Northants Bowling Federation’s men’s and women’s championships are staged at Whittlesey Manor

Bowls has always been recognised as a sport for all the family - and this was underlined at the Northants Bowling Federation’s men’s and women’s championships on Sunday.

Staged at Whittlesey Manor's immaculately-prepared green, highly competitive combinations of mother and daughter and husbands and wives dominated the results.

Emma Providence from the Market Deeping club kicked off the 'generation game' with a 21-7 defeat of Langtoft’s Angela Cox in the four-bowl singles before joining her mum Linda Kemp and club-mate Sue Wilson to take the two-bowl triples and secure their places in the English national finals against 12 other counties at Skegness next month.

They were looking for a 'clan hat-trick' in the final of the four sessions but lost out in the pairs to Ketton’s Carol Warters and county president Shirley Suffling, whose respective husbands - Bob and John - earlier triumphed by a single shot in the veterans pairs.

Tristan Morton and his wife Sophie (Parkway) won the mixed rinks with Simon Law - and with his brother Ean Morton and Adam Emery - Tristan also won the three-bowl rinks.

Blackstones bowlers also claimed two pairs titles - for Jon Earl and his partner Katie Bailey in the mixed and Sam Downs and Paul Buckley in the men’s discipline.

But undoubtedly the outstanding club performance was by recently-sponsored Langtoft in winning four titles out of the five they contested in the women’s events.

There were two wins for Sue Moir, making a welcome return to competition.

In the senior singles she beat fellow former national finalist Helen Tilley (Ketton) and then partnered club-mate Anne White to victory in the senior pairs against Yaxley.

Evergreen Ann Northen was also a popular winner of the champion of champions singles while Cox made up for an earlier defeat in the four-bowl singles by taking the singles competition for club secretaries.

Stamford Town also appeared in four events but won only one - the three-bowl women’s rinks in which Elizabeth Wallace, Moira Holroyd and Chris Ford beat team-mates Chrissie Baker, Sue Seed and Ann Holmes.

Finally, spare a thought for NWBF competition secretary Valerie Du’Kett (Ketton), contesting her sixth county final but yet to get over the line.

Despite another plucky performance against Crowland’s Karen Porter, she conceded a narrow lead in the two-bowl singles final, losing 17-21.

The English Bowling Federation championships, for which the Northants winners have all qualified, are played at the Skegness Suncastle greens from August 19-26.

FINALS RESULTS

Men: 2b singles – Michael Jeapes (Parkway) bt Roger Stevens (Whittlesey Manor) 21-10; 4b singles – Paul Dalliday (Parkway) bt Andrew Cooper (Yaxley) 21-19; Secretaries singles – Melvyn Beck (Whittlesey Manor) bt Mike Ramsden (Empingham) 21-19; Veterans singles – Graham Agger (Whittlesey Manor) bt Kevin Vinter (Stamford) 21-18; Champion of Champions – Robert Heath (Yaxley) bt Neil Wright (Parkway) 21-10; Pairs – Sam Downs & Paul Buckley (Blackstones) bt Roger Stevens & Tom Newman (Whittlesey Manor) 23-12; Senior pairs – John Suffling & Bob Warters (Ketton) bt Tony Scarr & Trevor Collins (Parkway) 19-18; 2b rinks – Roger Stevens, Graham Agger, Peter Brown (Whittlesey Manor) bt Tony Scarr, Mike Robertson, Trevor Collins (Parkway) 25-13; 3b rinks – Adam Emery, Ean & Tristan Morton (Parkway) bt Steve Roden, Steve Lander, Peter Brown (Whittlesey Manor) 26-8.

Mixed: Pairs – Katie Bailey & John Earl (Blackstones) bt Mitch Willoughby & Ally McNaughton (Wittering) 20-8; Senior mixed pairs – Les Sharp & Gill King (Yaxley) bt Kevin Vinter & Sue Seed (Stamford) 15-12; Mixed rinks – Sophie Morton, Simon Law, Tristan Morton (Parkway) bt Stuart Agger, Lynne Betts, Peter Brown (Whittlesey Manor) 29-11.

Women: 2b singles – Karen Porter (Crowland) bt Val Du’Kett (Ketton) 21-17; 4b singles: Emma Providence (Market Deeping) bt Angela Cox (Langtoft) 21-7; Secretaries singles – Angela Cox (Langtoft) bt Terri Handley (County) 21-4; Veterans singles – Sue Moir (Langtoft) bt Helen Tilley (Ketton) 21-16; Champion of Champions – Ann Northen (Langtoft) bt Joy Winfield (Deeping) 21-16; Pairs – Carol Warters & Shirley Suffling (Ketton) bt Linda Kemp & Emma Providence (Market Deeping) 18-12; Senior pairs – Anne White & Sue Moir (Langtoft) bt Viv Hempsell & Gill King (Yaxley) 17-7; 2b rinks – Sue Wilson, Linda Kemp, Emma Providence (Market Deeping) bt Elizabeth Wallace, Moira Holroyd, Chris Ford (Stamford) 22-12; 3b rinks – Elizabeth Wallace, Moira Holroyd, Chris Ford (Stamford) bt Chrissie Baker, Sue Seed, Ann Holmes (Stamford) 22-9.

Ketton Bowls Club is staging a fund-raising Picnic Gala - this time for teams of triples - on Wednesday, August 30, from 9.30am.

Entry is just £5 per player with four games of eight ends guaranteed and cash prizes for the leading teams.

Forms available from Carol Warters (carolwarters@icloud.com) with a proposed closing date of Friday August 18.