ABOUT US: Abington Bowling Club is one of Northampton's sporting institutions. Based just south of Abington Park, we are in close proximity to the Old Northamptonians Sports Ground. Just a short way east of the town centre. We provide a competitive but welcoming environment for anyone who fancies taking up outdoor flat green bowls, the most popular form of bowls, and the most inclusive of all sports.
We also boast one of the biggest and most furbished clubhouses in the region, complete with lounge area, dining room and boardroom. We offer usage of any of these to interested parties. Click on 'Hire our Facilities' above to see what we can provide.
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ABC ON TOUR 2019 - PLACES STILL AVAILABLE!
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Date
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Event
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Time
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June
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Thu 20th
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Age UK Art Club
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9:45am-12:15pm
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Fri 21st
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Spanish language
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10am-12pm
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12:15-2:15pm
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Spanish conversation
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2:30-4:30pm
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Sat 22nd
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Reiki
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10am-4pm
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Sun 23rd
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Mixed Friendly
vs. Northants U25s
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2:30pm start
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Mon 24th
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Men’s Triples League
B vs. Bugbrooke
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6:30pm start
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Aromatherapy
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7-9pm
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Tue 25th
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Wed 26th
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Pilates
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9:15-10:15am
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2-3pm
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4-7pm
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Otago
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10:30-11:30am
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Harris Cup
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Thu 27th
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Age UK Art Club
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9:45am-12:15pm
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Fri 28th
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Pilates
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9:15am-12:15pm
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Women’s Triples
League
vs. Kingsthorpe
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6:30pm start
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Sat 29th
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Reiki
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10am-4pm
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Manfield Cup
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2pm start
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Sun 30th
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July
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Mon 1st
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Pilates
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9:30am-12:30pm
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12:45-1:45pm
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6-7pm
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Men’s Triples League
A vs. Express A
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6:30pm start
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Aromatherapy
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7-9pm
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Tue 2nd
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Women’s Friendly
vs. Kislingbury
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2:30pm start
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Wed 3rd
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Pilates
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9:15-10:15am
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10:30-11:30am
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2-3pm
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6-7pm
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Thu 4th
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Age UK Art Club
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9:45am-12:15pm
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Men’s Friendly
vs. Northants
Retired Police
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2:30pm start
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Fri 5th
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Pilates
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9:15am-12:15pm
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Sat 6th
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Reiki
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10am-4pm
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Party
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7:30pm start
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Sun 7th
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Mon 8th
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Pilates
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9:15-10:15am
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10:30-11:30am
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6-7pm
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Men’s Triples League
B vs. Heyford
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6:30pm start
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Aromatherapy
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7-9pm
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Tue 9th
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Women’s Friendly
vs. Roade
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6:30pm start
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Wed 10th
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Pilates
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9:15-10:15am
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10:30-11:30am
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6-7pm
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Aromatherapy
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7-9pm
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Thu 11th
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Age UK Art Club
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9:45am-12:15pm
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Men’s Friendly
vs. Whyte Melville
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2pm start
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Fri 12th
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Pilates
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9:15am-12:15pm
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Sat 13th
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Men’s Friendly
vs. Stony Stratford
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2pm start
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Party
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7pm start
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Sun 14th
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Mon 15th
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Pilates
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9:30am-12:30pm
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12:45-1:45pm
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6-7pm
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Men’s Triples League
A vs. St. Crispin’s
A
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6:30pm start
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Aromatherapy
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7-9pm
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Tue 16th
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Women’s Friendly
vs. Swanspool
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2:30pm start
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Wed 17th
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Pilates
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9:15-10:15am
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10:30-11:30am
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2-3pm
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6-7pm
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17/6/2019
COUNTY/NATIONAL COMPS: 10th-16th JUNE
A BUSY WEEK in the minor competitions saw some terrific results in the men's senior tournaments, but we'll begin with Gill Crossley, who ends the week nearest to glory of anyone.
Abington's reigning women's singles champion has inched her way into the last eight of Northamptonshire's Champion of Champions after two nail-biting encounter with her equivalents from Geddington & Newton (Jo Johns) and Corby Seagrave (Maxeen Belsky). They were respectively beaten by scores of 21-20 and 21-19, and both away from home. Still a relative newcomer to bowls, Crossley is learning well how to hold her nerve, even as each game brings with it a new personal peak.
Sadly, this wasn't replicated in the women's pairs, with all three of Abington's entrants immediately plunging into the drink - almost literally. All were comfortably beaten in the first round on a cold, wet and miserable Monday evening.
Kislingbury's Helen Blaby got her own back on Crossley and Barbara Astle for their thrashing of her in the triples. Their final score of 12-19 was the closest any of the Abington women came to victory. Diana Brown and Lis Milburn stuck it out until they reached double figures against Hilary Sharpe of Kingsthorpe, while Debbie Bradshaw and Judy Jones were simply demolished by Heyford's Jill Welch and partner, 9-26.
A handful of prelims got the men's fours up and running, and whatever else happens, there will be few climaxes to rival the way Peter Milburn's rink manufactured victory over Daventry Town's John Hodgkinson and teammates. All seemed doomed to a footnote with four to play, Milburn's rink requiring nine to force an extra end. As it transpired, they didn't need it.
A run of 2-3-2-3 over those remaining (and by all accounts, very fraught) ends completed one of the great smash-and-grabs on the Abington green in recent times, to a spontaneous roar from the gallery. However long they remain in the competition, it's nights like that that remind everyone why we all come back again the following season.
Less cheery news came from West End, where John Freeman's rink were defeated by Alan Ashby's 12-18. Freeman had a better time of it in the secondary competitions this week, with a very creditable 21-13 win over Andy Fowkes in the National Champion of Champions, and that same rink smashing their way past Mick Taylor's 21-7, in the first round of the county senior fours.
That sets up another all-Abington encounter in the second round, against Jonathan Brown's, who were only slightly less prolific in their 20-9 win over Kislingbury's Kevin Mawson.
Yet the outstanding result of the week has to be Tony O'Leary's 23-15 win over the Roger Tansley/Mick Sharpe axis in the men's senior pairs. The Kingsthorpe duo have so often wounded our entrants into this competition that it's just not funny anymore, so it's gratifying to see some payback at last, even if the credit has to be shared with West End - and that man Ashby again.
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14/6/2019
MONDAY TRIPLES LEAGUE - WEEK 3
WET WEATHER forced the cancellation of a majority of matches even as the men's Monday league returned after a three-week gap. But there was action at Abington, where our B-team rolled up their sleeves and got on with the job of beating Roade.
P
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W
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D
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L
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F
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A
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Pts
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Earls Barton
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3
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3
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0
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0
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179
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132
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13.5
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Abington B
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3
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2
|
0
|
1
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212
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163
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12
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Roade
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3
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2
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0
|
1
|
193
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187
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10.5
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Byfield
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2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
137
|
124
|
8
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Bugbrooke
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3
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0
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0
|
3
|
152
|
181
|
6
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Daventry Town A
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2
|
1
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0
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1
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110
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139
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5
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Wootton Grange A
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2
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0
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0
|
2
|
118
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122
|
3.5
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Heyford
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2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
100
|
153
|
1.5
|
Five points were claimed by the home side, who recovered from some early wobbles to eventually win 67-52 on shots and claim five of the six points. The result sees the Bs leapfrog their opponents into second place in Division 2, the now slightly disjointed table notwithstanding. A longer match report can be found on the Men's page.
The As' match at Kingsthorpe A - a top of the table clash based on the first two results - was one of those called off. It is not yet known when it will be re-staged. Only one 1st Division game did proceed as scheduled, Express A's 5-1 win over Kingsthorpe B puts them top for now.
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11/6/2019
THE WAIT ENDURES
YET AGAIN, Abington's men stumbled at the final hurdle of qualification for the national championship. Chris Beck and Peter Milburn were extremely unfortunate to run into a pair for whom the county semi-final is effectively their first round.
West End duo Darren Childs and Jamie Walker made history at Leamington in 2017 with the first ever national singles final between two members of the same club, so as a united force are clearly are a contender to rise to the very top.The phrase 'happy to be there' isn't quite fitting. While not elite players, Beck and Milburn are both justly proud of their ability. They could have out-performed practically any other pair Northamptonshire could throw at them, whatever their pedigree.
Indeed, as previously detailed here, they'd already produced one giant-killing on their run to the last four, in their group final. To have won this game as well though would have been to defy the odds to such an extent that it almost begins to defy mathematical possibility.
They gave it their best shot, and avoided being totally humbled. It was far from the harshest spanking Childs and Walker have handed out on their run, but the Abington lads were a clear second best to the inch-accurate draw bowling and laser-like weighted shots their opponents can produce to a practically robotic extent. Beck and Milburn were quite often happy to settle for wangling second or third bowl with the last wood of the end.
The disappointment was heightened by the quarter-final two days earlier having proceeded in a completely opposite manner. Then it was Beck and Milburn who had crowded the head, racking up end after scoring end, leaving their opponents - Bryn Walker and John Marlow of Wellingborough, a tidy pair in their own right - in the dust before shaking hands with three to spare.
Here, in the words of the county's official report, the "writing was on the wall" after just 14 ends, as Beck and Milburn lay 5-23 down. It's to their credit that they didn't meekly walk away, but stayed on to restore a sliver of respectability. Over the next four ends they claimed seven shots to just two against. If only the likes of Childs and Walker always played on standby mode.
*IT WAS a similar story for the other Abington players in 'whites' over the weekend. The triple of Debbie Bradshaw, Gill Crossley and Barbara Astle had got to the ladies quarter finals, where they promptly crashed out to a trio from Higham Ferrers.
The early exchanges were tight, with the scores level at 4-4 after ends, before Higham shot out into the lead with six shots on the next two ends. Hearteningly, the Abington women knuckled down and clawed their way back to equalise again at 10-10. But again, they failed to establish their supremacy and the remaining third saw victory float off into the distance. A dropped six on the 16th end effectively sealed the deal for Higham.
*IN OTHER county/national comp news, four of our bowlers remain in the men's county singles after the second round. Alan Dunkley edged out his fellow clubmate Rob Archer in a nail-bitingly close encounter. His reward is another all-Abington tie against Peter Milburn, who achieved the result of the round with a 21-18 win over West End's David Walker, on the young star's own green.
Alan Coleman also defeated a Middleton Cup regular, comfortably defeating Kingsthorpe's Martin Gearey 21-12. Colemen now goes onto play yet another - Chris Bland of Express. Here's hoping he can get revenge on behalf of our own Dave Jones, simply eviscerated by Bland 4-21. Elsewhere, Adam Brown was another victim of the irrepressible force that is Jamie Walker, though he managed to make a close game of it, taking 18 shots for himself.
Tony O'Leary was our fourth success of the round, with the biggest margin of victory - 21-11 - against one of his rivals for a place in the Middleton side, Kingsthorpe's Jason Bryan. Lastly but definitely not leastly, Mick Taylor so very nearly produced the comeback of his life against Express' Dominic Graham, recovering from 11-19 down to edge his nose in front at 20-19 in just a few ends. Sadly, he realised just what he was about to do and produced a poor end to concede the two that allowed Graham to finish off this particular David, and breathe easy again.
Dunkley had a very similar time of it in the national senior singles, in an intriguing re-match of last year's club cup final against John Freeman. It ended with the same result, Freeman holding off a late Dunkley charge to win 21-19 and go through to the 3rd round. Colin Barnes could have ensured another all-Abington encounter at that stage, with Dave Jones lying in wait, but came up just short against Heyford's Michael Moulton.
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7/6/2019
*THE MEN'S Triples League squads returned to action on Monday, June 3rd, for the opening round of the league's knockout tournament.
The As were once again triumphant by a sizeable margin.The bank holiday break did nothing to halt their bright start to the campaign, with a 75-45 win over Whyte Melville A, also of Division 1. Unfortunately the Bs were unable to prove themselves worthy of a top-flight place, hosting Kingsthorpe B rather too generously, losing on all four rinks with an aggregate of 51-72.
Longer match reports can be found on the Men's page.
*CONGRATS and best of luck again to Abington's John Freeman, who retains his place in Northamptonshire's county team for their second Middleton Cup match, once again as number two to Vernon Gearey of Kingsthorpe. Despite his own rink narrowly losing, the side as a whole is virtually unchanged from the first game at Norfolk. As well it should be following a stunning win for Northants of over 40 shots, taking 18 of the 22 points available. Next up tomorrow is an even greater crunch challenge: defending champions Leicestershire.
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*ABINGTON will stage the southern half of Northamptonshire VP Association's annual Harris Cup competition this year, on Wednesday 26th June. Entry is, as ever, open to rinks of players from all clubs. Please contact Dave Williamson on 01604 635012 for yours. Hope to see you there on what promises to be a day of fine weather, friendly competitive bowls, and prize money in excess of £200!
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