Durham defeat Lancashire in first round of Middleton
The Durham County Middleton Cup squad produced a cracking team effort as they defeated Lancashire in the first round played at York Railway.
Across the green Durham won on five of the six rinks Blackhall’s Paul Hartley won 24-11 against Rhys Vaughan, clubmate John Mansfield beat Nigel Williams 23-15, team manager Silksworth’s David Bolt beat Ian May ne 2314and Dairy Lane’ s Dale Or am beatChrisGale25-18.Theonly loss saw Silk sw or th’ s Gary Farq uh ar go down 26-14 against Robert Stirling. Overall it was a 26-shot Durham win. In the next round Durham will head to Go sf or th to face Cumbria on July 9; the latter beat Northumberland by 35 shots.
The county B team are in Alsop Trophy action today as they head to Rothbury to face Northumberland.
The women’s Stella Logan squad recorded a second win, 112-76 against Yorkshire at Hundens. Dairy Lane’s Karen Sinclair continues to impress winning 29-9, and there was a first win for Marine’s CarolynBarthram23-11.Cumbria’s 10-0 win against Northumberland only lasted five end sat Asp atria due to the green being waterlogged.
In the men’s county competition singles, Dairy Lane’s Dan Todn er beat Jar row’ s Alan Theobold 21-16, Gary McPheators beat Lyndhurst’s Tom Calder in a 21-20 thriller, Dale Oram beat Pelton Fell’s Phil Stoker 21-8 and Ray Robinson had a cracking 21-13 win at Dip ton against BarryNew. The only Diary Lane loss saw the 2018 county runner-up Mal Peach lose 21-11 at Hylton Colliery against Bob Cragg. Scott Baker is the Pumas' only hope after he beat Marine’s Richie Mckie 21-18, the other Puma David Sykeslosing21-20againstPelton Fell’s Jason Taylor. Barnes Park’s Frankie Froud won 21-7 at Jarrow and Seaham Town’s Mark Higgins capitalised on home advantage beating Cons et t’ sPe te rHudspith21-7.T he remaining tie saw Marine’s Sam Patterson beat Jarrow’s Alan Lawton 21-14.
Last 16 Draw – F.Froud (BP) v R.Robinson (HDL), M.Hodgson (ET) v
B.Hopkins (RA), J.Taylor (PF) v G.McPheators (HDL), A.Kirtland (RA) v M.Higgins (ST), D.Oram (HDL) v R.Cragg (H CW ), A. Hi nd( Sto)vL.Macey (RA),S.Bak er( Si)vS. Patterson (RM), S.Slaughter (Sto) v D.Todner (HDL). Ties to be played on Friday 8 July.
Pairs Results – D.Haggath (Dun) 8-26 M.Peach (HDL), G.Wallace (NH) 11-18 F.Close (Lyn), D.Oram (HDL) 12-18 J.Halcrow (Si), A.Jobling (Duns) 23-8 C.Watson (NH), K.King (Dun) 9-19 J.McKenna (Si), L.Pope (Dun) 20-17 R.Mckie (RM), D.Armstrong (HDL) 13-10 P.Stoker (PF), L.Baker(Dip)14-16P.Thomson (RM), B.Sanderson (BP) 10-21 J.Hutchinson (PF).
The remaining local hope in the women’ s county singles, Sunderland’ s Lorraine B re heny, with home advantage was beaten 21-12 by Darlington South Park’s Carole Wade. The women’s county pairs final could be an all-Dairy Lane affair as two pairs are still running; these mi-final and final take place at Sunderland on Monday starting at 10.30am.
In the Grindon League, Dairy Lane moved to the top after a 5-0 win over Usworth, Pemberton’s 4-1 win at Ryhope moves them joint top, and South Hylton move up to fourth after a 4½-½ win over Barnes Park.
In week two in the Storey Bowl, holders Seaham Town beat Hetton Workmen 5½1½, New Herrington beat Houghton Town 6-1 and the remaining game saw Hylton Colliery win 7-0 at Thompson Park.
There was some sad news for the local bowls scene as it lost one of its favourite sons, David Morgan (67) sadly passing away.
The last six years have been a hard watch as his health took a turn for the worse. A former footballer and cricketer, Dave had a natural competitive edge, something he carried into his bowls as a member of the Rok er Marine,Hyl ton Collier y Welfare and Houghton Dairy Lane outdoor clubs.
It was outdoors at the Rolls Royce works team where it all began before joining Marine
and becoming secretary. A move to Hylton Colliery saw David win his first county title, the Durham County two bowl singles in 1992. In 2004 when at Dairy Lane, a second followed playing alongside Ian Lambert and Keith Make peace in the triples. A third came in 2013 when part of the Dairy Lane county fours winners. During his time as Dairy Lane club secretary, his administration skills and enthusiasm helped make the club one of the best private set-ups in the north east.
Indoors, David was a member of Sunderland until it closed, a former director at Stanley and a member of Houghton & South Shields. At a time when the indoor county needed freshening up, David was made indoor county secretaryin 1990, where upon everyone truly saw the value of the man. During his 26-year tenure he transformed the way the county operated, bought a fractured county back together and, with the backing of many, Durham became the most successful Liberty Trophy-winning
county team in England.
Sadly, in 2016 David suffered a health scare and despite his determination to fight it, things continued to deteriorate, and sadly hopes of a return to the green or even to his secretarial roles never materialised. In 2017 for his service to the sport, David was awarded a Life Membership of the English Indoor Bowling Association.
On June 16, David passed away in hospital.
The sport not only lost one of the great organisers with a great passion for the game, but a quality player as well. Tributes from around the county on social media have flooded in, which just shows the esteem and great affection everyone felt towards him.
It was ironic that two of his former clubs met in the Earl Premier League this week – Roker Marine and his final club Houghton Dairy Lane. Both sets of players lined up and gave a minute's applause as a club shirt from each club lay on the green.