Henderson secures a first Burkett Shield for Seaham Town

Seaham Town secured their first ever Burkett Shield success '“ in an all-Seaham final at Houghton Dairy Lane.
Burkett Shield winners. From left: Bryan Henderson (jnr), Brian Henderson (snr), Mal Baker and Sunderland & District president Vince Classen (Houghton Dairy Lane)Burkett Shield winners. From left: Bryan Henderson (jnr), Brian Henderson (snr), Mal Baker and Sunderland & District president Vince Classen (Houghton Dairy Lane)
Burkett Shield winners. From left: Bryan Henderson (jnr), Brian Henderson (snr), Mal Baker and Sunderland & District president Vince Classen (Houghton Dairy Lane)

Bryan Henderson (jnr), Mal Baker and Brian Henderson (snr) were up against club-mates Matty Henderson, Alistair Meek and David Wright. The early exchanges saw Henderson open up a 7-3 lead before Wright levelled with a four on the eighth end.

With Wright producing some quality bowls, the underdogs went into a 11-9 lead with only four ends to play.

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Henderson, however, hit back with a four to lead 13-11 and, going into the final end, Wright needed a two to force an extra end.

Henderson, though, controlled the final end and ran out a 15-12 winner.

Michael Lowis was part of the winning rink, having featured in an early round.

The Silver Jacks quarter-finals and semi-finals were completed this week. Dairy Lane’s Joe Sutherland and Alan J Dunn will now meet Silksworth’s Jaxon McKenna and Billy Ferry in the final.

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Roker Park hosted the quarter-finals. Holders John Smith and Fred Knubley (Roker Marine) looked set for a semi-final spot as they led Thompson Park’s John Horton and Dennis Hulley 13-3, with only seven ends left.

However, the Thompson Park pair produced a stunning comeback to secure a 20-17 win.

David Bolt subbed for Ian Riches and, alongside Neal Ridley, won an all-Silksworth affair 26-12 against Gary McPheators.

Ferry saw off Silksworth clubmate Terry Todd 18-12, while the remaining quarter final saw Dunn recover from 11-6 down to snatch a last-end 13-12 win over Roker Marine’s Alan Middleton.

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The semi-finals were played on a holding Washington Glebe green. McKenna and Ferry led 17-8 against Horton and Hulley and, despite a late charge by Hulley, held on for a 20-16 victory.

The other tie saw Dunn race into a 10-1 lead against Bolt, who was always playing catch-up before shaking hands at 24-12. The final will be played at Dairy Lane.

Houghton Dairy Lane completed a 12-match unbeaten Earl Cup campaign with a 6-1 win at neighbours Houghton Town.

The win means Dairy Lane finish 13 points clear of holders Silksworth, with Roker Marine back in third. Thompson Park and Seaham Town have been relegated.

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In Division Two, both promotion places had already been decided, however Hetton Workmen’s go up as champions by two points from Barnes West End.

South Hylton’s 6-1 win at North Biddick kept them up and relegated Biddick, who go down with Sunderland.

In the Third Division, Whitburn go up as champions, with Roker Park as runners-up. The result of the week was Grindon Mill’s 5-2 success against the newly-crowned champions.

Earl Cup, Div One final standings: Houghton DL 73, Silksworth 54, Roker Marine 37½, Barnes Park 35½, Houghton Town 30, Thompson Park 23, Seaham Town 20

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Div Two: Hetton Workmen’s 63, Barnes West End 61, Hylton CW 39½, South Hylton 39, Usworth 37½, North Biddick 31, Sunderland 23

Dairy Lane moved closer to the Swan Cup title as the top two both recorded 6-1 wins, against relegation-threatened South Hylton and North Biddick respectively, to maintain their three-point advantage over Silksworth.

The survival battle took another twist as Seaham Town beat Houghton Town 6½-½ to leapfrog them and move out of the drop zone.

In Division Two, Usworth’s 6-1 home win over Hylton CW moved them to the top as leaders Hetton Workmen had a bye. Third-placed Roker Park’s promotion hopes took a knock as they lost 5-2 at Washington.

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Champion of Champions results: J Richardson (Roker Marine) 21 V Hendry (Ryhope) 17, A Hall (Roker Park) 21 A Hill (Barnes Park) 20, F Froud (Barnes WE) 13 P Wallace (Houghton Town) 21, R Craggs (Whitburn) 11 C Fish (HW) 21

Seniors’ Champion of Champions results: R Craggs (Whitburn) 13 JA Smith (Roker Marine) 21, D Gibson (Sunderland) 18 R Moorhead (DA), M Wright (Barnes Park) 10 A Wilkinson (Houghton Town)

The quarter-finals of both competitions take place at Barnes Park on Tuesday (6.30pm).

The Sunderland Women’s Bowling Association’s Champion of Champions final takes place on Monday (1.30pm) at Barnes Park, with the host club’s Margaret Eggleston taking on Sunderland’s Durham County lead, Jean Graham.

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In the semis, Eggleston defeated Whitburn’s Florence Rodenby 21-16, while Graham outgunned Ryhope’s Brenda Forrest 21-13.

The ladies’ Town Singles final was played at Barnes Park this week, with Ryhope’s Brenda Forrest crowned champion after a 21-15 win over Whitburn’s Anne Raine.

Roker Park will again host the Jeff Wilson-sponsored Ladies Pairs competition.

The action starts at 10am on Wednesday, with the latter stages taking place the following week.

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Hopes of clinching £4.5m funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help redevelop Roker Park, including the bowling clubhouses,were dashed as more than £30.7m went to 16 UK parks.

Locally, South Shields’ North Marine Park was awarded £2.6m.

There was success for the region at the National Championships at Leamington Spa. In the ladies’ senior singles, Darlington Woodland’s Ann Anderson put together four wins to reach the final against Berkshire’s Bet Aubrey.

Happily for Anderson, there was no repeat of her final defeat in 2008 as the Woodland player ran out a very impressive 21-4 winner in only 14 ends.

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In the main competitions, the Durham qualifiers have struggled to reach the latter stages.

Dairy Lane’s Joan Rodgerson won her preliminary tie in the triples before going out 22-20 to Kent’s Jean Phillips. The other Durham hope, Elm Tree’s Lisa Simpson, also made a first round exit.

In the two-bowl singles, Houghton Town’s Ellen Faith was beaten 17-10 by Somerset’s Katie Herbison in the first round. Lyndhurst’s Sandra Hind manged a couple of wins before going out 16-13 to Northants Alison Dring.

The final of the two team events saw Kent beat Lincolnshire 121-116 to take the John’s Trophy, while the Middleton Cup went to Devon after a 115-104 win over Kent.