Pumas retain Burkett and reach nationals last eight
It has been a great week for the Silksworth Pumas.
First, the club’s grip on the Sunderland&DistrictBurkett Shield remains intact. Then, in the Bowls England double fours, they secured a spot in the national championships at Leamington Spa.
The Pumas have held the BurkettShieldforthelastfour years, and this year's final saw two-thirdsoftheholdersScott BakerandPaulBakerteamup with Jaxon McKenna as they tackled Hetton Workmen’s Chris Fish at Roker Park.
AnearlysevensawtheSilksworthladsraceintoa17-7lead and an early bath was on the cards for the Hetton lads, but some great bowls from Chris Fish kept them in with a sniff.
A valiant fightback got them to within a couple of shots going into the last end but the Silksworth lads were not to be denied, and held on for a 23-18 win and a fifth consecutive success for the club.
Inthedoublefours,thePumas came back from the dead in the last 32 at Northallerton against Nafferton.
Atonepointtheytrailedby 16, but kept at it and turned it aroundtogethome32-29.The win set up a last-16 tie against Northumberland’sStGeorges Hospital at Gosforth.
Thistimetheroleswerereversed as the Pumas led by 12 overall before St Georges battledbacktowithinthreeshots.
The last six ends saw a favourable 10-2 return across both rinks to secure a 41-30 win.
Scott Baker, Ian Riches, Jaxon McKenna and James Sneller won 24-15 and David Sykes, Neal Ridley, Josh Halcrow and Gary Farquhar got home 17-15.
In the last eight at Leamington, the Pumas will face the winners of the Banbury Central Bowling Club (Oxfordshire) and Royal Wootton Bassett B (Wiltshire) tie on Wednesday 31 August.
In the Earl Cup Division Two, New Herrington’s 5-1 winatRyhopeconfirmedtheir promotion as champions.
Whitburn’s promotion hopes took a knock as they lost4-2athometochallengers Pemberton. South Hylton are in third after a 5-1 win at win
less Sunderland.
In Divison One, Seaham Town’s 5-1 win over Hetton Workmen leaves them on the verge of taking the title; coupled with second-placed Usworth’s5-1lossatbottom-ofthe-table Washington, it has catapulted the Seaham club nine points clear, although the top two meet on Monday.
In the Earl Premier, leaders Houghton Dairy Lane had a 6-1 home win over Barnes Park, and second-placed Silksworth Pumas' 6-1 home loss againstMarinesawDairyLane open up a nine-point lead, cut to three after the Pumas beat Barnes 6-1 in a rearranged game; the leaders have a game in hand.
The Swan Cup title race took another twist, long-time leadersBarnesParkbeaten5-1 at relegation-threatened Usworth, which sent Dairy Lane top as they beat South Hylton 5-1 and now lead by a point.
Roker Marine had a muchneeded 6-0 win at Seaham Town, who also beat South Hylton 5-1 in a rearranged game. Only three points cover
thefourteamsbattlingtoavoid the drop.
In Division Two the top threeallwon;leadersNewHerrington 6-0 against Houghton Town, Hetton Workmen 6-0 against Pemberton and thirdplaced Hylton Colliery 5½-½ against Thompson Park. On Wednesday, Herrington and Hylton go head to head.
Barnes Park B sealed a fourth consecutive Harold Howey league title after a 4-0 win at North Biddick; with two games to go Barnes will be looking to maintain their unbeaten record, which has seen them drop just one rink point out of 40 this season.
Roker Marine A cemented second place with a 4-0 home win over Houghton Town.Therewere4-0winsfor Washington B and Dairy Lane A while Seaham Town got a walkover against the Pumas.
Hylton Colliery A sneaked a one-shot 3-1 win at Pemberton B to go top of Division Two. Previous leaders Roker Marine B's result is yet to be confirmed.
Sunderland A won 4-0 at
ChesterleStreet,Washington Awon3-1atSouthHetton,and Pemberton B dented Thompson Park's promotion hopes with a 3-1 win.
The final round of Storey Bowl fixtures takes place this afternoon with three teams stillvyingforthetitle.Leaders Hetton Workmen will secure the title if they beat winless Houghton Town; any slip-ups would open the door for both New Herrington and Seaham Town.
The Bowls England regional days are currently taking place. Last weekend Redcar hosted the senior singles, pairs and champion of champions. In the senior singles, Jarrow West End’s Maurice Dunlop booked a place at Leamington Spa after an initial 21-6 win over Cumbria’s Michael Sydney and then a hard-fought 21-18 win against Leicestershire’sJimKeogh.At Leamington, Dunlop will face Hertfordshire’sJerryRumball in the last eight. In the women’s event, Pelton Fell’s Joan Brown lost her opener 21-13 against Lincolnshire’s Caroline
Cullum. In the senior pairs, both local hopes were beaten in their first games, Dunston’s Alex Bryden losing 19-14 against Lancashire's Alec Atkinson, and Dairy Lane’s Joan Rodgerson beatn 25-10 by Northumberland’s Pat Browne. In the champion ofchampions,Dunston’sBrett Arkleywentout21-9toLeicestershire’s Joe Dawson.
The latter stages of the mixed pairs and mixed fours take place at Blackhall today and tomorrow.
There was some sad news forthelocalbowlssceneasErnie Peacock (88) sadly passed away. Although not seen on the greens for a few years, Ernie played for Barnes West End, Barnes Park, Roker Marine and his final club Roker Park. Indoors he was a member at Houghton and Sunderland, where he was chairman in 1983 and 84 before being made an honorary life member in 2007. Ernie was a good competitorwhowouldalways praise an opponent’s good bowl; he was a proper bowls man.