CAMPIONI CAMPIONI OLE OLE OLE!

Northumberland Linskill BC has won the 2025 Northumberland 5s!

It happened - at the third time of asking Northumberland Linskill managed to come out on top.

Played on Saturday 26 April, on what was a lovely Spring day. the 2025 'Fives' competition again comprised teams from Percy, Whitley & Monkseaton, North Shields WE and Willlington Quay bowling clubs together with two teams ('Northumberland' and 'Linskill') from hosts Northumberland Linskill.

The morning saw Pairs and Triples matches with each team playing three 6-end matches against randomly drawn opposition. In the Pairs the honours were taken by Willington Quay with three wins and 6 points, closely followed by North Shields WE with two wins (4 pts). Meanwhile in the Triples it was Percy that led the way with Carol, Tracey and Amy gaining three wins (6 pts), closely followed by Whitley & Monkseaton (5 pts).

As a result, by the lunchbreak we had tied leaders on 8 points - Whitley & Monkseaton and Percy - with Willington Quay close behind on 7 pts.

The afternoon session comprised Singles and 'Fours' - again played over three 6-end games per team. The leading singles player was our own Tom Manuel (Linskill) with two wins and a draw (5 pts), while Kevin Brown (Northumberland), North Shields WE and Willington Quay all took two wins (4 pts).

While the games were played concurrently, when the Singles scores were added to the Pairs and Triples, the leaders were Willington Quay on 11 pts, but North Shields WE and 'Northumberland' were close behind on 10 pts. So the 'Fours' would decide the outcome - and it took a superb performance from the Northumberland Four of Ron Dunton, Keith Howard, Reg Milne and Lynne O'Keefe to clinch the title. They won all of their matches with a combined aggregate of 28-7 meaning the Northumberland total of 16 points could only be bettered by Willington Quay; however, their two wins weren't enough and so the Shield came home!

The final positions were:

Northumberland 16 pts

Willington Quay 15 pts

North Shields WE & Percy 12 pts

Whitley Bay & Monkseaton 11 pts

Linskill 6 pts

Thanks to all clubs and players who made it another excellent day, plus thanks also to all the organisers - especially Neil M (club liaison/communication), Geoff C (scoring & technical stuff), Ryan T (for helping Geoff on the day), and Reg M & Lynne (raffle). Happily we also raised £185 for our chosen charity, the Ellis Lake Foundation (see ellislakefoundation.co.uk for more information, it's a great cause).

And one final note .... Get In, we won

!!