Durham stage trademark second-half surge to win
This week we go back a year and return to the very start of the pandemic in March 2020.
The Durham County Liberty Cup squad were still on course for a 13th Liberty title after they beat Cambridgeshire 111-82 in the semi-final, played at Erewash.
The early exchanges, as expected, were nip and tuck with the overall score locked at 63-63. In recent years the Durham lads have kicked on in the second half of games so it was no surprise to see the customary Durham charge that saw them ease to a 29 shot win.
Across the green, Durham mustered four winning rinks, the pick of them being the all Durham quartet of Liam Hall, Russell Bewick, Bryan Henderson ( jnr) and Gary R Smith, who beat England under-25 international Ed Elmore 27-12.
There were also wins for Vinnie O’Neill (Hartlepool) +7 and the Shield’s trio of David Bolt +4, Phil Smithson +5 and Paul Hartley (Shields) +3. The only loss saw Paul Mosley (Hartlepool) go down by a couple.
Rink scores (Durham skips first) – P Mosley 21, L Baker 23; V O’Neill 20, R Tomlinson 13; P Hartley 15, G Harlow 12; GR Smith 27, E Elmore 12; D Bolt 13, S Popple 9; P Smithson 18, A Ware 13.
In the final, Devon will provide the opposition as they cruised past Sussex by 45 shots.
The counties have met on four previous occasions in the final with Durham coming out on top in all four.
The women’s Atherley final will see Sussex face Lincolnshire.
It was a good week for the South Shields Vipers in the local stages of the national competitions.
In the triples Jaxon McKenna, Phil Smithson and Shaun McIntosh proved too strong in the area final for Hartlepool’s Carl Higgins squad.
The Shields lads ran out 15-2 winners and now qualify for the latter stages at Nottingham.
In the last 16 they will face St Neots’ under-25 England
skip Jamie Barker.
There was more good news for the Vipers in the area final of the two bowl when Jonny Forcer was in outstanding form to register a 21-14 win over Stanley’s Brett Arkley.
In the last 16, Forcer will tackle Kingsthorpe’s junior international Connor Cinato.
In the over-60s pairs Stanley’s Ian Peacock booked an area final place after a cracking 17-15 win at Durham against Jimmy Hutchinson.
There was more Stanley success when Brian Harris beat Aycliffe’s Barry Attwood 23-16 in the area final of the over-60s fours.
In the area final of the women’s two bowl, Hartlepool’s England star Devon Cooper beat the Vipers’ Nina Riches 21-11 to book a place at Nottingham.
In the last 16 Cooper will face Barwell’s Barbara Lewis.
In the latest round of inter-club fixtures, Houghton’s hopes of avoiding relegation hang by a thread despite beating bottom of the table
Ferryhill 7-3 (+22).
At Ferryhill, Peter Thomson looked set for a handsome win, leading 20-7 against Kevin Wheallans, but in the end was treading water over the last six ends and had to settle for a nervy 20-19 win.
The other rink, skipped by Dale Oram were always playing catch up against Colin Larcombe and in the end Oram went down 21-14 to leave the away squad six shots in arrears.
At Houghton, both home rinks recorded wins.
Gary McPheators beat Ken Gill 20-11 while Alan J Dunn steered Michael Wright, Terry Todd and David Wright to an impressive 25-6 win over A Cadman. Those scores left the home squad 28 shots up, which not only secured all the home points but also the overall total.
With one round of games to go and Ferryhill already down, the fight to avoid the remaining spot was still wide open.
Latest standings: Hartlepool
6-56, Gateshead B 5-33, Stanley 5-24, Houghton 21½, Durham 21, Gt Aycliffe 20½, Ferryhill 5-4.
Final round of games: Houghton v Durham, Ferryhill v Aycliffe, Gateshead B v Stanley.
In the Seniors Inter-club, Houghton Sancroft ended their group fixtures with a comfortable 5-0 (+51) win over bottom of the group Gateshead A.
All three Sancroft rinks were won with Peter Thomson, Trevor Joicey, David Wright and Frankie Froud romping to a 25-3 win over D Smith, while John Jones beat John Wolfenden 27-8 and the whitewash was complete when Ian Whorlton beat Bill Bolan 17-7.
To finish top of the group and ensure a home quarterfinal tie, the Sancroft lads needed Stanley to slip up in their final game, but that never materialised so Sancroft finished second and were left to travel to Hartlepool A in the play-off quarter-finals.
The rest of the draw was:
Great Aycliffe v Hartlepool B, Stanley v Darlington B, Durham B v Darlington A
In light of the current coronavirus pandemic, the EIBA recommended that the customary pre-match handshake did not take place until the situation improves.
So far, none of their future events are under threat, sadly that was not to be the case and as Covid-19 gradually took a grip, the indoor season was never completed.
The national championships at Nottingham were rescheduled to take place during September 2020, they were then moved again to November but were postponed again. The latest update is that April 2021 has been earmarked as the next target.
Another outdoor championships has fallen foul of Covid-19, with the European Union Championships due to be held at Ayr now cancelled.
The 2022 calendar is already full and the next European championships will be held in 2023 with Scotland again the hosts.
Sunderland look set to see two more of their League One fixtures rearranged – after the side reached the Papa John’s Trophy Final.
The Black Cats beat Lincoln City on penalties on Wednesday evening to set up a showdown with Tranmere Rovers at Wembley Stadium on March 14.
And as a result of their progression in the competition, two more of the club’s League One fixtures could now be moved.
Sunderland were scheduled to visit Wigan Athletic on March 13 – the day before the final – but that game will now have to be rearranged for later in the season. The Wearsiders currently have no free midweek slots until Tuesday, March 23.
Lee Johnson’s side are also set to travel to Accrington Stanley on Tuesday, March 16 – but this game may now be pushed back by 24 hours and played on the Wednesday, given the cup final.
Sunderland are looking to make two key backroom appointments following the confirmation of Kyril LouisDreyfus’ takeover.
The club has advertised two jobs – lead data scientist and head of analysis and data – another positive sign of the aim to make key appointments in the football structure under the new owner.
Since Louis-Dreyfus’ planned takeover was first mooted, Lee Johnson has been appointed head coach, Kristjaan Speakman sporting director and Steve Davison chief operating officer, tasked with “spearheading business operations, overseeing and leading all non-football related functions at the Stadium of Light”.
The job advert for the lead data scientist, which has a February 26 deadline, reads: “Sunderland AFC is recruiting for a lead data scientist to work within the club to inform decision-making and underpin processes to create a performance culture based on evidence.
“Reporting to the head of analysis and data to create a football and business operations technology and data roadmap, this position will develop and standardise the club’s products, services and processes, and implement the performance analysis and data strategy.”
The head of analysis and data job advert closes on March 5.
It reads: “Sunderland AFC is looking to recruit a head of analysis and data to work within the club to establish and support evidence-led decision-making across the football and business departments of the club, through efficient and effective use of data and performance analysis.
“Reporting to the sporting director and chief operating officer, this position will be the main interface between the football and business operations and the data/performance teams. The aim is to develop a common data and performance language understood by all parties to simple engagement, creating a football and business operations technology and data roadmap.”
The takeover was confirmed on Thursday, LouisDreyfus confirmed as the new chairman and majority shareholder.
Former owner Stewart Donald, and directors Charlie Methven and Juan Sartori will all maintain minor shareholdings in the club.