THE second staging of the Cliff Watson Memorial indoor match saw an NBF representative team retain the Shield at the expense of host club Peterborough & District, the final result in a six rink three-bowl triples match was 120-103.

Cliff was a loyal and long-serving member of the NBF committee for close on thirty years, and also played for Peterborough & District indoors and out.

Cliff’s widow Sue was on hand to present the Shield to NBF chairman Martyn Dolby after the post-match buffet.

RESULT

Peterborough & District 103, NBF 120 (District rinks first):

George Kitchen, Tien Ngo, Dudley Smith 18, Wayne Aspinall, Wayne Morris, Trevor Collins 15; Martin Hawkes, Mick Thurling, Ben Wilson 29, Ally McNaughton, Paul Buckley, Mike Anderson 7; John Thurston, Brian Bassam, Joe Martin 8, John Holroyd, Paul Bailey, Kevin Vinter 28; Sam Hunter, Terry English, Mick Linnell 12, Michael Humphreys, Owen Aspinall, Adam Warrington 25; Dave Corney, Dick Fielding, Peter Brown 17, Paul Dalliday, Martyn Dolby, Simon Law 27; Peter Harvey, Steve Watson, Graham Agger 19, Melvyn Beck, Neil Wright, Roger Martin 18.

Below: Cliff Watson’s widow Sue presents the Memorial Shield to NBF chairman Martyn Dolby.

COUNTY bowlers celebrated a record haul of English Bowling Federation indoor national titles at the NBF/NWBF presentation luncheon held at the Ellindon Banqueting Suite, Bretton.

Young Ollie Jeapes and NBF chairman Martyn Dolby retained the junior and senior singles respectively at Lincoln in April; Paul Dalliday, Simon Law and Triston Morton claimed the triples crown and the county executive team won the Eversley Trophy for the third year running.

The outdoor finals at Skegness were not quite as successful, although Parkway became the first club from the county to win the Durham Centenary Trophy, the EBF’s club championship.

Graham Agger came agonisingly close to completing a hat-trick of veterans singles titles, losing 21-19 in the final, while Shirley Suffling reached the final of the two-bowl singles.

EBF president David Thomas was guest of honour at the luncheon and presented the national and county trophies. Unfortunately, EWBF president Beryl Beresford was unable to attend at the last minute owing to illness, so NWBF president Jess Bolam proposed a toast to the NWBF.

The EBF president proposed a toast to the NBF to which NBF chairman Martyn Dolby responded.

Graham Agger and Neil Wright were named Derbyshire A and B team ‘Players of the Year’ respectively, while Adam Warrington and Peter Smith received the accolades for the Adams and Newton teams respectively.

THE NBF and NWBF have agreed to experiment with a county finals weekend next year in a bid to ease the burden on players qualifying in several events.

This year two players, Martyn Dolby and Sue Seed, both qualified in no fewer than six finals which meant they had to put a substitute in one of the events while attempting to play the other five.

The finals will take place at the Parkway club on the weekend of July 18/19, one week later than this year owing to the Skegness finals going back a week to August 22-29.

THE second Cliff Watson Memorial indoor match between a Northants Bowling Federation representative team and Peterborough & District takes place at the Peterborough & District club on Sunday, September 28th at 2.00pm.

Any interested in playing in this match to mark the memory of the Federation stalwart should contact either Graham Agger on 07787 124258 or Martyn Dolby on 07756 958620.

THE NWBF are organising an Xmas Super Prize Bingo at the Peterborough & District Bowls Club on Saturday, December 13th at 7.00pm in aid of county funds.

Tickets cost £10.00 which includes all books and light refreshments.

FOR only the second time since 2017, Northants bowlers returned empty handed from the individual portion of the English Bowling Federation national finals at Skegness.

Graham Agger (Whittlesey Manor) made a bold bid for a hat-trick of veterans singles titles only to lose 21-19 in the final to Lincolnshire’s Mick Thompson, while Shirley Suffling (Ketton) let slip an 18-13 lead in the two-bowl singles decider against Northumberland’s Naomi Scott.

Stephen Harris (Blackstones) reached the semi-finals of the four-bowl singles; the Ketton triple of Shirley Suffling, Elaine Upton and Helen Tilley made the last four in the two-bowl rinks as did Parkway’s Paul Dalliday, Simon Law and Tristan Morton in the men’s equivalent, although they played one short in the semi-final with Law and Morton having departed for the Bowls England fours at Leamington and Parkway’s Karen Martin and James Harford also fell at the semi-final stage.

Defending junior singles champion Ollie Jeapes (Parkway) went out in the opening round this time, while Stamford secretary Sue Seed, who had qualified in four events, unfortunately lost in the opening round of all of them, one on an extra end.

There was a very slight improvement in the standard of the greens, certainly from a visual perspective, but the levels still left something to be desired, which made line and length difficult to judge on many of the rinks.

MEN

2b singles – John Holroyd (Stamford) lost 12-21 to Suffolk in first round; 4b singles – Stephen Harris (Blackstones) lost 14-21 in the semi-finals to Derbyshire after wins against Cleveland 21-13 and Suffolk 21-17; U25 singles – Ollie Jeapes (Parkway) lost 12-21 to Suffolk in first round; Veterans singles – Graham Agger (Whittlesey Manor) lost 19-21 in the final wins against Notts 21-10, North Cambs 21-8 and Norfolk 21-15; Secretary singles – Andy Cox (City of Peterborough) lost 13-21 to Durham in the second round after beating Hunts 21-18; Champion of Champions singles – Stuart Agger (Whittlesey Manor) lost his opening round match 17-21 to Cleveland; Pairs – Paul Martlew & Martyn Dolby (Blackstones) lost 18-19 after extra end against Suffolk in first round; Mixed pairs – Karen Martin & James Harford (Parkway) lost 10-19 to Derbyshire in the semi-finals after wins against Norfolk 18-15 and Hunts 19-12; Senior pairs – Neil Crees & John Holroyd (Stamford) lost 11-16 to Humberside in first round; Senior mixed pairs – Kevin Vinter & Sue Seed (Stamford) lost 15-17 after extra end to Hunts in first round; 2b rinks – Paul Dalliday, Simon Law, Tristan Morton (Parkway) lost 6-23 to North Cambs in semi-finals after wins against Lincs 22-12 and Norfolk 19-12; 3b rinks – Michael Humphreys, Paul Buckley, Stephen Harris (Blackstones) lost 1-21 to Lincs in the second round after beating Cleveland 23-8; Mixed rinks – Sophie Morton, Simon Law, Tristan Morton (Parkway) lost 12-22 to North Essex in first round; Under 25 pairs – Ollie Jeapes (Parkway) & Owen Aspinall (Blackstones) lost 11-20 to North Cambs in first round.

WOMEN

2b singles – Shirley Suffling (Ketton) lost 18-21 in final to Northumberland after wins against North Essex 21-14 and Notts 21-10; 4b singles – Linda Toms (Conservative) lost 9-21 to North Essex in first round; U25 singles – Caitlin Dalliday (Parkway) lost 17-21 to Lincs in first round; Senior singles – Elaine Upton (Ketton) lost 11-21 to Northumberland in her first match; Secretary singles – Sue Seed (Stamford) lost 15-21 to Lincs in first round; Champion of Champions singles – Sue Seed (Stamford) lost 18-21 to North Essex in first round; Pairs – Tina Tinklin (sub) & Sheila Craig (Conservative) lost 17-18 to Humberside in first round; Senior pairs – Fiona Richardson & Jess Bolam (City of Peterborough) lost 6-25 to Suffolk in first round; 2b rinks – Shirley Suffling, Elaine Upton, Helen Tilley (Ketton) lost 19-23 to Lincs in the semi-finals after beating North Essex 28-12; 3b rinks – Chrissie Baker, Sue Seed, Chris Ford (Stamford) lost 8-23 to Durham in first round.

PARKWAY have made Northants Bowling Federation history by becoming the first club from the county to win the Durham Centenary Trophy, the English Bowling Federation’s club championship.

They were comfortable 114-84 winners over Cleveland’s Hartlepool Old Boys at Skegness, winning on three of the four rinks.

The competition has been running since 1995, but only two clubs from the county have made the final in that time – Whittlesey Manor and Parkway before Parkway’s success.

The rinks of captain Ean Morton and Simon Law led the way with 35-15 and 31-15 victories respectively, while Phil Exley’s trio won 27-19.

RESULT

DURHAM CENTENARY TROPHY

PARKWAY bt HARTLEPOOL OLD BOYS 114-84 (Parkway rinks only):

Neil Wright, James Harford, Ean Morton won 35-15; Paul Dalliday, Brian Martin, Simon Law won 31-15; Sophie Morton, Michelle Coleman, Tristan Morton lost 23-36; Ollie Jeapes, Michael Jeapes, Phil Exley won 27-19.

Below: Parkway – the first winners from the county of the Durham Centenary Trophy.

THE draws for the English Bowling Federation and English Women’s Bowling Federation national individual finals at Skegness starting on the Monday afternoon (August 18) through to the following Saturday morning (August 23) were released late last night (July 31).

Parkway will be in action on the opening day of the championships (Saturday, August 16) when they face Cleveland’s Hartlepool Old Boys in the final of the Durham Centenary Trophy starting at 11.30am.

MEN’S AND MIXED

2b singles – John Holroyd (Stamford) – Wednesday at 11.45am v Suffolk (next round Thursday at 5.00pm); 4b singles – Stephen Harris (Blackstones) – Wednesday at 9.15am v Cleveland (Thursday 9.15am); U25 singles – Ollie Jeapes (Parkway) – Thursday at 10.45am v Norfolk (Thursday 2.15pm); Veterans singles – Graham Agger (Whittlesey Manor) – Wednesday at 4.15pm v Notts (Thursday 9.15am); Secretary singles – Andy Cox (City of Peterborough) – Thursday at 10.45am v Hunts (Friday 9.15am); Champion of Champions singles – Stuart Agger (Whittlesey Manor) – Wednesday at 1.45pm v Cleveland (bye in first round); Pairs – Paul Martlet & Martyn Dolby (Blackstones) – Tuesday at 10.45am v Suffolk (Wednesday 2.15pm); Senior pairs – Neil Crees & John Holroyd (Stamford) – Wednesday at 9.15am v Humberside (Wednesday 2.15pm); Mixed pairs – Karen Martin & James Harford (Parkway) – Tuesday at 9.15am v Norfolk (Thursday 12,15pm); U25 pairs – Owen Aspinall (Blackstones) & Ollie Jeapes (Parkway) – Friday at 9.15am v North Cambs (Friday 11.15am); Senior mixed pairs – Sue Seed & Kevin Vinter (Stamford) – Wednesday at 11.45 am v Hunts (Thursday 11.45am); 2b rinks – Paul Dalliday, Simon Law, Tristan Morton (Parkway) – Tuesday at 2.15pm v Lincs (Wednesday 9.15am); 3b rinks – Michael Humphreys, Paul Buckley, Stephen Harris (Blackstones) – Monday at 2.15pm v Cleveland (Tuesday 9.15am); Mixed rinks – Sophie Morton, Simon Law, Tristan Morton (Parkway) – Monday at 2.15pm v North Essex (Tuesday 11.45am).

WOMEN

2b singles – Shirley Suffling (Ketton) – Wednesday at 9.15am v North Essex or Durham (bye in first round); 4b singles – Linda Toms (Conservative) – Tuesday at 1.45pm v North Essex (next round Wednesday 9.15am); U25 singles – Caitlin Dalliday (Parkway) – Wednesday at 10.45am v Lincs (bye in first round); Senior singles – Elaine Upton (Ketton) – Thursday at 3.15pm v Northumberland or Cleveland (bye in first round); Secretary singles – Sue Seed (Stamford) – Tuesday at 4.15pm v Lincs (Wednesday 1.45pm); Champion of Champions singles – Sue Seed (Stamford) – Wednesday at 3.15pm v North Essex (Thursday 9.15am); Pairs – Sheila Craig & Liz Hext (Conservative) – Tuesday at 12.15pm v Humberside (Wednesday 9.15am); Senior pairs – Fiona Richardson & Jess Bolam (City of Peterborough) – Wednesday at 10.45am v Suffolk (Thursday 9.15am); 2b rinks – Shirley Suffling, ElaineUpton, Helen Tilley (Ketton) – Wednesday 2.15pm v North Essex or Cleveland (bye in first round); 3b rinks – Chrissie Baker, Sue Seed, Chris Ford (Stamford) – Monday at 2.15pm v Durham (Tuesday 9.15am).

WHITTLESEY Manor lifted the NBF’s Adams Cup for the third year running following a hard fought 58-50 final victory over Crowland at the City of Peterborough club.

The holders won on two of the three rinks, one from captain Tom Fielding with Kevin Brown and Phil Burbridge (18-12), and the other from the rink of Mick Linnell, Zack Brown and Graham Agger (22-16).

The winning Crowland rink of Mick Goodman, Jan McDougall and Caroline Bruce were 14-6 up at one stage and then 20-9 ahead before being pegged back over the closing ends, the final margin being just four at 22-18.

RESULT

WHITTLESEY MANOR 58, CROWLAND 50 (Manor rinks first):

Roger Stevens, Steve Lander, Steven Shaw 18, Mick Goodman, Jan McDougall, Caroline Bruce 22; Mick Linnell, Zack Brown, Graham Agger 22, Tony Wigston, Frank Hall, Brian Davis 16; Kevin Brown, Phil Burbridge, Tom Fielding 18, Karen Porter, Mick Porter, Dennis Cottom 12.

Below: Whittlesey Manor, Adams Cup winners for the third year running

Below: Adams Cup runners-up Crowland

PARKWAY have qualified for the English Bowling Federation’s Durham Centenary Trophy final for the second time.

They made the short trip to Spalding to defeat current holders Royal Mail Cart 95-91 in the southern area final and now face northern winners Hartlepool Old Boys from Cleveland in the national final at Skegness on Saturday, August 16th at 11.30am.

The county are yet to win the national club championship with Whittlesey Manor and Parkway having both lost in the final.