Commonwealth Games bronze & national glory for Wearsiders
2018 was a good year for local bowlers as it saw a Commonwealth Games bronze medal and more national glory come back to Wearside.
Following his England selection in the Triples and Fours, Silksworth’s David Bolt lived the dream as the Gold Coast in Australia hosted the Commonwealth Games.
In the Triples, leading in for the Devon duo of Jamie Chestney and Robert Paxton, hopes of a medal were high after finishing top of their group. However, a shock 18-17 quarter-final loss at the hands of the Norfolk Islands ended their hopes.
In the Fours, Bolt was second bowl to the Devon trio of Chestney, Louis Ridout and Sam Tolchard. After qualifying second in the group, the English quartet thumped New Zealand 20-2 in the last eight before seeing their gold medal dream end with a 18-10 loss to Scotland’s Alex Marshall.
In the winner-take-sall bronze medal match against Wales, the English quartet regrouped to land the bronze medal with a 159 win.
At the Women’s National Championships, the Houghton Dairy Lane pairing of Glynis Morgan and Joan Rodgerson landed the Bowls England Senior Pairs title at Leamington Spa.
A first round 29-12 win over Sussex’s Gillian Lamprey was followed by a 2017 win over Norfolk’s Joyce Webster. In the quarter-finals, the Dairy Lane duo defeated Buckinghamshire’s Denise Newport before a thrilling extra end 16-15 semi-final win over Dorset’s Penny Cresswell.
In the final, they faced the defending champion Hampshire’s Margaret Holden, and the early exchanges saw Hampshire lead 8-5, by the 15th end the Dairy Lane pair had edged ahead 11-9.
They were still ahead by the 19th end 14-12, it was however, the 20th end that sealed the deal as Rodgerson collected a four to lead 18-12, a last end treble was the icing on the cake as it finished 21-12.
At County level, there was heartache for Dairy Lane’s Susan Forster as that first Ladies County Singles title still proved elusive.
After a 21-11 semi-final win over Bishop Auckland’s Heather Boon, the Dairy Lane star faced Consett Park’s Teresa Pearson in the final at Bishop Auckland.
The final was always going to go to the wire and so it proved, at 17-17 and lying match down, Forster produced a cracking last bowl to lead 18-17.
The following end looked promising for the Dairy Lane star, but this time Pearson produced a cracking couple of bowls to lead 19-18.
Sadly for Forster, it was all over on the next end when a gallant last bowl connected with the shot bowl, but agonisingly ran through a couple of inches to hand Pearson her fourth County Singles title 21-18.
There was more despair in the County Two Bowl Singles for Forster when in the final, the Dairy Lane star was beaten 16-11 by Stockton’s former England star Teresa Parnell.
The Men’s County finals were held at Houghton Dairy Lane and it was a busy day for Silksworth’s David Bolt, who featured in four finals, triumphing in three of them.
In the Fours, he led Phil Dixon, Neal Ridley and Ian Riches to a repeat of their 2014 success, this time against Leadgate’s Garry Robson 25-12.
Bolt then landed the Blue Riband Singles title after coming out on top in a classic against Dairy Lane’s Mal Peach 21-19, and a third title was secured in the Two Bowl Singles, with a 17-4 win against Darlington RA’s Peter Coulson.
That win created a bit of County history, having never previously entered the Two Bowl, it was therefore the only County title missing from Bolt’s CV and this win saw him become the first player to have won all six major County titles during their career.
The long day ended in disappointing fashion as a fourth County title failed to materialise when, alongside Dixon and Farquhar, they lost the Triples final 20-16 to Darlington RA’s Andrew Kirtland.
There was more woe for the area in the Pairs final as Dairy Lane’s Ken Briscoe was well beaten 24-4 by Dipton’s Michael English, and in the Champion of Champions, Roker Marine’s Peter Thomson was left to rue a slow start against Dunston’s Alan Jobling, eventually succumbing 21-11.
There was also double heartache for Silksworth’s
Jaxon McKenna.
Firstly, in the Under-25 Pairs alongside club-mate Josh Halcrow, they were beaten 15-13 by the holders Darlington RA’s Keith Burton and Liam Macey which was then followed by a loss in the Under-25 Singles final also against Burton 21-18.
The Men’s County A team finished bottom of the Muras Trophy, with only a final game win over Cumbria to show for their efforts.
The Middleton Cup campaign was another disappointment, the home 18-4 loss to a Nottinghamshire outfit who were easily dispatched the previous season set the tone.
A 20-2 loss against Yorkshire
sealed their fate, so it was frustrating to end the campaign with a bitter sweet 18-4 win over Derbyshire.
The B team’s defence of the Alsop Trophy saw a 100th County appearance for Barnes Park’s Michael Davis.
Victories over Yorkshire, Northumberland and a narrow win at Southport against Lancashire left Durham needing to beat Cumbria.
It was Cumbria who adapted better on a tinderbox surface and scorching conditions and not only dashed Durham’ s title hopes, but also ended a two year unbeaten run.