A PIECE of county history was made in Norfolk at the weekend when Northants A reached back-to-back Derbyshire Trophy finals for the first time.
The current holders of the English Bowling Federation's indoor county championship are now set to face Durham in the national final at Newark on Saturday, April 25th following a last-gasp one-shot victory over Norfolk at the Gallows club in Fakenham.
Three-time winners of the championship since its inception in the 1984/85 season, Northants required seven points to guarantee a fourth appearance in the final, but it took a nail-biting last bowl from Brian Martin to prevent the county having a nervy wait until the outcome of Norfolk's last match against Lincolnshire.
With three of the four rinks completed, Northants held a slender 98-96 lead, but Martin, who had earlier switched positions with namesake Roger, held his nerve when four shots down to draw second shot and guarantee his team the southern section title with a 10-4 points success and a five-match 100 per cent record.
His rink, which also included Richard Allam at lead, had earlier held the advantage before former world indoor singles champion Mervyn King switched from skip to lead and began to smother the jack.
Elsewhere, Wayne Aspinall, Martyn Dolby and team captain James Harford struggled early on against Danny Cawthorne's rink, trailing 8-19 until they reshuffled positions to great effect to run out 28-20 winners.
Michael Humphreys, Paul Dalliday and Simon Law secured the other rink win for Northants with a 27-23 defeat of King's son Sam.
RESULT
Northants A 98 (10), Norfolk 97 (4) – (Northants rinks only):
Wayne Aspinall, Martyn Dolby, James Harford won 28-20; Michael Humphreys, Paul Dalliday, Simon Law won 27-23; Richard Allam, Brian Martin, Roger Martin lost 23-25; Nick Wilkie, Trevor Collins, Tristan Morton lost 20-29.
