Six of the best for the top four clubs in the Earl Cup
It was a good week in the Earl Cup for the top four teams as they all rattled in 6-0 wins in round five.
Leaders Barnes Park eased to a 34-shot win at New Herrington, Dairy Lane A beat Usworth by 48 shots and Hetton Workmen stayed in contention with a 33-shot win over Seaham Town.
TheSilksworthPumasgot back to winning ways with a 30-shot home win over bottom-of-the-tablePemberton. The other result saw North Biddick leapfrog Roker Marine after a 5½-½ home win.
In Division Two, Dairy Lane B are still unbeaten after a 6-0 win at Roker Park and South Hylton are equal on points with Dairy Lane following their 6-0 win over Washington.
Ryhope made it back-toback wins with a 5-1 victory at Thompson Park while Houghton Town are still looking to break their duck after a fourth loss, this time 49-46 at home to Whitburn.
There was a thriller at Hylton Colliery as the home side got home 53-52 against Sunderland.
Swan Cup holders Barnes Park went down 4½-1½ at Seaham Town, which propelled the latter to the top of the table. Roker Marine won a tight affair at Dairy Lane 55-54 and New Herrington notched their first win 4½1½ against North Biddick.
In Division Two, Usworth’s unbeaten record went as they lost 51-49 at Roker Park, and Washington moved into second with a 5-1 win at South Hylton.
Houghton Town had a cracking 5-1 win at Hylton Colliery; the other result saw Thompson Park beat Pemberton 5-1.
In the Harold Howey Division One, Hetton Workmen are the early leaders after a 4-0 win at Hylton Colliery, South Hylton remain unbeaten following a smashing 3-1 win at Dairy Lane A, and Roker Marine A bounced back from their local derby loss to beat Silksworth Pumas 4-0, albeit by 2¾ shots.
In Division Two it was derby day at New Herrington as the A and B teams locked
horns, and in a well-contested affair it went right down to the final bowl as the A team got home 35-34 to remain unbeaten and top of the table.
Previous leaders Thompson Park lost at home 3-1 to Barnes Park A and Sunderland B had a good away win at South Hetton 4-0. Ryhope opened their account with a 4-0 win at Chester le Street.
In the 3-2-1 knock-out triples, Usworth beat Sunderland 238-194 and New Herrington won away at Washington 251-178.
Round two in the Grindon League saw the Silksworth Pumas beat Dairy Lane 5-0 and there were 4-1 away wins for South Hylton and Hylton Colliery Welfare.
The latter stages of the SWBA Ann Hall 3-2-1 triples were played at Barnes Park, where the title went to Silksworth’s Maureen Hall, Karen Sinclair and Norma Stephenson. In the final, they beat Roker Marine’s Grace Maxwell, Carol Griffiths and Pat Whitaker 36-30.
The men’s county A team
are in action today as Blackhall host the traditional Muras Trophy double-header. When Cumbria dropped out, the future of the event was in doubt, but the remaining three counties have rallied and will play a 15-end roundrobin.
The opening salvo in the men’s county singles took place this week with plenty of local success. The Pumas’ Jaxon McKenna beat Dipton’s Barry New 21-13, and Dairy Lane’s Dan Todner recovered from 18-9 down to beat Marine’s Peter Thomson 21-20.
There were five more Dairyvictories–GaryMcPheators, Mal Peach, P.Saunders, Ray Robinson and Ron Dixon all got home, while the only loss saw Dale Oram lose 21-14 at home to Jarrow’s Alan Lawton. The Pumas’ David Sykes eased to a 21-6 win at Pelton Fell against Phil Stoker while Seaham Town’s Bryan Henderson (Snr) narrowly lost 2119 at Jarrow against Maurice Dunlop.
In the pairs, Marine’s Sam Patterson beat Consett
Park’s Peter Hudspith 20-18, Barnes Park’s Lee Harrison sneaked home 20-19 at Seaham Town against David Wright and Dairy Lane’s Dale Oram cruised to a 20-8 win at Jarrow West End against Ian Robinson. Silksworth’s Neal Ridley beat Marine’s Bob Craggs 20-16 and Seaham’s Mark Higgins beat Jarrow’s Ken Scott 21-7.
In the women’s fours, Dairy Lane’s Norma Stephenson beat Pelton Fell’s Arlene Stafford 25-10, which sets up a last-16 trip to Middleton St George. In the women’s county double fours, Dairy Lane went down 39-37 at Darlington Woodland’s.
In the Bowls England double fours, the defending national champions Silksworth survived a first-round scare beating Spennymoor 32-31, and will host Lyndhurst next. Our other two local teams went out, Marine losing 3532 against Stockton and Dairy Lane well beaten 42-21 at home to Darlington RA B.
In the Top Club, there was more woe for Dairy Lane as they narrowly went down 3-2 at Lyndhurst, but Silksworth eased past Stockton West End 5-0 and will lock horns with Spennymoor again.
In the over-55 singles, North Biddick’s Bob Johnson made light work of Hunden’s Vic Tunstall 21-2, Dairy Lane’s Ron Dixon beat Jarrow’s Ken Scott 21-5 and Silksworth’s Paul Baker beat Pemberton’s Keith Doyle 215.
In the over-55 pairs, Dairy Lane’s Dale Oram had a good 17-7 win at Pelton Fell against Phil Stoker but clubmate Mal Peach lost out 13-12 against Jarrow's Alan Lawton.
Barnes Park’s Les Taylor had a tough trip to Darlington RA, losing 26-7 to Tony Macey, and a last-end double got Marine’s Richie Mckie over the line against Silksworth’s Paul Baker.
Meanwhile, World Bowls have taken the decision to immediately scrap the muchmaligned rule they recently introduced regarding forfeiting the game if you stopped a bowl.