Richard Lemon claimed the Northamptonshire men’s singles title as the County Finals were held at Irchester BC.
The Northampton Express bowler beat last year’s runner-up John Haines (Desborough Town) 21-16.
Both men were seeking their first title and Haines looked to be in control as he held a 13-4 lead after 11 ends.
But Lemon fought back brilliantly and allowed his opponent just three more shots while collecting 17 of his own to get his name on the trophy. Both players will now represent the County at Worthing.
There was further joy for Northampton Express in the Pairs as Rob White and Dominic Graham beat Higham Ferrers Town duo Mark Plimmer and Matt Wordingham 22-16.
The Express pair started well and held a 14-4 advantage after 10 ends but the Higham players reduced that deficit to five shots after 14.
The gap was down to three by the final end and the Northampton team produced more excellent bowls to seal their victory. Both pairs will head to the National Championships in Worthing next month.
Wellingborough claimed the Triples title with Mark Corbyn/John Marlow/Neil Corbyn beating holders Northampton West End team of Kevin Sevens/Andy Fowkes/Dave Kovacs23-17.
But there was something for West End to smile about in the Fours as John Baggat/Martin Walker/Alan Ashby/Jamie Walker retained their title by seeing off Desborough’s line-up of Jason Hall/Peter Ward/John Haines/Phil Exley by a 17-13 scoreline.
Wellingborough’s Neil Corbyn had his second taste of silverware as he retained the Two-Wood Singles crown.
Corbyn was in control for most of the contest against Earls Barton’s Neil Gould and eventually ran out a 17-8 winner.
Jamie Walker (Northampton West End) won the Under-25 Singles for the fourth year in a row as he beat namesake David Walker (Kingsthorpe)
The England international didn’t look back after racing into a 12-0 lead after six ends and eventually wrapped up a 21-5 success. All the finalists from each discipline will now go on to represent the County at the National Championships at Beach House Park in Worthing next month.
Lemon was unable to make it a double in the Champion of Champions (Mason Cup) as two-time former winner Paul Broderick (Wellingborough) claimed a 21-11 victory.
The match was fairly tight for the first few ends but Broderick eased in front before securing his success.
Mark Turner (Kettering Midland Band) maintained his unbeaten run in the Secretary/Treasurer’s Cup as he won the competition for a sixth time with a 21-13 verdict over Bob Blencowe (Brackley & District).
A strong finish from Turner saw him claim nine shots in five ends to complete the job.
Lemon did get his hands on another title when he joined Express team-mates Steve Lemon and Peter Hoad to win the Executive Triples 17-6 against the Abington team of Don Smith/David Fage/Jonathan Brown.
It was Lemon who secured the winning shot after a terrific encounter.
Ashby wins singles crown for first time
Janet Ashby saw off Viv Gaudyn in a high class final to claim county glory in the Four-Wood Singles.
West End BC’s Ashby started the sounder, building up a 7-2 lead, before Gaudyn managed to get her game going well, and when she got to within one shot of her opponent at 9-10 down it was apparent the match would have a tight finish.
Ashby then managed to pick up five shots to just one dropped but Gaudyn is always very competitive and the next three ends saw her bowling very well indeed as she picked up six shots without reply to go ahead by one.
This seemed to spur Ashby to even greater effort and she took back the lead, going 19-16 ahead, but once more Viv fought back to collect two shots and be just one behind.
However, the last two ends played belonged to Ashby, who picked up two singles to take the trophy for the first time.
Both players will represent the County at the National Championships in August.
Daventry Town’s Jill Welch and Jan Bradley took the pairs honours, beating Wellingborough’s Jean Burgess and Tina Broderick 20-11. Both go to Leamington Spa for the nationals on July 31 or August 1.
Whyte Melville’s Victoria Stevenson, Elaine Munton, Sandra Mawson and Pat Bodily went down 20-9 to Burton Latimer’s Chris Cooper, Maggie Lewis, Heather Lack and Emma Gray in the Fours final.
Both feature in the National Championships at Leamington on July 28.
Chris Cross and Jean Pownall-Davies of Byfield BC beat the Corby Forest duo of May Wiggins and Wilma Walker 21-12 in the over-55 pairs.
The Secretary/Treasurer’s Cup went to Whyte Melville’s Pat Bodily, who beat Kettering Lodge’s Pat Starsmore 21-5 in the final.
Nondescripts still unbeaten in Combination League
The Combination Bowls League has continued to gather pace towards the end of its first year.
Kingsthorpe side Nondescripts have remained the dominant factor, playing and winning all of their 15 games, having dropped only eight-and-a-half points in total.
They are currently 8.5 points clear of their nearest rival, King William, who themselves have lost four.
Amateurs sit in third position as the highest Racecourse League side.
Having only lost two games from their 14 played they have the highest win/lose ratio in the league other than Nondes, although they have shed a total of 13 points from their maximum available.
The past couple of weeks has also seen both Amateurs and fourth-placed team Regal pick up a coveted eight score on an end as well.
Regal, holding fourth place, are 2.5 points clear of Primrose Hill, while sixth place is held by Golden Horse.
The league continues this evening with Queens Park against Regal and Nondescripts versus Doddridge at Kingsthorpe Rec. At the Racecourse, Primrose Hill play Golden Horse, 20th Century meet Travis Perkins and Amateurs take on Crusaders.
RHP Cup semi-finalists decided
The annual RHP Cup has its semi-finalists with Kingsthorpe side Nondescripts taking on Racecourse team Amateurs, while Primrose Hill of the Racecourse take on St Marys from the Delapre League.
St Marys defeated King William, while Amateurs beat Travis Perkins in their quarter-final matches.
Abington take Interleague honours
The Interleague winners for 2013 are Abington League following their 10-shot win over Delapre.
County name team to face Worcestershire
The County men have selected their team to play Worcestershire in the Midland Counties League on Saturday (2pm).
Team – Rink one: Jason Bryan/Nathan Betts/Matt Pownall/Vernon Gearey. Rink two: Adam Brown/Matt Wordingham/Jonathan Brown/Alan Ashby.
Rink three: Dave Love/Martin Gearey/John Haines/Darren Childs. Rink four: Ashley Linnell/David Walker/John Freeman/Jim McKee. Rink five: Tony O’Leary/Dave Kovacs/Chris Bland/Jamie Walker. Rink six: Matt Cattell/Dave Flippance/Connor Cinato. Travelling Reserves: Martin Cinato and Roger Tansley. Non-travelling Reserves: Phil Reeve, Martin Walker and Kevin Stevens.