AGM 2012
At the County Association's Annual General Meeting held last night at Houghton Dairy Lane Bowls Club President Eric Weightman (pictured below) came to the end of his three years in office. Together with his previous three years as Vice President he had devoted six years to his duties.
In his report Eric commented that he had been very proud to represent the County and had thoroughly enjoyed it. During his term the County had won the Liberty Trophy twice. This made a total of eleven wins a record with the nearest other county being Norfolk with six. He said leading out the team to receive the trophy had been a marvellous experience for him.
Vice-President Dave Roberts (pictured left) from Great Aycliffe was inaugurated as President for the next two years. With the help of the Management Committeeand he hoped to continue the success the County had enjoyed. He was looking forward to carrying out his duties and was really proud to be President.
The new Vice President is Paul Heath, nominated by his home club, Spennymoor IBC. Paul is well known within the County both Indoors and outdoors. In his address Paul said he had been a member of Spennymoor since it opened 48 years ago when it was the first indoor club in Co Durham. In two years time when he becomes President it willd coincide with Spennymoor's 50 years celebrations.
Competitions Secretary, Alan Cooper gave his report and trophies were presented to all the winners of Champion of Champions competitions and winners of the Inter Club Leagues and the Vets Inter Club League.
There were three proposals for change on the agenda and all of them were adopted. However before voting started a letter from Durham IBC was read out. In it criticism of last year's AGM's voting procedure had been made. As a result County Secretary, Dave Morgan, had made changes for this year. It ensured that the counting and checking of voters was accurate.
As a result of these motions . The Parks IBC which is an affiliated club will in future be able to attend the AGM and Its members will also be able to play in the Champion of Champions and Seniors Champion of Champions competitions in future.
The last change was to reduce the term of office for the President and Vice President from three to two years.
Friday, 4th May 2012
PBA Tourcard Finals at Stanley, 13th May 2012
The National Championships
"Liberty Trophy " Final 2011-2012
Durham took the Liberty Trophy for the 11th time after a tremendous team performance yesterday at Nottingham had overwhelmed a Somerset side who conceded the match with 18 ends remaining with the scores standing at 125-73 in favour of Durham.
This match was the last one in this year's National Championships and EIBA President Lindsay Warner warmly welcomed both Durham and Somerset. Both teams took to the carpet for the pre-match parade and introductions at the Nottingham Indoor Bowls Centre. There was plenty of vocal encouragement from both sets of supporters with Durham's probably edging on volume although Somerset's air-horns were clearly evident. Two bus loads of fans had travelled down for the day from Co Durham and there was plenty of atmosphere as the match got underway.
It was Durham who made the brighter start and edged ahead 6-3 after the first end. They never lost their advantage. The lead was steadily increased throughout the contest although Somerset battled hard to recover the initiative. Durham were ahead on four rinks for most of the match and the remaining two eventually went in front, too.
The task of catching the Durham lads whose lead had now extended across the board to over 50 shots at 18 ends was not feasible and Somerset who had continued throughout to fight for every point were forced to accept the inevitable and conceded the match.
This was a tremendous show from a talented and effective Durham unit. Success against Somerset in the Final was the culmination of a series of tough matches against worthy teams, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire from arguably the stronger half of the draw.
Eleven wins adds to the achievements of the County and places it in a unique position in Liberty Trophy records as the most successful county in its history.
Monday 8thd April 2012
 |
The Durham Squad who won the Liberty Trophy for a record breaking 11th time
against Somerset at Nottingham Indoor Bowls Centre on 8th April 2012 . Click on photo to enlarge |