A historic county win was cause for much celebration for Harpenden Bowling Club.

The club's men took the top prize in the Team Ten competition after a long day of action.

It began with a trip to Welwyn & District and a semi-final against Garston.

Nick Muir lost narrowly in the singles but the pairs of Simon Burgess and Neil Sharp and the fours of Ken Murray, Tony Redford, Roy Polley and Steve Maynard both won to put Harpenden in front.

The triple of Trevor Tharby, Neil Herrington and John Osborn were trailing when the other games finished and unlikely to come back and meant the result would be decided on shot difference.

They narrowed the gap to the point it was all level going into the final end.

They won that to take the squad to the afternoon final at Hatfield where Buntingford were waiting.

Muir got them off to a winning start in the singles and the fours won again, David Brooks coming in for Ken Murray.

The pairs lost this time though and with a narrow shot deficit, it all came down to the triples again.

This time though there was no drama and their victory secured a 3-1 win and the trophy.

There was also a very conclusive result for the squad in the County League

They travelled to Potters Bar needing a 6-0 win to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the semi-final.

And they came through in style with the rink of Kevin Brazier, Simon Burgess, Neil Sharp and John Osborn winning 26-9 while the rink of Trevor Tharby, Roy Polley, Steve Maynard and Nick Muir won 25-8 for a 51-17 overall success.

The 34-point shot difference gives Harpenden a good chance of progressing to the semi-final as group runners up.

The end of July marks the start of the individual District championships.

In the District Triples Bob Lawrie, Peter Thomson and Peter Armstrong of Townsend beat a very experienced trio from Hemel on their own green, 16-3.

The visitors restricted the home team to only one winning end in what was a convincing victory. 

In the mixed fours the Townsend team of Rena Williamson, Jane Dixon, Thomson and Armstrong won through to the semi-final with a 17-13 win at North Mymms.

The final match of the week Lawrie, Thomson and Alan Charran booked their place in the finals of the two-wood triples with yet another away win, this time at Potters Bar.

There was seldom more than a couple of shots between the two teams until the final few ends when eight shots over four ends proved conclusive and resulted in a 21-14 final score.

Potters Bar was the venue as four triples competed in the midweek friendly.

With three matches completed Townsend held a narrow 2-1 rink lead and were ahead by two shots.

Everything depended on the result of the final tie, with the Townsend trio of Ann and Brian English with Bob Lawrie deciding the overall decision with a 31-3 demolition.

Each season Townsend play host to select teams, and this weekend saw the arrival of five rinks from London Scottish.

With three of the rinks resulting in two-shot deficits and one winning by only three shots, the match was incredibly close but resulted in a win for the exiles in a match that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.