BOWLS: Haladij pride as she makes national quarter-finals

Haladij played her most consistent and best bowls over the past few weeks to achieve success, with some excellent wins against a number of international players on the way.

In the Area 6 Group stage she beat Desborough’’s Rebecca Wigfield in the fourth round and followed that up by beating England international Amy Stanton of Welford-on-Avon IBC 21-19 shots in the Area 6 Zone 1 Final.

That win put her one match away from appearing in the National Championships, and in that match, the Area 6 Final, she beat Julie Morgan of Malvern Hills IBC 21-14.

That meant Haladij qualified for the national finals for the first time and in the last 16 she played Sue Evans of Taunton Deane IBC and won 21-16.

In the last eight, Haladij then came up against Michelle Barlow of St Neots & District IBC, a player of extensive international experience, having been first selected for the England Junior side in 1998, and since then has been an ever-present member of the England Team.

Haladij fought well but Barlow just had a bit too much expertise for her and she lost 21-14. Barlow went on to lift the national title.

County men are too good for Oxfordshire

NORTHANTS Men beat Oxfordshire in a friendly at Northampton & District IBA 124-109.

The County won four rinks, and lost two, with the highest scoring of the County rinks the one skipped by Bernard Spreadbury, which posted an 18 shots victory.

Rink scores, Oxon skips only, as follows:

Rink 1: Trevor Tilley, Peter Gilkes, Brian Diver & Mick Worthington 27 – Tony Chamberlain 24

Rink 2: Alan Diver, Keith Pick, Brian Langton & Terry James 17 – Mel Mansell 13

Rink 3: Roger Summers, Kip Franksom, Geoff Hunt & Tony Weston 23 – Stan Ponting 11

Rink 4: Don Scott, Alan Baulch, Alan Watts & Bernard Spreadbury 28 – Robin McStay 10

Rink 5: Colin Barnes, Dave Garland, Dick Upton & George Warren 17 – Alex Fleming 30

Rink 6: Keith Howlett, John Elphee, Geoff Harris & Reg Jones 12 – Bill Turner 21

Northampton are pipped by Borough

IN the County League, Desborough IBC (4 points) beat Northampton & District IBA (2 points) 77-69.

Rink details as follows, Desborough names first:

At Desborough: Triple 1: Jim McCamley, Dougie McGivern & Norman Gibb 24 – David Cox, Simon Coles & Mark Dickens 13

Triple 2: Jim Diver, Dougie Cooper & John Haines 19 – Tony Ellis, David Jones & Dave Fage 15

At Northampton: Triple 3: Trevor Anderson, Chris Aitken & Carl Wigfield 17 – Peter Gilkes, Terry Brown & Chris Bland 19

Triple 4: John Pickaver, Pete Mellor & Richard Mann 17 – John Clarke, Roger Summers & Tony Weston 22

Wellingborough BC (5 points) beat Brackley (1 point) 91-54 shots.

Rink details as follows, Wellingborough names first:

At Wellingborough: Triple 1: Dennis Collins, Richard Horrell & Walt Winsor 29 – Ian Dunn, Dick Upton & Mike Smith 11

Triple 2: Nigel Sanders, Tony Asher & Nigel Hawkins 32 – Charlie Greig, Dave Blencowe & Ross Vicars 7

At Brackley: Triple 3: David Bailey, Malc Chambers & Steve Norman 18 – Don Scott, Lindsay Urquhart & Alan Dunkley 17

Triple 4: Pete Boulden, Dave Love & Terry Falkner 12 – Roger Driver, Trevor Gregory & Graham Prior 19

County results

LATEST county results.

Men’s fours: Semi-Final: Jim McKee’s rink, Kingsthorpe BC beat Mark Turner’s rink, Kettering Lodge BC 28-12

Men’s pairs: Semi-Finals: Jamie Walker & partner, Kingsthorpe BC beat Conor Bryan & Connor Cinato, Kingsthorpe BC 17-5

Men’s singles: Semi-Final: Andy Smith, Northampton & District IBA beat Tom Wellburn, Kingsthorpe BC 21-20

Johnson and Swift secure crucial wins

IN the Northants Bowls Youth Development Scheme competitions, there were wins for a couple of Northampton & District bowlers.

In the under-15 singles, Cauly Swift beat Harvey Johnson of Rushden Town BC 21-14, and in the 15-18 singles, Kieran Rollings beat club-mate Maisie Lee 21-13.

Youngsters show elders how to do it

NORTHANTS Under-25s took on Northants Men in a friendly and were 74-62 winners at Desborough IBC.

The highest scoring of the Under 25s’ winning rinks was the triple skipped by Kieran Rollings which had a 13 shots victory.

The highest triple winning for the County men was that skipped by County president Geoff Hunt which won by eight shots.

Rink details, Under 25s names first, as follows:

Triple 1: Cauly Swift, Tay O’Neill & Kieran Rollings 27 – Eddie Short, Peter Kitchener & Brian Langton 14

Triple 2: Shannon Swift, Billie Swift & Tom Wellburn 12 - Kip Franksom, Dave Fage & Geoff Hunt 20

Triple 3: Max Milner, Jack Botterill & Kyle Buckley 16 – Don Scott, Stuart Lowe & Brian Sherwood 16

Triple 4: Tom Manderson, David Iddles & Conor Bryan 19 – Keith Howlett, Malcolm White & John Streather 12