ASTON INGHAM bowlers won the main competition and plate at their home club in the pairs county competition.

Some 24 teams travelled to the Aston Ingham club and played in round robin groups with the field split into two with the top 16 teams progressing to the main knockout competition and the remaining eight teams contesting the Plate competition.

Four different clubs were represented in the semi-final and wins over Fownhope and Llangarron respectively saw the Lea team of Merion Attwood and Colin Smith progress to play Terry Darrington and Rita Hancock (Aston Ingham) in the final.

The final was a tight match but the Aston Ingham pair eventually ran out 11-9 winners.

In the plate competition, the semi-finals saw representatives of a further four clubs still in contention and last year’s winners, George Marshall (Ross) and David Millington Jones (Woolhope) progressed to a second consecutive final at the expense of St Martins.

The other semi-final saw Dean Rudman and Terry Griffiths of Aston Ingham beat Larruperz and they went on to defeat the defending champions 9-7 in another close final.

The county teams have completed their Inter County Competition qualifying groups with mixed results.

The Premier team completed their fixtures with a thumping 31-9 home victory over Oxfordshire to secure second place in their group behind Gloucestershire and progress to the main knockout competition taking place next year.

The A team, meanwhile, had to settle for a place in their consolation competition as, despite winning four of their six matches, they only managed to finish in third place in their group behind Gloucestershire and Hampshire, both of whom they beat at home but suffered away defeats against which proved decisive in the final placings in a tightly contested group.

Both teams travel this coming weekend to compete in their respective ICC Rinks qualifying competitions; the Premier team competing in Daventry whilst the A team travel to Somerset.