HOUGHTON AND SHIELDS SHOW SPIRIT IN DEFEAT
Houghton and South Shields delivered spirited performances in the latest round of Inter County fixtures, only to respectively lose to leaders Hartlepool and title-chasing Durham.
Houghton actually led 2722 at the halfway mark, but the now-customary secondhalf collapse saw them slump to a harsh 10-0 whitewash, and a final score of 69-48.
At Hartlepool, both the Houghton away rinks were level at halfway.
However, Brian Henderson’s quartet succumbed 23-9 against Paul Mosley and Richie Mckie’s quartet went down 16-11 to Albert Ward, which left the away squad 19 shots adrift.
At Houghton, both home rinks were left ruing missed opportunities.
Peter Thomson’s rink, with Brian Sanderson making his debut at three, went into the last end 13-9 up against Dale Oram only to drop a five and finish 14-13 down.
Freddie Fletcher’s rink of Tony Grimes, Michael Noble and Sam Patterson saw a 126 lead eroded away against Jonny Forcer, and Fletcher finished 16-15 down to leave the home squad two shots down.
Defeat leaves Houghton on the brink of relegation with only two rounds of games to play, and next up they face bottom-of-the-table Darlington on March 3.
South Shields were also beaten, losing 70-48 to thirdplaced Durham.
At Shields, the only bright spot came from Kris Storf ’s rink of Michael Baker, David Gray and Paul Hart, who grabbed a 15-15 draw against Alan Musgrove.
The other rink, skipped by Arthur Harrison, lost 2113 to Dave Christie, which left Shields eight shots down at home.
At Durham, both Shields rinks were beaten, Josh Minto losing 20-9 against Keith Minnis and Josh Halcrow down by three to leave the away squad 14 shots down.
The 9½-½ loss leaves Shields 9½ points above the relegation places and with a bye next.
Current Standings: Hartlepool 32, Gateshead B 31, Durham A 28½, South Shields 19½, Great Aycliffe 18, Houghton 10, Darlington 1.
In the latest round of Top Ten fixtures, Houghton looked to make home advantage count as they sought to avenge their loss earlier in the season to Darlington.
Despite a decent effort, however, Houghton could only muster a win in the pairs and a draw in the triples, as they went down 7-3.
The bright spot in the pairs came as Michael Wright and Frankie Froud remained in front throughout against James Humble, eventually running out 12-9 winners.
The triple of Joe Sutherland, Jimmy McAdoo and Alan J Dunn ground out a 1414 draw against Tony Macey.
The two defeats came in the singles, as Patrick Thomson went down 21-14 against Keith Burton, and in the fours, where Peter Thomson succumbed 14-9 to Alan Stephenson.
The South Shields bandwagon in the local stages of this season’s national competitions shows no signs of stalling, as they grabbed another two area final places.
In the pairs, Josh Halcrow and James Sneller came out on top in an all-Shields semifinal against the McIntosh brothers 18-4, and in the area final Sneller will face Hartlepool’s Carl Higgins and Paul Hartley.
The second Shields success came in the triples as Scott Baker, Neal Ridley and Billy Ferry withstood a late comeback by Houghton’s Peter Thomson to get home 2316, and in his area final Ferry will face Hartlepool’s Glenn Skipp.
West Denton youngster Arron Robson booked a twobowl area semi-final clash against Shields’ David Bolt after beating Bolt’s Shields clubmate Alan Lawton 2116, while the other semi-final is an all-Hartlepool affair as Vinnie O’Neill plays Skipp.
There was disappointment for Shields’ Billy Ferry in the over-60s pairs, with an 18-9 loss to West Denton’s Roy Goldsmith, who now heads to Gateshead in the area semi-final to face Ronnie Richardson.
Aycliffe’s Barry Attwood secured an area final place in the over-55 triples with a 19-15 win over Redcar’s Alan Jones, and now awaits the winner of Durham’s Mark Barkess and The Parks’ Peter Dawson.
In the Ladies over-60 singles, South Shields’ Marilyn Robson defeated Durham’s Joan Brown 21-10 while clubmate Maureen Charles defeated Durham’s Arlene Stafford 26-8 in the pairs.
In the Ladies Mason double fours, Houghton’s conquerors South Shield’s defeated West Denton 36-29 and will face Durham next, the latter ending Cumbria’s hopes 43-25.
Durham County’s under25s will be looking to replicate the Liberty semi-final appearances of the two men’s teams, as they face Yorkshire in the quarter-finals of the double fours, and after the impressive 46-12 win over Nottinghamshire the selectors have named an unchanged team, with a noon start.
At Durham: J.Harston (Aycliffe), K.Burton (Darlington), M.Barkess (Durham), B.Henderson (Durham); at Scarborough: C.Morrison (Ferryhill), J.Minto (Shields), M.Ray (Hartlepool), J.Halcrow (Shields).
At this season’s National Champion of Champions at the Warner’s Lakeside resort, the men’s title went to Moonfleet’s Martin Puckett while the ladies’ title went to Ipswich’s Katherine Rednall.
Outdoor fixtures for Sunderland & District have been released: this season the Earl Cup and Swan Cup will have a separate division for the 4-rink and 3-rink format, with Earl Cup holders Silksworth hosting Dairy Lane in an early-season clash while Silksworth head to Barnes Park to open their Swan Cup defence.
In the Harold Howey, holders Barnes Park B open at home to Roker Park, while Storey Bowl champions H et ton Work men host Hough ton Town.
Finally, the future of the oldest Northern Counties competition - the Muras Trophy - is in doubt.
A few years ago, the 84-year-old competition format was refreshed, introducing a double header.
However, Northumberland and Cumbria have dropped out of the current format, leaving only Durham and Yorkshire, with a decision yet to be made on this year’s competition.