Northants Women’s Bowling Federation had planned to host a quiz night on Saturday at Peterborough and District Indoor Bowls Club (August 3).

However, due to lack of support, it has been cancelled.

Winners and runners-up in Northants Federation’s men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor competitions, are reminded that tickets are now available for the county’s presentation lunch to be held at Orton Hall Hotel, Peterborough on Sunday, September 22 (12 noon for 12.30).

It is hoped that players who competed in the Adams and Duffy finals, the men’s and women’s outdoor county teams, together with the Northants side that won the coveted EBF inter-county Derbyshire Trophy at Newark in April, will also attend.

Priced at £20, each ticket includes a three-course meal (see choices below) and is available to members and guests.

Hosted by Northants presidents Dick Noble and Christine Ford, the dinner will be attended by national presidents Mick Rayson (Hunts) and Carole Swann (Norfolk) who will present the awards.

Raffle prizes will be welcome.

Lunch ticket forms are available from all club secretaries. Please submit with names of those attending, to: either Melvyn Beck, 11 Davie Lane, Whittlesey PE7 1YZ or Terri Handley, 6 Caesar Close, Baston, Peterborough PE6 9PN. Make cheques payable of Northants Bowling Federation.

MENU CHOICES
Starters: Duck & orange pate, vegetable soup, melon & ginger compote or chorizo & mozzarella tart.
Main: Chicken with chorizo and butter bean sauce, sirloin of beef, baked cod or tomato,spinach and butternut squash risotto.
Dessert: Chocolate & caramel tart, sticky toffee pudding, fruit salad or cheese & biscuits.

Presidents Dick Noble and Christine Ford with the Under 25 Open pairs finalists.

BLACKSTONES bowler Stephen Harris proved the most successful player at the Northants Federation championships, winning four of the five titles he contested on his immaculately-prepared home green.

Only at the end of a blistering day of bowling by both men and women did he slip up. Partnering clubmate Jon Earl in the men’s pairs he was beaten by Parkway’s Brian Martin and James Harford 21-11.

Earlier Harris had won the Under 25 singles for the eighth successive year – though run close by Whittlesey Manor youngster Zac Brown in a 21-20 tussle and the Under 25 Open pairs with Jack Corney (Whittlesey Manor) for the second year in a row, against Helen Horoyd and Sophie Morton, representing Stamford Town and Parkway.

The 22-year-old England Under 25 indoor international also joined his sister Louise to capture the mixed pairs and beat Lee Welsford (Whittlesey Manor) in the four-bowl singles, though he had to dig deep after Welsford fought back from a nine shot deficit before conceding 21-19.

Some incredible shots made for an incredibly competitive day, no less than the trailed jack which Stamford Town’s Linda Starbuck produced to snatch the women’s three-bowl triples from Julie Masters’ Parkway rink.

With Helen Holroyd and Ann Holmes, she was staring defeat in the face at 11-15 until she trailed the jack for five shots with the last bowl of the game.

It was a similar story for Gill King of Yaxley partnering Les Sharp in the senior mixed pairs. Shirley Suffling (Ketton) and Paul Buckley (Blackstones) had earlier forced an extra end and held shot until King, with her last bowl, trailed the jack for a winning single and a 16-15 victory.

Elsewhere Vanguard’s Malcolm Mann captured two titles – defeating Cliff Watson in the champion of champion singles and joining clubmate Mike Ramsden to beat home based Buckley and Trevor Christie.

As well as Louise Harris (in mixed pairs and Under 25 singles), there were also two titles for Langtoft bowler Sue Moir – the women’s two-bowl and senior singles- and for Parkway duo Simon Law and Tristan Morton. They retained the two-bowl triples for which they are the reigning national champions with Paul Dalliday and the mixed triples with Tristan’s wife Sophie.

The Ketton Bowls Club will have duel representation at the national finals at Skegness, which start on August 20. Christine Ford – the county president – beat
Tina Tinklin (Conservative) to take the four-bowl singles while Elizabeth Wallace and Carol Warters captured the senior pairs with a 16-15 defeat of Parkway’s Sue Overton and Val Newson.

RESULTS

Women’s Under 25 singles – Louise Harris (Blackstones) beat Sophie Morton (Parkway) 21-18; men’s champion of champions – Malcolm Mann (Vanguard) beat Cliff Watson (P& D) 21-4; men’s secretaries singles – Andy Grief (Crowland) lost to Mal Squires (CoP)20-21; women’s 2-bowl singles – Sue Moir (Langtoft) beat Julie Masters (Parkway) 21-13; men’s 4-bowl singles – Stephen Harris (Blackstones) beat Lee Welsford ( Whittlesey Manor) 21-19; women’s champion of champion singles – Joan Robinson (Yaxley) beat Angela Cox (Langtoft) 21-10.

Women’s senior singles – Val Newson (Parkway) lost to Moir 15-20; senior mixed pairs – S Suffling (Ketton) & P Buckley (Blackstones) lost Gill King & Les Sharp (Yaxley) 16-17; under 25 Open pairs – Helen Holroyd (Stamford Town) & S Morton lost to Jack Corney (Whittlesey Manor) & S Harris 13-18; men’s veteran singles – Roger Stevens (Whittlesey Manor) lost Mick Duell (WM) 20-21; men’s 2-bowl singles – John Holroyd ( Stamford Town) lost Paul Dalliday (Parkway)11-21; women’s secretaries singles – Angie Jinks (West Ward) w.o. Linda Darani (CoP).

Men’s under 25 singles – S Harris beat Zac Brown (Whittlesey Manor) 21-20; women’s 2-bowl pairs – L Harris & Katie Bailey (Blackstones) beat Fiona Richardson & Norma Squires (CoP) 19-17; men’s senior pairs – M Mann & Mike Ramsden (Vanguard) beat Trevor Christie & Buckley (Blackstones)16-15; men’s 2-bowl triples – Dalliday, Simon Law & Tristan Morton (Parkway) beat Richard Allam, Kevin Vinter & Holroyd ( Stamford Town) 21-9; women’s 4-bowl singles – Christine Ford (Ketton) beat Tina Tinklin (Conservative) 21-12;women’s 3-bowl rinks – Holroyd, Linda Starbuck & Ann Holmes (Stamford Town) beat S Morton, Marissa McKernan & J Masters (Parkway) 16-15.

Women’s 2-bowl rinks – Joyce Needham, Kath Browning & V Hempsell (Yaxley) beat Rita Downs, Sharon Bailey & K Bailey (Blackstones) 18-15; women’s senior pairs – V Newson & Sue Overton (Parkway) lost Elizabeth Wallace & Carol Warters (Ketton) 15-16; men’s 3-bowl triples – R Stevens, Graham Agger & Martin Welsford (WM) beat Martyn Dolby, Jonathan Earl & Adam Warrington ( Blackstones) 15-8; mixed pairs – L & S Harris (Blackstones) beat Sarah & Jeff Newson (Parkway) 19-7; mixed triples – S Suffling (Ketton), Martin Stokes & P Buckley (Blackstones ) lost S Morton, S Law & S Morton ( Parkway) 11-22; men’s pairs – Brian Martin & James Harford (Parkway) bt S Harris & J Earl (Blackstones) 21-11.

Only victory on all rinks against North Essex at Ketton next Wednesday (July 17) and
an overall winning margin of at least 32 shots will see Northants through to the final of the Donald Steward Trophy at Skegness in August for the first time in 25 years.

That’s the target they must set themselves after defeating Hunts at St Ives 108-83 and picking up 12 crucial points thanks to just two rinks claiming enough shots to carry the match in Northants’ favour.

With Suffolk dropping five points at struggling North Essex in an overall victory, it leaves Northants with a lifeline to make the final for the first time in a quarter of a century.

And it was the Yaxley and Ketton rinks who secured the triumph for Northants, each winning comprehensively against a stubborn home side who battled to pick up points from the remaining three rinks.

The experienced Doris Flowers was drafted in to bolster Yaxley clubmates Kath Browning and Gill King and it proved a key move with the trio extending a 15-end 24-8 advantage to 38-10 by the completion of 25 ends to take the rink honours.

Meanwhile, the Ketton trio of Carol Warters, Shirley Suffling and Christine Ford built up a 10 shots advantage by the midway mark and kept up the pressure to extend it to 25-12 by the close.

Elsewhere credit must be given to the other Northants rinks who fought to keep their deficits manageable for the team and conceded only 16 shots overall in three defeats.

The Northants Silver Vase team lost to Hunts at Somersham 127-91, conceding 16 of the 18 points available.

Only the rink of Joyce Needham, Linda Toms and Wendy Humphreys emerged with a victory, by 24-20.

Results (Northants names only):

Donald Steward Trophy (at St Ives BC): Hunts 83 (6pts) Northants 108 (12). K Browning, D Flowers, G King (all Yaxley) won 38-10; T Tinklin , L Hext (both Conservative), S Moir (Langtoft) lost 17-81; F Richardson (City of Peterborough), E Wallace (Ketton), J Robinson (Yaxley) lost 13-20; T Handley (Deeping AS), N Squires (City of Peterborough), J Masters (Parkway) lost 15-23; C Warters, S Suffling, C Ford (all Ketton) won 25-12.

Silver Jubilee Vase (at Somersham) Hunts 127 (16 pts) Northants 91 (2). M Holden (Ketton), J Padley, M Osbourne (both Yaxley) lost 16-35; C Grief (Crowland), C McCarthy, H Bass (both Yaxley) lost 17-20; J Needham (Yaxley), L Toms (Conservative), W Humphreys (City of Peterborough) won 24-20; V Slater, A Cox ( Langtoft), V Hempsell (Yaxley) lost 20-24; V Du’Kett (Ketton), M Andrews (Barnack), A Northen (Langtoft) lost 14-28.
FOOTNOTE: For the final home match at home to North Essex at Ketton on Wednesday, Donald Steward Trophy captain has made a couple of changes, replacing herself with Myra Landsburgh (City of Peterborough) and switching Norma Squires to lead on Julie Masters’ rink.

Northants’ women bowlers suffered a setback to their hopes of reaching the Donald Steward Trophy finals at Skegness for the first time in 25 years.

They were beaten 131-91 by Suffolk, claiming only two of the 18 points on offer.

It leaves Northants needing to grab maximum points from their last two matches – away to Hunts and home to North Essex – and for Suffolk to slip up at bottom of the table North Essex next week, an unlikely scenario.

Norfolk currently lead the table with 62 points, having completed their five fixtures. Suffolk have 52 with Northants on 35 after completing three fixtures.

Only the rink of Tina Tinklin, Liz Hext (both Conservative Club) and Sue Moir (Langtoft) emerged with points from the match at Borough of Eye in a 26-15 win.

The Ketton trio of Carol Warters, Shirley Suffling and Christine Ford had a chance for two more but their opposition stole it 21-20.

It was a similar tale for the Silver Jubilee Vase at St Botolph’s BC who also conceded 16 points in a 23-shot defeat, where on Carol Grief (Crowland), Cheryl McCarthy and Hazel Bass (both Yaxley) were the only successes 30-20.

Results (Northants names only):

Donald Steawrd Trophy (at Borough of Eye) Suffolk 131 (16 pts) Northants 91 (2). C. Warters, S. Suffling, C. Ford lost 20 – 21; F. Richardson, N. Squires, M Landsburgh lost 19 – 26; K. Browning, M. Osbourne, G. King lost 11 – 38; T Tinklin, E. Hext, S. Moir won won 26 – 15; T. Handley, E. Wallace, J. Masters lost 15 – 31.

Silver Jubilee Vase (at St. Botolphs B.C.) : Suffolk 125 (16) Northants 102 (2). M. Holden, J. Padley, J. Cooper lost 26 – 27; J. Needham, L. Toms, W. Humphreys lost 24-27; V. Slater, A. Cox, V. Hempsell lost 17 – 21; C. Grief, C. McCarthy, H. Bass won 30 – 20; W. Stevens, W. Harrold, G. Day 12 – 33

After a gruelling campaign so far – and three successive defeats – Northants’ Adams Trophy team at last chalked up a win, taking all but two of the 22 points at stake at North Essex.

They are out of running to win the southern section of the title they claimed in 2015 for the first time their history but Jonathan Earl’s team will be buoyed by the victory as they take on Norfolk at Holt on Saturday in the final game of the season.

In an idyllic setting, the beautifully prepared Radwinter green, proved the perfect surface for fast, touch bowling which suited the Northants players many of whom take to the indoor carpets during the winter months.

Indeed, Northants were rarely stretched, establishing an early 32-19 lead before extending it to 98-54 at halfway in the 31-end encounter. They led 125-72 after 20 ends before finally establishing a 187-124 victory margin.

For the third successive week Brian Martin and Stephen Harris took the rink honours, this time joined by Tom Fielding in a 41-15 rout.

Les Sharp, promoted from the Newton side, which didn’t have a game this week, finally achieved his Adams flash for completing six matches, though it has taken one of the county’s most loyal servants, nearly a decade! He helped Paul Bailey and Adam Warrington to a 28-16 win.

Mick Linnell, also guesting from the Newton, joined Mick Humphreys and Earl in a comfortable win while there were other victories for rinks skipped by Paul Buckley and Martin Welsford.

For Wittering’s Ally McNaughton the afternoon was bittersweet. He was awarded his county badge after completing his first three appearances for the Adams team but with Trevor Smith and John Holroyd was unfortunate to lose on the last end, conceding three shots to a displaced jack when leading 22-20.

Results (Northants names only):

Adams Trophy ( at Radwinter): North Essex 124 (2 pts), Northants 187 (20). M Humphreys, M Linnell, J Earl won 34-23; L Sharp, PBailey,A Warrington won 28-16; S Roden, G Agger,M Welsford won 29-25; T Smith, A McNaughton, J Holroyd lost 22-23; B Martin, S Harris, T Fielding won 41-15; R Stevens, B Warters, P Buckley won 33-22.