Bowls: York roll on in Vivienne Trophy defence

Trailing 41-40 at the half-way stage, they pulled away over the following five ends to lead 63-52.

After 18 ends they were 76-55 in front and ended up 85-67 winners.

Pam Richardson, Doreen McCowan, Maggie Pallister and Pauline Armitage led the way as they came from 5-0 down after two ends to win all but three of the remaining ends and finish comfortable 31-9 victors.

Audrey Micklethwaite, Jenny Darrell, Joan Knight and Barbara Dawson dropped a single on their first end, then won the next six to lead 14-1. Their opponents came back to 14-9 before Dawson’s side pulled away to win 24-18.

Margaret Sempers, Janet McManus, Tina Robinson and Pat Potter slipped 14-2 behind early on but came back to be 21-19 down with three to play, only to lose 25-20.

Maureen Robinson, Dot Hill, Jean Williams and Pat Bracken were 4-1 ahead after four ends but, by the 13th end, they trailed 13-4.

They came back in a tight game and trailed 15-10 when it ended with one end remaining.

York now play Falcon of Chelmsford at the neutral venue of Melton Mowbray on Thursday, February 26, starting at 11.50am.

York’s Mason Trophy team had the edge for most of their last-16 game against Cumbria and went into the last end one ahead on aggregate before exiting 40-38.

Joan Jackson, Carol Banks, Melanie Brooke and Carol Instone got off to a flyer at Darlington IBC as they led 10-0 after four ends.

They were pegged back to 10-9 by the ninth end, but won 21-18.

Dot Kennelly, Maureen Walker, Helen Walker and Linda Harrison were 10-4 down after nine ends and came back well to trail 15-14 with five to play. A dropped four on the 19th was decisive as they lost 22-17.

Meanwhile, York are only five points from the top of the North East Ladies League after securing their second win in a row, beating Leeds 94-68 and picking up eight of the ten points at stake.

Both away rinks won, with Pam Richardson, Sempers, Jean Williams and Potter leading from start to finish en route to a 34-12 triumph. Micklethwaite, Darrell, Knight and Dawson moved from 15-14 down to win 28-15.

At home, Brenda Love, Dot Hill, Maureen Robinson and Armitage won 24-14, while Michelle Ellis, McCowan, Pallister and Pauline Cooper lost 27-8.

York face another crunch weekend as they play Lincoln in the quarter- finals of two national competitions.

On Saturday, the ladies look to retain the Yetton Trophy at 11am and the mixed team play on Sunday at 10am. Also on Saturday, York play Thornaby in Yorkshire League division two, while their ‘B’ team face Leeds in division three.

On Sunday, Thanet Road hosts the Yorkshire County Singles and Senior Singles qualifying, at 10am.

LOSING BATTLE: Alan Chapham in action for York 'B' in their defeat to Doncaster

YORK ‘B’ lost 91-64 to Doncaster in Yorkshire Over-55s League division two.

The away rinks came back with only a seven-shot deficit to make up thanks to John Birch, Dave Snarr, Noel Mallen and Ron Munro’s rink, who came from 10-3 down after eight ends to win 22-14.

Tony Butterfield, John Richardson, John Butler and Allan May managed to steady their game after being 22-5 down with eight ends to play. They only lost 26-11.

Things quickly went wrong at home, however, as Charlie Arnett, Brian Fannon, Ken Robinson and Alan Clapham lost their first five ends and trailed 13-0.

Harley Wenham, Peter Sorby, Alan Yoward and Richard Jessop were 9-1 down at the same stage.

Clapham’s team trailed 23-5 with seven ends to play before gaining respectability by winning six of them and only losing 25-15.

Jessop’s side were in with a chance when they were 22-16 down with three ends to play, but they lost 26-16.

Thanet Road hosted an all-York National Over-60s Pairs Area Final between Phil Parsons and Roger Ford, and Graham Brooke and Alan Vowles.

Honours were even at 10-10 with 11 ends gone before Parsons and Ford won four ends in a row to lead 15-10.

Brooke and Vowles responded with a three, but Parsons and Ford won the next three, scoring seven shots, then dropping a two on the last end to finish 22-15 victors.

They will play in Thornaby in the area play-off for a place in the national finals.

CLOSE CALL: New Earswick's Dave Imeson in action against Hornsea

NEW Earswick’s poor form in the Yorkshire Over-55s League continued as they lost 98-63 to Hornsea.

The Huntington Road outfit’s away rinks never really got into the match as the York side took four points to Hornsea’s 14 points.

Pat Inwood, Brian Birch, Vic Thompson and Dave Elcock scored a four on the second end, but only managed one more shot in the next 13 ends to find themselves 27-5 down after 15 en route to a 32-9 defeat.

Paul Murray, Gordon Fratson, Graham Lockwood and Bill Waldie started in similar fashion against Ian Paddy, trailing 23-5 after 13 ends before picking up seven shots against four in the last eight to lose 27-12.

At home, Dave Imeson, Eric Cookson, Colin Ellis and Ralph Tiplady won only five of the first 18 ends to be 20-9 down.

They won the last three ends, including a four at the last, to lose 20-16.

Dave Sykes, Bob Barrett, Mick Head and Barry Johnson lost the first two ends, but took a 10-3 lead after eight ends against.

They lost five of the next six ends to go 13-11 down, but Earswick picked up ten shots in the next six to go into last end leading 21-19.

They needed two shots to tie the home aggregate and, holding two shots, Johnson bowled the perfect wood and moved the jack two inches to pick up five shots for a 26-19 victory and a home aggregate win at 42-39.