Northants make it a treble at Skeggy

Helen Holroyd, who plays at both the Stamford and Blackstones clubs, produced devastating performances to win the women’s under 25 singles, conceding just 28 shots in four matches, including a 21-8 victory in the final against Derbyshire’s Eloise Collins.

The Parkway trio of Paul Dalliday, Simon Law and Tristan Morton were comfortable winners of the two-bowl rinks, beating Cleveland 21-12, Humberside 23-11 and Hunts 22-11 in the final. Morton missed the semi-final owing to commitments at the Bowls England Championships in Leamington, but returned for the final to replace his substitute James Harford.

Adam Warrington (Blackstones) won the men’s two-bowl singles for the third time, but never had to deliver a bowl in the final, his opponent from Lincolnshire, Andy Bird, being forced to concede because of weekend family commitments in Holland.

While it was a something of a hollow victory in the end, Warrington was nevertheless impressive in his wins over John Ivatt (North Cambs) 21-10, Chris Hanslip (Humberside) 21-11 and Jack Emmerson (Notts) 21-19.

Bob Warters (Ketton) narrowly missed out on winning the men’s veterans singles for the second time in three years, losing 21-19 in the final to Suffolk’s Paul Cook having led 9-3 and 17-16. That followed victories against Colin Sims (Derbys) 21-16, Billy Maddison (Cleveland) 21-14 and Billy Fuller (Durham) 21-17.

Sue Moir (Langtoft Pearl) reached the semi-finals of the women’s senior singles, defeating Karen Weites (Northumberland) 21-8 and Sandra Maguire (Notts) before losing 21-18 to Margaret Dykes (Humberside).

Another singles semi-finalist was Graham Agger (Whittlesey Manor) who claimed the notable scalp of regular title winner Wayne Burrage (Norfolk) 21-19 before going down 21-18 to Northumberland’s Paul Freeman.

The Parkway trio of Sophie Morton, Lee Welsford and Tristan Morton also made it through to the last four in the mixed rinks, defeating North Cambs 17-15 and Durham 27-7 before a 22-15 defeat at the hands of Notts, when Paul Dalliday substituted for Leamington-bound Tristan Morton.

Just three other Northants representatives came through their opening round challenges.

Ann Holmes and Richard Allam (Stamford) defeated Northumberland 18-13 in the first round of the mixed pairs before losing 26-8 to Hunts’ father and daughter Nick and Chloe Brett, who eventually lost in the final.

Joan Robinson (Yaxley) reached the second round of the four-bowl singles with a 21-15 victory over Di Martinson (Humberside,) but then went down 21-10 to Hunts’ Tina Webb.

The Conservative club trio of Margaret Bussey, Liz Hext and Sheila Craig had a comfortable 26-16 victory over Northumberland in the opening round of the three-bowl rinks, but were then beaten 23-10 by Lincs, the eventual winners skipped by England’s Penny Strong.

Stephen Harris (Blackstones), bidding to regain the under 25 open pairs with new partner Jack Corney (Whittlesey Manor), pulled off a remarkable first round victory against Hunts, scoring six shots on the last two ends to tie the match, and then Corney drew two shots on the extra end for a 20-18 success, but they were then beaten 23-15 by the Gowler brothers from North Cambs.

Another trophy came Northants’ way during the week when Graham Agger (Whittlesey Manor) and Yaxley pair Doris Flowers and Joan Padley won the non-championship Reg Jackson open triples tournament, winning all their four matches for a shots difference of +41, just two better than the runners-up from Notts.

OTHER LOCAL RESULTS

MEN

Four-bowl singles: Paul Dalliday (Parkway) lost 21-18 to Steve Farrant (Hunts).

U25 singles: Stephen Harris (Blackstones) lost 21-17 to Aaron Stimson (Notts).

Secretaries singles: Andrew Grief (Crowland) lost 21-20 on a measure to Alan Turton (Notts) following a first round walkover.

Pairs: Malcolm Cullingworth and Peter White (Langtoft Pearl) lost 21-15 to Humberside.

Senior pairs: Brian Swann and Dick Noble (West Ward) lost 16-10 to North Cambs.

Senior mixed pairs: Rita and Tony Mace (Whittlesey Manor) lost 27-7 to Janet and Dave Adams (Notts).

Three-bowl rinks: Roger Stevens, Graham Agger, Martin Welsford (Whittlesey Manor) lost 15-14 on a last end measure to Norfolk.

WOMEN

Two-bowl singles: Joan Robinson (Yaxley) lost 21-11 to Ginnie Marsh (Hunts).

Secretaries singles: Kathy Browning (Yaxley) lost 21-5 to Margaret Hunt (North Cambs).

Champion of Champions: Chris Ford (Ketton) lost 21-10 to Julie Hutchinson (Humberside).

Pairs: Anne White & Sue Moir (Langtoft Pearl) lost 19-14 to Suffolk.

Senior pairs: Jenny Farrington & Penny Hart (Whittlesey Town) lost 25-12 to Notts.

Two-bowl rinks: Carol Warters, Shirley Suffling, Chris Ford (Ketton) lost 19-18 to Derbys.

The British and English triples champions from Parkway – Mike Robertson and brothers Ean and Tristan Morton – were beaten in the second round of their defence at the Bowls England championships at Leamington.

They were beaten 14-12 by the Devon trio they defeated in last year’s final – the all-England triple of Louis Ridout, Jamie Chestney and Sam Tolchard, who again had to be content with the runners-up spot.

The Parkway trio had beaten Yorkshire 15-14 in the opening round, while the Warboys triple of Tom Swannell, Simon Leader and Rob Elmore pipped Norfolk 15-14 before losing 20-9 to the eventual winners from Lancashire.

One of the best performances from Hunts qualifiers came from the Ramsey rink of Patsy Coles, Jill Francis, Linda Levi and Andrea Rose, who reached the quarter-finals of the women’s senior rinks.

To get there they defeated Suffolk 30-11 and Essex 21-18 before losing 25-5 to the eventual beaten finalists from Norfolk.

The Brampton quartet of Robbie Coleman, Peter Parnell, Tom Hall and Ryan O’Flanagan lost 22-13 to Middlesex in the second round of the fours following a 22-11 win against Oxfordshire.

The other Hunts four of Paul Dalliday, James Harford, Simon Law and Stuart Popple from Parkway went down 24-5 to Wiltshire in the opening round.

West Ward’s Sean Fenlon was a first round casualty in the men’s senior singles, losing 21-14 to Chris Cranham (Hants).