HOUGHTON SUCCUMB TO POWERFUL SHIELDS
EGHAM TROPHY TASK PROVES BEYOND HOUGHTON AS SOUTH TYNESIDERS ENJOY CLEAN SWEEP
South Shields eased past Houghton in the first round of the Egham Trophy.
Last season, Shields reached the quarter-finals, so it was always a big ask for Houghton to get a result and so it proved as Shields comfortably won on all four rinks.
At Houghton, Terry Todd’s quartet of Joan Watt, Tony Wood and Florence Phythian were beaten 2416 by Gary Farquhar, while Freddie Fletcher’s quartet of E. Morris, Sam Patterson and Brenda Robson were beaten 25-10 by Stewart Hubbard.
Those scores left Shields 23 shots to the good.
At Shields, both Houghton squads were well beaten.
Peter Thomson (snr), Evelyn Barkes, Joan Baker and Richie Mckie never recovered from a 12-0 start against Chris Yeomans, going down 27-9, while Maureen Hall, Tony Grimes, Norma Stephenson and Frankie Froud succumbed 27-15 to Shaun McIntosh.
That left Shields 30 shots up at home, winning 103-50 overall.
The South Tynesiders face Durham, 15-shot victors against West Denton, in the next round
Houghton will lock horns with West Denton today in the Denny Cup, with the winners
to play either Stanley or Gateshead.
Houghton team – at Houghton: M Noble, AJ Dunn, J McAdoo, B Henderson; M Baker, S Tindale, I Whorlton, F Froud. Reserves: A Patterson, M Wright At West Denton: S Patterson, D Todner, M Davis, P Thomson (jnr); F Fletcher, TW Todd, J Jones, R Mckie. Reserve: A Wood
Durham meet Darlington and Hartlepool face Redcar, with the winners meeting each other in the next round.
After their disappointing Denny Cup exit, South Shields drop into the Denny Plate and are in action today as they take on The Parks.
On paper, they should have a decent run in the competition as they have a cracking looking squad. Shields team – at Shields: N Ridley, S Hubbard, I Riches, I McIntosh; J Mckenna, P Sainthouse, J Sneller, S McIntosh At The Parks: M Peach, J Minto, G Farquhar, C Yeomans; P Dixon, W Ferry, K Storf, D Bolt
The Top Club competition continues tomorrow, with South Shields hosting West Denton, Durham at home to Hartlepool and Great Aycliffe entertaining Eden.
In the ladies’ Yetton Trophy, South Shields were due to play West Denton today, however, due to illness, West Denton have conceded the tie. Shields await the winners of the Hartlepool-Redcar tie.
In the Yetton Plate, Houghton’s tie against Darlington will now take place on November 18.
There has been plenty of action locally in the national competitions.
In the singles, Gary Farquhar (Shields) powered to an impressive 21-3 win over Gateshead’s Malcolm Johnston, setting up an all-Shields affair against Ian McIntosh, who edged past Durham’s Mark Higgins 21-17.
Durham’s Michael Laydon had a cracking 21-6 win over Shields’ Alan Lawton, while Shaun McIntosh (Shields) eased past Durham’s Andrew Barkess 21-6 and will face club-mate Carl Elliott in the next round.
Houghton’s Sam Patterson went down 21-12 at Durham against Ron Dixon, who will next host Houghton’s Peter Thomson.
In the south section, Paul Hartley won an all-Hartlepool duel 21-12 against Matthew Ray.
In the pairs, David Bolt (Shields) cruised to a 28-7 win over Durham’s Michael Barkess, sealing a trip to The Parks to tackle Mathew Raftree.
Durham’s Gary Smith had an excellent 20-9 win at Stanley against John Thurlbeck and next hosts West Denton’s Clive Knott.
Houghton’s Michael Wright and Richie Mckie came back from 17-6 down to defeat West Denton’s Peter Duffy 27-18, while Shields’ Josh Minto had a comfortable 27-6 win at Houghton against Sam Patterson.
Hartlepool’s Glen Skipp defeated Paul Bostock 17-8 in the south section.
Gary Farquhar received a walkover in the triples, setting up a home tie against Durham’s Mark Higgins.
Michael Laydon progressed with an 18-14 win at West Denton over Michael Bennett.
In the fours, Gary Farquhar (Shields) won a classic at Durham against Michael Laydon 20-19, while Stanley’s Brett Arkley received a walkover.
In the two-bowl singles, Gateshead’s Alan Jobling secured a 21-9 home win over West Denton’s Raymond Robson.
David Bolt (Shields) recorded a second win in the Champion of Champions after defeating Gateshead’s Mark Smith 21-8. He will host Stanley’s Brett Arkley next.
In the mixed pairs, Phil Dixon (Shields) held his nerve in a low-scoring 13-12 win over West Denton’s Herbie Blacklock and heads to Durham next to face Michael Laydon.
Houghton’s Michael Wright, Terry Todd and Frankie Froud progressed in the Over-50s triples with a hard-fought 18-16 home win over Durham’s Jim Hutchinson’s.
The latest round of the Seniors Premier League took place at Houghton this week and it was a good day for the host club.
Both Houghton triples recorded wins.
The Houghton A trio of Peter Thomson (snr), Richard Thorpe and Frankie Froud turned around a 10-8 deficit in spectacular fashion against Durham, rattling off 20 shots over six sensational ends to run out 28-11 winners.
The Houghtonians triple of Joe Sutherland, Freddie Fletcher and Terry Todd looked down and out at 157 down against unbeaten Stanley B.
But Todd rallied the troops and scored 21 shots over the second half to end Stanley’s unbeaten record with a resounding 28-16 victory.
The other two games saw Stanley A maintain their unbeaten record with a 19-10 defeat of Darlington B and Gateshead B beat Darlington A 25-15.
Wearsider David Bolt heads to Perth this weekend to take part in the World Bowls Tour Scottish International Open.
South Shields’ former Sunderland star has a tough opener against the third seed, Scotland’s Alex Marshall.
Bolt is due to play on Monday afternoon at 4pm and can be followed live via the WBT stream at www. youtube.com/worldbowlstour.
There was more good news for the Shields club at the World Singles qualifying event in Carlisle last weekend as Ian McIntosh secured his place in the competition proper.
In the quarter-finals, McIntosh defeated Redcar’s Vinnie O’Neil before taking out Blackpool’s Chris Gale in the semi-finals. Gale had previously ended Durham’s Gary Smith’s hopes.
In the final, McIntosh enjoyed a straight sets 5-3, 6-2 win over Gateshead’s Alex Brydon, and he will face former world champ Mervyn King at Potters in January.
The Bowls Durham AGM will be held at Houghton Dairy Lane on Tuesday, November 14 (7pm).
The Sunderland & District AGM will also take place at Houghton Dairy Lane, with a 2pm start on Saturday November 25.
All clubs should have received the agenda and more information either by email or post. Any club which hasn’t received them is asked to call Jim Huntingdon on 0191 549 8520.