Durham suffer a heartbreaking defeat in 2016 Liberty Cup final

T h e l att e r s t a ge s o f t h e 2015/16 National Championships at Melton Mowbray had plenty of local interest a s S outh S h ie l d s’ s qu ad s had qualified in all four disciplines.

In the singles David Bolt’s hopes of adding the indoor singles title to his 2011 outdoor success were dashed in the last eight as three-time world champion City of Ely’s Greg Harlow recovered from 16-14 down to record a 21-16 win.

I n th e pa i r s P h i l D i xo n and Gary Farquhar enjoyed an opening 23-5 win over Isle Of Wight’s Keith Beckett before succumbing 22-7 in the next round to Wey Valley’s Duncan Heard.

Farquhar and Bolt were joined by Mal Peach in the tr i p l e s but th ey we re we l l beaten in the first round 207 by the Whiteknight’s Rob Newman.

T h e re wa s a c r u m b o f consolation as the Whiteknight’s triple went onto take the title.

In the fours Paul Sainth ou s e, Stewa r t Hubba rd , Alan Lawton and Ian McIntosh recorded a 21-14 win over Church Gresley’s Mark O’Connell in the last 16 which was followed by a cracking quarter-final 21-19 win over Exonia’s England international Jamie Chestney

Sad l y i n th e s e m i - f i n a l McIntosh’s title hopes were ended as they went down to the eventual winners Adur’s David Hubbard 23-11.

The traditional end to the N at i o n a l C h a m p i o n s h i p s wa s th e L i b e rty C up f i n a l and this year’s final between Durham and Kent promised to be a classic and it didn’t fail to deliver.

Sad l y fo r Du rh a m , d e - spite having three rinks up and one level, their hopes of a 12th Liberty title were h ea rtb rea k i n g l y e n d e d a s Kent ran out narrow 111-109 winners.

The early stages saw Durham make their customary slow start as Kent raced into a 17-shot lead which at the half-way mark increased to 19.

A s i n p rev i ou s rou n d s

finish 20-13 up against Andy Thomson MBE.

The final rink left on the green was Hartlepool’s Paul Mosley who was left needing a three on the last end to force extra ends. However, he had to settle for a single and a 17-17 draw against Duncan Hanmore to leave Kent the winners by a couple of shots. The women’s Atherley Trophy was won by Norfolk.

Bristol hosted the final of this year’s Denny Cup and Whiteknights lifted the title for the first time as they defeated Norfolk 74-69.

I n t h e w o m e n’s Ye tt o n T r o p hy t h e t i t l e w e n t t o Swa l e wh o d e f e at e d Yo rk 77-75.

T h e f i n a l o f th e D e n ny P l at e s aw t h e C i ty O f E l y comfortably defeat Victory 89-55, while in the women’s Yetton Plate Acle eased past Torbay 109-53 in the final.

The Top club title went to Swale after they defeated Torquay 94-56.

Sunderland’s Inter Counderson, David Wright and Bryan Henderson (snr) were unlucky to have to settle for a 1 4 -1 4 d raw a ga i n s t B i l l y Blyth while Trevor Joicey, Bob Johnson, Richard Thorpe and Ian Whorlton let a 15-10 lead slip away but still managed to hold their nerve to beat Ian Brown 17-16.

Those scores left the home squad 18 shots to the good and the return of 4½ points was enough to seal promotion. A

A s i t h a p p e n s at T h e Parks the away squad also collected four points which would have also sealed promotion.

Billy Davis’s rink of John G o d f r e y, S a m P a t t e r s o n and Karl Armstrong never looked back after collecting a first end five and went onto defeat Peter Dawson 22-17 while Keith Waterson, Fred Sanderson, Freddie Fletcher and Dan Todner ground out a hard fought 13-10 win over Michael Simmonette.

T h e re m a i n i n g r i n k o f

Joe Sutherland, Dave Armstrong, Malcolm Thompson and Alan J Dunn were level at 12-12 with three ends to go but slipped to a 17-12 defeat at the hands of the talented Josh Minto.

Despite that slip up the away squad finished three shots up which sealed a cracking 21-shot win overall against a team that had only dropped 4½ points over the previous four games.

D u r i n g 2 0 1 5 /1 6 i n d o o r season the local bowls scene sadly lost some well-known names – Silksworth stalwart John Hall (88), LNER’s Norman Gray (82), Services Stan Tu r n e r ( 8 7 ) , R o ke r Pa rk ’s To m Tu r n bu l l ( 8 3 ) , R o ke r Marine’s George Storey (89).

The sport also lost Margaret Clark (87), the former Durham County President at b o t h i n d o o r s a n d o u t - doors as well as a honorary life member of the City of Su n d e rl a n d I n d o o r B owl - ing Club. The region also lost another indoor club as Park View closed.

S outh S h i e l d s h o s te d a round of the Open Singles Circuit which saw 64 players travel from around the country to compete for the £600 first prize.

The final was an all-Scott i s h a f f a i r a s A l l o a’s K r i s Storf defeated Lanarkshires Robert Gordon 10-2, 9-3.

Later in the season Stanley’s Gary Smith rounded off h i s O S C i n d o o r s ea s o n by confirming his place at the top of the rankings after lifting the season’s final event at Adur.

A field of 64 players battled it out for the £1,600 first prize.

En route to the final Smith beat last season’s top ranked player Egham’s Steve Tuohy and former England ace Torquay’s Danny Denison to set up a final against host clubs Richard Moses.

In the final Smith lost the first set 6-4 before taking the second set 7-2. That set up a fourth consecutive best of t h re e t i e b re a ke r d e c i d e r which Smith took 2-1.

Earlier wins at Peterborough and Hornsea plus runner up finishes at Hartlepool and York accumulated season prize money of around £4,000.

Smith would be one of the favourites in the Grand finals the following season.