BOWLS By David Taylor

Published at 11:41, Thursday, 03 July 2008

DANNY May, Ian Airey, Richard Chandler and Stuart Airey of Carlisle Subscription won the National Fours title at Worthing last year and went on to greater glory last week when winning the British Isles fours championship at Llandridnod Wells last week.

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Drawn against Guernsey in the prelim the Carlisle four scored a comfortable 21-14 win, followed that up with a 21-14 semi-final victory over Jersey and completed their unbeaten run when taking the title with another smooth 26-10 defeat of the Scottish representatives.

For Stuart Airey it was only part of a great visit to Wales.

Playing in his seventeenth International series he was at last selected to play his first series at third his previous two appearances in that position having come as a result of players dropping out during a series.

Paired up with Cumbria colleague Stephen Farish the two players won all three matches though it proved not to be enough to get England into a winning position in the series.

The side won well enough in the opening encounter against Ireland racking up a 41 shot win where Cumbria’s third international Craig Docherty who led for Jamie Chestney won by four shots but then slipped to defeat against home side Wales by 26 before going down to eventual series winners Scotland by 22 shots.

This was a somewhat disappointing result but once more highlights the current paucity of real top class players within England.

Middleton Cup

Cumbria plays its third and final group game against Northumberland at Wigton on Saturday.

A win or even a narrow defeat would be enough to put Cumbria through to the quarter finals but already the alarm bells are sounding with Stephen Farish ruled out of the team and doubts hanging over two more of the sides leading players.

Ligament damage has put Farish out of the game for several weeks while back problems for Craig Docherty leaves him in doubt and Rick Gallagher is still trying to recover from a leg injury which has been causing him problems in the last two weeks.

Cumbria would certainly be odds on to account for Northumberland but the task will definitely be a lot harder if all three of these players do not make it to the green on Saturday. Team manager John Bell had made only change to the side which accounted for Durham in the last game at Wigton but he will probably be waiting for fitness news before making his final decisions for Saturday’s vital game which commences at 2pm.

Alsop Cup

Cumbria’s Alsop side is also in action on Saturday when current league leaders Northumberland come to Workington.

Northumberland have amassed 58 points from their three games to date while Cumbria have 38 points from their two games so only a resounding win for Cumbria will do if they are to have any chance of taking the trophy. The selected side is shown below.

Armstrong Trophy

After the poor result against Northumberland in the previous game Cumbria showed more like their true form when beating Durham 12-2 at Darlington. David Baxter won by four against J McAdoo, Vic Emmerson by five against R Liddle and Andrew Baxter by nine against J Wilson.

The only setback came for Robin Phillips who went down by seven to A Mather.

The win leaves them seven points behind league leaders Yorkshire and will certainly add extra spice to the game between the two sides at Courtfield on Saturday week.

Courtfield Race Week

Poor weather hampered players in the Annual Race Week Tournament but the event was completed.

Peck Orchard of Silloth had a good week for after winning both the fours and the triples he reached the final of the pairs with partner Sid Brough before tasting defeat for the first time.

Victory went to David McManus and John Crozier. In the singles, play on Friday evening took part in very poor conditions and as such the semi-finals and final could hardly be described as classics.

Mark Nanson earned his final place by beating Kevin Harrison 21-11 while Ron McMath beat Ian Middleton to take his place.

In the final which was played in deteriorating conditions Nanson proved just the stronger to take the title 21-14.

County Competitions

The semi-finals of the Singles are to be played at Dalston on Friday July 11. Ben Sherwen meets David Forster while Bob Dent will play Danny May.

Also taking place that night at Dalston will be the final of the Under 18 Singles between Ryan Baird and Adam Hocking.

The quarter-finals of the pairs are taking place tomorrow evening at Wigton and Courtfield.

At Wigton David Forster meets Gordon Rome and Richard Chandler plays Craig Docherty while at Courtfield Grant Allan plays Rick Gallagher and Mark Nanson plays Mike Watson.

County President's day

County President Anthony Little had great support at his club Edenside on Sunday and as a result the County coffers received a welcome boost with over two thousand pounds being raised.

Well done to all those who supported the Association.

National Competitions

Silloth club is certainly on the up at present and made further progress in the Double fours when beating Aspatria although it took an extra end before that victory was achieved. They will now meet Yorkshire club Marske in the next round. Silloth are also in the Top Club and were due to play Nafferton last night.

Carliol League

In the Thursday League the top three are as before.

Brampton retain top spot having drawn with third place Dalston while Subscription stay second after beating West End 7-3.

Stanwix move into fourth spot after beating British Rail 6-4 while Holme Head celebrated after gaining a first win of the season when beating Edenside 7-3.

In the Friday league competition is fierce with only ten points covering the top seven clubs.

Dalston moved into top spot after a maximum win at Currock while Stanwix remain in second place despite losing 6-4 at Edenside.

Subscription has moved up three places into third after beating bottom side Linton 10-0.

Wetheral scored a good 8-2 win at Brampton and the Courtfield v West End game which was postponed will be played next Wednesday.

Team

Cumbria v Northumberland Alsop Cup at Workington Saturday July 5:D Pattinson, D Blackmore, P Pattinson, A McGuiness; B O’Hare, B Ditchburn, R Irving, R Cox; D cannon, R Dent, R Dalziel, P Metcalfe; A Walker, M Little, R Litt, E Orchard; W Bateman, M Jackman, R Ritchie, J Hynds; H Stewart, B Fieldhouse, R Au, P Irving. Reserves: D Balfour, J Fieldhouse, L Kelly, C Phillips.

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