SHIELDS DUO BOW OUT IN MIXED PAIRS FINAL
South Shields duo Jackie Stewart-Tallack and David Bolt were beaten in the final of last weekend’s National Mixed Pairs at Hartlepool.
Having overcome Norfolk’s Wayne Wilgress 20-9 in the last 16, former world champion Nicky Brett of Huntingdon 14-13 in the quarter-finals and Boston’s Jonathon West 21-4 in the semis, the pair lost 15-7 to Exonia’s England internationals Harriet Stevens and Sam Tolchard.
They were on a high after winning the Mixed Fours final - along with Cassidy Lenton and Kieran Kniveton - 23-16 against Swales’ England star Perry Martin.
Nina Riches, Ann Upsall, Ian Riches and Bolt bowed out at the last-16 stage.
Holding a narrow lead for most of their opener, their hopes were ultimately dashed by a last-end 15-13 loss to Hounslow’s A.Donoghue.
The remaining seniors’ Inter-Club group fixture saw Houghton Sancroft cruise to a 5-0 win over bottom-of-thegroup Gateshead A.
All three Sancroft rinks recorded victories, with the pick of them being George Brown, Barney Walsh, David Wright and John Jones, who defeated Michael Simmonette 22-5.
Frankie Froud beat R.Charlton 22-8 while Ian Whorlton ground out a 14-6 win against J.Wolfenden.
Going into the game, Sancroft needed to collect all five points and win by a margin of 24 shots to sneak into the end-of-season play-offs, so a 39-shot win should seal the deal.
Both Houghton Kepier and Gilpin finished bottom of their respective groups.
Play-off qualifiers: group winners: Spennymoor, Hartlepool A, Stanley, Durham B; group runners-up: Darlington A & B, Houghton Sancroft (tbc), The Parks A.
There has been plenty of action in the local stage of this season’s nationals.
In the triples area final, there was disappointment for the Shields trio of Scott Baker, Neal Ridley and Billy Ferry as they were beaten 18-11 by Hartlepool’s Glenn Skipp.
There was better news in the fours, however, as Phil Dixon, Mal Peach, Gary Farquhar and David Bolt booked a place at Nottingham after defeating Hartlepool’s Paul Hartley 18-9 in the area final at West Denton.
The Shields quartet will face MidGlos Stephen Knight in the last 16 on March 21.
The pairs area final between James Sneller (Shields) and Paul Hartley (Hartlepool) is taking place next Wednesday (7pm) at Durham.
In the over-60s fours, Gateshead’s Brian Orrell defeated Stanley’s Brian Harris 18-14 to set up an area final against Thornaby’s Graham Fordy.
Trevor and Josh Halcrow have secured an area final place in the family pairs after ending West Denton’s Arron Robson’s hopes.
The Shields pair will now face Darlington’s James Humble.
West Denton’s Karen Weites secured a trip to Nottingham after defeating Hartlepool’s Lauren Mosley 17-7 in the area final of the ladies triples.
South Shields ladies’ run in the Mason double fours came to an end after Durham inflicted a 40-28 defeat on them.
In the last 16, Durham will play Lincoln A.
The bottom two in the Premier league Top Ten go head to head this morning as Houghton look to complete a double over bottom-of-thetable Ferryhill.
Singles: P.Thomson. Pairs: G.Brown, M.Carr. Triples: S.Tindale, J.McAdoo, R.Mckie. Fours: A.Grimes, K.Armstrong, D.Wright, AJ.Dunn.
Latest Table – Durham 6-50, Darlington 4-23, Stanley 4-20, Houghton 5-16, Ferryhill 5-11.
Today is a massive day for the Durham County Liberty Trophy squad as they face Northants in the semi-finals at Doncaster.
The Durham selectors have kept faith with the team that beat Lincolnshire by 34 shots, and the winners will face either Berkshire or Devon in the final.
Durham Team B.Henderson, M.Laydon, P.Smithson, M.Barkess, R.Bewick, M.Higgins, GR.Smith (all Durham), J.Sneller, J.Halcrow, P.Dixon, M.Peach, G.Farquhar, D.Bolt (all South Shields), M.Ray, C.Boston, M.Squirrel, D.Oram, C.Higgins, G.Skipp, V.O’Neill, P.Mosley M.Jones, P.Hartley (all Hartlepool), J.Harston (Aycliffe).
The latest round of Inter-County fixtures are due to take place tomorrow, although both local sides will have a free day.
South Shields have a bye while Houghton were due to meet a Darlington outfit who had already conceded two games, and who have now conceded a third.
At last season’s county AGM a rule was introduced that all games must be played on the set date, which left clubs no option to rearrange and the offending team forced to forfeit all 10 points.
In Division Two, the champions Ferryhill through no fault of their own - ended with 33 points, of which 20 were amassed by two forfeits.
The rule in the current format is not promoting the game and there have been calls for the league to revisit it, while there are also plans in the pipeline to introduce a 10am start to help clubs.
Division One fixtures: Gateshead B v Durham, Hartlepool v Great Aycliffe.
Latest table: Hartlepool 37, Durham A 33½, Gateshead B 31, Houghton 20, South Shields 19½, Great Aycliffe 18, Darlington 1 (Gateshead A, South Shields, Houghton all collected 10 forfeited points).
Division Two final table: Ferryhill 33, Stanley 31, Gateshead A 26, Dunelm 24½, The Parks 22½, Shildon 13 (Ferryhill collected 20 forfeited points).
This year’s county seniors’ Champion of Champions finals take place at Darlington on Tuesday, starting a 1pm.
Singles: S.Krimpen (Durham) v A.Hind (Ferryhill). Pairs: B.Watson (Darlington) v W.Dixon (Shildon). Triples: D.Webb (Stanley) v A.Stewart (Durham). Fours: B.Hutchinson (Gt Aycliffe) v M.English (Stanley).
Bowls England have announced their Bowler of the Year awards, with Devon’s Louis Ridout deservedly winning the main award.
Ridout claimed the National singles title, was runner-up in the triples and was part of Kings BC’s Top Club title, as well as winning a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Lancashire’s Chris Gale was runner-up while Durham’s David Bolt was among the seven shortlisted for the award.
The Young Bowler award went to Northamptonshire’s Kieran Rollings, the 19-yearold having won the Disability Bowls England singles and pairs as well as being a member of the Northants team that lifted the White Rose title.
Kieran also competed at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April.