BRONZE FOR BOLT
SILKSWORTH STAR DAVID DELIGHTED TO SECURE BRONZE AT THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES
David Bolt, at the age of 39, is one of the older debutants at the Commonwealth Games, but the Sunderland bowler showed that good things come to those who wait as he scooped a bronze medal on the final day of action at Broadbeach.
Bolt competed in both the triples and the fours in Gold Coast, and after the heartbreak of missing out on the podium in the former; he more than made up for it in the latter.
Alongside experienced duo Sam Tolchard and Jamie Chestney, as well as fellow novice Louis Ridout, Bolt was part of the England riink which beat Wales 15-9 in their bronze medal play-off.
And Bolt revealed afterwards that it had been the experience of a lifetime alongside that trio, as well as triples team-mate Robert Paxton.
He said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn’t have asked for four better lads to share with. It’s been really good. I’m ecstatic to go away with a medal.
“It’s the biggest crowd I’ve played before so it was a bit of an experience from that point of view and then the greens were the quickest I’ve played on as well.
“I’ve been disappointed with some of my game, but generally I’ve felt I’ve played alright.
“This (yesterday’s bronze match triumph) was a bit scrappy, but the boys pulled us through. And it’s definitely nice to finish on a high.”
England had to respond to a tough time on Thursday when they let a 7-0 lead slip against Scotland’s Alex Marshall in their semi-final, eventually going down 1910. The Scots went on to retain their title in dramatic circumstances against Australia, winning 15-13.
While the English quartet were thrilled at their medals, there was some frustration at letting a chance of gold slip through their fingers.
Bolt added: “We were devastated the first week, felt things didn’t really go our way and then, in the second week, we’ve had better results.
“A couple more ends against Scotland and we were nearly in the final, but we’re pleased with how we played and glad we got something out of it in the end.
“We had to forget about the semi-final, which was hard, but we picked ourselves up again and I thought we did well.
“Wales started off very well, but, in the second half, we controlled the game and I’m thrilled to get the bronze medal.”
In the triples, Bolt was leading for the Devon duo of Jamie Chestney and Robert Paxton. After successfully negotiating the group stage, there was heartache in the quarter-final for the English triple.
After recovering from 149 down, they were cruelly beaten 19-18, on an extra end, by Norfolk Island.
Bolt’s second chance of a medal was in the fours, with Devon’s Louis Ridout at lead and Bolt at two, Chestney at three and another Devon star, Sam Tolchard, at skip.
In the group, England eased past Singapore 25-6 and Brunei Darussalam 184, only suffering a 12-8 loss to Scotland’, however a quarterfinal place was already secure without that defeat.
In the last eight, the England quartet overpowered New Zealand 20-2 to set up a repeat auld enemy clash against Marshall.
England raced into a 7-0 lead, but a run of seven ends without scoring saw the momentum turn in Marshall’s favour, up 12-7.
Despite getting back to 1310, a dropped four on the 14th end sealed England’s fate at 18-10.
In their bronze medal clash with Wales, England collected a decisive five on the eighth end to open up a 9-5 lead and, in the end, that proved the difference as they held on to a 15-9 win. *
It has been a tough InterCounty League campaign for Houghton’s Kepier and Gilpin squads, with both facing possible relegation following defeats in the latest round of games.
Kepier were always up against it as they faced leaders Gateshead B.
Both away squads were beaten. George Brown, Trevor Joicey, Stevie Tindale and Peter Thomson ( jnr) saw an 11-9 lead slip away against Alan Jobling to finish 23-11 down.
Michael Wright, 87-yearold debutant Arthur Baker, Alan Patterson and Richie Mckie lost 25-12, leaving the away squad 48-23 behind.
At Houghton, both home squads put in spirited performances.
Eric Downes, Bob Johnson, Peter Thomson (snr) and Dan Todner nearly snatched a point. They trailed 19-11 with four ends to play, but Todner battled back only to narrowly miss out 19-17 against Tom Pope.
Tony Grimes, Charlie Wallace, Barney Walsh and Terry Todd recovered from 10-2 down against George Hackett to lead 20-18, however Todd dropped a last-end double which meant settling for a creditable 20-20 draw.
Gateshead’s overall success guaranteed the title for the first time in 31 years and more than likely relegated Kepier.
Houghton Gilpin also had a crunch game against everimproving Durham. Sadly, it turned out to be a tough afternoon for Gilpin, as they were whitewashed 10-0.
At Houghton, Peter Harding’s quartet of Mal Baker, Foster Johnson and David Wright fought back from 177 down to get within a single shot against John Hutchinson. But a dropped four on the 20th end condemned them to a 24-18 loss.
Ian Whorlton’s quartet of Richie Jobling, David Armstrong and Freddie Fletcher found themselves 13-8 down after 13 ends against Mark Higgins.
Incredibly, an amazing 32 shots were scored over the last eight ends, with Higgins emerging a 35-18 winner.
Those scores left the home squad 23 shots adrift.
On the quicker Durham carpet, both Houghton rinks were beaten.
Keith Waterson, Ian Fairweather, Jack Scullion and Frankie Froud went down 2515 to Russell Bewick, while debutant J. Howlinson, Tom Patterson, Sam Patterson and John Jones were well beaten 34-9 by Gary Smith.
The away squad lost 5924, ensuring a 117-51 crushing overall.
Gilpin have one last chance to avoid relegation as they take on Darlington tomorrow (10.30am) in a rearranged, winner-stays-up game.
Gilpin need at least three points to stay up and send Houghton Kepier down.
There has been plenty of club competition action at Houghton this week.
Frankie Froud collected his first four-bowl title with an impressive 21-7 win over Peter Brickle in the men’s singles final.
Alongside Billy Roberts, Froud is on course for a double after recovering from 11-3 down against Billy Piggott in the pairs semis to win 18-11.
In the final on Tuesday (6.30pm), Froud will face Mal Baker and Bryan Henderson, who defeated Eric Downes and Peter Thomson (snr) 18-9.
Ian Whorlton steered Colin Brown, David Armstrong and Keith Makepeace to a 1918 extra end win over Peter Thomson ( jnr) in the fours semi-finals. They meet Bryan Henderson in Monday’s final (6.30pm).
In the Over-60s fours semis, Stevie Kempster guided Mal Baker, Peter Thomson (snr) and Frankie Froud to a 21-11 success against David Wright.