Rebecca Wigfield has been celebrating after capturing the National Two Wood Singles title at Victoria Park in Leamington.
Desborough’s Wigfield won six matches over three days to secure the crown and performed extremely well to make smooth progress to the final.
She beat Sue Dix (Box BC) 15-12 in the first round before seeing off Lynn Bowen (Broadway BC) 18-6 and Emily Ferguson (Bearsted & Thurnham BC) 16-11 to reach the quarter-finals.
In the last eight, Wigfield had a close game in the rain against Joan Walmsley (Bath Ladies) and found herself 8-0 down at one point.
However, she gradually reduced the gap and eventually claimed a 16-15 success.
Her semi-final was against Helen Simpson (Shrivenham BC) and Wigfield reached her fourth National final in as many years with a 15-11 victory.
The Desborough player was up against Norfolk BC’s Brenda Whitehead in the final and Wigfield made a superb start to be 12-1 ahead after eight ends.
And it was a lead she never looked like losing as Wigfield wrapped up a 16-11 win after 19 ends to seal the title.
Northampton West End’s Janet Ashby was also in the Two Wood Singles and beat Donna Knight (Oxford City & County BC) 16-12 in the first round before bowing out 16-14 to Thirsk Athletic’s Gayle Hartley.
In the National Pairs, the mother and daughter duo of Jean Burgess and Tina Broderick (Wellingborough) reached the third round of the competition.
A stunning display saw them come back from 9-2 down at one point to beat Jenny Honey and Val Hughes (Haddenham BC) 34-10 in the preliminary round.
They then beat Shirley Coad and Joan Rees (St Austell BC) 20-17 and Rachel Mackriell and Julia Fordham (Saffron Ladies BC) 23-22.
But their run was ended by Sidcup BC’s Laura Kuschel and Marion Johnson in a 26-20 defeat in the third round.
The Daventry Town pair of Jill Welch and Jan Bradley were beaten 22-12 by Judith Staunton and Joan Walmsley (Bath Ladies) at the first stage.
In the Over-55 Pairs, Yvonne McKee and Sharon Tansley (Kingsthorpe) enjoyed wins over Sue Wright and Elaine Haddon-Holmes (Silver Band Ladies BC & Junction Ladies BC) and Andrea Dickinson and Sue Bernard (Brantham Athletic BC).
But they were beaten in the quarter-finals as they went down 21-12 to Ann Leach and Kay Gent (Caer Glow BC).
Northants too strong for Derbyshire
Fresh from her National success, Rebecca Wigfield joined her Northamptonshire team-mates to play in the Amy Rose Under-31 Double Rink competition.
They were up against Derbyshire in the first round proper having beaten Norfolk in the preliminary round.
Northants were always in front as they sealed a 40-32 verdict against Derbyshire with Emma Gray’s rink claiming a comfortable seven-shot victory.
Wigfield’s rink had a tougher time of things and they recovered from being two shots behind after 15 ends to secure a one-shot win.
RINK SCORES (Derbyshire skips only) Rink one: Chloe Wordingham, Alice Moore, Jasmin Spear, Emma Gray 21 Emma Jackson 14. Rink two: Victoria Stevenson, Nicola Franklin, Ann-Marie Gearey, Rebecca Wigfield 19 Helen Mason 18.
In the quarter-finals, the County could not have asked for a more difficult opponent as they were up against a Devon team who had won the title for the past two years.
Northants eventually slipped to a 51-19 defeat and, apart from the first few ends when Gray’s rink held a 5-0 shot lead after three ends and Wigfield’s rink was just two shots behind at the same stage, the quality of the opposition really began to tell.
No matter how hard the County girls tried, the opposition were relentless as they sealed a big win.
RINK SCORES (Devon skips only) Rink one: Chloe Wordingham, Alice Moore, Jasmin Spear, Emma Gray 10 Natalie Melmore 31. Rink two: Victoria Stevenson, Nicola Franklin, Ann-Marie Gearey, Rebecca Wigfield 9 Harriett Stevens 20.
New look county side fade at Long Eaton BC
Northants men went into their MCBA clash with Derbyshire at Long Eaton Town BC with a number of regular players unavailable for a variety of reasons.
It meant several ‘old stagers’ were drafted in while a number of young players were given a chance to show what they could do.
The scores were level at 54-54 at the halfway stage but they second half of the contest belonged to Derbyshire as they won it by 16 shots.
The rink wins were shared but two of Northants’ suffered heavy defeats and it meant the hosts claimed a 122-106 success.
RINK SCORES - (Derbyshire skips only) Rink one: Curtis Johnson/Will Walker/Ron Chambers/Matt Pownall 12 J Arnett 28.
Rink two: Adam Brown/Alistair Melville/Tony O’Leary/Jonathan Brown 14 P Broughton 15.
Rink three: Colin Barnes/Martin Walker/Martin Gearey/Darren Childs 29 R Gough 14.
Rink four: Bob Fuller/Dan Walker/Matt Wordingham/John Haines 12 S Skelton 29.
Rink five: Ashley Linnell/John Clipston/John Freeman/Chris Bland 18 J Bowley 17.
Rink six: Dave Love/Paul Green/Neil Gould/Richard Lemon 21 J Haskins 19.