It has been a good week for the Shields Vipers in three area finals of the national competitions. In the men’s fours Mal Peach, Paul Hartley, Gary Farquhar and David Bolt secured a place at the national championships with a 17-3 win over Cumbria’s Stuart Robson, the score was a touch harsh on the Cumbrian lads. The Shields now will play the winners of Area 13 Atherley’s Leigh Allen or Five Rivers Pete Ward in the last sixteen on Tuesday April 2 at 930am at Nottingham.
The next success came in the two bowl singles area final as Chris McGready beat Cumbria’s Eddie Murray in a thriller 21-19 to book a place at Nottingham.
The third success was guaranteed as the Open Pairs area final was an all Vipers affair, in a quality final Paul Hartley & Josh Minto got the better of Gary Farquhar and David Bolt. The latter took the first set 6-5 before Minto hit back to level the game 11-2, then in a thrilling one end shoot out Minto got over the line and heads to Nottingham.
In the Over 60 fours area semi final there was however disappointment for the Vipers as Mal Peach were beaten 22-7 at Stanley by Derek Craig. The Stanley quartet will face Cumbria’s Jack Walker in the area final.
Houghton women had to grind out a win over South Shield’s Vipers in the Inter Club league. At Shields Maureen Hall, Karen Sinclair, Florence Phythian and Norma Stephenson looked set for a big win as they led Pam Carlin 15-5, however a Carlin got it back to 18-18 but the Houghton quartet held their nerve to score on the last two ends and finish 21-18 winners. The other Houghton rink skipped by Joan Baker were always on the back foot as they trailed 9-1 against J Craig, it finished 21-8 which gave the Vipers a 10 shot advantage. At Houghton Val Bambrough’s let slip a 12-7 lead against Pat Browne to finish 15-13 down. Ultimately the game was decided on the remaining rink as J Watt, Ann Dale, Susan Forster and Joan Rodgerson put in a match winning performance, leading 12-9 against Jean Chapman the Houghton four rattled off 14 shots over the last seven ends to run out 26-11 winners, that sealed the home total 39-26 and also the overall 68-65.
In the latest round of Top Ten fixtures Houghton kept their slim title hopes alive with a 8-2 win over Durham. In the fours Evelyn Barkes, Jennifer Cornwhaite, Peter Brickle and Peter Thomson beat M Goodyear 14-9. A cracking second half in the triples for David Robson, Dave Armstrong and Jimmy McAdoo saw then turn around a 10-7 deficit into a 22-10 win over M Hunt. A tenth end five helped Mal Baker and Gary McPheators to a 14-12 win in the pairs against L Young. The only Houghton loss came in the singles where Stevie Hanlon led 7-3 and 15-13 before losing out 21-17 to Liam Hall.
Latest Table – Hartlepool 82, Houghton 72, Darlington 71, Great Aycliffe 70, Stanley 54, Durham 38, Ferryhill 27, Sth Shields Vipers 24
There was good news in the men’s inter club, following Stanley’s 65-63 loss to The Park in the final game and the fact they only collected 3½ points opened the door for Houghton to get into the Inter club end of season play off final. It will be a repeat of last year as Houghton will go head to head against Hartlepool again. Hartlepool secured there place with a 9-1 win over Great Aycliffe to pip Darlington by a couple of points.
Final North Table – Houghton 29, Stanley 25½, Gateshead 21, The Parks 16½, Durham 8
Final South Table – Hartlepool 23, Darlington 21, Great Aycliffe 16, Ferryhill 0
Houghton Sancroft bring their seniors group games to an end as they host Gateshead. Following Stanley’s 4-1 win over South Shields the Sancroft lads will qualify for the play off’s as a group runner therefore will have an away quarter final tie against a group winner.
Team – J Sutherland, J Buglass, P Brickle, D Oram, S Hanlon, F Fletcher, D Wright, I Whorlton, M Wright, R Robinson, D Sim, F Froud
In the county champion of champions Houghton’s Jimmy McAdoo’s run came to an end in the semi finals, Hartlepool’s Mark Higgins booked a place in the final with a 19-7 win. In the senior triples Houghton’s Michael Wright also lost in the semi finals 22-15 against Gateshead’s Brian Orrell.
The Durham County seniors go into the Midland Leagues clash against Yorkshire knowing they need two winning rinks to secure a play off final place at Nottingham in March. Locally Houghton’s Dale Oram and the Vipers trio of Mal Peach, Dave Paterson and Billy Ferry have been selected to play.
There was some sad news for the local scene as Peter Kennedy sadly passed away. The former Barnes West End, Silksworth and Roker Marine member was one of the brightest stars of the eighties but never got the chance to show what he could do at a county level due to family commitments, a few years ago ill health ended his playing career but he will be fondly remembered by many.
One of Sunderland’s most proactive outdoor bowls club New Herrington Bowling Club handed over a cheque for £668 this week to Cancer Research UK’s Relationship Manager Nicky McKenna.
Club chairman Chris Blake explained ‘unfortunately some members of the club and family members had sadly been touched by cancer this year and that the club and its members just wanted to do something positive out of a negative situation as a way of showing strength and support to our close friends as they were going through the most difficult of times.’ Raising much needed money for the Club’s two chosen charities Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer to fund research and raise awareness just seemed the natural thing to do as a way of saying a big thank you to all the wonderful NHS staff who take such fantastic care of us’.
Club Treasurer Lorraine Galley confirmed that the money had been raised in a variety of ways – an in-house competition between the men and ladies, Presentation Night raffle, contribution from club member John Sproston who kindly donated his £50 prize money for winning the club badge design competition, Christmas coffee afternoon with Santa plus club secretary Barry Thomas and member Norma Ord raised a further £130 dressed as Santa and his elf on Christmas eve and Christmas day. The club also made an additional donation.
On receipt of the cheque Nicky Mckenna thanked the club and its members for the ‘generous donation’ and outlined the work undertaken by the charity which included research, prevention and awareness and developing less intrusive and tailored care to those receiving medical treatment. The Charity have also accepted the clubs offer to return in April to deliver a more detailed presentation about the important work undertaken by Cancer Research UK to all of the clubs members.’
Previously club member Gary Wallace (snr) completed a sky dive which raised enough funds to get a life saving defibrillator installed at the club. A few years ago the future of the club looked in doubt as membership numbers had dropped but a new influx of enthusiastic members has seen the club revitalised into one of the good news stories for the local sport in many years.