Welcome to Abington Bowling Club

THE COUNTY COMPS came to a close with two Abington players lifting the silverware. Or indeed crystalware.

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Firstly, Gill Crossley made Abington history as our first ever winner of the Northamptonshire Women's Champion of Champions. Superb from the 1st round to the final, Crossley has achieved much in the game, but this is a new height. She edged a close final with her opponent, Tess Lowe of Kislingbury, but had her nose in front throughout, claiming the trophy with 21-18.

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On the green at Wellingboough straight after was a new member for this year, Simon David, but it's not taken him long to make an impact. Soon after stepping back off the green, he was handed the county championship Crystal Bowl Singles trophy. A 3-wood singles contest for bowlers without prior county honours, Abington's Alan Dunkley won the first ever staging in 2021. Now he finally has some company.

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30/08/2026: TWO OF ABINGTON'S finest were in county finals on Saturday 29th August. And they both ran it close. Unfortunately, it was Wellingborough B.C. who celebrated a Mason Cup and Senior Singles double.​ Tony O'Leary and Iain Walker were defeated at a rain-sodden Rushden B.C. 21-16 to Martyn Fearn and 21-11 to Dave Love respectively. Not the preferred outcome, but both can take heart from a determined performance in difficult conditions, and will surely be back on the Bowls Northants honours list soon.

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25/08/2026: DEFEATED, BUT NOT DOWN. Abington A lost their last match of the Monday Triples League. Yet, with with one winning and one tied rink, they achieved enough of a result to edge back past Kettering Lodge. The latter were pointless at Earls Barton A, and will instead line-up with Abington B next season, in Division 2.

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Going into the game, there was still the tiniest chance of Kingsthorpe B staying up, needing to make up five points on the Lodge and a shot difference swing of 61. The former was almost achieved. Just four extra shots, in the right places, would have taken them above Abington A and level with 6th place on points. But to have pulled off the greatest of escapes would have required 20 extra shots across the board, and Abington A were never going to surrender that easily.

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It caps off a difficult season for the As, but they can take a lot of heart from their resilience, and a chance to rebuild next year at the same level. The top flight of the Monday league is becoming more competitive than ever (West End's improving B-team will be an intriguing new addition next season), but Abington A remain worthy of a place in the thick of it.

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Abingtons B and C had nothing riding on their matches, so it's difficult to know whether the results are worth analysing. Both could have been seismic clashes, against direct rivals, but the Bs were already Div 3 champions before their 1-4 defeat to 2nd-placed Roade. And the Cs were already down before a blistering sign-off at former relegation rivals Brackley A. Though it could be that Brackley had already signed off, with Div 2 safety assured ahead of time.

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At least the Cs go down with a 5-0 win, their only one of the campaign. (Although they lost by that mark twice, in both matches vs Byfield, which cost them more than any other fixture.) Finishing only a point behind Brackley will prompt a few 'what-ifs' but indicates they still have the quality to bounce swiftly back. The B and C teams essentially swap places for 2027, back into a more 'natural' running order on paper. We'll see you again next year!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​