County bowls hat-trick for deadly Dolby at blazing Bretton Gate

Thre-time champion Martin Dolby in action at Northants Finals Day. Photo: David Lowndes.

On a sizzling hot day at the City of Peterborough club at Bretton Gate on Sunday (July 18), he won the Northants mixed pairs with Jane Needham, and both the triples with Adam Warrington and John Earl, but missed out on a fourth title when beaten in the veterans singles by Peter Cox (Langtoft Pearl), whose wife Angela won the women’s secretaries singles.

Yaxley’s Robert Heath also reached four finals but had to be content with both the men’s pairs titles with Tony Belson.

Ketton pair Chris Ford and Shirley Suffling both won two out of three finals. Ford combined with husband Dick to win the senior mixed pairs, while Suffling collected the two-bowl singles before they joined forces to win the senior pairs.

Emma Providence in the Women's 2 bowl singles final. Photo: David Lowndes.

Also doubling up on the day were Parkway pair Sophie Morton and James Harford, the former winning the pairs with Merisha McKernan and the four-bowl singles, while Harford claimed the Champion of Champions prize before skipping Paul Dalliday and Michelle Coleman to success in the mixed triples.

While Blackstones claimed both the men’s triples, Ketton lost in both the women’s equivalent, the two-bowl to Conservative trio Linda Toms, Tina Tinklin and Liz Hext, and the three-bowl to Stamford’s Helen Holroyd, Linda Starbuck and Moira Holroyd, who replaced Ann Holmes from the trio that won it in 2019.

It was compensation for Tinklin and Hext, who had earlier lost in the pairs, while luckless pair Kevin Vinter (Stamford) and Carol Grief (Crowland) lost two finals apiece.

Full Northants County Finals results in Thursday’s PT (July 22) plus pics and a bowls round-up.