Star junior bowlers from a small local county and crunch games ahead for Hunts and Northants men
The strength of junior bowls in Hunts was underlined again at Brampton on Sunday when the men's team qualified again for the Bowls England national finals where they will be defending the White Rose Trophy.
They dropped just one point in the regional final, defeating Herts A and B, Northants, Bedfordshire and their own B team who were involved for the first time.
Hunts may be one of the smaller counties affiliated to Bowls England, but they now have both the junior and senior teams through to Leamington, and some of the junior ladies, including Parkway's Caitlin Dalliday, have also qualified in the Amy Rose competition where they have joined up with Cambridgeshire to form The East Anglians.
The competition is now played in a pairs and triples format. Tom Anderson and Mack May played for Hunts A in the pairs, with Alex Brugnoli, Ollie Jeapes and Sam Brugnoli winning all five triples matches.
The Hunts B line-up was Logan Strong and Luke Murray in the pairs, and Tom Whittaker, Sam Bates and Alfie Gardiner-Musgrove in the triples.
**Hunts made it two wins from two in the Bowls England Middleton Cup with a 118-90 victory over Northants at Dunston which sets them up for what could be a group title decider at home to Bucks on Saturday week.
Rinks honours were shared at three apiece, with Tristan and Ean Morton and Scott Walton skipping the successful rinks.
Scores (Hunts only): Simon Leader, Joe Stevens, Peter Brown, Tristan Morton won 18-17; Ollie Jeapes, Tom Swannell, Mack May. Phil Exley lost 11-12; Brian Martin, Tom Newman-Borrett, Sam Brugnoli, Ean Morton won 27-12; Craig Sutherland, Paul Dalliday, John Earl, Simon Law lost 14-22; Robbie Coleman, Mark Franklyn, Barry Kitto, Scott Walton won 30-7; Matt Nickerson, James Harford, Joe Randall, Toby Furzeland lost 18-20.
**Northants men head for a crunch match at Suffolk on Saturday on the back of a resounding 187-138 victory over North Cambs at March in the English Bowling Federation's Adams Trophy.
That made it three wins out of four for Northants, whose 20-point haul keeps them in the Southern section title picture with Suffolk and Lincs, who head to Blackstones for the final match on Saturday week.
Scores (Northants only): Craig Campbell, Dudley Smith, Adam Emery won 38-20; Duncan Lee, John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter won 30-21; Luke Murray, Steven Shaw, Tom Fielding won 34-22; Ally McNaughton, Neil Wright, Mike Anderson won 32-26; Wayne Morris, Michael Humphreys, Adam Warrington won 33-23; Kevin Brown, Alec Emery, Graham Agger lost 20-26.
**Both the Northants women's teams are still seeking their first wins of the season in the English Women's Bowling Federation's county championship following home defeats at the hands of Hunts.
The Donald Steward team were beaten 135-88 at Blackstones, collecting just three points, while the Silver Jubilee Vase team went down 117-101 at City of Peterborough with a four-point return.
Scores (Northants only): Trophy: Linda Toms, Val Du'Kett, Julie O'Neill lost 11-37; Jan McDougall, Miriam Hulbert, Tina Tinklin lost 11-35; Rhona Murrell, Penny Hart, Myra Landsburgh drew 22-22; Terri Handley, Shirley Suffling, Elaine Upton won 25-19; Sally Albany, Joan Collishaw, Chris Ryan lost 19-22.
Vase: Sue Shaw, Maureen Stone, Ann Northen lost 19-25; Polly Evens, Marlene Osborne, Netta Andrews won 21-12; Sue Mansbridge, Fiona Richardson, Sue Mitchell lost 16-35; Julie Nolan, Angie Fordham, Lisa Sharratt lost 13-31; Elizabeth Wallace, Rita Downs, Chris Ford won 32-14.