THE HOPE Northants Federation would celebrate the 50th anniversary of winning the coveted Newton Trophy in 1967 with a repeat win, were dashed in the closing minutes of their clash with Humberside at Skegness.
With just a handful of ends to go in the 31-end final, the scores were level. But two rinks dropped counts which proved crucial to the overall score and Northants eventually went down 161-170 despite winning two of the six rinks and drawing two others.
Nine shots difference over six rinks playing 31 ends – a total of more than 2,200 bowls delivered – underlined what a close and exciting match it was.
And it was the pressure that told in the end with the strong East Yorkshire/North Lincolnshire contingent gathering momentum and more vocal on the perimeters of the green, despite support for the orange-wearing Northants supporters.
In the early stages Northants’ bowlers found the tricky green more to their liking to race into 47-14 and 71-40 leads after five and ten ends respectively, before their opponents started to find their rhythm.
Urged on by the changing fortunes, Humberside reduced the arrears to just 12 shots after 20 ends and to five shots with six ends to play.
Peter Cox, Mick Humphreys and Roger Martin put the first points on the board 36-30 before Jeff Clipston, Cliff Watson and Paul Buckley forced a 25-25 draw. However, the defeat of Jim Ruddy, Mick Greaves and Brian Bassam (20-35) proved a setback as Humberside began their fightback.
With the scores level overall, Darren Middleton, Bob Warters and Peter Jessop struggling against a mystifying end rink which at times overpowered the bias of the bowls, had a chance to clinch vital shots on their final ends. But their opponents proved too good with momentum in their favour. Conceding eight shots in the last two ends, Northants earlier 11-0 and 31-23 advantage was overturned into a 35-32 defeat.
Fred Addy, Tony Kemp and Barry Lawrence pegged back the deficit with a 26-23 win but Les Sharp, Malcolm Squires and Mick Duell had to settle for a 22-22 draw – not enough to close the gap after Northants unbeaten southern area campaign.
Commented Northants captain Cliff Watson, who had guided the Adams team to a first success in 2015: ” I would like to thank the team for their efforts in a terrific campaign in the lead up to Skegness. And the level of support around the green was terrific but Humbnerside carried their momentum over the finishing line. I hope to captain the team again for the next year determined to overturn this disappointing result.” BW
Results
Newton Trophy final (at Skegness) : Humberside 170 Northants 161. (Northants names only): F Addy, T Kemp, B. Lawrence won 26-23; P Cox, M Humphreys, R Martin won 36-30; J Clipston, C Watson, P Buckley drew 25-25; L Sharp, M Squires, M Duell drew 22; J Ruddy, M Greaves, B Bassam lost 20-35; D Middleton, B Warters, P Jessop lost 32-35.
(IMAGES COURTESY OF RITA MACE)
