COUNTY TEAMS BEATEN

AFTER waiting two years to resume county team action, both Northants Bowling Federation teams' return in the English Bowling Federation's Adams and Newton knockout competitions was all too brief on Saturday.

Both were beaten by local rivals Hunts, the Adams team, under new captain Roger Martin, suffered a 195-145 defeat at St Ives, while the Newton squad, with Dick Noble at the helm for the first time, went down 177-154 on the superb Langtoft Pearl green.

The Adams team managed just one rink win, courtesy of Graham Agger, Adam Warrington and Martyn Dolby, but there were heavy losses sustained by the rinks of John Earl, Peter Brown and Roger Martin. Martin Welsford's rink lost by one and Paul Bailey's by seven.

Northants were always on the back foot in the Newton, with Hunts racing out of the blocks, but they did rally in the second half to reduce the final deficit to 23 shots, having been forty plus shots adrift for a fair portion of the match.

The rink of Alan Keen-Robertson, Phil Afford and Tom Newman came from 20-5 down after 13 ends to win 36-25, including a maximum six on the last end, while on an adjoining rink, Dave Corney, Mick Greaves and Alec Emery turned a 13-3 deficit into a 32-24 victory.

The rinks of Zack Brown and John Holroyd lost by four and three shots respectively, Kevin Vinter's by 12, but Sam Downs, who moved to lead after just a few ends, suffered a 42-19 defeat.

RESULTS

ADAMS TROPHY

Northants lost 195-145 to Hunts (Northants rinks only):

Graham Agger, Adam Warrington, Martyn Dolby won 31-22; Nick Wilkie, Ally McNaughton, Martin Welsford lost 27-26; Jeff Clipston, Michael Humphries, John Earl lost 39-19; Roger Stevens, Mick Linnell, Peter Brown lost 40-25; Bob Warters, Tony Scarr, Roger Martin lost 37-21; Richard Allam, Dusty Miller, Paul Bailey lost 30-23.

NEWTON TROPHY

Northants lost 177-154 to Hunts (Northants rinks only):

Alan Keen-Robertson, Phil Afford, Tom Newman won 36-25; Dave Corney, Mick Greaves, Alec Emery won 32-24; Darren Middleton, Brian Swann, Sam Downs lost 42-19; Jim Ruddy, Barry Sharman, Kevin Vinter lost 31-19; Andrew Grief, Peter Jessop, Zack Brown lost 25-21; Malcolm Mann, Dick Ford, John Holroyd lost 30-27.