Cumbria Indoor Bowls Club took another step towards the Denny Cup when beating Copeland Indoor Bowls Club 93-59.

The result was not unexpected as Copeland have lost quite a number of useful players this year, though there was at least one notable performance, at Copeland, where Carl Neen produced a great display in skipping his four to victory over Stephen Farish.

Neen has always been a useful player and a good competitor, and he showed he still has what it takes, even against a strong Cumbria four.

At Carlisle, Dale Holerin’s four fought back extremely well, having trailed 16-3 at one point. They did not give up and got back to 18-15 up, before losing two twos on the last two ends.

Also at Carlisle, Alan Prince found the going tough while, at Copeland, Malcolm Little did well until the 15-end mark before losing the last six ends 13-2 against Stuart Airey.

In the next round, Cumbria will meet South Shields, the side which ended the Carlisle club's hopes last year.

In that game, Cumbria were well beaten and, as reports suggest the South Shields side has been improved with at least two new players, then this will be no easy task for the Carlisle club.

The Yetton Trophy game was played at the same time as the Denny Cup game, and this was much more competitive when Cumbria met South Shields.

Cumbria defeated South Shields when the two clubs last met but, in the early stages, it was the North-east club which took the initiative, albeit a narrow one.

In the third quarter of the game, however, it was Cumbria who took command, scoring 30-14 in the next five ends, Judith Clifford at Carlisle led the way, scoring 11 shots without reply.

South Shields rallied but could never quite get back into contention and Cumbria finished 10 shots in front.

In the next round, Cumbria will meet Great Aycliffe which is a four-rink club and the green is reported as being quite fast, just above 18 seconds.

On Saturday, they scrambled home by a single shot against Durham.

Last year, they went out to Darlington who Cumbria easily beat this year, so there must be every chance for another success for the Ladies.

The next round of the Yetton Trophy and the Denny Cup will be played on Saturday, December 7.

So, on Saturday, it was good news for Cumbria, but it was another disappointing Sunday when the side lost to Hartlepool in the Top Club.

There are 16 points available in each game spread over the five disciplines and those points were equally shared, so the result was decided on shots. Hartlepool were 11 shots superior and progress to the next round.

Both the Ladies and Gents Two Wood singles were lost though, for much of the way, Kevin Harrison looked the likely winner, only to falter in the closing stages against Glen Skipp.

The Mixed pairs was a high quality game, with Ellie McCubbin and Stuart Irwin coming out on top 20-15 and John Baird battled all the way to get his Mixed Triple in front in the second half to win 19-10.

The Mixed Four never really sparkled and, in the end, they went down by nine shots.

For some reason, Cumbria has done very little in this event since being beaten in the national semi-final some years ago, despite fielding much stronger teams in recent times.