The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Eagle swoops to land himself a place in two national finals
Bowls - Parkway ace is on a high
Parkway’s Nigel Eagle is certainly flying high at the moment after qualifying for two national competition finals at Leamington next month in the space of 24 hours.
He’s through in the mixed pairs with Sarah Newson following a 24-15 victory in the area final at Coventry against Three Spires’ Martin Hammond and partner which followed an excellent 20-17 semi-final success over England pair Jamie Walker and Katie Smith.
Then he defeated WhittleseyManor’sTonyReed21-15 in the Hunts county final of the over 55 singles which starts a day after the mixed pairs at Leamington on August 27.
Also through to Leamington from county finals are Sheila Craig (Conservative) in the over 55 singles and Parkway’s Val NewsonandPatReynolds in the over 55 pairs.
However, theParkwayrink of Sarah Newson, Catherine Popple, Tristan Morton and Stuart Popple lost out 16-19 in the area semi-final of the national mixedfourstoaquartet skippedbyEnglandstarJamie Walker, from the Northampton West End club.
It was also the end of the road for the City of Peterborough double rink in the area final of the Tony Allcock Trophy, the national inter-club senior mixed double rink competition, as they were beaten 30-36 at Northampton club Kingsthorpe.
The rink of Fiona Richardson, Jessica Phillips, Malcolm Squires and Geoff Hedges won 18-17, but Roger Strong’s rink of Linda Darani, Norma Squires and Peter Eddings were beaten 12-19. Parkway ladies have qualified for thenational TopClubplayoffsafterbeatingConservative 4-0 in the Hunts final – they were the only entries from the county.
Thecity side nowfaceBedfordshire winners Ampthill on a neutral green for a place in the last 16. Northants menwill knowthis weekend whether they have doneenoughtoreachthefinal of the English Bowling Federation’s Adams Trophy intercounty championship which they wonforthefirsttimelast year.
They currently top the southerntable, butSuffolkrequirejust17pointsfromthe22 onofferfromtheirrearranged clash with bottom of the table NorthCambsatTilneyStLawrence onSaturdayto overhaul the championsandqualifyfor Skegness next month. ThefinalsoftheHuntscounty competitionsarebeingstaged on Sunday at Yaxley, home club of county president Freda Thomas.
The finalists in the mainstream events are already guaranteed their places in the national finals at Leamington next month.
Parkway brothers Ean and Tristan Morton, along with Warboys’ Ed Elmore, are all looking for title hat-tricks on the day, with young Elmore having already lost to JoeRandall (Parkway) in the under 25 singles decider.
Catherine Popple (Parkway) has already claimed the four-bowl singles title with a finaldefeatofParkway’sSabrina Parnell, and could add two more this weekend.
Warboys and Parkway will clash in the final of the Stuart & Co Shield, the inter-club double rink event, following semi-finalvictoriesoverWhittlesey ManorandBuckdenrespectively. Yaxley Kites will face CoP Molins A in the final of the Peterborough League’s Munday Shield at Whittlesey Town, home club of League president Jean Redhead, onThurs- day, August 18.
In the semi-finals, Yaxley Kites defeated West Ward A 56-25, while CoP Molins A edgedhome41-37 against East Community.
In the Mick Lewin Trophy final, CoPBelvedere will meet West Ward Tigers at the same venue on Friday, August 12 following semi-final victories over Peterborough & District (72-39) andLangtoftPearlBlue (60-44) respectively.