WORTHING 2010 - NATIONAL FINALS REVIEW

LADYGATE TRIO SHINE WITH RUN TO QUARTERS

Paul Reynolds, Malcolm Mills and Tony Waller of Ladygate Bowls Club in Ruislip provided Middlesex’s best performance at this years National Championships as they reached the Quarter Finals of the triples event details later.

The fortnight opened with the Under 25’s getting their chance to shine. Jamie Gibbs (Paddington) got a walkover in his first round game and that perhaps did not help him in his second round game against Andrew Walters of Worcestershire, who having already had one game on the tricky greens, won 21-9. Middx’s other representative Chris Cleaver (City of London) faired better, beating Wayne Wilgress of Norfolk 21-18, Chris Kane of Bedfordshire 21-15 and Ian Catchpole of Suffolk 21-15 to complete a fantastic days work. Sadly in the following mornings Quarter final Chris lost 15-21 to Somerset’s Louis Ridout.

The opening Monday saw the fours take centre stage. Middlesex “A”, Glen Adams, Ray Lee, Paul Fuller and John Geeves of Uxbridge came up against a good Wiltshire 4 and lost 22-10. Middx “B”, Ray Fortune, Tommy Brooks, John Stacey and Perry Cook of Poplar, stormed through their 1^st rd game against Norfolk “B” winning 26-10. In the second round against Cambridgeshire “B” the Poplar boys opened up a 10-2 lead before they were pegged back. The Cambridgeshire skip Richard Catton, a National Triples winner in 2009, played some fantastic bowls over the last few ends as he inspired his team to a, come from behind, 18-16 win against the unlucky Middx lads. In a minor note of consolation to the Poplar boys the Cambridgeshire lads went on to win the title beating Kent in the final 18-17, this was the second season in a row a Middx team had lost to the winning four.

Wednesday afternoon saw the Preliminary Round of the triples event with Paul, Malcolm and Tony taking on Derbyshire “A” and winning 17-5. The following morning and the opposition were Surrey “A” and an Egham triple skipped by past Cambridge Park player Roy Spencer. In a game where everything went for the Middx boys and nothing for the Surrey lads, a one sided contest was conceded at 13 ends with Middx 27-5 in front. The 2^nd round saw Middx take on more local opposition in Berkshire “B” and again with Paul in sparkling form they won 22-13. Friday dawned and a date with Kent “B”, with 2 ends to go Middx were 4 behind but a trailed jack saw Middx pick up a 4 to go into the last end level. In a dramatic finish a drive and a ditched jack saw Middx pull through 15-14, the only time they had led in the match. So onto the Quarter Finals and a date with Kent “A” and despite another battling performance this presented a step too far as they went down 18-9.

Middx’s other representatives Simon Jee, Larry Mulligan and Steve Stockley of Parsons Green also endured a roller coaster first day. In their opening game a 12 shot turnover on one end saw them trail by 10 to Hertfordshire “B” but a storming fight back saw them win through 24-22. In the afternoon they faced up to Cumbria “B”, in a tight game they found themselves 4 behind playing the final end. Holding 3 with one wood left for each of the skips Steve watched in agony as his seemingly perfectly drawn wood dropped in slow motion into the ditch giving Cumbria the game 18-17.

The second week saw the Pairs open their campaign, sadly though they lost early. Middlesex “A”, Matt Larman and Ron Searle of Ashford went down 30-15 against Hampshire “B” in the prelim and Middx “B”, Paul Cater and Nick Skidmore of West Ealing lost 22-15 to Yorkshire “B” in their 1^st rd game.

The final “main” competition saw the singles players join the fray but again lady luck was not shining on our representatives as John Hanson (Poplar) lost 21-16 to Steve Bailey of Nottinghamshire in the 1^st rd and Andy Law (Bounds Green) lost his prelim game 21-15 to Scott Edwards of Sussex. The lads did have the consolation of seeing their opponents both lose to the eventual winner, Steve in the Quarter final and Scott in the final.

Now that bowls is a unified sport some of the other events under the Bowls England umbrella are also now held at Worthing during the fortnight and Middlesex had representation in 2 of these events.

Firstly Atilio Ciampini of the Mill played in the over 55 singles but he was beaten by eventual Champion Colin Whitehead of Oxfordshire 21-6 in their 1^st rd game. In the Mixed pairs Paul Cater and Sue Butcher of West Ealing won their 1^st rd game 21-20 against a Hampshire Pair, in the next rd, the last 8 nationally they sadly lost 22-16 to a pair from Somerset.

So despite some good performances not perhaps the best set of results for Middlesex, next year all the entrants will be striving to bring a National title home tin the Counties centenary year.