Durham County bowlers suffer a number of first round exits
The last few weeks have been very disappointing for Durham County bowls, writes Richard Mckie.
Having already seen the seniors crash out of the Over60s Inter County competition at the first hurdle and the reigning Under-25s Double Fours Champions title defence also ending at their first outing, a dismal run of results were capped off as the Liberty Trophy squad also fell at the first hurdle.
A trip to Carlisle to face Cumbria saw history repeat itself as Durham were beaten 110-106.
Across the green, Durham won on three of the six rinks and drew on another, Paul Hartley beat Stuart Airey 2219, David Bolt beat Ken Johnstone 21-9 and Paul Mosley beat Stephen Farish 19-17, the draw came from Gary R Smith 16-16 against Stu Irwin.
Sadly, the two defeats although narrow were enough to end Durham’s hopes, the Hartlepool’s Andrew Kirtland lost 19-13 and Marc Squirrell lost 20-15.
There was better news for the County Women in the Atherley Trophy as they pulled off a surprise 121-115 win over Yorkshire and will face Lincolnshire next.
As the current season national competitions enter the break there has still been some action.
In the Singles, Hartlepool’s Mark Higgins booked an area semi-final place with a 21-13 win over club-mate in the north section.
The Vipers’ Paul Hartley also booked a semi-final place beating Gateshead’s Brian Orrell 21-7.
In the triples, the all-Vipers clash saw Gary Farquhar beat Phil Dixon to set up a trip to either Stanley or West Denton next.
Gateshead’s Brian Orrell had a cracking 20-14 home win over Stanley’s Eddie Henry. Hartlepool’s Gary R
Smith qualified for the latter stages of the Champion of Champions after beating Aycliffe’s Dave Quickmire 21-9.
Smith will face Worthing Pavilion’s James Brennan in the last 16 at Dolphin in February.
In the Mixed Pairs, Durham’s Liam Hall ended Vipers Phil Dixon’s run 22-15 and will host Stanley’s Michael English next.
Houghton’s Patrick and Peter Thomson beat West Denton’s Lee Lowdon 22-6 in the family pairs to set up a trip to South Shields to face the McIntosh brothers.