Guys did Cumbria proud
Last updated 11:45, Thursday, 28 August 2008
CUMBRIA’S men were far from disgraced at Worthing without quite making that vital breakthrough which would have brought a national title back to Cumbria.
Subscription’s two fours both looked to have good chances before producing disappointing semi-final displays and going out.
In the pairs, John Baird, who has had an excellent season, and the consistent Rick Gallagher did really well to reach the pairs final before they too bowed out.
In the singles Cumbria’s David Forster and Danny May are at the right end of the bowling age range in terms of fitness but even though they have played form a number of years possibly still lack that little bit of experience which can make all the difference between victory and defeat in a tight game.
Forster won his first game before going out in the second but May reached the third round and looked destined for a quarterfinal place when holding a good lead.
It was a game which he almost certainly should have won but sometimes players can be just a little too anxious to reach the vital 21 mark and as a result play shots which become a little desperate and lacking in patience.
This certainly applied to May’s final game and he went down by the minimum margin to Norman Worley 21-20.
In the Middleton Cup Cumbria were disappointingly beaten in the quarter final by Nottingham a side which were not really rated good enough to take the ultimate prize. That assessment proved spot on for Nottingham went down by 15 to Devon who went on to take the title for the fifth time in the last eight years when beating Norfolk in the final.
Northern Counties
The end of Worthing means that outdoor bowls is fast approaching its end though there are still two or three interesting events still to take part.
The Northern Counties Championships are taking place at Houghton Diary lane this weekend and Cumbria will be represented by John Baird and Rick Gallagher in the pairs.
Lewis Parker in the Junior Singles, Rick Gallagher in the Two Wood Singles and David Forster in the Singles
Play commences at 10am on Saturday when Cumbria will be involved in the Two Wood and Four Wood Singles prelims while on Sunday Cumbria commence at 10am in the pairs prelim and at 1pm in the semi-final of the Junior Singles.
Carliol League
Dalston Bowls Club are the new Friday section champions.
It looked highly likely that they would be as they went into their last match away to Brampton and even though they lost 6-4 the 7-3 defeat of their nearest challengers West End at Wetheral meant that Dalston finished ten points clear at the head of the table.
Stanwix who lost a grand servant Norman Dakers last week finished in second spot having beaten Linton 8-2 on Tuesday.
Courtfield finished their campaign with a 6-4 home win over Currock while Edenside ended what was a disappointing season for them when beating Subscription 8-2.
Under-21 Top Nine
Several of Cumbria’s Juniors get their chance to show their skills at Seaham on Saturday in the Northern Counties Under-21 Top Nine competition. Play commences at 10am and Cumbria will face Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire in a round robin event.
Cumbria will be represented by S Moffat and J Fieldhouse in the Pairs, Mark Hodgson, R Baxter and K Harrison in the Triples and Matthew Hodgson, L Baxter, J Barber and S Bowman in the Fours.
Champion of Champions
Cumbria’s Champion of Champions commences at Workington and Appleby on Saturday week with the final stages being completed as usual at Edenside on Sunday week.
Competition Secretary Vic Emmerson has asked me to remind clubs that entries should be sent to him no later than August 27 together with the entry fee of £23.
Also taking place on day two of the Champion of Champions at Edenside will be the Restricted Singles final between Chris Allason and Joe Coulthard, the Mixed Pairs final between Barbara Hamill and John Hodkin and Lewis and Sandra Parker and the Secretary’s Singles between Anthony Little and Colin Hartness.
County Triples
The much delayed final was eventually played last weekend and resulted in a comfortable victory for Paul Barlow, John Bell and Stephen Farish who defeated Dave Bedlington, Dean Haney and Andrew Baxter.
Indoor Bowls
Cumbria Bowls Club has opened its doors to current embers and prospective new members this week, the club is open tonight and tomorrow 11am to 3pm and it was good to see several youngsters from the southern most club in the county trying indoor bowls earlier in the week.
Oliver Brown, Lee Kirkup and Ryan Baird all of Shap quickly acclimatised to the faster surface and on this showing look likely to be future assets for Cumbria and particularly Shap.
