CHESHIRE exited the County Championship on Sunday when they suffered an overall 29-shot defeat to Derbyshire, writes David O’Brien.

A respectable home result at a rain-affected Castle Sports wasn’t enough to see Cheshire go through.

Victories for Tom Vickers (21-2) and Pete Illidge (21-7) contributed to Cheshire winning the home tie by 42 shots.

However, on a tricky green at Stretton Bowls Club in Burton, Cheshire only managed two winning cards on the way to a 71-shot defeat.

In the Mid Cheshire League last week, Castle Sports recorded 12 winners at Rudheath to go above Wharton Cons in the Premier League table by a slender three chalks.

With the halfway stage of the season approaching, only nine chalks separate Castle, Wharton Cons and Frodsham Red Lion.

Many of the league tables look a bit topsy-turvy at the moment due to a number of teams playing more games than others in the league.

An interesting battle is developing in Section Three, where Norley A and B take up first and second positions in the table.

Last week saw two pieces of silverware claimed in the local leagues.

Terry Bebbington of Wharton Cons won Mid Cheshire’s Joe Robinson Trophy for the third time at Rudheath, defeating Dennis Leather 21-11 in the final while in the Norley League’s Fred Hopkins Trophy, Mark Winnington took the first prize.

In the first qualifying session in the Wharton Cons Open on Sunday, two youngsters came through the field to qualify for the finals – Matty Worden and Adam Penlington each winning three games to progress to the final day.

Play resumes this Sunday, where the start time will be 2pm. Local interest in this week’s field is Paul Drinkwater of Rudheath Sports.

The second set of qualifying sessions in the Castle Sports Classic were played out on Saturday.

Matt Thurlwell of Comberbach progressed to the final day where he will be joined by Jack Bushell (Wharton Cons), Dave Phillips and Dan Prosser.