BOWLS: Lee and Bryan show their excellence

It was a great day, with nearly 30 young people testing their skills in front of a good crowd of family and friends.

The School of Excellence has two age groups, Under 15 years and 15-18 years, and the morning was devoted to short seven-end matches played on a ‘round robin’ basis in groups, with 10 points awarded for a win and five points for a tie, all the accrued points going forward to be added to points obtained in the afternoon’s ‘skills tests’.

The afternoon skills exercises consist of four different tests, including ‘Jack Delivery’, ‘Centre Line Drawing’, ‘Controlled Weight’, and ‘Drawing Shot Bowl’ and with a lot of points available for the skills, the leading positions can change quite dramatically.

With the scores for the bowls matches added to the scores for the Skills, the top two players in each age group were Conor Bryan of Kingsthorpe IBC and Tay O’Neill (Desborough) in the seniors as they totalled 89 points and 86 points respectively

In the juniors, Jack Lee of Northampton & District and Lois Woodward (Desborough) totalled 80 points each, with Lee being top performer by virtue of a better shots advantage of a mere three shots in the ‘round robin’ matches.

Both pairs will now represent the County at the EBYDS Regional event at Melton & District IBC on April 24.

The top two players in each age group concluded the day with a Final Bowls match for the NBYDS Trophies, and in the Junior Group, Lee retained his title as the NBYDS Junior Champion with an 8-3 shots win over Lois, plus this year he also was the top Junior in the event.

The Senior group match saw Bryan very much on form and he took the title with ease over O’Neill, 12-2 shots.

Second round loss for Kingsthorpe’s Cinato

Kingsthorpe’s Connor Cinato lost in the second round of the Just Retirement World Singles Championship at Potters Leisure Resort IBC in Hopton-on-Sea in Norfolk.

Cinato failed to follow up his brilliant first round victory against Andy Thomson, and lost to Jamie Chestney of Devon.

Chestney is 29 and is a long-serving international for England, both indoor and outdoor.

Cinato lost 2-0 on sets, losing the first 10-3 and second 8-3, and despite the defeat he performed superbly on his first appearance on the portable green at Potters.

County name squad for Surrey Cup clash

THE following players have been picked to represent Northants in their Surrey Cup clash against Surrey next Thursday (Feb 4) at Northampton & District IBC (2om start).

Rink 1: Dougie Cooper, Kingsthorpe/Don Scott, Brackley/Geoff Allen, Daventry/Mick Worthington, Daventry

Rink 2: Chris Hawkins, Desborough/Ken Lovejoy, Kingsthorpe/Bob Tingle, Desborough/Bernard Spreadbury, Daventry

Rink 3: Rick Hayes, Daventry/Peter Byworth, Wellingborough/Brian Langton, Rushden Town/George Warren, Desborough

Rink 4: Harvey Fruish, Northampton & District/Ray Ward, Desborough/Alan Watts, Daventry/Geoff Hunt, Wellingborough

Rink 5: Jim Diver, Desborough/John Chester, Desborough/Trevor Goodchild, Kingsthorpe/Reg Jones, Northampton & District

Rink 6: Tony Dicks, Daventry/Peter Kitchener, Rushden/Ted Guiver, Wellingborough/Richard Somerton, Brackley

Reserves: Tony Weston, Northampton & District/Stuart Lowe, Daventry/Malcolm White, Rushden Town/Roger Miller, Desborough

Northants suffer loss ... against Northants

NORTHANTS men entertained Bedfordshire in a friendly at Kingsthorpe BC, and an unusual result occurred thanks to Bedfordshire being able to send only three rinks.

Northants were anxious to ensure the fixture went ahead, and as there were sufficient reserves in the County ranks, it was agreed that they would provide two rinks to play for Bedfordshire.

Northants managed to beat the three genuine Bedfordshire rinks 56-54 shots, but as the ‘lent’ two rinks beat the County’s other two rinks 54-29, the result was a win for Bedfordshire by 23 shots at 108-85!

The highest scoring rink for the County was that skipped by Bernard Spreadbury, which won by 12 shots.

Rink scores as follows, Northamptonshire names first:

Rink 1: Malcolm White, Bill Craig, Peter Gilkes & Geoff Hunt 10 – Dougie Ainsworth, Terry Fuller, Brian Diver & Richard Somerton (Northants players) 31

Rink 2: Stuart Lowe, Dave Garland, John Barber & Bernard Spreadbury 23 – B Larkin, M Wiltshire, A Howarth & P Marshall 11

Rink 3: Rick Hayes, Brian Hunt, Geoff Allen & Mick Worthington 14 – P Irons, G Stock, T Duke & M Bertrand 28

Rink 4: Roger Miller, Ray Ward, Peter Mellor & George Warren 19 – J Longyear, S Unwin, P Denton & B Morton 15

Rink 5: Jim Diver, Ken Lovejoy, Robin Frost & Norman Gibb 19 – Brian Langton, Harry Copson, Trevor Wright & Brian Sherwood (Northants players) 23 shots

NORTHANTS Vice-Presidents took on Lincolnshire VPs in a friendly at Spalding and were edged out 126-119.

The County side lost on three rinks, won on two and drew the other. The highest scoring of the County rinks was that skipped by Dave Thurlow with a 13 shots advantage, but only just behind was that skipped by Dick Howell with a 12 shots win.

Rink scores, Lincs skips only, as follows:

Rink 1: Ollie Pearson, Kevin Russell, Peter Byworth & Dave Stewart 14 – M Hartopp 27

Rink 2: Tom Black, Charles Longstaff, Peter Oliver & Mike Weatherill 13 – P Gooding 27

Rink 3: Len Smith, Colin Incles, Peter Kitchener & Dave Thurlow 29 – D Henshaw 16

Rink 4: Len Marshall, Jim Walvin, Tony Essam, Dave Williamson 17 – K Pacey 17

Rink 5: Brian Robbins, Bryan Audis, Vic Wallace & Dick Howell 30 – G West 18

Rink 6: Albert Julyan, Derek Essam, 
Ted Guiver & Michael Moulton 16 – D Bothwright 21

County Triples League fixtures taking place

THE men’s County Triples League, organised by Northamptonshire Indoor Bowling Association, has its third week of competition on Saturday with the following matches taking place.

Brackley & District BC take on Kettering Lodge BC, Desborough IBC play Rushden Town BC and Daventry IBC tackle Wellingborough BC.

Each club provides four triples, with two playing away and two playing at home, and the matches are scheduled to start at 10am.

Northants facing Wiltshire quarter

NORTHANTS men will play Wiltshire IBA in the quarter-finals of the Liberty Trophy.

The County are bidding to retain the trophy won last season, and the last-eight match is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 6 at Swindon.

National results

RESULTS from matches in national competitions.

Ladies fours: Area Final: Joyce George, Sue Collins, Maureen McDonald & Pam Reynolds, Wellingborough BC beat Billie Swift, Linda Warren, Janet Swift & Joyce Porter, Northampton & District IBC 22-11.

Mixed Pairs: Area Final: Linda Warren & Chris Bland, Northampton & District IBC beat Tina and Paul Broderick, Wellingborough BC 18-16.

Under-18 Open singles: Third Round: Conor Bryan, Kingsthorpe BC beat Maisie Lee, Northampton & District IBC 2-0

Men’s Pairs: Area Quarter-Final: Andrew Manton & Neil McKee, Kingsthorpe BC beat Jeff Chambers & Peter Ward, Desborough IBC 24-8.

Men’s Triples: Area Semi-Final:Andy Smith, Richard Lemon & Chris Bland, Northampton & District IBC beat Jim Diver, Chris Aitken & John Haines, Desborough IBC 17-8