In the latest round of the EIBA Over 60’s Double Fours it was a mixed day for our two local teams. The Vipers progressed to the next round after beating The Parks 37-18. Both Viper squads returned winning cards, at Shields Michael Bryne, Fred Knubley, Alan Lawton and Dave Paterson beat T Lye 18-8 while on North Tyneside Joe Sutherland, Mal Peach, Billy Ferry and Dale Oram beat G Robson 19-10. The Vipers will play either Stanley or West Denton next.
Houghton however suffered a double loss as both the A and B squads were beaten. The A team lost 39-22 against a good Cumbria outfit. At Carlisle the Houghton rink of Michael Wright, Peter Brickle, Colin Watson and Frankie Froud got home 14-12 against J Glendinning however it all went downhill at home. Colin Milburn, Mal Baker, David Wright and Richie Mckie never recovered from an early 15-0 deficit and eventually succumbed to a 27-9 loss.
The Houghton B team also suffered a loss as Gateshead eased to a 55-14 win. It was a tough morning for both Houghton squads, at home John Webster’s quartet lost 31-7 to Alex Bryden and at Gateshead Ian Whorlton went down 24-7 against Alan Theobald. Gateshead will now face Cumbria in the next round.
In the Area One section of the national singles Houghton’s Gary McPheators had a cracking 21-18 win over the Vipers Jaxon Mckenna, the Houghton lad will host Stanley’s Brett Arkley next. The Vipers Chris McGready had a good 21-11 win at Gateshead against Mal Johnston to set up a clash with club mate David Bolt in the next round, Bolt beat club mate Ian McIntosh 21-13. Paul Hart also progressed beating Stanley’s James McKenna 21-6 and will face club mate Paul Hartley next.
In the pairs the Viper pairing of Dave Paterson and Alan Lawton ground out a 18-16 win at Houghton against Bryan Sanderson & Frankie Froud, the Vipers will return to Houghton to face Patrick and Peter Thomson. Another Vipers pair progressed, James Sneller and Josh Halcrow beat Stanley’s James McKenna 20-1 and will face club mates Jaxon McKenna and Barry Hopkins next, the latter beat Durham’s David Neil 27-8.
The Viper trio of David Sykes, Stewart Hubbard and Chris McGready sneaked home 17-15 at West Denton against Luke Jamieson. Houghton’s Colin Milburn, Chris Blake and Peter Thomson edged out Stanley’s James McKenna 16-14 and will tackle the Vipers David Bolt next.
The Durham County seniors beat Yorkshire in the first leg of the Tony Horobin Trophy which was played at Darlington, across the green Durham won on all six rinks running out 132-69 winners, the return leg takes place at Doncaster in January.
The next round of fixtures in the Seniors inter club takes place this week, the Division One leaders the Vipers head to Darlington A looking to make it three wins out of three.
In Division Two Houghton Sancroft will make their first visit to Shildon as they look to bounce back from the narrow opening loss at Gateshead.
Houghton line up – M Wright, G Loadman, P Brickle, F Froud, D Yarrow, J Webster, D Sim, R Mckie, C Blake, R Potts, I Whorlton, D Wright
Houghton Gilpins clash with Gateshead was cancelled due to the EIBA Over 60’s ties taking place this week and will be played next Tuesday 12.30pm start.
Gilpin Line Up – P Bambrough, P Saunders, G Stephenson, H Smith, P Hicks, L Todd, P Halliday, D Robson, E Downes, A Ross, P Bennett, R Thorpe.
Houghton return to Inter Club action on Sunday with a trip to Stanley (10am)
Houghton line up – M Wright, G Loadman, P Brickle, F Froud, C Blake, D Robson, M Galley, C Watson, W Roberts, R Potts, M Baker, D Wright, I Armstrong, J Webster, D Armstrong, R Mckie
Latest Table – Durham 2-6, Houghton 1-5, The Parks 1-5, Stanley 2-2
This weekend international aspirations will be at the forefront as Northampton host the various international trials. In the men’s trial locally Paul Hartley, Gary Farquhar, David Bolt (South Shields Vipers) and the Hartlepool duo of Bryan Henderson & Mark Higgins all take to the green.
In the men’s Under 25 trial Hartlepool’s Marcus Mosley fly’s the flag while club mate Amica Fordy is in the women’s Under 25 trial.
At the Scottish National Singles finals weekend Blantyre’s Iain McLean notched a career fourth title with a thrilling 21-19 win over Ardrossan’s Darren Weir. In the women’s singles Teviotdale’s Julie Forrest completed a career tenth indoor national title beating Lynn Stein 21-13, it was a great weekend for Forrest as the day before she was named Scottish Sportswoman of the Year which was a first for the sport.
At the Hong Kong International Classic the England squad of Harry Goodwin, Dominic McVittie, Amy Pharoah and Sophie Tolchard collected silver and bronze medals. In the men’s pairs final Goodwin & McVittie (main picture) missed out in the 8-7, 14-9 to Scotland’s Gary Prunty and Darren Gualtieri. In the women’s pairs Tolchard & Pharoah were beaten in the semi final by Hong Kong 7-5, 9-6, 2-1 so had to settle for a bronze medal.
The Open Singles Circuit Grand Final took place at the Cambridge & Chesterton indoor club. The final saw the number two ranked player Dorcester’s Martin Pluckett beat the number twelve ranked player Mark Royal in the final.
There was some good news for the Vipers David Bolt this week as he has been installed as the Aero Bowls UK Ambassador, as the current trend of bespoke logo’s on the Aero bowls continues to grow and any advice regarding aero bowls contact David.
More good news as the local production the Wrong Bias Podcast has agreed a two year partnership with Greengauge Surfaces with an option of an extra two years, this will ensure the successful Live Streaming of the sport which passed one million views since its inception will continue for the foreseeable future.