THE NBF Adams Trophy bounced back from the disappointment of the previous week’s last bowl one shot defeat against Hunts by crushing North Essex 210-129 at Blackstones and collect the maximum 22 points on offer.
North Essex had already won in Norfolk and only lost by three shots against Suffolk, but they had no answer to Northants’ power-packed display.
The rinks of Neil Wright, Mike Anderson and Adam Warrington all topped forty shots, and the clean sweep was achieved with wins for the rinks of team captain Adam Emery, Graham Agger and Kevin Vinter.
Northants will hope to build on that success next Saturday (June 13) when they entertain Norfolk at Blackstones, with the Newton Trophy team in action against the same county at Whittlesey Manor.
Luke Murray, Dudley Smith, Adam Emery won 32-28; Craig Campbell, Alec Emery, Neil Wright won 41-22; Ally McNaughton, Darren Middleton, Mike Anderson won 40-20; Kevin Brown, Steven Shaw, Graham Agger won 24-20; Duncan Lee, John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter won 29-24; Wayne Morris, Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington won 44-14.
THE NBF Adams Trophy team suffered the agony of a last bowl one shot defeat in their opening match of the season away to Hunts at St Ives.
The hosts claimed a shot with their last bowl on the final end of the 31 end match to win 164-163 and claim the bulk of the points (17-5).
There was a comprehensive win for the rink of Stephen Harris (41-20) and Graham Agger’s won 29-26, with Peter Brown’s drawing 25-25.
There were encouraging debuts for schoolboy Luke Murray and Whittlesey Manor’s Kevin Brown.
The Adams continue their programme at home to North Essex at Blackstones on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Newton Trophy team only picked up two points in their match against Hunts at Sawtry, courtesy of the Conservative rink of Dave Franks, Andy Dyer and Barry Lawrence.
Duncan Lee, John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter lost 21-28; Martyn Dolby, Tom Fielding, John Earl lost 24-29; Ally McNaughton, Dudley Smith, Stephen Harris won 41-20; Luke Murray, Tom Newman-Borrett, Peter Brown drew 15-15; Wayne Morris, Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington lost 23-36; Kevin Brown, Zack Brown, Graham Agger won 29-26.
AN NBF team played second fiddle again to Hunts Bowls in the annual memorial match remembering the significant contributions Malcolm Squires and Dick Noble made to the counties in both codes.
Hunts retained the shield with a comfortable 107-70 win at Parkway, winning on four of the five rinks, with the other one drawn, the rink of Neil Wright preventing a clean sweep for the hosts.
The match is a curtain-raiser to the new county championship season and enables the respective team managers to look at potential new recruits and rink permutations.
Sheron Noble and Norma Squires were on hand to present the shield to Hunts team manager Bob Morton.
RESULT
NBF 70, HUNTS 107 (NBF rinks only):
Andy Cox, Barry Lawrence, Zack Brown, Adam Emery lost 20-23; Kevin Brown, Steven Shaw, Graham Agger lost 13-24; Alec Emery, Dudley Smith, Neil Wright drew 15-15; Duncan Lee, John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter lost 7-21; Martyn Dolby, Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington lost 15-24.
BELOW; Sheron Noble (right) and Norma Squires with the shield that remembers their late husbands, flanked by Hunts team manager Bob Morton and Northants Bowling Federation chairman Martyn Dolby.
NEW Adams Trophy team captain Adam Emery has named his first team for the opening county championship match away to Hunts at St Ives on Saturday (1.00pm).
It includes two newcomers in Kevin Brown and schoolboy Luke Murray.
Team: Luke Murray, Tom Newman-Borrett, Adam Emery; Wayne Morris, Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington; John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter, Stephen Harris; Duncan Lee, Dudley Smith, Peter Brown; Kevin Brown, Zack Brown, Graham Agger; Martyn Dolby, Tom Fielding, John Earl.
The Newton Trophy team playing Hunts at Sawtry includes nine of the team that played in the last match of last season
Team: Jeff Clipston, Roger Strong, Mick Greaves; Roger Stevens, Steve Lander, Phil Symonds; Ian Chilvers, Brian Downs, Paul Buckley; Dave Franks, Andy Dyer, Barry Lawrence; Dave Roberts, Andy Cook, Steven Shaw; Peter Smith, Mick Thurling, Dave Corney.
Res: Andy Cox, Martin Prudhoe, Frank Hall, Paul Carey.
THE NWBF teams opened their county championship programmes with narrow defeats away to Norfolk.
The Donald Steward team went down by 11 shots at Acle, while the Silver Jubilee Vase team finished 14 shots adrift at Martham.
Both teams won on two rinks to claim four of the 18 points on offer.
The rinks of Liz Hext (23-22) and Elaine Upton (32-16) secured the points for the Donald Steward team in a 120-109 defeat, while the rinks of Chris Ford (24-10) and Lisa Sharratt (24-14) were successful for the Vase team in a 109-95 defeat.
Next up for the county is a Donald Steward match only away to North Essex on June 5.
Rhona Morrell, Penny Hart, Myra Landsburgh lost 20-25; Sally Albany, Joan Collishaw, Chris Ryan lost 21-26; Miriam Hulbert, Ali McCormick, Julie O’Neill lost 13-31; Val Du’Kett, Linda Toms, Liz Hext won 23-22; Terri Handley, Shirley Suffling, Elaine Upton won 32-16.
Sue Mitchell, Chris Frost, Sue Mansbridge lost 14-33; Sue Shaw, Jess Bolam, Maureen Stone lost 14-29; Polly Evans, Marlene Osborne, Netta Andrews lost 19-13; Elizabeth Wallace, Rita Downs, Chris Ford won 24-10; Julie Nolan, Kate Heath, Lisa Sharratt won 24-14.
THE NBF have won the annual John Dickenson Memorial match against Whittlesey Manor for just the second time since it was introduced in 2017 to remember the county and national Federation stalwart.
The match is hosted by the Manor club where John began his local bowling career back in the seventies before embarking on a long and distinguished involvement with the Federation movement during which time he served as county treasurer and president, national president and finally national chairman.
His widow Mary was on hand to present the shield to NBF Newton Trophy captain Brian Bassam following his team’s 111-102 victory.
In recent times this county season curtain raiser has provided the opportunity for the Newton team captain to run the rule over squad members and trialists before the opening fixture, which this season is on May 30 away to Hunts at Sawtry.
RESULT
NBF 111, Whittlesey Manor 102 (NBF rinks first):
Chris Royce, Graham Patrickson, Roger Strong 18, Ray Hunt, Terry English, Mick Linnell 24; Peter Smith, Andy Cox, Mick Thurling 14, Dick Fielding, Michael Owens, Roger Martin 25; Nigel Barnes, Frank Hall, David Corney 14, David Balmer, Luke Murray, Adam Emery 16; Roger Stevens, Gareth Dickenson, Phil Symonds 20, Jayne Noble, Derek Noble, Dudley Smith 12; Kevin Brown, Brian Bassam, Steven Shaw 16, Trevor Deal, Alec Emery, Graham Agger 16; Dave Franks, Andy Dyer, Barry Lawrence 29, Tony Cattermole, Paul Allen, Zack Brown 9.
BELOW: John Dickenson’s widow Mary presents the Memorial Shield to Newton team captain Brian Bassam.
THERE is still the opportunity to book your place for next year’s English Bowling Federation’s Potters Bowls Week which starts on Monday, February 22nd through to the Friday.
There is a significant saving on the normal brochure price by booking through Northants Bowling Federation who receive a commission on each book which is shared between the NBF and NWBF.
It is a mixed fours tournament featuring bowlers from all the other 12 counties affiliated to the EBF and four matches are guaranteed.
The all-inclusive price includes three meals a day and a top class show each evening.
There are other sporting and craft activities available during the day, plus numerous quizzes and nightly bingo sessions with big money prizes.
If you are interested, get in touch as soon as possible with county organiser Graham Agger on 07787 124258.
STEPHEN Harris claimed two individual titles at the English Bowling Federation national indoor championships at Lincoln and was also part of the Northants team that lifted the Derbyshire Trophy inter-county team title for the second time in three years.
Earlier in the week, he skipped Michael Humphreys and Tom Newman-Borrett to the triples title which Northants also won last year. After a last end 19-18 victory over Cleveland in the opening round, they totally dominated the other matches against Durham (19-4) and Norfolk (26-7).
In the singles, he became the first Northants player to lift the ‘blue riband’ title for 19 years with victories over Humberside (21-9), Notts (21-14), Suffolk (21-16 and Lincolnshire’s Paul Bark 21-17 in a gripping final.
Within minutes of winning the singles, he was back on the rink with his triples title winning partners to help Northants emphatically defeat Northumberland 86-40 in the Derbyshire Trophy final, the northern champions throwing in the towel with 18 ends of the match still remaining.
The wins came from the rinks of Peter Brown (25-4), team captain Simon Law (22-11), Harris (21-12) and Graham Agger (18-13).
Hopes Ollie Jeapes and Martyn Dolby of winning their respective junior and senior singles titles for a third year in a row were both dashed in their second round matches.
The husband and wife pairing of Kevin and Lin Tuck suffered the agony of a one shot defeat in their semi-final clash with Lincs in the mixed pairs, while in the ladies events, Elizabeth Wallace and Chris Ford reached the last four of the pairs before succumbing to the eventual winners from North Cambs, which included former Northants player Pat Reynolds.
Northants were unable to make it four wins in a row in the men’s Eversley Trophy competition for county executives, finishing five points adrift of winners North Cambs, who were runners-up to Northants last year.
Northants were represented by Graham Agger, Simon Law, John Holroyd, Ally McNaughton, Andy Cox and Bob Warters.
In the women’s Harry Carver event for county executives, Northants finished sixth, the team being county president Sheila Craig, Elizabeth Hext, Val Du’Kett, Terri Handley, Rita Downs and Shirley Suffling.
RESULTS
MEN
Singles: Stephen Harris won the title beating Humberside 21-9, Notts 21-14, Suffolk 21-16 and Lincs 21-17; U25 singles: Ollie Jeapes lost 13-21 to Notts in the second round after beating North Essex 21-10; Senior singles: Martyn Dolby lost 12-21 to Durham in the second round after beating North Essex 21-12; Pairs: Tom Newman-Borrett and Ian Smith lost 2-19 to Hunts in the opening round; Triples: Michael Humphreys, Tom Newman-Borrett and Stephen Harris won the title beating Cleveland 19-18, Durham 19-4 and Norfolk 26-7; Mixed pairs: Kevin & Lin Tuck lost 17-18 in the semi-finals to Lincs after beating Northumberland 22-6 and North Cambs 18-7; Mixed rinks: Tom Newman-Borrett, Michelle & Ian Smith lost 2-24 to Lincs in their opening round.
WOMEN
Singles: Hazel Brewin lost 5-21 to Lincs in the first round; Senior singles: Elizabeth Wallace lost 18-21 to Notts in her opening round match; Pairs: Elizabeth Wallace and Chris Ford lost 11-16 in the semi-finals to North Cambs after beating Suffolk 18-10 and Northumberland 20-8; Triples: Lin Tuck, Shirley Suffling and Elaine Upton lost 16-17 on an extra end to Durham in the second round after beating Humberside 22-12.
Michael Humphreys, Tom Newman-Borrett, Stephen Harris won 21-12; Chris Ballard, Brian Martin, Peter Brown won 25-4; Martyn Dolby, Mick Linnell, Graham Agger won 18-13; Stuart Agger, Paul Dalliday, Simon Law won 22-11.
BELOW: Stephen Harris became the first Northants player to win the EBF indoor singles title in 19 years.
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BELOW: Northants – winners of the EBF’s Derbyshire Trophy county team title.
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BELOW: Michael Humphreys, Tom Newman-Borrett and Stephen Harris retained the triples for Northants.
THE NBF county season will start with the annual curtain-raising memorial matches remembering Federation stalwarts John Dickenson, Malcolm Squires and Dick Noble.
Whittlesey Manor host the NBF’s Newton Trophy squad on Saturday, May 9th which remembers John Dickenson, while on Sunday, May 24th, the NBF’s Adams Trophy squad take on a Hunts Bowls team at Parkway for the Malcolm Squires and Dick Noble Memorial Shield, both matches starting at 2.00pm.
These will be the prelude to the opening county fixtures away to Hunts on Saturday, May 30th.
NORTHANTS have had to make two changes to the team for the English Bowling Federation’s Derbyshire Trophy final against Northumberland at Lincoln this Saturday (April 25th) starting at 1.00pm.
Stephen Harris and Tom Newman-Borrett replace the unavailable pair Wayne Morris and Adam Warrington.
Northants: Chris Ballard, Brian Martin, Peter Brown; Michael Humphreys, Tom Newman-Borrett, Stephen Harris; Martyn Dolby, Mick Linnell, Graham Agger; Stuart Agger, Paul Dalliday, Simon Law.
