Stanley aces net title hattrick in 2014 county finals
The 2014 indoor county champion of champions finals were held at Hartlepool with Stanley collecting three of the four titles on offer.
In the fours final the Houghton quartet of Bryan Henderson ( jnr) and (snr), Steve Kempster and Jimmy McAdoo hopes of clinching a first title for Houghton were dashed as a strong Stanley quartet of Brett Arkley, James McKenna, Phil Smithson and John Thurlbeck won 22-17.
In the triples final Sunderland trio Jim Lambert, Dave Morgan and David Bolt lost 24-12 to Darlington’s Noah Cummings, Mark Jones and Andrew Kirtland.
The pairs final was decided on an extra end as the Stanley Arkley / Thurlbeck partnership beat Hartlepool’s Carl Higgins and Paul Hartley 19-18.
A third Stanley title came in the singles when Arkley completed his own personal treble with a 21-9 win over Gateshead’s Mark Smith.
In the seniors finals at Darlington, Houghton’s Bill Piggott lost 21-17 to Gateshead’s Bob Graham in the singles while the hosts’ Graham Peacock and Stuart Clarke took the pairs title with a 22-17 win over Park View’s Alan Stewart and Colin Chapman.
The triples final only lasted nine ends as Aycliffe’s Ken Hutchinson, Fred Edwards and Dave Barron cruised to a 30-1 win over Durham’s Gerry Payne, Ray Johnson and John Stafford.
The fours title also went to Aycliffe as Phil Payne, Brian Hutchinson, Keith Dunning and Bill Duffy defeated Durham’s Brian Slinn, George Alderson, Paul Heath and Peter Wilkinson 20-12.
Indoor bowls in the North East saw around 600 bowlers left homeless and in 2014 another north east indoor venue’s future was in doubt, fears that after 37 years the Concordia club based in Cramlington could close and be turned into a ten pin bowling alley. Sadly it eventually became the third Northumberland venue to close following Tynedale and the planned Ashington closure, adding Sunderland to the list plus Consett and Hebburn the once thriving region
started to feel some pain as local councils saw indoor bowls as an easy target.
The Home International series was once again held at Stanley, things ran to form as the final game of the series between holders England and Scotland decided the outcome.
Prior to the game both countries had recorded consecutive victories, England had defeated Ireland (+41) and followed that up with a win over Wales (+52), meanwhile Scotland defeated Wales (+28) and Ireland (+26) which meant a draw for England would have been enough to retain the Hilton Trophy.
As it happens in the decider England were never in the lead as Scotland dominated across the green, by five ends Scotland led by 12 shots which increased to 16 at the half way mark.
At the 15th end mark the writing was on the wall as Scotland led by 35 shots and in the end they ran out jubilant 43 shot winners to avenge last year’s defeat, the win brings Scotland to within two series wins of England, the series will again return to Stanley in 2015.
Locally Stanley’s David Bolt and Gary Smith continued their back end partnership but had a mixed bag of results, a win over Ireland but then suffered back to back losses to Wales and Scotland.
There was some good news for the Sunderland inter county squad as it was been confirmed they have avoided relegation to division two, the Sunderland lads fate was in the hands of the only remaining game as Aycliffe needed to collect five points against Hartlepool to jump above Sunderland.
In the end Hartlepool ran out 10½-1½ winners to send Aycliffe down alongside Gateshead, next season Sunderland will be joined by Houghton in division one.
There was disappointment for the defending senior inter club play off champions Sunderland A as they crashed out in the quarter finals 63-50 (5-0) to Hartlepool A at Houghton.
The Sunderland squad were left rueing a slow start across the green as they found themselves 17-0 down and despite a gallant effort all three rinks were eventually beaten.
Arthur Baker, Hen dy Shields, Fred Knubley and Billy Ferry recovered from an 11-4 deficit to lead 16-11 only to lose the last three ends to finish 1916 down against Cliff Simpson. Joe Flett, Ronnie Robson, Ray Robinson and Bobby Graham let slip 14-10 lead finishing 2116 down against Albert Ward.
The remaining quartet of Pat Collins, Billy Hearne, John Jones and Tommy Jopling trailed 21-9 however a late recovery saw them only finish 23-18 to Keith Wilford.
As the 2014 indoor season ended there was some sad outdoor news, after 80 years Barley Mow succumbed to a lack of members and folded.
With the club membership dwindling the writing was on the wall, club chairman George Gibson valiantly tried to rally interest but when only 11 members attended arecent meeting it was reluctantly agreed to pull the plug on the club and end competitive outdoor bowling in the park.
The club for many years had approached the council for fencing around the green in an attempt to combat ongoing vandalism, sadly an arson attack on the clubhouse started the rot and as a result the club had to play out of Mowbray Park, the move ultimately saw them lose members.
Sadly 2020 continues to see the sport lose well known figures, another to the list is D arlington and Ayc li ffe’ s Vince Robson.
A very popular figure in the county the towering Robson made 103 appearances for the county seniors before ill health brought his playing career to an end, he will be sadly missed by his fellow bowlers.
With the sport in lock down again this time of year is usually AGM time, both Bowls Durham and the Sunderland & District have abandoned plans to hold an AGM, all the current official’s will remain in situ for the 2021 season.