In the latest round of seniors inter club fixtures Houghton Sancroft got out of jail as they mustered up a late comeback to beat Gateshead 3-2. The Sancroft lads were always behind and were still 12 shots down with ends running out, however a late rally kept their unbeaten start intact. Joe Sutherland, Chris Blake, Peter Brickle and Dale Oram found themselves 10-3 down at the half way mark, they were still 12-7 adrift going into the final end, despite only collecting a three on the last end to finish 12-10 down it was a vital three in the overall context of the game. Michael Wright, Richie Jobling, Freddie Fletcher and Frankie Froud carried the flag, a good five saw Froud go 12-5 up and a late three made it 15-8, with the overall result in the balance a dropped double left Froud 15-10 up. The remaining squad of Steve Hanlon, Ray Robinson, David Sim and Ian Whorlton looked set for a heavy loss as they trailed 12-4 with three ends to play. A double followed by a good four got them back to 12-10 and with the other two rinks finished Sancroft led by one shot overall, a cracking draw by Whorlton and a final Gateshead bowl just running out sealed a 12-11 loss for Whorlton but a Sancroft 36-34 win overall. The win puts Sancroft level at the top with Stanley.
Latest Group Standings – Stanley 11, Houghton Sancroft 11, Gateshead 6, Sth Shields 2
It was a mixed day for Houghton hopes in the national over 60’s double fours as the A team won but the B team were beaten. The “A” team faced Durham A, at Houghton Michael Wright, Mal Baker, Ian Whorlton and Frankie Froud recovered from an early dropped five to race into a 20-6 lead against Alan Musgrove, it finished 23-10. At Durham Dale Oram’s quartet of Joe Sutherland, Steve Tindale and Peter Brickle were always in charge and ran out 23-16 winners to seal a comfortable 46-26 win. The win sets up a tough clash on 12 December against Cumbria who beat Gateshead A 40-21.
The Houghton B team narrowly went out 35-30 at the hands of Gateshead B. At Houghton Steve Hanlon, Chris Blake, Freddie Fletcher and David Robson had a battle with Jacky Taylor and a late dropped four proved vital as Robson lost 16-14. Over at Gateshead David Sim slumped to 18-8 down at one stage against Peter Duffy but battled back to finish only three shots down. Gateshead will face Stanley next who ended West Denton’s hopes 38-34.
Houghton returned to Top Ten action at the weekend as they hosted Darlington, despite a cracking effort the Houghton lads went down overall by a single shot. In the singles Peter Thomson recovered from 5-1 down to beat Michael Lynch 21-11. That ten shot advantage was wiped out in the pairs as Mal Baker and Gary McPheators lost 17-7 to Andrew Henderson. The triples saw Norma Stephenson, Peter Brickle and John Burglass left to rue losing a 7-1 lead in an 11-9 loss. In the fours Steve Krimpen, Steve Tindale, David Armstrong and Jimmy McAdoo won a thriller 13-12 against Mark Jones despite dropping a second end five but it was ultimately a 6-4 win for Darlington.
It was a tough day for the Houghton ladies in the EIBA Mason double fours as they were beaten 35-20. At Houghton Joan Rodgerson lost 15-11 to Arlene Stafford and at Durham Norma Stephenson lost 20-9 against Christine Budd, Durham will tackle the South Shields Vipers next.
Houghton were due to be back in Inter Club action as they were due to face Durham, sadly the home leg at Houghton was cancelled as Durham thought it was a 1pm start, the away leg did take place but no scores available at the time of going to print.
Houghton ladies are back in Inter Club action next week as they face Hartlepool.
At Houghton – J Classen, P Bainbridge, E Faith, V Bambrough, J Watt, L Watson, S Forster, J Rodgerson
At Hartlepool – M Hall, E Morris, F Phythian, N Stephenson, M Godfrey, P Ramshaw, B Robson, J Baker
The Durham County seniors are back in action on Thursday as they head to York to face Yorkshire in the latest round of Midland League fixtures. After the big win over Lincolnshire the Durham outfit will be still smarting from their national exit at the hands of Yorkshire. Locally Mal Peach and Billy Ferry (both Shields), Steve Tindale and Dale Oram (both Houghton) have been selected to play.
For the 9th consecutive year Durham will face Cumbria in the Liberty Trophy, Durham have won four of the last five encounters although the last trip to Carlisle saw Cumbria get home by four shots. Durham head to Carlisle looking to bounce back from last year’s semi final loss to Cambridgeshire. Team manager Dave Kilner has made six changes to the losing semi final line up, there is a Liberty debut for Stanley’s Ryan Henson and Hartlepool’s Joe Ballantyne plus a return to the team for Stanley’s Brett Arkley and Houghton’s Dale Oram, the Vipers Josh Minto is also handed a deserved chance at skip.
C McGready, M Peach, G Farquhar, D Bolt, P Hartley, J Halcrow, J McKenna, J Minto (all Shields Vipers), A Portway, S Slaughter, M Squirrell, M Ray, J Ballantyne, P Mosley, R Bewick, G Skipp, M Higgins, GR Smith, C Higgins (all Hartlepool), D Oram (Houghton), R Henson & B Arkley (both Stanley), J Harston (Aycliffe), T Cairns (Darlington)
In the national singles the Vipers David Bolt ground out a 21-17 win at Stanley against James McKenna, in an all Shields affair Stewart Hubbard beat club mate Ian McIntosh to progress into the next round of the pairs. In the triples Houghton’s Peter Thomson lost at home to The Parks Chris Yeomans while in the fours the Vipers Gary Farquhar eased to a 20-8 win at West Denton against Paul Timney.