Darlington Juniors joy

Liam Mortimer, Lorna Ditchburn and Louise Abel were taking part in an annual competition promoted by Greg Harlow, currently an England International player and a winner of two National Championship Competitions this year.

The three Darlington youngsters, who have progressed through the Youth Development programme at Darlington, were one of 16 teams competing against young bowlers from clubs within the Yorkshire County - Thornaby, Scarborough, York, Barnsley, Hornsea, Selby & Leeds.

The Darlington team were involved in three matches each lasting 90 minutes. They defeated Hornsea 17-4 in their first game and followed this up with further victories over Leeds by 14-9 and finally against a team from the host club, Scarborough by 17-6. Their three victories secured the runners up spot in the competition which was won by an experienced team from Thornaby.

Liam, Lorna and Louise play regularly within the League programme at the Darlington Indoor Bowls Centre.

Playing together in a competition for the first time, all three were delighted with their achievement. They each received a new bowls bag for carrying their woods, shoes and clothing, presented to them by Greg Harlow.

Durham and District League

Wingate caused an upset to the visiting reigning champions, Leeholme when they won by two points. However the early leaders, Coxhoe were whitewashed by the visiting Sherburn Village so Leeholme and Pelton Fell now share top spot in the First Division with Coxhoe and Wingate equal two points behind.

Crook Glenholme, last season's runners-up, managed their first win of the season with a two-point victory over the visiting Addison Park. The Crook team won by 85 shots to 77.

Rink scores (Crook names first): A. Bainbridge 29 T. Docherty 13; A. Dunn 15 J. Oram 23; D. McDonald 22 J. Muirhead 17; R. Bibby 19 M. Fenwick 24.

Shotton are two points clear at the top of the Second Division from King George V, who continued their excellent start to the season with an 80 shots to 71 shots victory over the visiting Witton Gilbert.

Rink scores (King George names first): A. E. Coulson 18 S. Dent 11; A. Mather 19 D. Minns 19; C. Ford 19 W. Sedman 19; C. Howey 24 J. Hewitt 22.

Vane Tempest lead the Third Division by three points with Cockton Hill second, one ahead of Trimdon.

Results: Division One: Crook Glenholme 6 Addison Park 4; Wingate 6 Leeholme 4; Pelton Fell 8 Bowburn 2; Ever Ready/Craghead 6 Brandon 4; Coxhoe 0 Sherburn Village 10.

Division Two: Wheatley Hill 6 Chilton 4; Shotton 6 Murton 4; Nevilles Cross 7 Newton Hall 3; Langley Park 2 Mainsforth 8; King George V 8 Witton Gilbert 2.

Division Three: Wolsingham 3 Cockton Hill 7; Trimdon 8 Belmont 2; Fishburn W.M. Club 0 Willington Spectrum 10; Vane Tempest 8 Kelloe 2.

Tomorrow's fixtures: Division One: Ever Ready/Craghead v Coxhoe; Brandon v Pelton Fell; Bowburn v Wingate; Leeholme v Crook Glenholme; Addison Park v Sherburn Village.

Division Two: Langley Park v King George V; Mainsforth v Nevilles Cross; Newton Hall v Shotton; Murton v Wheatley Hill; Chilton v Witton Gilbert.

Division Three: Kelloe v Fishburn W. M. Club; Willington Spectrum v Trimdon; Belmont v Wolsingham; Cockton Hill v Dean & Chapter.

SWD Vets League

Langley Park A, despite suffering from some players being unavailable because of holidays, pulled off a very good win in the local derby when they beat their B team, who had just been relegated from the First Division, by four points.

The A team won by 60 shots to 53.

Rink scores (A team first): Malcolm Riley 19 George Cartmell 24; Stan Wadge 23 Derek Henderson 14; Bob Seymour 18 Dennis Cassidy 15.

This result puts Langley Park A at the top of the Second Division, a position they share with Dean Bank, two points ahead of Willington and Durham City.

Addison Park, newly-promoted, lead the First Division by two points from Spennymoor A, who are two ahead of the other promoted team, Chilton. Cockton Hill B are three points clear in the Third Division with Wolsingham in second spot, one point ahead of Spennymoor B.

Results: Division One: Leeholme 8 Shildon Railway A 0; Sherburn A 4 Crook Glenholme A 4; Chilton 2 Addison Park 6; Cockton Hill B 4 Spennymoor A 4.

Division Two: Belmont 8 Bishop Auckland 0; Langley Park B 2 Langley Park A 6; Dean Bank 6 Durham City 2.

Division Three: Shildon Railway B 6 Mainsforth 2; Wolsingham 7 Sherburn B 1; Shildon Town 0 Spennymoor B 8; Crook Glenholme B 0 Fishburn 8; Spennymoor C 0 Cockton Hill B 8.

Central Ladies League

Reigning champions, Durham City made a good start to the new season when they only dropped one point to the visiting Brandon. The home side won by 86 shots to 53.

Rink scores (Durham City names first): Joyce Woodward, Barbara Scorer and Melva Atherton 19 Ann Gething and Val Newton 11; Neil Harte, Margaret Sutton and Pat Smith 23 Linda Flowers, Pam Wood and Margaret Favell 12; Doreen McWilliams, Audrey Atkinson and Jean Davis 28 Moira Gowland, Joan Taylor and Dot Davies 12; Trudy Kitto, Dorothy Appleby and Yvonne Greaves 16 Enid Charlton, Margaret Marr and Frances Hodgson 18.

King George V also started with a three-point victory over the visiting Mainsforth, whilst last season's runners up dropped one and half points on their visit to Pelton Fell.

Results: King George V 4 Mainsforth 1; Durham City 4 Brandon 1; Pelton Fell 1 Vane Tempest 3; Bishop Auckland 3 Cockton Hill 2. Spennymoor v Dean Bank postponed.

Durham City Midweek League

Newton Hall jumped to the top of the table after making their second consecutive maximum win, with hosts Nevilles Cross being the recent sufferers. This moved them four points clear of Addison Park, who are the only unbeaten team in the league. The early leaders, Coxhoe slumped to their first defeat at King George and now share third place with their hosts, one point behind Addison Park.

Results: Sacriston 10 Durham City 0; King George V 7 Coxhoe 3; Nevilles Cross 0 Newton Hall 10; Vane Tempest 8 Belmont 2; Brandon 2 Addison Park 8.

South West Durham League

Newly-promoted Spectrum and Spennymoor Jubilee both started the new season with a win, as did Langley Park after their relegation to division two.

Results: Division One: Cockton Hill 5 Brandon 5; Leeholme 6 Shildon Railway 4; Mainsforth 2 Spennymoor A 8; Spectrum 8 Glenholme 2; Spenymoor Jubilee 6 Addison Park 4.

Division Two: Wolsingham 10 Bishop Auckland 0; Langley Park 8 Shildon Town B 2; Spennymoor Town 2 Fishburn 8; Shildon Town A v Kelloe postponed; Cockton Hill bye.

Fixtures: Division One: Brandon v Shildon Railway; Glenholme v Addison Park; Mainsforth v Cockton Hill; Spectrum v Leeholme; Spennymoor A v Spennymoor Jubilee.

Division Two: Cockton Hill B v Kelloe; Fishburn v Wolsingham; Langley Park v Bishop Auckland; Shildon Town B v Shildon Town A; Spennymoor Jubilee bye.

Marshall Yates Mixed Pairs Trophy

The only match in the First Round is A. & A. E. Coulson (King George V) v P. & D. Davies (Addison Park).

Second round draw: W. Maddison & partner (Mainsforth v M. Fenwick & M. Robson (Addison Park); S. Hammond & L. Smith (Cockton Hill) v D. Higgins & T. Gibson (Vane Tempest); F. Tulip & J. Rutter (Langley Park) v W. & A. Latimer (Wingate); W. Miller & E. Charlton (Brandon) v J. Webster & A. Charlton (Sherburn Village); T. & V. Newton (Kelloe) v C. & A. Gething (Bowburn); B. & P. White (Wingate) v A. & A. E. Coulson (King George V) or P. & D. Davies (Addison Park); B. & F. Slinn (Nevilles Cross) v I. & D. B. Hudson (Nevilles Cross); H. Mercer & F. Lowes (Trimdon) v R. & J. Rose (Pelton Fell). Games to be completed by 10 July.

Tom McNamara Triples Trophy

First round draw: A. Nevens & partners (Wingate) v T. Greenough & partners (Nevilles Cross); R. Seymour & partners v R. Presho & partners (Wingate); J. Kelly & partners (Wingate) v T. Talbot & partners (Ever Ready/Craghead); R. Rose & partners v R. Jones & partners (Wingate); D. Parkin & partners (Witton Gilbert) v I. C. Young & partners (King George V); M. English & partners (Ever Ready/Craghead) v W. Maddison & partners (Mainsforth); R. Forster & partners (Sherburn Village) v J. Sedgewick & partners (Langley Park); P. Thompson & partners v A. Bainbridge & partners (Crook Glenholme). Matches to be played by June 19.

Durham County Hospital Cup

First round draw: E. Charlton & partners (Brandon) v D. Parkin & partners (Witton Gilbert); D. Henderson & partners (Langley Park) v R. Presho & partners (Wingate); J. Webster & partners (Sherburn Village) v R. Seymour & partners (Langley Park); R. Forster & partners (Sherburn Village) v J. Sedgewick & partners (Langley Park). There are 12 byes. Matches to be played on or before Saturday, 19 July.

City of Durham Singles Championship

First round draw: K. Milburn (Newton Hall) v J. Moore (Belmont); I. Hudson (Nevilles Cross) v J. Webster (Sherburn Village); C. Gething (Bowburn) v S. Cummings (King George); G. Alderson (Sherburn Village) v I. Milburn (Belmont); J. Vickery (Newton Hall) v D. Fishburn (Newton Hall); D. Wilkinson (Belmont) v J. A. Layfield (Sherburn Village). B. Slinn (Nevilles Cross) and D. Parkin (Witton Gilbert) receive byes.

City of Durham Over-50s Pairs Championship

Second round draw: K. Milburn & D. Fishburn (Newton Hall) v J. Hewitt & B. Harrison (Witton Gilbert) or I. Hudson & B. Slinn (Nevilles Cross); T. Greenough & B. Sones (Nevilles Cross) v J. Vickery & K. Yarnell (Newton Hall) or W. Miller & E. Richardson (Brandon); J. Webster & A. Charlton (Sherburn Village) v D. Parkin & J. Doney (Witton Gilbert); G. Mein & S. R. Smith (Newton Hall) v P. & E.G. Wilkinson (King George).

Durham City and District Carpet League

Pl Pts

Meadowfield 15 61

Durham City 14 53

New Durham 14 43

New Brancepeth 15 43

Northern-Eastern Ladies League

Reigning champions Blackhall made a winning start to the new campaign with a 5-0 home win over Owton Lodge. Park won 5-0 at home to Grayfields and Staby House were 3-2 winners at Hartlepool.

Durham County (EBA)

Area six results

Singles: P Hartley (B Hall walkover; C Hagon (Eldon Grove.

Pairs: Bertram/Wilford (Eldon Grove) 19, Ainger/Robb (Foggy Furze) 16; Golightly/Hartley (B Hall) 20, Weston/Hold (HOB) 18; Dougherty/Dougherty (Park) walkover Higgins/Higgsin (B Hall).

Triples: M Lewis (Lowhills) 13, K Wilford (Eldon Grove) 17; P Hartley (B Hall) 17, J Wells (Park) 16.

Double fours: Owton Lodge 43, Eldon Grove 13.

Lodge names first: P Stephenson 28, T O'Hara 4; C Simpson 15, K Wilford 9.

Top team (2 bowl/4 bowl singles, pairs, triples rinks): Stockton BC 5, Owton Lodge 0.

Darlington Veterans League

Brinkburn Dene, aiming to win the A division championship for the third year in succession started their campaign with an emphatic win against Middleton St George winning 4-0.

Last season's two relegated teams, South Park and Woodland also made a good start to regaining their A Division status by winning their games 4-0.

Results: Division A: Dene A 4, MSGA 0; N Park 3, N Lodge 1; Wood A 2, B Castle A 2; S Park B 1, E Park 3; Hundens A 3, Rath A 1.

Division B: Railway B 3, Hundens B 1; Wood C 0, Spark A 4; B Castle B 0, Wood B 4; MSG B 2, Dene B 2.

RJ Hall Singles Championship

First round draw: K. Simpson (Vane Tempest) v J. Taylor (Leeholme); P. Calvert (Ever Ready/Craghead) v I. Hudson (Nevilles Cross); A. Brown (Ever Ready/Craghead) v A. Webster (Sherburn Village); M. Fenwick (Addison Park) v S. R. Smith (Newton Hall); D. Barron (Leeholme) v D. Jones (Mainsforth); D. Parkin (Witton Gilbert) v C. Jefferson (Leeholme). There are ten byes. Matches to be played by June 19.

Durham and District Men's Pairs Championship

Preliminary round draw: P. Thompson & S. Underwood (Newton Hall) v R. Spindler & F. Sanderson (Murton); R. Forster & N. McDonald (Sherburn Village) v W. Maddison & partner (Mainsforth); F. Tulip & J. Gauden (Langley Park) v R. Jones & D. Bentham (Wingate); T. Greenough & B. Somes (Nevilles Cross) v C. Jefferson & J. Taylor (Leeholme). Matches to be played on or before 29 May. There are 28 byes.