Northants were edged out by holders Norfolk in their latest Middleton Cup clash.
Norfolk claimed a 117-113 victory at Kingsthorpe BC to secure a haul of 16 points while Northants had to settle for six from the encounter.
The county made just one change for the game with Chris Bland replacing the injured Jonathan Brown.
The visitors got off to a flying start, taking a 20-shot lead after four ends.
But Northants struck back thanks to some good bowling and, after six ends, the deficit had been reduced to five.
Heavy rain struck during the middle section of the match but the County seem to thrive in the conditions and they moved ahead after 13 ends.
The change in fortunes couldn’t be sustained, however, and by the time 18 ends had been played, it was Norfolk who held a three-shot advantage.
At one point, Neil Corbyn’s rink held seven shots on one end when the opposing skip delivered his last bowl which took third spot.
Corbyn had two complete ends to play when everyone else had finished and had four shots to make up.
The 20th end could have gone the way of the County for Tony O’Leary nailed the jack with two very close bowls, and Connor Cinato followed them up with two more good ones.
Unfortunately for the County, their opponents bowled a brilliant pair of bowls which took the shot away.
And, despite their best efforts, Phil Exley and Corbyn just failed to turn the head back to their advantage and dropped one shot to make it almost impossible to get a score that would bring a win.
The last end did build up well for the County but in the end Corbyn had to settle for one shot as Norfolk completed their victory.
RINK SCORES (Norfolk skips only) Rink one: Neil Rolfe/Martin Gearey/John Haines/Vernon Gearey 12 Peter Boldero 24. Rink two: Jason Bryan/Matt Wordingham/Neil McKee/Jim McKee 20 Steve Winter 18. Rink three: Callum Height/Richard Lemon/Alan Ashby/Jamie Walker 12 Wayne Wilgress 18. Rink four: Robert White/Chris Bland/Roger Tansley/Paul Broderick 18 Philip Barr 21. Rink five: Tony O’Leary/Connor Cinato/Phil Exley/Neil Corbyn 25 Andy Siely 14. Rink six: Dave Love/Matt Pownall/Andrew Manton/Darren Childs 26 Darren Rowsell 22.
Under-25s edged out by Leicestershire
Northants under-25s were at Malden BC for the White Rose Trophy double rink regional finals after victories over Essex and Bedfordshire.
They were joined by Huntingdonshire, Norfolk and Leicestershire and it was the latter who were their opponents in the semi-finals.
Leicestershire started the better and held a five-shot advantage after five ends.
But they picked up six shots between the two rinks on the next end and they maintained that 11-shot lead until the ninth when Jamie Walker’s rink picked up a count of six shots while Matt Pownall took two to move Northants to within one shot of their rivals.
Leicestershire remained in front until the 15th end when Northants moved into the lead for the first time with a two-shot advantage.
But the lead was lost on the next end and, on the 18th, disaster struck for the Pownall rink when they dropped a catastrophic maximum count of eight to make the deficit between the rinks 10.
With Walker’s rink having finished with a four-shot win and Pownall’s 26-11 down with three ends to go, it was almost all over.
They picked up three shots, meaning they needed eight from the final two ends to tie. But, despite their efforts, they had to settle for one shot on each of them as the County fell to a 47-41 defeat.
RINK SCORES (Leicestershire skips only) Rink one: Matt Wordingham/Shaun Marriott/Callum Height/Jamie Walker 25 – Patrick Hulbert 21. Rink two: Matt Cattell/David Walker/Connor Cinato/Matt Pownall 16 Joe Dawson 26.
County ladies name team for Walker Cup clash
The county ladies have named their team to face Norfolk in the prestigious Walker Cup double rink competition onSunday.
The match is being played at Newmarket BC from midday.
Northants team – Rink one: Alison Dring (Swanspool), Wilma Walker (Corby Forest), Yvonne McKee (Kingsthorpe), Brenda Bishop (Daventry Town). Rink two: Maggie Edwards (Kingsthorpe), Sandra Mawson (Northampton Whyte Melville), Sue Graham-Hole (St Crispin), Anita Petrucci (Abington). Travelling Reserve: Val Betts (Higham Ferrers Town). Non-travelling Reserve: Rebecca Wigfield (Desborough Town).