THE 2004 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Total entry = 284  :  33 Singles ;  46 Pairs ;  29 Triples ;  18 Fours; 12 Juniors

Overall, this first entry for our Championships is 20% up on last years totals for the Northern Zone Heats (its predecessor)

2nd Junior Championships - This year's competition was entered by 12 youngsters from 5 clubs - slightly down on last year but enough to provide for a very good and competitive day once again. All players were able to have 4 games (timed at 35 minutes) plus two attempts at a subsidiary target competition. The youngest to take part was Edward Townend who is just 8 years old, whilst Francis Boatman was having a second and final attempt at the title before turning 18 and going on to uni' later this year.

In the round robin rounds of the main competition the younger bowlers found it very hard going against the older more experienced players. They also had to contend with faster mats than perhaps they were used to which meant that just keeping their woods on the mat was often a problem.  Nevertheless, it was to their credit that they kept persevering and never stopped trying and were obviously enjoying their games. There are no doubt some Champions of the future amongst their numbers! Although Alex Robinson (Cayton), David Newsome (N Duffield) and Richard Powell (Gt. Ouseburn) all managed to win 2 of their 4 games, it was last years finalists, Tom Rex (Kirkbymoorside) and Francis Boatman (E Cottingwith) together with twins Jacintha and Gareth Townend (N Duffield) who made it into the semi-finals by comprehensively winning all four of their games.

The semi-final draw saw the twins matched against one another on one mat whilst Tom and Francis fought it out on the other in a rerun of last years Final. In the former, Jacintha just could not repeat her win over Gareth in the National Heats last month, allowing him to reach the Final by 16-7. In the other game, after an even start (4-4 after 4 ends) Francis began to turn on the pressure with his very consistent and accurate drawing skills. Tom, who had also been drawing well all day, was given no room to reply and had to resort to running woods which did not pay dividends, allowing Francis to gain an 18-9 victory and reach the Final for the second year.

In a very close Final, enjoyed by about 30 spectators, both players showed a lot of composure, each trying to out draw the other with little need for weight. Although Francis built up a 6 shot lead, Gareth had reduced the deficit to just a single shot when time ran out and the final whistle blew with the score at 13-12. Francis thus becomes the second player to have his name inscribed on the Junior Championship Cup.

In the Target competitions, all players in turn bowled 12 woods into a set of concentric circles placed at the opposite end scoring 10 for a "bulls eye" and progressively less for the outer rings. The morning winner was Tom Rex (30 points) with Gareth Townend as runner up (28 points) and Joseph Newsome in third (25 points). The afternoon contest was won by Francis Boatman (48 points) followed by Jacintha Townend (28 points) wth Joseph Newsome again third (14 points). (For photos go to the Photo Gallery)

The SINGLES - Saturday January 3rd 2004. The competition commenced at 10am with a Preliminary Round comprising three groups of four. In this, all twelve players had three games but only the group winners went through to Round 1. These were Richard Clark, Jean Calvert and Ralph Parsons who then joined the remaining 21 entrants to play in eight groups of three - again with group winners only going into the Quarter Finals. In the latter, Rose Haynes beat Alan Barningham (13-4), Ken Calvert beat Janet Clark (8-6), Roger Green beat George Crosby (11-7) and Dennis Jarvis just pipped Chris Addy after an extra end (12-11). In the Semis, Roger let a 6-1 advantage slip away to lose to Ken (9-7) whilst Dennis once more had to play an extra end after Rose clawed back two shots on the last end. This time the extra end went against Dennis with Rose winning (9-8). In the Final, Ken conceded with one end to go after Rose only let him take three singles - the final score being 10-3. (For photos of Ken & Rose go to Photo Gallery)

All games were of 10 ends duration and the day finished about 45 minutes ahead of schedule at 3.45pm. The Umpires were Noel Clark and Roger Green. The raffle raised £56. The four semi-finalists will now go on to the Northern Zone Finals on Saturday March 20th.       

The PAIRS - Saturday February 7th 2004. 40 of the 46 entrants had an early 9am start in which they were drawn in 10 groups  of 4 (A-J) playing in alternate sessions on 10 mats. Only the group winners qualified to progress to Round 1 who, together with the 6 lucky players who had drawn a bye, were then organised into a further four groups of four (K-N).  Group K was won by Jim Almond and Sally Roocroft with 2 wins and a draw and who then went on to play a semi-final against Philip Elgie and Allan Meek who had topped Group N with 3 straight wins. A 3 way tie on points in Group L meant that Billy and Joan Thompson went through to the other semi-final based on shots scored, to meet Richard Clark and Dennis Jarvis who with 2 wins and a draw had won Group M. After two one sided semi-finals it was Sally and Jim who met Richard and Dennis for the Final match of the day. Both pairs had been undefeated to this point and the Final was closely fought. However, Sally and Jim had lost a little of their drawing consistency allowing Richard and Dennis to secure an 8-3 victory to finally become the Counties first Pairs Champions.

All games were of 8 ends duration and the day finished well ahead of schedule at around 3.15pm. Umpiring duties were shared between Noel Clark and Roger Green. The raffle raised £98. Of the four semi-finalists, all but Billy and Joan now go on to the Northern Zone Finals on Sunday March 21st (as we have only been offered 3 places in the Pairs this year). (For  photos of the winners go to Photo-Gallery)       

The TRIPLES - Sunday January 4th 2004. For the 15 entrants drawn in the Preliminary Round, the day started early at 9am with play organised in five groups of three. The top two in each Group progressed to Round 1 to join the remaining 14 who then competed in eight groups of three. The eight Group winners formed the first knockout Round - the Quarter Finals. With a 9-2 win over John Myers triple, Rose Haynes went on to play Graham Sherburn (who had just pipped Janet Crosby's trio 7-6) in the Semi-Finals. Playing with Roger Green and Simon Holtby, Rose, managed to convert a single shot into a three with her last wood to force an extra end. However, Graham then drew in with the last wood of the match to take the game 12-10. Meanwhile, Daniel Agustus knocked out Cayton club colleague Doug Farmer 9-5 to meet Alan Banthorpe who had put paid to the hopes of Barry Crossland's team 7-3. After scoring 5 on the first end, Daniels team reached a commanding lead of 11-2 with two ends left. Alan, playing with brother Fred Banthorpe and Danny Brown, had however left it too late to recover, and in spite of scoring two threes on the last two ends, went down 8-11. In a tight Final, Graham, with wife Linda Sherburn and Alan Barningham finally overcame the Agustus family (Daniel with parents Joseph and Sandra Agustus) 9-5.  (For photos of the winners go to Photo Gallery)

All games were of 8 ends duration and the day finished about one hour ahead of schedule at 3.45pm. The Umpires were Noel Clark and Roger Green. The raffle raised £108. The four semi-finalists (minus Graham Sherburn's team who have already made holiday arrangements) will now go on to the Northern Zone Finals on Sunday March 21st. Grahams place will be taken by Janet Crosby's triple by virtue of their having the narrowest defeat in the Quarter Finals.

The FOURS - Sunday March 14th 2004. It was necessary for 4 of the original 18 entries to start early at 9.00am to play in a Preliminary Round to produce the final 16. These then played in 4 groups of 4 with the top 2 in each group producing the final 8 Quarter Finalists.

In these John & Heather Myers playing with Jean & Ken Calvert  overcame Colin Raper, Ron Watson and Jill and (son) David Newsome (6-2); Barry Crossland, Alan Barningham with Graham & Linda Sherburn decisively defeated Richard Lund, Sue Watson, John Coffey and Rita Campling (13-3); Rose Haynes, Roger Green, Simon Holtby and Philip Elgie put out Janet & George Crosby, Trevor Hanlon and Arthur Stubbs (7-4); Richard & Elaine Clark, Maureen Lilliman and Dennis Jarvis dominated Derek Williams, Eli Beardmore and John & Eileen Bunting (17-1).

The Semi-Finals saw Roses trio gain victory over John Myers team (9-5) whilst Barry Crosslands four were too good for Richard Clarks four (winning 10-4). In the Final, after over six hours of play and 56 ends, Roses four were determined not to allow Barrys team mates to lift their second County title (having won the Triples in February) and eventually became our first Fours Champions by a margin of 10-5. (see Photo Gallery)

All games were of only 7 ends duration and the day finished on schedule at 4.45pm. The Umpire was Selwyn Houghton. The raffle raised £77. The four semi-finalists (minus Barry Crosslands team who have already made holiday arrangements) will now go on to the Northern Zone Finals on Saturday March 20th. Barrys place will be taken by Janet Crosby's four by virtue of their having the narrowest defeat in the Quarter Finals. They will also be joined by Colin Rapers team as the next best four as we have been offered an extra place in this discipline this year.