Bowls: Slick Shields take route 66 towards Inter-County League promotion

At Shields, both home squads broke the 30-shot barrier.

Mick Maher, P. Hart, Fred Knubley and Alan Lawton cruised to a 38-8 win over Tom Magnay, while Ian McIntosh steered Michael Baker, Eric Weightman and Stewart Hubbard to a high-scoring 33-18 victory against Bob Charlton.

Those scores left the home squad 45 shots in credit.

The clean sweep was completed at Gateshead as both away squads recorded good wins.

Scott Baker, T. Giles, Peter Brickle and James Sneller enjoyed a cracking 29-13 triumph over Bob Wood, while Bill Upsall, Michael Carr, Keith Taylor and Paul Sainthouse ground out a 20-15 win over John Wolfendon to leave the away squad 21 shots up, and Shields completing a 10-0 points win.

The big victory puts Shields top of the Second Division and they need only need nine points from their last two games, against Dunelm and Ferryhill, to go up.

This weekend’s game against Dunelm had already been cancelled due to Shields holding their Classic Open pairs competition today and tomorrow.

Inter-County League, Division Two standings: South Shields played 4 pts 36, Great Aycliffe 5-35, Gateshead A 4-21, Stanley 3-15, Dunelm 4-14, Ferryhill 3-9, Shildon 3-0

Over the last few days, the “beast from the east” has played havoc with the internal club leagues at Houghton.

Due to the dangerous road conditions, the club cancelled three consecutive days’ play.

In the Seniors Inter-Club League, Houghton Sancroft and Kepier’s final games of the season against Gateshead A and B respectively were cancelled and will be rearranged.

Houghton are due to face Darlington in the Inter-County League tomorrow, but that match must be in doubt.

In the area final of the national singles, Hartlepool’s Paul Hartley booked a place at the national championships later this month after a cracking 21-17 win over Durham’s Gary Smith.

In the last 16 at Melton Mowbray, Hartley will face either Anthony Blackler (Erewash) or Kevin Rands (Lincoln).

The latter stages of the mixed fours and mixed pairs were held last weekend at Loddon Vale.

In the mixed fours’ last 16, the Hartlepool quartet of Lauren Mosley, Bev Lynch, John Lynch and Paul Mosley faced Wellingborough’s Paul Broderick.

A straightforward early exit looked on the cards for Mosley, trailing 12-4 at the halfway mark, but a 13-2 return over the next five ends saw Mosley go 17-14 ahead.

However, the failure to score on the final three ends proved decisive as Broderick rattled off 11 shots without reply to leave the Hartlepool quartet shell-shocked 25-17 losers.

In the mIxed pairs, Lauren and Paul Mosley were flying the region’s flag and the Hartlepool husband and wife pairing produced four stunning performances to take the national title.

In the last 16, a 22-7 win over the newly-crowned WIBC junior singles champion, Ely’s Ed Elmore, was followed by an impressive 20-16 success against Exonia’s newly-crowned world indoor pairs winner Jamie Chestney, after Mosley trailed 13-7.

In the semi-finals, the Mosleys comfortably defeated two England internationals, Sandy Hazell and Perry Martin of Swale, 17-6, with three ends unplayed.

That set up a final against Welford-on-Avon’s Amy and Andrew Walters.

The Hartlepool duo always had their noses in front, 8-3 up after five ends then 11-7 at halfway. With three ends to play, the lead was down to 15-13, but they held their nerve to clinch the title 17-14.

Disability Bowls England have appointed Bob Love as their first ambassador.

Love is one of the top para bowls players in the world and has won medals at the Paralympics World Bowls Championships, plus a prestigious bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He is also captain of the Disability Bowls England squad.

The latest World Tour event, the Co-op Funeralcare International Open, is due to start today.

The top 16 ranked players are joined by 16 qualifiers from around the world for the week-long event at Blackpool. As usual, the WBT are live streaming all games via their website.

With City of Sunderland’s search for an alternate indoor venue now nearing four fruitless years, the club is looking for more feedback, everyone who was a member at the time of closure, or any former club member, is asked to visit the cityofsunderland.co.uk website where they can submit feedback to three questions.

The closing date is May 1.

With the outdoor season only three months away, the draw for the Grindon League’s Tommy Thompson double fours has taken place.

Holders Silksworth have been drawn at home to Wearmouthm while last season’s beaten finalists, Usworth, host New Herrington.

First round draw (to be played on Friday, June 22): Silksworth v Wearmouth, Usworth v New Herrington, Whitburn v Houghton Dairy Lane

Second round (to be played on Friday, July 20): Grindon Mill v Barnes West End, Usworth or New Herrington v South Hylton, Hylton CW v Ryhope, Whitburn or Houghton Dairy Lane v Silksworth or Wearmouth