The National two pairs’ semi-finals were played at Penrith and the game between Kevin Harrison and Stuart Irwin and David Linton and Rae Graham provided a very interesting finish.

The former pairs looked to have the edge for much of the game and were six ahead with just four left to play.

On the 18th end, however, four short bowls from Harrison gave the opposition the advantage.

Three moderate deliveries from Irwin allowed Graham the luxury of drawing anywhere near to count and he did.

However, Irwin composed himself for his fourth bowl and produced a peach which gave him second shot and left him a five shot lead with three to play.

On the next end Harrison had the better of the leading but Graham played a firm bowl with his first delivery and laid an unbeatable toucher in the ditch at the corner of the rink.

Irwin failed to sparkle and Graham cashed in by drawing shots to land a count of five and leave it all sqaure with two to play.

On the penultimate end Linton played the btter bowls overall but Harrison produce a great bowl to draw the shot and the two skips made no change whatever to leave Irwin one shot ahead playing the last.

On the final end Harrison played the better bowls but Irwin in attempting to hide the jack actually increased the target and Graham again put the jack in the ditch in the corner of the rink and laid shot about 18 inches away.

Putting the last end in this direction firmly to the back of his mind Irwin drew a great bowl no more than two inches from the ditch edge only to see Graham push it into the ditch.

Irwin responded by drawing the shot and then perhaps took a chance by adding another close to his shot.

Graham, now with a bigger target, now had the chance to put both bowls in the ditch to win the game but only managed to remove one and Harrison and Irwin went through.

The other semi-final was rather more clear cut. The in form Rick Gallagher had the better of Stuart Begg leaving Mark Nanson to consolidate while Eddie Murray was forced into making sure of reaching to recover which is always difficult at Penrith. Murray did get back into the game and was just seven adrift with four to play but that was as near as he got, Gallagher and Nanson going through to the final.

The inter-area of the senior triples took place on Sunday and it was a remarkable game if only in the fact that there were only 22 shots scored over the eighteen ends.

Bill Adam, Ron McMath and Rick Gallagher had won our area and in this final they faced a strong trio of Brett Arkley, Ian Peacock and John Thurlbeck.

The two trios were close througout and basically Cumbria won because they scored three twos as opposed to just one two for the Stanley triple.

Cumbria played the last end with a three shot lead and in keeping with the rest of the game allowed the opposition just a single shot to ensure their 12-10 win.

On Monday evening, the area singles final was played between Rick Gallagher and John Baird.

Baird has played a fair bit of bowls on this green but Gallagher has hardly ever been away in recent weeks so neither player could really claim any advantage.

Baird led 5-3 after eight but then lost the next three ends, in the process conceeding seven shots, which was perhaps rather harsh.

Both players were more consistent playing away from the scoreboard and Baird appeared to play slightly the better in this direction.

Strangely though he was unable to translate this slight superiority into shots and in fact he managed to win just one of the eleven ends played in this direction.

Both players struggled a little for a consistent line playing back to the scoreboard but Gallagher shared the spoils in this direction and generally always looked the likely winner, the final score being 21-13.

  • Mason Trophy

Cumbria Indoor Bowls Club Ladies are of course facing all the problems that the men’s Denny Cup side is but like the Denny side they are battling on bravely and last week scored a great fifteen shot win against Redcar.

The game was very close at halfway, just three shots between the sides.

At Redcar Jackie Wilson, Margaret Docherty, Christine Wharton and Eleanor Gass recoverd from a slow start to lead 11-8 while at Penrith Susan Devlin, Judith Clifford, Sheena Kirkpatrick and Cindy Edmondson were all square against Beryl Alderson.

After halfway Cumbria really found their stride however and Gass’s four went on to win 24-17 while Edmondson also powered to an eight shot win to give Cumbria IBC a great fifteen shot victory. In the next round they will meet Boston and this game will be played on a neutral green, details to follow.

  • Cumbria IBC

It has been reported this week that a number of sports clubs in Carlisle face difficult decisions as to their future.

The possibility that insurance companies may not renew insurance for floods is certainly a worrying one.

The Cricket Club, the Rugby Club, the Squash Club and the Tennis Club have all been mentioned.

Add to that list Cumbria Indoor Bowls Club on the Viaduct Estate in Carlisle. In terms of winning this club is almost certainly the most successful sports club in Cumbria and also caters for a wide age group from 11 to 90+.

It provides a valuable bowls amenity as well as a social centre for the City of Carlisle and surrounding district and whilst it is a members club there is more than adequate provision within its programme to allow members of the public to play on two of the best greens in the country.

More than 1,500 people a week use this facility at no cost to the rate payers and yet its future remains uncertain.

Yes the club can be put together again on its present site but if insurance was not forthcoming, but another flood was, then its future would be certain.

It could not survive.

The loss of such a facility would be nothing short of a trajedy, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Members will, therefore, be pleased to hear that Cumbria IBC has obtained a grant to set up two feasibility studies for projects which would allow the club to remain on its present site.

There will be a meeting of the club’s two committees tomorrow evening when further details will be provided and hopefully some decisions about the clubs future may be arrived at.

Looking ahead to saturday week the club will be playing Nottingham in the national quarter final of the Denny Cup at Darlington.

There is a coach travelling to Darlington and there are just a few seats left, if you wish to travel please contact the club as soon as possible.

  • Courtfield BC

Courtfield is also making progress and it is hoped that restoration can begin in the near future.

Members are reminded that the club is currently classed as a building site and as such is strictly out of bounds.

It is hoped that restoration will be completed by mid May so it now looks as if league play could well be possible as per the programme.