Last updated 14:16, Thursday, 14 August 2008

Cumbria's women flopped in the National Championships at Leamington – and the men also missed out on the title trail.

Best of bad bunch: Kyle May

Maryport’s Joyce Hodgson was the one success for the women when she fought through to the singles quarter-final.

Earlier both Cumbria pairs went out in the first round and the experienced Liz Garritty was another early casualty in the singles.

The show moved to Worthing for the men’s nationals and Cumbria had high hopes in the junior singles with Lewis Parker of Silloth and Danny May of Subscription.

At just 15 Parker will probably have many more chances to shine at this level and though far from disgraced could not overcome Somerset’s junior international Louis Ridout who beat him 21-15. As indoor junior champion much was expected of Danny May and he did not disappoint.

A 21-17 win over Durham’s Craig Northam was followed by a 21-15 victory against junior international Phil Broughton and then a third win over Northumberland’s Chris Yeomans saw May safely through to the quarter finals in what had been a day of gusting winds and difficult conditions.

In the quarter final May faced Tristan Morton another Junior International from Hunts and proved well up to the task in winning and then faced local hope Aaron Sexton of Sussex. This looked no harder than several of his previous wins but the task on the day proved beyond May with Sexton producing two significant bowls which produced ten shots turnaround. After that there was no way May looked likely to recover and in the end he was disappointingly well beaten. Hopefully there will be other days and as so often happens Sexton went on to take the title.

May’s busy schedule this year meant that he was unable to play in the fours on Sunday and Jim Hynds took his place. The change certainly did not seem to hamper the current champions and Hynds, Ian Airey, Richard Chandler and Stuart Airey comfortably won their prelim and followed up on Monday with two more facile victories. On Tuesday they produced another good performance to beat Dion Auckland of Lincoln and moved into the semi-final with another smooth win over Yorkshire’s Mark Walton.

Not to be outdone Cumbria’s other representatives Michael Downie, John Baird, Rick Gallagher and Ian Gallagher carried all before them also, beating Herts in round one and Northumberland’s Karl Jameson in round two on Monday. On Tuesday they followed up with an excellent 29-12 win over Oxford and joined their club colleagues in the semi-final with a great 27-15 win over Worcester.

So Wednesday dawned with great expectations for both Cumbrian entries but it was not to be. Both fours played below their best and at this stage of the competition you just cannot get away with that. In the end both fours were well beaten, Nottingham beating Stuart Airey 21-9 and Somerset accounting for Ian Gallagher 22-7 with Somerset going on to ultimate success by a single shot in the final.

County Triples: The County Triples was scheduled for last Saturday at 10.00am but the current inclement weather put paid to that when the players were unable to manage more than just one trial end. Andrew Baxter’s Wigton Park trio played in the prelim at Worthing yesterday and were successful against Cambridgeshire. Baxter will now play his first round tie this morning as will Stephen Farish The county final will be completed on their return from Worthing though at present the actual date has not yet been fixed.

County Singles: After the disappointment of losing in the Junior Semi-final at Worthing one might have expected Danny may to suffer some sort of reaction when he turned out at Wigton for the County Singles Final against David Forster of Workington. The game however was fairly tight for much of the way but in the closing stages it was the Workington man who got on top for a deserved 21-14 success

Carliol League: Subscription made certain of another league title in the Thursday section when they defeated Dalston at the Recreation Ground 10-0 and are now 19 points clear of Brampton who remain in second place despite losing 6-4 at Edenside. Courtfield scored the narrowest of victories over Railways 6-4 while Holme Head scored another welcome win when taking care of West End 6-4.

In the Friday league Dalston lost 6-4 at Courtfield but look to have a good chance of taking the title as they are ten points clear of West End who won 8-2 at Edenside. Stanwix are in third place three points adrift after beating Currock 8-2 while Brampton are two points further in arrears despite beating Linton 8-2 at Corby. Courtfield are in sixth another two points behind with Subscription next after losing 8-2 at Wetheral.

Indoor Bowls: Cumbria Indoor Bowls Club on the Viaduct Estate in Carlisle will be staging four open d from August 26 to August 29. Anyone interested in trying out indoor bowls can come along to the Club to sample the facilities on offer all free of charge. There is no need to book just come along between 11.00am and 3.00pm on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday or on Thursday evening between 5.00pm and 9.00pm. Anyone who wishes to join during the Open Week can do so and will receive a discount of more than 25 per cent.