THE NWBF county teams suffered a second consecutive double defeat this time at the hands of visiting Norfolk.
The Donald Steward team, playing at Blackstones, were unable to register a point in a 161-88 defeat, but the Silver Jubilee team did secure two rink wins for the second game running in a 124-87 defeat at City of Peterborough.
The rink wins for the Silver Jubilee team came from the rinks of Karen Mercer and Sue Mansbridge.
The Donald Steward team are next in action at home to North Essex on June 18, while the Silver Jubilee Vase team’s final match is away to Hunts on July 3.
Fiona Richardson, Jan McDougall, Rita Downs lost 14-34; Sheila Craig, LIz Hext, Veina Slater lost 19-32; Terri Handley, Shirley Suffling, Ali McCormick lost 19-25; Val Du’Kett, Jan Collishaw, Chris Ryan lost 18-29; Sally Albany, Karen Porter, Carol Grief lost 18-41.
Jenny Moseley, Julie Nolan, Gill King lost 20-23; Susan Mitchell, Maureen Stone, Sue Mansbridge won 18-13; Julie O’Neill, Caz Bruc, Hazel Bass lost 13-30; Joyce Needham, Linda Toms, Penny Hart lost 16-39; Miriam Hulbert, Chris Frost, Karen Mercer won 20-19.
BELOW: The Northants and Norfolk Silver Jubilee teams line-up with national president Beryl Beresford and county president Jess Bolam.
THE NBF teams opened their county championship campaigns with convincing home victories against local rivals Hunts.
The Adams team stormed to a 180-121 success at Blackstones to collect twenty of the 22 points on offer, while the Newton team, playing at Whittlesey Manor, claimed 18 points from a 163-148 victory.
It therefore meant a winning start for the new team captains – Dave Corney (Adams) and Brian Bassam (Newton).
In the Adams, the rink of Stephen Harris topped the scoring chart, winning by twenty shots (35-15), while the rinks of John Earl, Graham Agger and Adam Emery also topped the thirty shot mark, with Adam Warrington’s rink on 29.
The rink wins for the Newton team came from those skipped by Phil Symonds, Andrew Grief, Mick Greaves and Paul Buckley.
The Adams team are back in action on Saturday (June 7) with a visit to North Essex, while it is a trip to Norfolk next for the Newton, along with the Adams, the following Saturday.
Martyn Dolby, Darren Middleton, John Earl won 34-17; Wayne Morris, Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington won 29-20; Trevor Smith, Zack Brown, Stephen Harris won 35-15; Ally McNaughton, John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter lost 18-31; Duncan Lee, Tom Newman-Borrett, Graham Agger won 33-22; Craig Campbell, Dudley Smith, Adam Emery won 31-22.
Dave Roberts, Andy Cook, Steven Shaw lost 21-30; Mick Porter, Andy Cox, Andrew Grief won 25-24; Les Sharp, Andy Dyer, Andrew Cooper lost 16-38; Paul Carey, Roger Strong, Mick Greaves won 33-17; Ian Chilvers, Sam Downs, Paul Buckley won 35-18; Martin Prudhoe, Melvyn Beck, Phil Symonds won 33-21.
THE NBF teams open their county championship programmes at home to Hunts on Saturday (May 31st) with new team captains at the helm.
Dave Corney has stepped up from running the Newton squad to take over the management of the Adams team, with Brian Bassam replacing him.
The Adams match against Hunts at Blackstones begins a run of six consecutive Saturday fixtures having had a bye on the opening weekend. The Newton team, who are in action at Whittlesey Manor, only have four matches with North Cambs and North Essex only having one team.
Adams team: Wayne Morris, Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington; Martyn Dolby, Darren Middleton, John Earl; Duncan Lee, Trevor Collins, Graham Agger; Ally McNaughton, John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter; Trevor Smith, Zack Brown, Stephen Harris; Tom Newman-Borrett, Dudley Smith, Adam Emery.
Newton team: Ian Chilvers, Sam Downs, Paul Buckley; Les Sharp, Andy Dyer, Andrew Cooper; Mick Porter, Andy Cox, Andrew Grief; Paul Carey, Roger Strong, Mick Greaves; Martin Prudhoe, Melvyn Beck, Phil Symonds; Dave Roberts, Andy Cook, Steven Shaw.
HUNTS retained the Dick Noble and Malcolm Squires Memorial Shield after defeating Northants 124-94 at Whittlesey Manor in an annual fixture that on this occasion was classed as a trial match for the Adams Trophy squad.
As it turned out, several members of the squad were unavailable and so half of the 18-strong team were made up of Newton Trophy and club players.
Northants won on two of the six rinks of two-bowl triples – Ally McNaughton, John Holroyd and Kevin Vinter won 22-14 and Dave Roberts, Steven Shaw and Adam Emery claimed the other victory -16-13.
Norma Squires and Sheron Noble, the widows of the late and lamented stalwarts of both the Federation and Association codes, were on hand to present the shield to Hunts team manager Bob Morton
RESULT
NORTHANTS 98, HUNTS 124 (Northants rinks first):
Dave Roberts, Steven Shaw, Adam Emery 16, Glyn & Dale Milbourne, Joe Randall 13; Ally McNaughton, John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter 22, Michael Humphreys, Alice Jones, Trevor Collins 14; Mick Porter, Brian Davis, Frank Hall 14, Joe Stevens, James Harford, Simon Law 19; Malcolm Mitchell, Dean Wilkinson, Dudley Smith 14, Brian Martin, Tom Newman-Borrett, John Earl 30; Duncan Lee, Herb Albany, Phil Symonds 14, Matt Nickerson, Tom Fielding, Peter Brown 23; Roger Stevens, David Pusch, Zack Brown 18, Neil Wright, Sam Brugnoli, Mark Franklyn 25
BELOW: Hunts team manager Bob Morton pictured with the Dick Noble and Malcolm Squires Memorial Shield he received from their widows, Norma Squires and Sheron Noble. Looking on are Northants chairman Martyn Dolby and Adams team captain Dave Corney.
THE NWBF county teams opened their new campaign with defeats away to Suffolk, but at least they didn’t come empty handed from their long trip.
The Donald Steward team collected one rink win in their 91-137 defeat courtesy of Liz Hext, Veina Slater and Sheila Craig, while two other rinks only lost by two shots.
The Silver Jubilee Vase team claimed two rink wins against the defending champions in an 89-141 defeat via the rinks of Gill King and Penny Hart.
Fiona Richardson, Jan McDougall, Rita Downs lost 16-33; Val Du’Kett, Jan Collishaw, Chris Ryan lost 20-22; Sally Albany, Karen Porter, Carol Grief lost 17-19; Liz Hext, Veina Slater, Sheila Craig won 22-21; Terri Handley, Shirley Suffling, Ali McCormick lost 16-42.
Ann Northen, Hazel Bass, Julie O’Neill lost 14-41; Miriam Hulbert, Christine Frost, Lynne Agger lost 13-29; Joyce Needham, Linda Toms, Penny Hart won 20-19; Rhona Morrell, Julie Nolan, Gill King won 29-19; Sue Mitchell, Maureen Stone, Sue Mansbridge lost 13-33.
Both teams are in action at home to Norfolk on June 4, the Steward team at Blackstones with the Vase team playing at City of Peterborough.
BOOKINGS are now being taken for the English Bowling Federation’s Bowls Week at the Potters Resort from February 23-27 next year.
It is a five-star holiday resort on the Norfolk coast near Great Yarmouth with all inclusive food and drink, top class entertainment from the Potters Theatre Company, sports and leisure facilities and a mixed fours bowls tournament, which is optional.
There is a guarantee of four games in the bowls tournament in which each rink must contain at least one man or one woman.
If you are interested, then contact Graham Agger on 07787 124258 or graham.agger@live.co.uk.
WHITTLESEY Manor retained the John Dickenson Memorial Shield in the annual fixture against a Northants Bowling Federation representative side.
The match remembers the major contribution John Dickenson made to the English Bowling Federation at both county and national level. He was a former treasurer and president of the county and went on to become national president and then chairman.
His widow Mary was on hand to present the Shield to Manor captain Tom Fielding following a 110-94 victory.
On this occasion the NBF used the match as a trial for the Newton Trophy squad which enabled team captain Brian Bassam to run the rule over both existing players and some potential newcomers ahead of the opening fixture at home to Hunts on May 31.
A similar situation will apply on May 24 when the NBF face Hunts at Whittlesey Manor in a match played in memory of Federation stalwarts Dick Noble and Malcolm Squires.
On this occasion the NBF team will be represented by the Adams Trophy squad and will provide new captain Dave Corney with his first opportunity to link up with the players.
BELOW: Mary Dickenson presents the John Dickenson Memorial Shield to Whittlesey Manor captain Tom Fielding watched by Newton Trophy captain Brian Bassam.
NORTHANTS returned from the English Bowling Federation national indoor finals at Lincoln with a record haul of three individual titles.
Young Ollie Jeapes and senior statesman Martyn Dolby retained their respective singles titles, something that had never before been achieved by the county indoors, and Paul Dalliday, Simon Law and Tristan Morton claimed the rinks title, Law and Morton having won it back in 2015 with Neil Wright.
The county were agonisingly close to claiming a fourth title with the mixed rink of Dalliday, Louise Harris and Law losing in the final.
On top of that, the county reached two other semi-finals via Stephen Harris in the singles and Liz Hext and Tom Newman-Borrett in the mixed pairs.
Rising star Jeapes has now won the indoor junior singles title three times in the past four years and he is also the current holder of the EBF under 25 singles outdoors.
He was again imperious as he swept to the title with fairly comfortable wins against Lincs (21-17), Norfolk (21-8), Northumberland (21-11) and Derbys 21-16 in the final.
NBF chairman Dolby had two nail-biting 21-20 wins en route to a 21-13 victory in the final against host club manager Danny Brown.
After hard fought wins against Cleveland (18-16) and Suffolk (23-16), Northants romped to a 26-8 victory in the rinks final against Notts.
With Northants having retained the Eversley Trophy for executives two weeks earlier, it means the county matched last year’s trophy haul of four, which included two team competitions.
The ladies were desperately closing to winning their version of the Eversley Trophy, as they finished joint second in the Harry Carver event just half a point behind tournament winners Lincs.
The Northants rinks were Terri Handley, Shirley Suffling, Sheila Craig; Viv Hempsell, Yvonne Monaghan, Liz Hext.
Spare a thought for Yvonne Monaghan who qualified in three events, but had to play all her opening matches on the same day and fatigue was certainly a factor as she lost all three following a marathon stint on the green.
The only win for the ladies came from the rink of Elizabeth Wallace, Sue Moir and Chris Ford who defeated North Essex 25-9 before losing 22-11 in the second round against Hunts.
RESULTS
LADIES: Singles – Yvonne Monaghan lost 21-16 to Hunts; Senior singles – Yvonne Monaghan lost 21-19 to Hunts; Pairs – Vicky Simpson and Yvonne Monaghan lost 21-11 to Notts; Rinks – Elizabeth Wallace, Sue Moir, Chris Ford lost 22-11 to Hunts after defeating North Essex 25-9.
MEN: Singles – Stephen Harris lost 21-17 to Humberside in the semi-finals after beating Suffolk 21-12; Senior singles – Martyn Dolby defeated Lincs 21-13 in the final after beating Notts 21-10 and North Cambs 21-20; Under 25 singles – Ollie Jeapes beat Derbys 21-16 in the final after wins against Lincs 21-17, Norfolk 21-8 and Northumberland 21-11; Pairs: Brian Martin and Chris Ballard lost 23-18 to North Cambs; Rinks – Paul Dalliday, Simon Law, Tristan Morton beat Notts 26-8 in the final after wins against Cleveland 18-16 and Suffolk 23-16; Mixed pairs – Liz Hext and Tom Newman-Borrett lost 21-13 to Derbys in the semi-finals after beating Northumberland 18-13 and Hunts 16-14; Mixed rinks – Paul Dalliday, Louise Harris, Simon Law lost 20-12 in the final against Durham after wins against Derbys 24-5, Suffolk 23-10 and Norfolk 24-6.
Below: Ollie Jeapes and Martyn Dolby retained their respective EBF indoor singles titles.
Below: Tristan Morton, Paul Dalliday and Simon Law, winners of the EBF indoor rinks title.
Below: Paul Dalliday, Louise Harris and Paul Dalliday lost in the mixed rinks final.
Below: The Harry Carver team that finished joint second – (left to right) Liz Hext, Shirley Suffling, Terri Handley, Jess Bolam (president), Yvonne Monaghan, Sheila Craig, Viv Hempsell.
A SHORTAGE of umpires has prompted the English Bowls Umpires Federation to issue an appeal for new ones to come on board to enable them to fulfil all inter-county and national finals engagements.
At present Northants only have one umpire in Les Sharp and the EUBF would like other players within the county to follow his example.
If anyone is interested then they should contact EBUF secretary Barry Swan on 01692 536270 or initially seek some advice from Les Sharp.
Secondly, it is the EBUF’s intention to try and run a markers’ course which will involve a written test paper followed by practical marking and measuring exercises. This, it is hoped, will involve the use of local umpires as organisers of the practical test so that it can be cost effective.
