York Indoor Bowls Club’s excellent run in the Egham Trophy ended in the quarter-finals when they were beaten by one of the competition’s favourites, City of Ely.

Played at the neutral venue of Newark IBC, the tie started badly for York as they found themselves 31-9 down on aggregate after only five ends.

However, they slowly clawed their way back into contention and, after 13 ends, they were optimistic as the deficit was reduced to ten shots.

But no sooner had they gained confidence than they had the stuffing knocked out of them as they dropped 14 shots to only scoring two themselves within the space of one end across the board.

That was the nearest the team got to breaching Ely’s defences and the inevitable was brought home to them as they leaked 20 shots to only two over the last three ends to give a final score of 94-59 in favour of the Cambridgeshire side.

The nearest York got to a winning rink was from Paul Mooring’s team.

After leading 12-7 they dropped a six before taking the lead at 16-13, but they could not respond to three more losing ends and went down 20-17.

David Stroughair’s rink did well to come from 11-4 down to lead 13-11 before losing all but two of the remaining eight ends and lose 22-16.

Iain Boyle’s team had an awful start. They trailed 10-1 after five ends but pulled back to 10-9 after nine. Three ends later the score stood at 12-11 in Ely’s favour before they took the game away by scoring seven unanswered shots to triumph 27-16.

Phil Emmerson’s side struggled after dropping a six on the first end.

They also trailed 10-1 but toiled to fight back and eventually lost 25-10.


New Earswick crash in derby duel

York IBC’s Hebden Trophy team started the year well after they comfortably beat near neighbours New Earswick 87-57, picking up 16 points to maintain their second position to runaway leaders Featherstone.

At Thanet Road, Tony Bryan’s team got off to an excellent start. They led 11-0 after only five ends, and 16-2 after nine, which proved too much for Terry Shepherdson’s men. The game finished 27-11.

Brian Birch’s team stunned home skip Brian Thomas’s side as they led 6-0 after only three ends. But they were rocked as the home side responded with a six, then a two, before the visitors won the next five ends to lead 13-8.

However, with the score at 15-11 in Birch’s favour Thomas’s side won four successive ends to lead 21-15. That proved decisive as they went on to win 27-19.

At Huntington Road, Geoff Walker and Bob Howland’s teams were involved in a tight game.

The lead swapped five times in the first 12 ends with the York side having a 9-8 advantage before a five stretched their lead followed by three singles to seal a 20-11 victory.

New Earswick’s only winning rink came from Dave Thompson’s team.

They led 5-1 after five ends, but Jim Robertson’s side responded well and took the lead for the first time in the game on the 18th end when they scored a three to take the score to 13-11.

However, they could not hang on to that advantage and victory went to the home side by 16-13.