Gill King and Les Sharp with their senior mixed pairs trophy
Steve Lander, Roger Stevens and Graham Agger with the three wood triples shield
Stephen and Louise Harris reached three finals between them.
Just when it looked like Northants might achieve their best-ever silverware return from the Skegness championships after reaching four Saturday finals on top of the two they won on Friday, their exhausted bowlers just failed to step up at the last minute.
Les Sharp and Gill King (Yaxley) in the senior mixed triples, together with Roger Stevens, Steve Lander (replacing the injured Martin Welsford) and Graham Agger in the three-bowl rinks had earlier given Northants a flying start but that’s where success came to a sudden halt.
Nearest to extending the outstanding performances of the week was Sue Moir who took the two-bowl singles decider to 20-20 against Cleethorpes bowler K Cox before having to concede the match 21-20.
Brother and sister Stephen and Louise Harris from Stamford, had high hopes of completing a Blackstones double in their respective Under 25 singles finals but neither could recapture the form that got them to the climax and lost respectively to R Claxton (Suffolk) and B Wabe (North Cambs) 15-21 and 16-21.
And any hopes that the Stamford Town combination of Moira and Helen Holroyd and Ann Holmes had of emulating Parkway in 2013 were dismissed in the early ends when they trailed their Cleveland opponents by 19 shots. They eventually conceded with only one shot on the board.
Celebrations were perhaps mooted after ‘Fabulous Friday’ but all Northants bowlers can be proud of reaching the championships and especially for reaching the closing stages.
NBF competition secretary Graham Agger summed up his week: “Like many of my fellow bowlers, I have been toiling for too many years trying to achieve a national title and now I have, I am absolutely thrilled.”
Competing at Skegness after many rounds of qualifying is not an exact science – especially on greens that can tend to throw up a weird examination paper – but, like competing at the US Masters golf at Augusta, it tends to eventually reward those with experience of the unique conditions who keep coming back year after year until eventually it is their time.
With so many finalists and semi-finalists, the Northants Federation luncheon on September 22 at Orton Hall promises to be a true celebration of achievement.
Make sure you get your ticket.
FOOTNOTE: Some consolation for Stephen Harris, losing his Under 25 singles and mixed pairs final with Louise, came with the award of the best Under 25 overall performance, having also lost in the semi-finals of the 4-bowl singles and Under 25 Open pairs with Jack Corney. BW
