SEVERAL local players from North Wilts and Clarrie Dunbar have booked places in the ladies and men’s national championships last 16 and age group competitions being staged at Nottingham in the spring.

The North Wilts foursome of Irene Button, Jean Collier, Sue Cooke and Alex Jacobs were in sparkling form at Bristol City & County last week in the Area 16 final of the ladies’ national fours competition.

They thumped opponents Joan Surman, Maryann Pye, Margaret McColl and Pauline Gunn (MidGlos) 25-8 to book their place in the last 16 at Nottingham from March 21-23.

North Wilts ladies lost the first two ends and trailed 4-0, but bounced back in fine style to wipe out the deficit, winning the next eight ends to lead 16-4 at 10.

They continued to rack up the shots, scoring a trio of threes and only conceding four shots to increase their lead to 25-8 when the concession came with three ends to play.

Jacobs was also in top form at Swindon Westlecot in the ladies’ O60s area singles final.

She beat Clarrie’s Jeanette Wheeler 21-4 to earn a place in Nottingham in another event.

But fellow fours team members Button and Collier missed out on a second Nottingham appearance, losing in the ladies’ pairs final 27-8 at Bristol City & County to Laura Holden and Stefanie Branfield (Clevedon).

They were tied 4-4 after three ends, but dropped a four on the next end and were playing catch-up from then on. They were 13-8 down at 10 ends, but then dropped two fives and conceded after 14 ends when trailing 27-8.

In the men’s section, the Moore family of Steve, Chris and skip Andy (North Wilts) are through to Nottingham in early April after a comfortable 20-9 victory at Westlecot in the final of the O50s triples against Vince Wilkes, Mike Prosser and Simon Lloyd (MidGlos, Brockworth).

The Moore’s won 11 of the 16 ends that were played. They led 8-1 after five ends and had increased the advantage to 12-5 after 10 and 19-8 at 15 before finally winning 20-8 at 16 ends.

However, Geoff and Andy Moore lost at MidGlos in the final of the men’s pairs, beaten 23-10 by Malvern Hills duo Tom Holmes and Shaun Jones.

But 24 hours earlier, England international Jones lost in the singles final 21-18 at MidGlos to Clarrie’s Andy Colebrooke.

Clarrie team-mates John Freeman and Keith Bailey failed to join Colebrooke in Nottingham when losing in the O60s pairs final 23-11 to Malvern duo Martin Griffiths and Martin Smith.

There are several more finals scheduled to be played in the next few days.

Hoping to book a place in Nottingham in the last 16 is Teresa King (Clarrie) in the ladies’ singles when she plays Clevedon’s Laura Holden at Bristol.

Alex Jacobs (NW) plays Rose Constant (Bristol) in the final of the ladies two bowl singles.

The Clarrie trio of Thelma Bailey, Debbie Shadwell and Jeanette Wheeler are also seeking a place in the ladies’ triples in Nottingham.

They meet MidGlos in Bristol.

And in the men’s section, Wayne Snook, Dale Taylor and Colebrooke play Harry Griffiths, Tom Holmes and Shaun Jones in the triples final at Bristol C&C.

While Jordan and Chris Moore are due to face Mike and Tom Holmes in the family pairs final at MidGlos.

  • CLARRIE Dunbar are through to the quarter-finals in the Mason Trophy – ladies O60s double rinks competition.

They followed up their fourth-round 35-31 win over North Wilts with another victory over Handy Cross (High Wycombe) 43-35 in the last 16 on the neutral green at Basingstoke Sports Centre (Loddon Vale IBC).

They did it the hard way and had to come from behind after a poor start to claim victory, although rink honours were shared 1-1.

Clarrie were 16-6 down overall after only five ends, but had pulled back to only 24-21 down at 10. They moved 36-30 clear at 15 ends and finally won 43-35 after 18 ends.

Maggie Morgan, Ailsa Midwinter, Jo Dunford and Teresa King took top billing with a 25-11 success.

Their win helped to wipe out the 24-18 loss sustained by Ruth Jupp, Pam Trippick, Sue Bird and skip Jeanette Wheeler.

This was a fine effort considering they were 10-0 down after five ends and 17-5 adrift at 10, but plugged away to cut the finally gap at 18 ends to only six shots.

Clarrie now face Torquay United in the quarter-finals on March 22, with the winners booking a place in the last four at Nottingham on April 11.