It was a disappointing weekend for three Durham County teams as they suffered two defeats and a draw. In the men’s Middleton Cup Durham made the trek to the artificial surface at Bolton to face Lancashire. The early exchanges saw Durham trail by eleven shots before turning it around to lead by ten shots. A late Lancashire charge saw them lead by three shots with only one rink left on, in a nail biting final end Durham’s Liam Macey managed to conjure a treble to snatch a 124-124 draw. Points wise it was still 12-10 to Lancashire, Durham’s other winning rink skipped by Dairy Lane’s Dale Oram won 27-20 while the Pumas David Bolt settled for a 17-17 draw. The other group game same Cumbria beat Northumberland 16-6 at Gosforth, with Durham top of the group there final game is against Northumberland at Dairy Lane in two weeks time.
Table – Durham 48, Lancashire 36, Northumberland 22, Cumbria 20, Yorkshire 6
In the women’s Johns Trophy Durham hosted Yorkshire at Darlington Woodlands knowing a win would secure a quarter final berth, sadly things didn’t go to plan as Yorkshire ran out 116-99 (18-4) winners. Across the green Durham only had two winning rinks but a heavy loss for Dairy Lane’s Norma Stephenson proved too much. With Cumbria beating Northumberland three of the four teams can still clinch a quarter final spot. The final group games will see Durham away to Northumberland and Yorkshire face Cumbria. For Durham to progress they need a big points win over Northumberland then hope the other game is a close points affair.
Table – Yorkshire 34, Cumbria 23, Durham 22, Northumberland 9
In the men’s Northern Counties Alsop Trophy current holders Durham made a disappointing start to their title defence as they lost 18-4 to Cumbria at Stockton West End. Durham only won on two rinks, Marine’s Peter Thomson steered his quartet to a 24-17 win and Blackhall’s Danny Ray got home by three. Durham have the chance to bounce back on Saturday as they head to Northallerton to face Yorkshire.
Table – Cumbria 40, Yorkshire 16, Northumberland 6, Durham 4, Lancashire 0
The newly introduced Bowls England Mixed O60’s Inter County competition got underway with Durham beating Cumbria 126-109 at Dairy Lane. At one stage Durham looked home and hosed but a late Cumbria charge saw them get it back to a single shot, however they couldn’t maintain it and Durham ran away over the last six ends. Durham won on five of the six rinks with only the host clubs Dale Oram letting slip a good lead to finish a high scoring 28-24 down. In the next round Durham will face Northumberland on Tuesday 15 back at Dairy Lane.
The County Championships are still progressing along, in the singles the Puma’s Layton Sykes won a thriller against Usworth’s Brian Poulter 21-20, there was more Puma success with wins for Jaxon Mckenna, Mal Peach and Paul Baker. New Herrington’s Colin Watson beat Leadgate’s N Pears 21-8. Marine’s Patrick Thomson booked his second stage place with a 21-11 win over Dunston’s A Humphries.
In the pairs their were comfortable wins for the Pumas David Bolt and Dairy Lane’s Dale Oram, there were three other Dairy Lane winners – Gary Vaughan, Gary McPheators and Lee Harrison. Usworth’s Brian Poulter beat Leadgate’s Paul McNally 26-12. The Pumas David Sykes beat Pelton Fell’s L Day 26-6 and club mate Josh Halcrow beat M Joel at Consett Park 17-15. Marine’s Steve Bowerbank also got through 19-9 at New Herrington.
In the Earl Cup with leaders Silksworth on a bye it was a chance for the rest of the pack to close the gap at the top. Nearest challengers Roker Marine beat bottom of the table Seaham Town 5-1 to get to within 3½ points of the leaders. Third placed Dairy Lane B suffered a setback losing 4-2 at Usworth. Barnes Park beat Sunderland 5-1 and Dairy Lane A beat New Herrington 6-0.
Second division leaders North Biddick won 5-1 at Washington, there were wins for second placed Whitburn, Pemberton and Hylton Colliery. Hetton Workmen moved to mid table with a 5-1 win over Thompson Park.
It is all change at the top of the Swan Cup as it reaches the half way mark. Houghton Dairy Lane’s 6-0 win over Barnes Park lifted them to the top with the latter dropping down to third. New Herrington’s 5-1 win at Seaham Town moves them to within a point of the leaders. Holders Silksworth Pumas won 6-0 at Hetton Workmen’s and the battle of the bottom two saw Usworth beat Roker Marine 5-1, Marine drop to the bottom of the table.
The top of the table battle in division two saw North Biddick beat leaders South Hylton 6-0 to leap frog them at the top. Hylton Colliery’s 5-1 win at Washington moved them up to third, the other game saw Pemberton beat Houghton Town 4-2.
Round six of the Harold Howey saw Seaham Town A go top with a 4-0 win over Whitburn B, the two unbeaten records are still intact as holders Barnes Park beat Hetton Workmen 4-0 and previous leaders Dairy Lane B had a bye.
There were wins for Dairy Lane A, North Biddick, Roker Marine A and New Herrington B, at the top only four points cover the top five.
Week seven in division two saw another new leader as Sunderland B beat Washington B 3-1, Thompson Park’s 3-1 win at Whitburn A keeps them half a point behind the leaders. Last weeks leaders Usworth went down 3-1 at Pemberton B. There wins for Sunderland A, Ryhope and Pemberton A.
The Storey Bowl leaders Seaham Town lost their unbeaten record as they were beaten 5-2 at home to Hetton Workmen. Thompson Park’s 6-1 win over Hylton Colliery lifts then up to second while New Herrington beat Houghton Town 6½-½.
In the SWBA top of the table clash Sunderland A won 4-0 at New Herrington to open up a four point lead. Barnes Park B beat Whitburn 4-0 while the Barnes A team lost 3-1 at Sunderland B
Burkett Shield Results – W Piggott (NB) 20-14 J Bennett (SP), I Armstrong (HDL) 17-15 R Bambrough (NB), D Ward (NB) 15-20 A Mills (Us), P Thomson (RM) 17-8 T Halcrow (SP), M Noble (Pe) 19-21 B Sanderson (BP), G Wallace (NH) 21-13 D Wright (ST)
The 3-2-1 Knock Out Triples semi final line up has been confirmed, holders Barnes Park will tackle the Pumas while Roker Marine will play Pemberton, both games be played on 22 July at Barnes & South Hylton.