-19; Louise Harris, Graham Agger, Stephen Harris lost 19-23.
NORTHANTS B 75 (2), HUNTS 98 (12) – (Northants B rinks only):
Malcolm Mitchell, Ally McNaughton, Mike Anderson lost 20-24; Martin Prudhoe, Neil Wright, Mick Linnell won 21-18; Pete Linnell, Mick Porter, Roger Martin lost 15-35; Peter Smith, Dudley Smith, Kevin Vinter lost 19-21.
