Northern Championships 2023.

 

So the 25th edition of the Northern Championships was from a brand new home for us in York at their Indoor Bowling Centre and what a fantastic venue it is, everything was catered for us and the actual event ran like clockwork thanks to Barbara and Andy Miles. 

 

Fours

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Very short report this one i'm afraid as i didn't see a lot of it. None of the West Yorkshire six teams of 4 ventured past

the knockout rounds unfortunately, The discipline was eventually won by Ben Holbrook, Annabelle and Dave Almond

and Tom Morgan from Stockport, beating North Yorkshire's Joe Newsome, David Hunton, Andrew Mather and David

Brown.

 

 

Singles

 

The singles discipline featured Dave Fletcher, Royston Lewis, Kevin Siddle and Daniel Sands. Unfortunately, Dave didn't

quite qualify from his group which left us with 3, I beat Dave Herbert from North Yorkshire As Daniel beat Ben Holbrook

Kevin falling to an inform, and tricky Martin Simcock of Staffs,... and then there was 2... I drew Martin Simcock as

Daniel drew Danny Langdon, 2 very difficult quarter finals to predict the outcome from, Daniel beat Danny as I was

having a torrid time breaking away from Martin Simcock who was not giving it up, finally I thought I had his number when

4 up with 1 to play, I elected to (stupidly) try to take 1 of his woods off to guarantee victory but it rebounded and stayed in.

I was 3 down, I drew in, still 3 down, but Martin was short with his last wood as I scraped through. The semis then, and

Daniel beat his nemesis in Peter Roberts by moving the jack around and ditching the jack with unerring accuracy as he ran out a comfortable winner, meanwhile, for me... the game of the singles discipline, and I say that with no hint of bias with me being in it, Ivan Lunn... arguably one of the toughest nuts to crack was going to be very tough, he'd been on a tear all morningand now, he and I squared off once more in the singles. This was the very definition of a humdinger! He pulled away, I clawed it back, then vice versa. This was the hungry Ivan of yesteryear, he hasn't won 9 from 10 games in the league for nothing. The last 3 ends I noticed a crowd forming at the side, I was 2 behind, I was trying to outfox him, outdraw him, but he hit back but I sneaked a 1. The next end I went attack and drove at the jack, ditching it on my last wood for a 2 shot, last end and all square,  I parked my wood a foot right in front of the jack with my last wood and hoped Ivans nerves would get the better of him...I knew as soon as it left his right hand.. he'd bowled a toucher to win! Shot of the match and applauded by 30+ I'd say, I was cross/drained/emotional but happy how I acquitted myself, I gave it 100% and that's a fact, the wonder wood he'd sent... i thought I'd shrugged him off finally too..., we had a hug after a hell of an hour plus game and I was still stunned after the final... Daniel Sands awaited Ivan in the final, my tip to win it since our qualifying. This lad is seriously good and brings an ability to adapt in style from the SMPTs experience he has. Ivan, in truth, was in trouble from end 5, halfway through, the accuracy and line drawing of Daniel Sands was key.. and Ivan's downfall, and Peter Roberts' too ironically. The ditching accuracy was high and scoring was such that the game was up with an end to spare as Daniel Sands was victorious and richly deserved too! Ivan simply had no answer, he tried to fight back with his own ditch attempts but most missed the target. Daniel won his game and to go through Danny

Langdon, Ben Holbrook, Peter Roberts and then Ivan deserves a special mention too! Exceptional stuff from Daniel. 

 

 

Pairs

 

Glen Scott and Dennis Walters were the new faces in the pairs for WY in what was a true test for them but   unfortunately

they didn't qualify from the group stage, Tom and Paul King had a good chance of qualifying but fell at the last when needing

to win to get through, Darren and Kevin succumbed to the same fate too, which left just myself and Dave Fletcher with 3 wins

navigating a group stage which accounted for a lot of other big name scalps to fall from other counties too. Derbyshires Janet

and Nigel Lunn were our opponents as we safely beat them with an end to spare to set up a cracking match with North

Yorkshire's Danny Langdon and Ben Render. Despite trailing early we fought back against them but unfortunately, as with

everything, consistency, or more to the point, my consistency let myself and Dave down as we lost with an end to spare, I'll go

on record and say I was flagging a fair bit now, not an excuse, just fact. Danny and Ben, uncharacteristically then lost with 2

ends to Stockports father and son Steven and Peter Roberts who wasted no time in their semis, meanwhile on the other mat there was another story brewing as Humberside's Josh Burrows and Ian Bratton were fighting for all their worth against Staffs' Martin Simcock and Darren Kerr and were seemingly finished.. Trailing 8-3 with 3 to play should of been a shut-up shop and only drop ones job for the Staffordshire pairs but Josh & Ian weren't done, a crucial 6 shot swing in end 8 changed a 4 down into a 2 up for the Humberside duo and that was to be the catalyst, Ian was now outleading Darren Kerr who was clearly feeling a bit of pressure, Josh was playing some crackers now, a single on end 9 and needing a 2 to force an extra end became a reality as Josh jumped for joy after an incredible fight back meant it was all to play for on end 11. I think there was a discussion if Josh should lead and ditch the jack to win but they stuck to their guns and Ian lead out, it resulted in a measure to determine the winner which went Humberside's way. Martin was incensed but gracious in defeat, Josh was elated as was Ian as Josh took applause from David Coultas and co. They had a date with the Robert's in the final, unfortunately I didn't see much of this final but Josh and Ian won by ??? and very well deserved too, Peter and Steve Roberts won't lose many finals as they're both very consistent. 

But I think most neutrals were happy Josh and Ian finished the job, never seen Josh smile so much. 

 

Triples

 

The infamous triples - 5 wins on the spin, and 6 wins in the last 10 years for West Yorkshire in this discipline Quite

what the affinity is with this particular discipline i've no idea but i wish i could bottle it and use it in other disciplines (!)

Only the triples of Kevin Siddle, Tom & Mel Morris didn't get through the group phase. Paul King, standing in for the

ill Matthew Leaf, Steve Briggs & Daniel Sands formed 1 trips, Myself, Tony Farrar and Darren Cookson formed the 2nd,

and Andy Miles, Joanne Speight and Dave Fletcher formed the 3rd one. Fast forward to the semi final's... we'd avoided

an all WY clash up until now, we drew Dave Fletcher's side in 1 semi as Daniel Sands drew John Skelding's trips from

Staffordshire. Far from a formality our match as we narrowly beat Dave's trio, I was looking over at Daniel's game now and again to see how they were doing, they were holding their own after dropping shots on the 1st end. There was some good bowling in our game, but there is always a distinct lack of atmosphere when you have an inter county clash. So the final was set, West Yorkshire would have their name on the triples trophy yet again one way or another. I don't know really how to write this without it sounding like an excuse but... i was cream crackered, mentally and physically, Darren was feeling it too, he'd pulled us through the semi final and by his own admission, Tony was having a bit of mare judging the pace of the mats. BUT, on we went, but a combination of outright bowling brilliance from Paul King, Steve Briggs marshalled by a brimming with confidence Daniel Sands did for us as we didn't register a hit on them and lost with an end to spare. As i say, they bowled us out more than the fatigue factor in all this. And after it all, I felt for Tony Farrar, usually a very consistent player but this year wasn't to be a year to remember for the right reasons, but i know he'll bounce back, I know he took it very hard indeed and it'll bug him for sometime. He bowled excellently in the final last year.

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For the first time since 2016, West Yorkshire won the county shield ahead of Stockport, of which Daniel Sands rightly went up to collect it on West Yorkshire's behalf, the only blemish was probably the fours in which no one really got close. There is definetely cause for optimism for West Yorkshire going forward, we have a scratch side and some new faces in the ranks but this time of year we click into gear, the experienced heads (usually) show up and get deep into each discipline. There was some fantastic moments in this year's tournament.....

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+ Daniel Sands winning 2 disciplines was great to see, for such a nice lad and a fierce bowler, it was a pleasure to watch

him in full flow.

+ The Josh Burrows / Ian Bratton comeback for Humberside in the pairs was crazy, I heard Josh saying afterwards that

he wasn't giving it up and he'd fight and fight..

+ The resurrgence of Ivan Lunn would of made his late wife Ellen extremely proud, his bowling up to the final was

excellent.

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I don't think i'm alone when i say i was cream-crackered shortly after it was over, but by Tuesday i was ready to do it all

again... hey ho, roll on 2024!!

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