JUST one English Bowling Federation title came the way of Northants bowlers at Skegness courtesy of Graham Agger (Whittlesey Manor) in the veterans singles.
Playing in the event for the first time, he claimed a fifth success for the county in this competition after coming from 16-10 down to defeat Cleveland’s Steve Slaughter 21-18 in the final.
He also reached the semi-finals of the two-bowl rinks with Roger Stevens and Peter Brown, where they lost 27-18 to the eventual winners from North Essex.
The county’s other finalists were Blackstones pair Katie Bailey and John Earl in the mixed pairs, but having shown good form throughout the week, they had an off day in final and crashed 22-8 to Lincolnshire.
Once again the greens at Skegness proved much more of a challenge than usual, as they were vastly under-prepared resulting in bowls becoming something of a lottery on most rinks.
Damaged caused by unauthorised football matches on one of the greens meant two of the rinks having to be taken out of commission, and as a result the other two greens had to be turned into seven rinks.
With the local council desperate not to lose the championships which bring several million of pounds into the town’s economy, it is hoped that improvements in both the maintenance of the greens and security will be the result of upcoming discussions between the relevant parties.
Once again clashes with the Bowls England finals at Leamington resulted in matches being conceded before the start of the championships, although the three-bowl rinks from Hunts, after defeating a two-man Northants rink (Ean Morton had a family crisis) in the second round, then handed their opponents a ‘walkover’ in the semi-finals, which resulted in county president Martyn Dolby and skip Tristan Morton lodging a complaint only to be informed the national body were powerless to act as there was nothing in the rules to prevent it happening and that they hoped good sportsmanship would prevail in such circumstances.
The only other Northants player to reach the semi-finals was 14-year-old Ollie Jeapes in the under 25 singles, where he was beaten 21-18 by Hunts’ Sam Brugnoli, his partner in the Bowls England junior pairs who went on to claim the title.
It was a disappointing week for the Northants ladies as only Ann Northen (Langtoft) managed to win a match (Champion of Champions singles) with qualifiers in the other eight competitions all falling at their first hurdle.
It was particularly frustrating for the rinks teams who were both beaten on the last end, Market Deeping’s —-, Emma Providence and Linda Kemp dropping a single having gone into the last end all square and Stamford’s Elizabeth Wallace, Mora Holroyd and Chris Ford conceding four shots when leading by two.
RESULTS
MEN
Two-bowl singles: Michael Jeapes (Parkway) lost 21-16 to Cleveland in the first round; Four-bowl singles: Paul Dalliday (Parkway) lost 21-19 to Northumberland in first round; Under 25 singles: Ollie Jeapes (Parkway) lost 21-18 to Hunts in the semi-finals having beaten North Cambs 21-13 and Notts21-11; Veterans singles: Graham Agger (Whittlesey Manor) won the final 21-18 against Cleveland having beaten Hunts 21-12 and Norfolk 21-15; Secretaries singles: Melvyn Beck lost 21-9 to Lincs in the first round; Champion of Champions: Robert Heath (Yaxley) lost 21-7 to North Essex in the first round; Sam Downs & Paul Buckley (Blackstones) lost 19-10 to Hunts in the second round having had a bye; Mixed pairs: Katie Bailey & John Earl (Blackstones) lost 22-8 in the final to Lincs having beaten Humberside 22-14; Northumberland 20-17 and North Essex 20-15; Senior pairs: John Suffling & Bob Warters (Ketton) lost 26-3 to Suffolk in the second round having beaten Humberside 20-13; Mixed senior pairs: Les Sharp & Gill King (Yaxley) lost 20-13 to Hunts in the first round; Open under 25 pairs: Ollie Jeapes (Parkway) & Owen Aspinall (Blackstones) lost 17-15 to Humberside in the second round after beating Hunts 19-9; 2b rinks: Roger Stevens, Graham Agger, Peter Brown (Whittlesey Manor) lost 27-18 to North Essex in the semi-finals having beaten Notts 17-11 and Humberside 19-13; 3b rinks: Adam Emery, Ean & Tristan Morton (Parkway) lost 17-11 to Hunts in the second round after beating Norfolk 13-9; Mixed rinks: Sophie Morton, Simon Law, Tristan Morton (Parkway) lost 22-16 to Norfolk in the first round.
WOMEN
Two-bowl singles: Karen Porter (Crowland) lost 21-11 to North Essex in the first round; Four-bowl singles: Emma Providence (Market Deeping) lost 21-9 to Durham in the first round: Senior singles: Sue Moir (Langtoft) lost 21-18 to Notts in the first round; Secretaries singles: Angela Cox (Langtoft) lost 21-9 to Derbyshire in the first round; Champion of Champions singles: Ann Northen (Langtoft) lost 21-11 to Durham after beating Hunts 21-10; Pairs: Lynn Hulme & Shirley Suffling (Ketton) lost 19-8 to Norfolk in the first round; Senior pairs: Anne White & Sue Moir (Langtoft) lost 22-13 to Norfolk in the first round; 2b rinks: Julie Nolan, Linda Kemp, Emma Providence (Market Deeping) lost 18-17 to Cleveland in the first round; 3b rinks: Elizabeth Wallace, Moira Holroyd, Chris Ford (Stamford) lost 20-18 to Lincs in the first round.
