Welcome to Abington Bowling Club

IT WAS A DAY that promised much, but resulted in no joy. Abington were in action in three different competitions, but came up just short in all of them. Top of the day's bill whatever the outcome was the all-Abington quarter-final in the Northamptonshire women's fours at Wellingborough.

 

The honour of a semi-final place was seized by Gill Crossley's rink, beating the quartet skipped by Lis Milburn 18-14. However, there was plenty of praise for Pauline Ahearn, teammate of Milburn's. She was called into the match only as a last-minute sub, for her first ever taste of county comp bowls, and played excellently.​

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Nonetheless, it was Crossley, Christine Ball, Diana Brown & Barbara Astle who stayed on to play for a place at Leamington, something that has only ever happened once before in a major women's comp for Abington. Sadly the wait for a second goes on, as Kingsthorpe's Billie Swift held on for 13-16. Abington kept the fight going to the last wood of the last end, but spent the entire second half chasing the game without getting their noses in front.

 

​​​​​​​ **AND ABINGTON'S MEN fared no better. Another all-Abington tie was in the offing of the National Two-Fours, but the B-team crumpled on a difficult surface at Kingsthorpe. One rink was won, but only narrowly. The final aggregate was seven in Kingsthorpe's favour.

 

News soon came through of a surprise upset in the men's county Top Club, with another travelling Abington band knocked out at the first hurdle down at Brackley. Few clubs can put out 27 players in the same colours all on the same day (with still more using the facilities at home). It's just a shame that we don't make more of them. At least plenty of other comps are still available.

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09/06/2026: IT WASN'T THE prettiest display, but Abington's B and C-teams survived through the 1st round of the Monday Triples League's Knockout Trophy. Both facing opposition from the lower divisions, both ultimately happy with the result, despite receiving a scare.​

 

​​​​​​​ The B-team laboured in a plum home tie against Cogenhoe, one of our nearest bowling neighbours geographically but rarely encountered in competition. Not until the final end was the tie settled in Abington's favour, 45-43. The C-team were a smidge more ruthless, defeating Cold Ashby, another lesser-spotted village club, 49-41. It is the Cs' first taste of a win so far this year, and hopefully one they can bring back into the 2nd Division from next week.

 

Meanwhile, the A-side's hopes of silverware ended at the first, losing 29-46 to their Northampton Express counterparts in the opening match of the 1st Division's seperate Knockout Shield.

 

On the previous Friday evening, the women's team received their first major setback. Leaders Kingsthorpe dropped their first points of the season at Wootton Grange, but that only added to the frustration for Abington, who were pointless and 10 shots the weaker at home to Kislingbury. They now sit eight and four points respectively back from the top two, still in third but now only one point higher than Kisle.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​