Charlotte and Lorraine team up again to clinch Town pairs title

The final was played on a scorched Barnes West End green in front of a good sized crowd.

In the final, the Sunderland pair faced Whitburn’s Brenda Harper and Muriel Felce.

The Ashbrooke pair trailed once in the final, 7-6 after eight ends, but, going into the final end, they led 14-13.

As the end progressed, Felce converted to hold shot and a possible extra end, however Breheny held her nerve and trailed the jack to secure a 17-13 win.

It is worth noting that the Sunderland pair have only been bowling for a couple of years.

The SWBA Champion of Champions singles final also took place on Barnes West End and featured Sunderland’s Jean Graham against Barnes Park’s Margaret Eggleston.

Trailing 13-9, Eggleston turned the final on its head to lead 15-13, however Graham was not to be denied and she went onto to win seven of the next nine ends to secure a 21-17 victory.

As the outdoor season comes to an end, there are still a few league results missing to enable the final league standings in the Sunderland & District to be distributed, although the majority of promotion and relegation places have been filled.

In the Harold Howey Trophy, Barnes West End’s veterans celebrated their first Howey title for 22 years with a final-game 4-0 win over Roker Marine A.

The two Houghton Dairy Lane squads finished second and third, while the long-time leaders, Thompson Park B, had to settle for a creditable fourth place.

Last year’s champions, Silksworth, finished seventh, while Washington A and Dawdon were relegated.

In the Second Division, Washington B go up as champions, albeit only on shots difference, alongside runners-up Hylton Colliery Welfare A, who bounce back at the first attempt after being relegated last season.

The Northern Counties championships take place at Heaton Park, Manchester, today and tomorrow, with the Durham representatives looking to improve on last year’s poor showing.

Locally, in the singles, Silksworth’s David Bolt will be aiming to repeat his 2014 success, but first he has to get past Lancashire’s Jason Norris in the preliminary round.

In the fours, Silksworth’s Gary Farquhar will be looking for a first Northern Counties title. In the semi-finals, Farquhar plays the winner of the preliminary clash of Robert Sterling (Lancashire) and Nigel Brignall (Yorkshire).

It is eight years since Durham last had any success in the two-bowl singles.

Silksworth’s Jaxon McKenna will be trying to change that. In the semi-final, McKenna faces Northumberland’s Brian Davidson.

The other Durham hopes are as follows –

Pairs semi-final: Michael English (Dipton) v Robert Sterling (Lancashire)

Triples semi-final: Dale Oram (Hartlepool Park) v Robert Sterling (Lancashire)

Junior singles semi-final: Barry Hopkins (Darlington RA) v Cumbria/Lancashire

The National Championships at Leamington Spa came to an end last weekend and there was nearly late silverware for the region in the Tony Allcock Trophy, a double mixed fours competition.

The Darlington-based Hundens club had progressed to the final after defeating Princes Riseborough (Buckinghamshire) 49-24 in the semi-final.

Sadly, in the final, Hundens narrowly went down 36-30 to Lindfield (Sussex).

Durham County ladies’ Under 25s were beaten in the last 16 of the Amy Rose double fours championship, 30-28 by Leicestershire.

After retaining the Home International Series, the selectors have named the trialists for the 2017 series.

There was good news for Durham’s international skip, David Bolt, as he has been included in the eight players pre-selected for the England team and is not required to attend the trial.

The 2017 series takes place at Belmont Bowling Club in Ireland.

The women’s England team manager, Edna Bessell, has decided to stand down from the role after five years in charge.

Under Bessell’s leadership, England have won three of the last four women’s series.

The list of trialists for the 2017 series has been released, with more frustration for North East bowls as the northernmost player comes from Lincolnshire.

As the indoor season started at Houghton this week, there was good news from Cumbria.

Just 268 days after being completely flooded during Storm Desmond, the club opened again as it hosted the first of the season’s Professional Bowling Association qualifiers for the Scottish Open and the International Open.

The place in the Scottish Open went to the host club’s Trevor Taylor after a 6-4, 4-4 sets win over the now Durham-based Gary Smith.

The following day, Taylor went on to to complete a double as he secured the Scottish Open spot by beating John McCorie 8-2,7-1.

Locally, Stanley’s playing surface has always been recognised as one of the best in the country, however the surface reached the end of its life and both the underlay and a new blue coloured surface have been fitted.

The move from the traditional green playing surface is due to the blue surface being the preferred colour by TV companies.