Dream came true for Silksworth quartet
In the men’s competitions, 2014 was a year when dreams came true for four Silksworth lads.
In the first week of the men’s National Championships at Leamington Spa the Silksworth quartet of Phil Dixon, Neal Ridley, Ian Riches and David Bolt bagged six magnificent victories to take the Bowls England national fours title.
Their march to the title started with a first round 19-13 win over Surrey’s Ian Jenkins, which was quickly followed by a comfortable second round 30-7 win over Warwickshire’s Alan Aspey.
A third round 22-14 win over Devon’s Tony Main was followed by a nervy 21-20 win over Suffolk’s Phillip Last.
Despite trailing 12-3 in the semi-final clash with Kent’s England international Andy Thomson, the Silksworth quartet battled back to 19-18 down with one end to play.
With Kent holding shot, Bolt played a peach of a final bowl to lift out the shot bowl for a two and seal a 20-19 win.
The final saw them face Yorkshire’s Nigel Brignall and it went to the wire.
With two ends to play Brignall collected a treble to lead 19-16 but Bolt collected a double on the 20th end to go into the last end trailing 19-18.
The final end saw Bolt holding a match-winning count of three and as Brignall’s final bowl slipped tight the title was Silksworth bound.
This was a first national title for Dixon, Ridley and Riches while it was Bolt’s second. It was more sweet for Bolt after being overlooked for the England team earlier in the year.
The last Sunderland based squad to win the national fours was Sunderland’s Charles Gibbs in 1935.