W.Y.S.M.B.A
.jpeg)
The 2025 Annual NEMSBA Championships commenced over the weekend for everyone in the NESMBA zone at the York Indoor Bowls Centre.
Report as follows from a West Yorkshire perspective:
SATURDAY MORNING [FOURS]
Of the 5 fours that made it through to York, only 2 unfortunately made it through the group phase, Mel, Tom, Royston & Darren as 1 four, and John, Andy Miles, Joanne and Dave the other four. John Packer's four made it through the 1st KO round but fell to Martin Grange's Staffordshire 4 In the next round.
Darren's four faired better by getting right to the final before coming unstuck to Martin Simcock's Staffordshire's team.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON [SINGLES]
Darren, Royston, Daniel Sands and Matthew would qualify from the group phase with John Packer just missing out. Royston was then narrowly beat by Dave Newsome in the next round which also saw Daniel Sands bow out too. Darren and Matthew would go onto the QF phase before both eventually losing. Peter Roberts would beat Adam Lamb in the final in a repeat of last year's finale too.
SUNDAY MORNING [PAIRS]
All 4 of our participants made it through the groups in this one. In the next round Dave & Matthew and Royston & Darren were beaten. Daniel Sands & Robyn fell in the next round leaving just Tom Morris & John Packer remaining, cue a great run... cutting through Peter & Steve Roberts, then Chris and June Crowther in the semis to win the whole damn thing against Darren Kerr and Janice of Staffordshire to a rapturous WY ovation! Excellent
SUNDAY AFTERNOON [TRIPLES]
4 from 5 of our entrants qualified with Angie, Mel and Hannah unfortunately not making it through.
Daniel Sands, Tom and Steve Briggs were beaten in the QF stage, as too were Joanne, Royston and Darren. An all (and only one all weekend) WY Clash in one of the semi finals saw Andy Miles, Dave Fletcher and Matthew Leaf pip Kathryn Jones, Andy Jones and John Packer on the last end for a spot in the final. Despite a great effort throughout, a costly 5 count cost WY dear as Clint and Chris Crowther with Gary Williamson would go onto win the triples for Stockport.
3 participants from the 4 final disciplines is superb and how the results unfolded just shows how we've done as both a squad and some fantastic individual performances, The pairs was a standout, John and Tom couldn't really of gone through many more tougher opponents to record what will be a famous win for these guys and a memory that they'll keep for a lifetime and how they did it too which made picking up the county shield as West Yorkshire captain a proud moment for me too.
I think it goes (rather undeservedly) that we are sometimes overlooked compared to Staffs and Stockport's firepower but as results have shown over this weekend, we can still match them and can have our way with them too. So a huge thankyou and well done to all those that gave as good as they got!! Exceptional!
The County shield winners were WEST YORKSHIRE for their combined performances from the Knock Out stage onwards too!!!
[1]WY 17pts
[2]Staffs 16pts
[3]Stockport 14pts
Final game of the season against Humberside A with a not an awful lot riding on it for our players other than maybe a shot of sneaking 3rd spot in the league when everyone has played 10 games. 1 enforced change was myself making way for Darren in a like-for-like swap due to personal reasons.
Session 1 was mostly West Yorkshire's, 3 wins - Tom beating Ben Sharpe in the singles
(23-5)Angie Morris and Andy Miles beating Ruth and Ken Hurst in the pairs (21-6) and Darren's trio with Margaret Jones and Daniel Twist winning (14-8) Kathryn Jones' 4 were defeated.
Session 2 and a split one, Matthew beating the ever present and still very much game David Coultas (13-10) in the singles, Paul Williamson and Steve Harwood were beaten in the pairs, our trips of Daniel Sands, Dave Fletcher and Hannah Leaf won (11-7) but our fours skipped by John Packer were pipped on the last end unfortunately (6-7)
10-6 Halfway
Session 3 was 50/50 too.. Tom gave it his all against David Coultas but David had enough to pull away as Tom was beaten (8-18) Angie and Andy won a corker of a pairs game by 1 shot (15-14) Darren's three lost their 2nd game but Kathryn's 4 put their first game blues to bed with a great (16-7) victory.
And session 4 was honours even too.. Matthew beating Ben in the singles (15-10) Paul Williamson and Steve Harwood were just edged out by 1 shot (10-11) Daniel Sands' 3 lost a rare game 6-14 and John Packer also rectified the demons with a lovely (12-3) win. Aggregates were key here, 3 of the 4 went to West Yorkshire as Humberside won the triples aggregate.
A decent last match performance from the West Yorkshire faithful. Wasn't earth shattering or phenomenal but was a good, fair result.
I'd like to say a huge thankyou to everyone who has pulled on a county shirt all season for the A side. I'll be doing a season review at a later date but for now, the A side can relax as the B team have 2 more games. It's been a very good season as a county side point of view with just the 1... Staffordshire size hiccup we had... but, for now, the final score of the season from John Charles,
West Yorkshire A 24
Humberside A 16
Easingwold Honours Even!
Steve Harwood (Right) on debut played great stuff and Tom and Lawrence shake on a cracking game!
WY Report v NY TIGERS (16-2-25)
Final away game served up another corker of a match at a game North Yorkshire Tigers side. Steve Harwood was drafted in for his debut match and Nothando returned for her 2nd game for this one.
SINGLES [5/10pts]
=======
"Simply sublime" is how I'd sum up Tom's game against Lawrence in the end. Seemingly looking for a defeat at 7-15 down after 10 ends, sparked 5 ends of near perfection from Tom. 11 points, including 2 fours spun the game on its head in a season best performance from him to secure a hell of a win. Tom would go on to beat Arthur Jackson aswell as Matthew had 2 close loses, the aggregate was split after a 52-52 result.
​
PAIRS [2/10 pts]
=====
Steve Briggs and Angie Morris paired up again for us and recorded a brilliant 14-7 win and a narrow loss, Karl Jones, standing in from the B side was with Joanne but had 2 losses despite the score-lines in both games not reflecting how they both played.
The home side would secure the aggregate by a good mar
​
TRIPLES [5/10 pts]
=====
A draw and a win for Daniel Sands, Dave Fletcher and new acquisition Steve Harwood was a good day at the office for those 3 guys, Paul, Royston and Midge had a loss and very tough win in the last game in which 10 of the 11 ends were singles! We got pipped on the aggregate by 1 shot!
FOURS [8/10 pts]
=====
Kathryn, Mel, Hannah and Nothando notched up a win and a loss for today as John Packer's 4 with Andy Jones, Robyn and a bang on form Tony had an
18-3 & 10-5 victory list and scooped the aggregate by 10 shots.
​
SUMMARY
=======
Brilliant fight from our lads and lasses, those blue mats are from easy to play on so the result was more than deserved and could of been more too.
Steve Harwood played some good stuff, his 2nd game in particular was a heck of a showing for him and he can be proud of his performances today.
Tony was in scintillating form from bowl 1 in the fours too, nailing toucher after touch and backwards in play on request.
Nothando played a solid performance in the fours too and she will only get better at adjusting from one pace mat to another with practise from actually doing it.
A minimum for me was 16 upwards. At 9-7 up at half way we were on track for that too. Great performance!!
​
Final score from Easingwold
North Yorkshire Tigers 20
West Yorkshire A 20
WEST YORKSHIRE HIT BACK!
West Yorkshire A v North Yorkshire A
The penultimate home game of the season would be a cracker of a match. It's fair to say West Yorkshire's pack had been shuffled and readjusted, rejigged and every other thing possible to it before game day but all 20 of us put in a good shift.
SESSION 1
North Yorkshire hit first registering 3 wins from the 4 disciplines, West Yorkshire's only points were the trips skipped by Paul Williamson. Matthew, playing in the singles lost narrowly to Peter Sayer but clawed back some shots in the last couple of ends. (8-14) New look pairs Andy Miles and Joanne Speight lost (7-19) and John Packer's 4 were pipped at the post (9-10)
SESSION 2
West Yorkshire of old.... Tom Morris dispatched Jonathan Dawson in the singles (17-12) Angie Morris and Steve Briggs in the pairs notched up a tough win (13-9) Daniel Sands' trips with Robyn and Dave Fletcher won a tense game (10-8) and Kathryn Jones' 4, featuring debutant Nothando Jones who played well throughout the day, also won (12-6)
Half time, West Yorkshire hold a 10-6 lead.
SESSION 3
A good session for the home side again, Matthew beating Jonathan Dawson was a great result in the singles (16-9) the only blip was the pairs which were lost (9-22) Royston, Margaret and Paul Williamson knocked in a good win (10-3) and John Packer's 4 won their 2nd game very well 13-8.. Tony could even afford to send a wood the wrong bias as his others were all touchers (!)
SESSION 4
Split down the middle this 1, North Yorkshire hit back in a way, Peter Sayer contrived a way to win his singles against Tom and unfortunately for us the singles aggregate with it (8-18) Steve Briggs and Angie got beat in their pairs and the aggregate went North Yorkshire's way too (8-13) Daniel's trio made it 2 from 2 with a resounding 16-1 win and the trips aggregate along with it (16-1) and Kathryn, Mel, Hannah and Nothando ended their day with 2 wins aswell with an (11-3) victory.
OVERALL
A good, hard fought contest with a lot of good bowling around, I would be remiss if I didn't mention some performances though, Angie and Steve in the pairs played fantastic in both games, their last game could of gone either way too after 12 ends
Nothando in the fours, in her 1st game was nervous but several people have said she fitted right in and she can be proud of how she played. Robyn lead really well for Daniel's trips and got plenty of touchers and back woods in play.
Happy Cappy yes, I could be hypercritical and say could we have sneaked more? Possibly yes, but to get what we scored was a hell of an effort against a side who "fancied their chances" against us at 10-30am! It was played in a great spirit, good set of lads and lasses from North Yorkshire but keen with it and always up it against West Yorkshire home or away.
Final Score from John Charles:
West Yorkshire A 24
North Yorkshire A 16
STAFFS STAMPEDE!
First game after the NESMBA Championships was to host Staffordshire in a heck of a tough match. In what started out fairly promising for West Yorkshire, splitting the games 4-4, then Staffordshire would hit back in the 2nd session winning it 7-1, Darren's trips last ditch draw with Martin Simcock's trio 11-11, sparing a clean sweep for Staffordshire.
​
The ignominy of the clean sweep came in session 3 in favour of the away side, and despite wins in Darren's trips 15-10 and John Packer's four 11-4, Staffordshire won the day.
​
It's worth noting that despite the score-line, only 3 of the 4 singles games were lost by a margin of 10 shots or more, and considering 2 of those games were including a debutant in the singles discipline makes the score-line seem distorted. We have to dust ourselves down and draw a line under today's result and prepare for a quick turn around as we host North Yorkshire Tornados next Sunday.
Final score from John Charles:
West Yorkshire A 11
Staffordshire 29
WEST YORKSHIRE WONDERS!
West Yorkshire made the short trip to Humberside in the 2024/25 season curtain raiser today in what was an eye-opening game. West Yorkshire was quickest out of the blocks today. Daniel Twist, new to the WY Squad, quickly found his feet in the game, a much sought after commodity is Daniel, who I've been trying to coerce into playing for WY for a couple of seasons now felt right at home along side experienced Steve Briggs and Daniel Sands with his usual consistency. Winning their first game [17-9]. Off came Alan Taylor's 4 soon after with Andrea, Robyn and Hannah playing some great stuff to win
[7-6] in a nervy game, Andy Miles & Matthew Leaf won well [18-10] in the pairs but John Packer, having lead 9-0 in the singles let slip the lead and eventually got pipped by Helen Smurthwaite [13-15].
Session 2 was similar to the first, myself and Dave Fletcher in the pairs won big in the end despite the first knockings of the game being close [24-3] To the singles and Andy Jones got to grips with Dave Money to win [15-10] and played some very good stuff with it. Darren Cookson skipping the trips hammered John Fussey' trips [20-3] in superb style but Paul Williamson's four with Margaret Jones, Tony Farrar and Neil Birks were beaten [4-11]
Half time and WY lead 12-4
Then we went into overdrive....
A dismantling job from Darren's trio to start session 3, utterly pulverising Ken Hurst's trips in a rare shut out win [25-0] was the start, Andy Jones snuffed out Helen in the singles with a [17-10] victory. Dave Fletcher and me won [14-9] in our 2nd pairs, Dave played great stuff all day to make my life a lot easier. And Paul Williamson's four righted a few wrongs and got back to winning ways with a great [15-7] win. Clean sweep for the Blue and Amber.
Session 4, John Packer in the singles wanted revenge, John got his revenge, in style too. A [16-7] victory, reigning in the weighted shots and using the draw game more paid dividends for John. To the pairs and despite Andy Miles and Matthew's best intentions to give me palpitations from 11-2 up after 8 ends to being 13-14 down after 13 ends, eventually won [18-14] in what was a war of attrition and getting the job done in the end. Alan Taylor's quartet made it 2 wins from 2 with a brilliant [10-2] win, Alan showed off his full skill set with his nudges and drawing game and the occasional fire too. Top stuff.
I couldn't ask for more as a captain... It was sheer effort and resilience.
The bounce back from some players like John Packer to WANT it even more and the desire to turn things around and hold their nerve from Andy Miles and Matthew in their 2nd pairs game, to the pinnacle, Paul Williamson, Margaret Jones, Tony Farrar and Neil Birks from their first game to the second game with cohesion, bowling to areas...
was just.. a total transformation in everything from Neil leading how great he can to Paul at the top! Definitely a hell of turn around.
Daniel Twist debuting in this game, a great lad, very skilled, well known in some circles as a natural talent and a student of this game and a very similar kind of personality and natural game to that of Daniel Sands and Steve Packer.
A hell of a result and our best away result for quite some time.
We haven't scored over 36 points in an away game for over 8 years.
We notched up 29 against Humberside in 2019, 32 against NY Terriers in 2023
and 34 points against Humberside A again last season but never a 36!
​
Final score from North Cave:
Humberside A 4
West Yorkshire A 36
WEST YORKSHIRE
GROUNDED
It was never going to last in all honesty... The hammering we dished out at Humberside was a pick me up token victory for the West Yorkshire side, although, admittedly, it was a hell of a result... Fast track to today and we made the trip over to a new venue for Stockport, and quite nice it is too to face a very good side. West Yorkshire started well enough, Keith Lackford getting the better of Steve Roberts (14-11) in the singles and a fine (8-6) win for Andy Jones, with Neil & Gary Birks and Alan Taylor in the fours.
We also had 2 losses, 1 in the pairs (14-20) and a (5-14) loss in Darren's triples.
Similar second session as well for us, another split one, this time, despite Tom Morris keeping in touch with Peter Roberts for half the game, Peter got a head of steam up and started to pull away with his monotonous drawing game to win (20-8) eventually. Myself and Dave especially with his drawing game played well in our pairs match and won it (16-9) Daniel Sands' trips won comfortably
(15-4) as John Packers 4 were pipped on the last end (6-8)
​
8 each at half way,
​
Stockport would hit the afterburners after lunch however, Chris and June Crowther played the 2nd half of mine and Dave's pairs game very well and we were routed to 7 shots for about 8 ends i think as they beat us (7-18) Tom Morris last ditch draw to earn a draw with Steve Roberts got us a point back (15-15) John Packer's four played really well in their last game to win (10-6) as a rare collectors item with Daniel Sands' LOSING a game!?! (6-12)
​
Session 4 went Stockport's way as well as only Darren's trips win (8-7) recorded us some points. Keith Lackford (7-13) Andy MIles and Matthew Leaf (6-17) and Andy Jones' four (3-11) all ended up on the wrong side of the results.
REFLECTION
​
It's very very rare that we don't turn up in the second half of a match but this was one of those times. to not win an aggregate is also quite annoying especially considering the start we had forged. Only 5 points scored from 16 in the second half was a bit of a come down and something we need to put right. Ironically, we scored the same as last season today too.
​
Final score from Stockport:
​
Stockport A 27
West Yorkshire A 13