Results of North East Indoor Bowls Tournaments

The regional events for the Fours and Pairs were played at West Denton Indoor Bowls Club on 12th and 19th February respectively. The event attracted bowlers are of all abilities from county standard to novice players, and importantly new players to CSSC and to the regional event.

The fours event was won by John Harthen, Ian Peacock, Garry Robson and Peter Duffy. In the final they defeated Darren Parkes, Richard Train, Paul Ging and Phil Smithson in a very close and competitive match. 3 of the 4 winners were from the regional and national finals champions of 2010, the other member was Phil Smithson.

The pairs event again was a close contest and the winners of the event were unclear until the very last end and the very last bowl being played. The event was based on a round robin format, thus ensuring each team playing a number of games throughout the day. Going into the final matches - the teams of Ian Peacock / Garry Robson and Peter Duffy / John Harthen were level on points. The last round robin matches paired these teams together. The game itself was nip and tuck all the way with one team seizing the initiative then the other team taking over - going into the final end of the game the Duffy / Harthen team held a one shot lead (8 - 7). After a close end the team of Peacock and Robson collected a single shot which meant the game finished as a draw, as a result of this tie the team of Peter Duffy and John Harthen were victorious as this was based on the higher shots different from previous games in the day. Earlier in the day, games were close - Peacock / Robson edging out Darren Parkes and Paul Ging on the final end to secure victory, and also Simon Rimmer and Dave Calderwood going down to Peacock and Robson eventually after leading up to half way.

After both events the organiser acknowledged everyones contribution and performance throughout - especially the new players making their debut in the event and hoped they would support future events (Dave Calderwood, Simon Rimmer, Peter McGuiness), also Richard Train making a revival to a CSSC event - where he has not played for over 10 years.

To note the North East teams have a very successful record in the national finals; for example the fours event the North East are the most successful from all in the regions, and have been in the final for the last 4 years - winning two of them and loosing the other two by 1. Also the pairs is very similar with the North East winning two out of the last fours years, along with runner up. The North East are the current holders in the national finals for both events. The finals this year will be played in Swansea on April 19 and 20. The fours has been played for 20 years - and the North East are the most successful region - winning at least 7 or 8 times. The pairs has been played 4 or 5 years with the NE coming out on top twice.