Bowls: Houghton Ladies outgunned by Durham in Inter-Club League derby

At Houghton, Ellen Faith’s rink of Joan Watt, Evelyn Barkes and Susan Forster were in dominant form as they ran out impressive 31-11 winners over Eileen Horan.

However, that was only good enough to secure an overall draw at home as S. Richardson, Doreen Fenwick, Brenda Robson and Jenny Smith succumbed to a 27-7 loss against Anne Bernard to leave the home points split 2-2.

At Durham, again it was a tale of two rinks.

Norma Stephenson’s quartet of Maureen Hall, Elizabeth Morris and Audrey Vout saw a 10-3 lead slip away against J. Piggford to eventually lose 13-12.

It was a long afternoon for Florence Phythian’s rink of Margaret Metcalf, Eleanor Barron and Joan Baker as they went down 37-4, sealing a 50-16 defeat for the away squad.

Overall, Durham ran out 8-2 winners points wise.

Houghton next face Great Aycliffe on March 14.

It has been a disappointing season for the three Houghton men’s senior squads, with victories at a premium.

Only Sancroft have notched a win to date. With only pride to play for, all three return to action this coming week.

On Tuesday in Area 2, Houghton Gilpin complete their campaign at home against bottom-of-the-table South Shields (12.30pm), although at present Gilpin are still a man short.

Despite both teams yet to notch a win this season, Gilpin will avoid bottom spot if they get a better result than a 5-0 loss.

Last season, Houghton Sancroft reached the play-offs, however they have found things tough going this time around. Nevertheless, they will fancy their chances of an away win on Wednesday at bottom club The Parks B.

On Thursday, Houghton Kepier will also look for their first win as they host play-off chasing The Parks A.

Houghton Gilpin team v South Shields (Tuesday, 12.30pm at Houghton): To be confirmed

Houghton Sancroft team v The Parks B (Wednesday, 10am at The Parks): P Thomson (snr), R Usher, T Joicey, F Froud; G Brown, A Wood, D Wright, J Jones; J Sutherland, B Race, D Sim, TW Todd

Houghton Kepier team v The Parks A (Thursday, 12.30pm at Houghton): S Barnes, P Taylor, W Barkes, F Kell; P Hicks, D Armstrong, K Hembrough, R Pattinson; A Grimes, W Wells, A Glover, B Johnson

Seniors League standings, Area 1: Darlington played 7 pts 29½, Great Aycliffe 6-20½, Spennymoor 7-17, Durham 7-8, Shildon 5-5

Area 2: Hartlepool A 6-27, Darlington B 7-27, Ferryhill 7-22, Houghton Gilpin 7-7, South Shields 7-2

Area 3: Stanley 6-27, South Shields 7-23½, Gateshead A 6-15½, Houghton Sancroft 6-12, Parks B 6-1

Area 4: Hartlepool B 7-30, Parks A 7-21½, Durham B 5-14, Gateshead B 6-6½, Houghton Kepier 5-3

Inter-County League standings, Division One: Hartlepool 4-29½, Durham A 3-26, Gateshead B 3-22, Houghton Gilpin 4-18, Houghton Kepier 5-16½, The Parks 4-11, Darlington 3-7

Next fixtures (March 4): Darlington v Houghton Gilpin, Gateshead B v Durham, Hartlepool v The Parks

Division Two: Great Aycliffe 5-35, South Shields 3-26, Gateshead A 3-21, Stanley 3-15, Dunelm 4-14, Ferryhill 3-9, Shildon 3-0

Next round of fixtures (March 4): Great Aycliffe v Gateshead A, Stanley v Shildon, Dunelm v South Shields

Durham County seniors’ hopes of retaining their Midland Seniors League crown are still alive after a 21-1 win at York over Nottinghamshire.

Leaders Yorkshire had a cracking 22-0 victory at Tamworth against Warwickshire, but they have now completed their fixtures.

Durham will retain the title if they collect all 22 points in their final game against Warwickshire at Doncaster on March 8.

Standings: Yorkshire 5-93, Durham 4-72, Lincolnshire 4-36, Notts 4-29, Warwickshire 3-22, Leicestershire 3-8

The County Champion of Champions competitions have progressed to the latter stages.

The finals will take place at Hartlepool on March 24/25, with the seniors’ finals at Darlington on March 7/8.

In the singles, South Shields star David Bolt’s hopes of retaining the title are still on track, but he will need will need to get past Gateshead’s Mark Smith to set up a juicy final against Stanley’s Brett Arkley.

Aycliffe’s Barry Attwood will face either Hartlepool’s Albert Ward or Gateshead’s Mark Smith in the pairs final.

In the triples semi-finals, South Shields’ Ian McIntosh will go head to head against Stanley’s Brett Arkley for a final spot against Darlington’s Martin Lynch.

In the fours, the semi-final line-up sees Arkley up against Hartlepool’s Paul Hartley and Attwood tackling Durham’s J. Hutchinson.

In the seniors events, South Shields’ Bobby Graham will need to beat Stanley’s Gordon Dews to book a final place against Ferryhill’s Alan Hinds.

The pairs final will be between Aycliffe’s Fred Edwards and Stanley’s Dave Webb.

The triples is still at the semi-final stage. D.Webb (Stanley) meets Brian Poulter (Gateshead) and W. Dixon (Shildon) faces J. Holmes (Darlington).

The fours are also at the semi-final stage.

Draw: D. Christie (Durham) v B. Cooper (Darlington), W. Maddison (Shildon) v B. Hutchinson (Great Aycliffe).

In the Doshi pairs, the semi-final draw is: J. Halcrow (Hartlepool) v J. Harston (Darlington), K. Donkin (Shields) v A. Porter (Darlington)

With the majority of the national competitions down to the area finals, there has been limited action this week.

In the pairs’ southern semi-final, Hartlepool’s Paul Hartley booked another area final place with a 23-16 win over club-mate Albert Ward. In the area final, Hartley will face Durham’s Mark Higgins.

Hartlepool’s Dale Oram secured an area final spot in the Over-50s triples with a 15-6 win over club-mate Albert Ward. He next meets either Stanley’s Brett Arkley or West Denton’s Peter Duffy.

Gateshead’s Brian Orrell enjoyed a cracking 21-7 win in the two-bowl singles to reach the area final against Hartlepool’s Paul Hartley, who has four area finals to look forward to.

Area finals, Singles: GR Smith (Durham) v P Hartley (Hartlepool)

Pairs: M Higgins (Durham) v P Hartley (Hartlepool)

Triples: G Farquhar (Shields) v P Mosley (Hartlepool)

Fours: G Farquhar (Shields) v P Hartley (Hartlepool)

Two-bowl singles: P Hartley (Hartlepool) v B Orrell (Gateshead)

Over-60s singles, Northern section: R Richardson (Gateshead) v B Orrell (Gateshead)

Southern section: P Barion (Aycliffe) v J Selley (Redcar)

Over-60s pairs area final: B Houghton (Stanley) or B Poulter (Gateshead) v W Edwards (Aycliffe)

Over-50s triples area final: B Arkley (Stanley) or P Duffy (West Denton) v D Oram (Hartlepool)

Over-60s fours area final: W Ferry (Shields) or B Harris (Stanley) v M Hagon (Hartlepool

Family pairs, Northern section: M Higgins (Durham) v S McIntosh (Shields)

Southern section: B Mosley (Thornaby) v J Forcer (Hartlepool)

The final stages of both national mixed competitions take place at Loddon Vale next Friday through to Monday.

It could provide a double for Hartlepool’s Lauren and Paul Mosley, who have qualified in both the mixed pairs and mixed fours.

In the mixed fours, the Mosleys are joined by Bev and John Lynch for a last-16 tie, on Friday, against Wellingborough’s former England international, Paul Broderick.

The Mosley combination face City of Ely’s newly-crowned WIBC Junior singles champion, Ed Elmore, in the last 16 of the mixed pairs.