Warwickshire's White Rose junior bowlers into regional semi-finals

The Bears two rinks consisted of Aiden Maries, Dan Ellicott, Mark Smith and Harry Billington and Ewan Mason, Harry Smith, Tom Wheeler and Jordan Ward.

The game got off to a very balanced start, Billington and co led by one with five ends played while Ward and co had played seven ends in the same time but trailed by a shot.

A five for Billington helped them reach the tenth end leading by ten though Ward had slipped to a three shot deficit.

Another five took Billington and co 16 shots clear with six ends to play, Ward’s rink had just three ends to play and now trailed by seven. Ward and co took the next end with a four to help them finish 14-19 down though Billington’s rink were now 18 shots ahead four ends to go.

The sides exchanged doubles before Worcestershire conceded, Billington winning 28-10, giving the Bears and overall 42-29 victory. The next fixture will be on Sunday, July 3 at the Regional Semi-Finals against Dorset or Somerset at Poole Park BC, the winners to play in the Regional Final later in the day.

* A busy period saw the Bears play three inter county friendlies, a narrow 109-107 win over Bedfordshire and a more comprehensive 133-102 victory over Surrey was followed by a 105-135 defeat at the hands of Northamptonshire.

Rink scores for Beds (skips first): County President Nigel Hewitson, Bob Page, John Slater, Dave Mobbs 26-10; Ian Gibbs, Tom Duggins, Aubrey Brookhouse, Paul Clark 13-20; Geoff Moran, Pete Storer, Graham Clarke, Steve Martin 21-11; Alan Bister, David Wigman, Mark Silvester, Barry Lines 16-23; Bruce Truman, Michael Jackson, Mike Hall, Brian Lythall 10-25; Brian Mace Humphries, John Clayton, Wilf Penfold, Mark Glover 23-18.

Rink scores for Surrey (skips first): Nigel Hewitson, Ian Oliver, John Buggins, Stuart Miles 21-24; Brian Mace Humphries, Rick Hayes, Aubrey Brookshouse, John Bentien 18-19; Geoff Moran, Roger Smith, Dave Scobie, Paul Wakem 28-17; Adrian Johnston, Jerry Horne, Mike Hall, Steve Martin 20-20; Tom Duggins, Michael Jackson, Jeff Bayliss, John Harman 21-11; Dan Hampson, Ian Kendall, Keith Youson, Peter Vale Humphreys 25-11.

Rink scores for Northamptonshire (skips first): County President Nigel Hewitson, Ted Coupe, Tony Richards and Barry North 20-21; Bob Allcock, Martin Preedy, Steve Poole and Ken Tredgold 21-18; Rob Maries, John Flounders, Fred Bannister and James Ward 10-28; Ian Kendall, John Douglas, Steve Martin and Martin Hockey 21-28; Rod Thorneycroft, Michael Jackson, Mike Hall and Brian Lythall 20-15; Geoff Moran, Tony Jones, Tony Addis and Bill Brown 13-25.