THE 2007 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Total County Championship entry = 265  :  40 Singles ;  44 Pairs ;  23 Triples ;  17 Fours;  14 Juniors

Of which the total ESMBA Nationals entry = 137 : 18 Singles ; 14 Pairs ; 9 Triples ; 6 Fours ; (8 Mixed Fours ; 8 Juniors separate competitions)

5th Junior Championships (Saturday November 18th) (All games were played over 9 ends.) 14 of our Junior bowlers entered the Championships this year although a late dropout reduced this to 13. 12 of these played in a preliminary round robin organised in 3 groups of 4 from which all bar 1 progressed to Round 1. Here they were joined by first time entrant Ashley Simpson from Riccall who had drawn a bye. This round was again played as a round robin but this time organised in 4 groups of 3 after which a break was held for lunch before the first knockout round (QF) commenced.

The Quarter Final results were as follows. Jacinta Townend beat Ashley Simpson 12-5; Gareth Townend beat Joseph Newsome 8-5; Alex Robinson beat Richard Powell 12-1 and David Newsome beat Ryan Hoyle 27-0. (Note that Ryan, at just 9 years old was in his first competition and had earned his place in the QF with 2 wins in the previous round including the "scalp" of Joseph Newsome - the oldest and most experienced of the Juniors!). In the Semis, Alex, who had not lost a game all day continued his good run by only letting Jacinta win two ends - reaching the Final by 9-2. The other Semi was a re-run of last years Final - another excellent contest between Gareth (who also was unbeaten) and David, not reflected in the final score of 10-2 to Gareth.

Another first class Final ensued during which Alex went 6-1 up after 4 ends. However, Gareth, the defending Champion, hit back and with two ends to go, levelled the score at 7-7. However a 2 from Alex continued to put Gareth under pressure and in spite of an excellent final wood he could only claim a single shot, thus losing 8-9. Alex Robinson, who plays at Crossgates SMBC, after being a losing semi finalist in the last 2 years, now becomes our 5th County Junior Champion. (See PhotoGallery)  

The subsidiary Target competition winners were Jacinta Townend (am) and David Newsome (pm). The day was organised by Eileen Bunting and Clive Scholefield, the county Competition and Assistant Competition Secretaries whilst Noel Clark was kept busy as the Umpire of the day. John Bunting organised the target competitions.

National Heats - Note that 8 of the entrants had opted to take up the offer to use this competition for qualification into the National U18 Singles and this included all four of the eventual semi-finalists. In past years we have been offered 2 places at the finals with only 6 entrants. With Alex and Gareth therefore virtually guaranteed a place, we must now wait and see if Jacinta (who finished 3rd) will also get the opportunity to attend in March (No.....only 2 places offered again - Jan.07)

The PAIRS - Saturday December 2nd 2006: This years entry was conveniently organised into 11 round robin groups of 4 with group winners & runners up (plus 2 more) going through into Round 2. These 24 then played another round robin in 8 groups of three. From this stage it was the group winners only that progressed to the Quarter Finals. In these, last years Champions, Richard Clark & Dennis Jarvis went out 5-8 to Arthur Jackson & John Bunting whilst two of our England Juniors Gareth & Jacinta Townend faltered 3-12 at the hands of Geoff & Ann Whitehead. The other two England Juniors, David/Joseph Newsome had their unbeaten run ended 3-9 by Phillip Elgie and Keith Gough whilst Roger Green & Rose Haynes just overcame Barry/Joan Crossland 9-7 - both being the only pairs to win all 5 games up to that point.

Arthur & John then went on to the Final by easily beating Roger & Rose 9-2 in the Semis whilst Philip & Keith had their hopes dashed 11-5 by Geoff & Ann in the other Semi. In the Final match, Arthur and John were finally forced to concede victory at the hands of the Whiteheads whose more consistent drawing won the day 11-5 with an end in hand. (See PhotoGallery)

All games were of 9 ends duration and the day finally finished ahead of schedule at 4.35. The Umpire was Arthur Rathmell who was kept busy all day and the raffle was well supported raising £116.

March 2007 - All 4 semi-finalists will now go on to the NESMBA Finals at Barnard Castle whilst both of the finalists (being Nationals entrants) will also go down to Kettering for the National Finals (assuming we are allocated the expected 2 places - now confirmed Jan '07)     

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The FOURS - Sunday December 3rd 2006 : An awkward entry of 17 meant that a Preliminary Round was required to eliminate one entry before Round 1 could commence (with 16 teams). To provide a good days bowling the organisers had decided to hold this Prelim. Round in 4 groups of 4 with just one entry only getting a bye and having a late start. Play commenced at 09.30 and throughout the morning was continuous with everyone getting 3 games of 8 ends before a well deserved dinner break. The main round was then a knockout with the winners progressing to a Quarter Final, Semi-final and Final. In the QF round, David Newsome just pipped Richard Lund 8-7; Richard Clark overcame Graham Sherburn 10-5; Geoff Whitehead outplayed Arthur Jackson 13-4 and Alan Banthorpe put out Hambleton club colleague John Bunting 8-3.

Both Semi-Finals went against the days form so far. In the first, Geoff Whitehead playing with wife Ann, Geoff Dye and Roger Green had won all their previous 5 games and were 7-2 up against Alan Banthorpes four and looking set for a place in the Final. Alan with Danny Brown, Derek Williams and Barry Simmonite were not about to give in however and pulled back to win 12-9. In the other, brothers David and Joseph Newsome had teamed up with fellow junior Ben Render from Crossgates and Melbourne's Richard Lockman. They also had had a good run with no defeats until they met Dennis Jarvis, Maureen Lilliman and Richard and Elaine Clark and were defeated 6-10.

In the Final, Dennis found himself 2-8 down with only a couple of ends remaining. A fine last wood on the penultimate end gave him a 4 but he was only able to pick up a single shot on the last end leaving Alans four as this years Champions by 8-7.  (See PhotoGallery)      

All games were of 8 ends duration and the day finally finished ahead of schedule at 4.40. Umpiring duties were carried out by newly qualified Clive Scholefield and the raffle raised £106.

March 2007 - All 4 semi-finalists will now go on to the NESMBA Finals at Barnard Castle whilst both of the defeated semi-finalists (being the highest placed Nationals entrants) will also go down to Kettering for the National Finals (assuming we are allocated the expected 2 places - now confirmed - Jan '07)     

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The SINGLES - Saturday January 6th 2007 : The 40 entrants started in ten groups of four giving everyone three games. The top 2 in each group (plus the next best 4) then played another round robin, this time in eight groups of three - with the eight group winners going through to the Quarter Finals. The first of these saw David Newsome clock up his 6th consecutive win of the day, beating Francis Boatman (Junior Champion in 2004) by 17-3. Geoff Whitehead, also unbeaten at this point, narrowly overcame Ben Atkinson 11-9 whilst Mick Ridge put out Philip Elgie by 9-4. In the other QF, Gareth Townend, who had uncharacteristically lost one of his round robin games by 1-18 (to Richard Lund), finished off Arthur Jacksons hopes with an 8-4 win.

Mick then went on to reach the Final by ending David's excellent run with a convincing 11-2 win whilst Gareth kept cool in a tight drawing game (3-3 after 6 ends) against Geoff to win 7-3. He carried on playing well against Mick in the Final and was well pleased to become our 4th Singles Champion (making up for his narrow defeat in the Junior Championship Final back in November) by 11-3 with one end in hand. (see PhotoGallery)  

All games were of 9 ends duration and the day finally finished more or less on schedule at 4.50. Umpiring duties were carried out by Arthur Rathmell and the raffle raised £79.

March 2007 - All 4 semi-finalists will now go on to the NESMBA Finals at Barnard Castle together with Arthur Jackson who fills our recently offered 5th place there. We are also hopeful that we will be offered two places in the National Finals having had a record 18 entries this year. If so then both Mick and Gareth will also go down to Kettering (now confirmed Jan '07).  

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The TRIPLES - Sunday January 7th 2007 : 20 of the 23 entrants played out a preliminary round robin in five groups of four giving everyone three games. The top 2 in each group ((plus the next best 3) then joined the 3 who had drawn a bye to play Round 1 - another round robin in four groups of four (another 3 games). The top two in each group once again went forward this  time into the Quarter Finals (the first knockout round). The four QF results were as follows.

Graham Sherburn, Barry & Joan Crossland     beat Simon Holtby, Ken & Jean Calvert                             8-6

Trevor Hanlon, Joe Agustus & Ben Render      beat Barry Simmonite, John Bunting & Margaret Mellors   7-5

Geoff & Anne Whitehead & Geoff Dye           beat Richard Lund, Matt Fenwick & John Coffey              8-3

Mick & Ann Ridge & Bob Crowther                  beat Alan & Pat Banthorpe & Derek Williams                     12-2

Two very tight and competitive Semi Finals followed with Ann Ridge drawing the shot with her last wood to tie against Trevors trio, only to go down in the resulting extra end (7-9). In the other SF, Geoffs triple found themselves 7-5 up going into the last end but he was two shots down when he came to bowl his final two woods. With no decent draw shot available, he found both his running shots going wide leaving Barry a draw to reach the Final by 8-7. The Final itself was another close match although by the last end Trevors team needed a 2 to tie. However it was not to be after a superb 2nd wood from Joan ditched the jack to put the game beyond reach. With a 5 on this last end, the final score was 11-4 to Graham, Barry & Joan who become this years County Triples Champions (see PhotoGallery). 

All games were of 8 ends duration and the day finally finished a little ahead of schedule at 4.50. Umpiring duties were carried out by Clive Scholefield (occasionally assisted by Roger Green) and the raffle raised £104.

March 2007 - All 4 semi-finalists will now go on to the NESMBA Finals at Barnard Castle whilst BOTH defeated Semi-Finalists will also go down to Kettering for the National Finals. (Note that Trevor Hanlon's Triple was disqualified from the Nationals)