BOWLS: Trio of Northants teams make it through on a fine weekend

It was an incredible weekend for Northamptonshire bowlers as three teams made it through the final stages of Bowls England’s inter-county competitions.

Northants’ White Rose Trophy team are bidding to make history by becoming the first team to reach the final in three consecutive stagings since the competition was introduced in 1993.

Having won the competition, which is for the under-25 men, in 2018 and finishing as runners-up in 2019, Northants have reached the semi-final stages once again as they came through the East regional finals at Newmarket Avenue BC last weekend.

Northants produced an impressive fightback to beat Norfolk 41-33 in the semi-final but were relentless in the final against Suffolk, forcing their opponents to shake hands after 18 ends with the county 45-15 ahead.

The semi-finals and final of the competition will be staged at Victoria Park in Leamington on Sunday, September 5 with Northants facing Yorkshire in their semi-final.

Northants will be represented in both the Balcomb Trophy and Amy Rose Bowl on the same day after their respective teams also came through their regional finals last weekend.

The Balcomb Trophy, which is a men’s competition, saw Northants defeat Suffolk 38-27 in their East region semi-final at Brampton BC to set up a final against Norfolk.

And the county just edged through 41-40 to make it through to the final four where they will play Cumbria in the semi-finals on September 5.

And, rounding off a superb weekend for Northants, was their team in the Amy Rose Bowl - the inter-county competition for women aged under 31.

Northants were up against Gloucestershire in the Midlands/West regional final at Welford-On-Avon.

And Rebecca Wigfield’s team made no mistake as they claimed an emphatic 65-18 victory to advance to the latter stages where they will meet Hertfordshire, also on September 5 in Leamington.