Bowls: Holders Desborough edge past Thanet Road battlers (From York Press)

Bowls: Egham Trophy holders Desborough edge past Thanet Road battlers

9:00am Thursday 31st January 2013 in Sport

BATTLING York Indoor Bowls Club pushed holders Desborough all the way in their David versus Goliath semi-final tie before bowing out of the Egham Trophy 78-72.

The Thanet Road side started superbly and led by three shots after five ends against Maidenhead-based Desborough, whose ranks included 11 past or present internationals.

David Stroughair’s rink recovered from dropping a four on the first end to level at 4-4, while David Attwood’s side moved into a 7-4 lead.

Paul Humphreys’ rink held a 3-2 advantage and Phil Emmerson’s team, facing Desborough skip Robert Newman, a long time England number one, restricted their opponents to a four-shot lead at 5-1.

At one stage York led 47-41 overall but calamity struck across all four rinks with Stroughair, Attwood and Humphreys all dropping fours within seconds of each other and Emmerson conceding a two.

The favourites then stretched their lead to 61-47, but a superb four from Emmerson’s rink and big scores from Stroughair and Attwood, supported by a run of singles from Humphreys, saw York reduce the overall deficit to only four shots at 65-61.

With the final ends looming, Stroughair led 23-17, Humphreys clawed back to be 13-12 ahead and Emmerson were at 15-15, while Attwood trailed 24-17.

Stroughair ended up winning 23-21, while Emmerson’s four registered a 17-17 draw.

With three ends left to play, the scores stood at 75-71 in favour of Desborough. Humphreys had a final score of 14-14, and Attwood’s team were unable to overcome the deficit on their last end.