Northumberland’s Stella Logan campaign got off to a dream start on Friday with a superb, hard-fought 94–85 away victory against Yorkshire at York RI. Showing great composure on traveling turf, Northumberland built an early advantage and held their nerve through a late Yorkshire fightback to secure the overall aggregate win.
The Early Exchanges: Northumberland Set the Pace
Northumberland wasted no time settling into the away greens. By the 5th end, the visiting rinks had jumped out to a 15-shot lead, leading 34–19 on the overall aggregate.
Yorkshire began to find their feet in the middle section, slightly closing the gap by the 10th end (56–50). However, Northumberland responded magnificently. A powerful push between the 10th and 15th ends saw Northumberland stretch their lead to a commanding 15 shots once again, sitting pretty at 86–71.
Though Yorkshire mounted a late charge in the final three ends, Northumberland’s grit ensured they crossed the finish line with a comfortable 9-shot cushion, sealing a final score of 94–85.
Rink-by-Rink Breakdown
While Yorkshire managed to pinch three of the individual rinks by narrow margins, it was Northumberland’s two massive winning rinks that completely blew the aggregate scoreline open.
- Rink 1: M. Leighton 17 – 18 A. Dalby Leighton’s rink put up a fantastic fight. After trailing 13-16 at the 15th end, they roared back in the final ends, falling just a single shot short of a draw.
- Rink 2: A. Ray 19 – 22 M. Smurthwaite A tight, see-saw battle all afternoon. Ray’s unit held a 16–9 lead at the 10th end, but the Yorkshire rink finished strongly to edge a close 3-shot win.
- Rink 3: M. Urwin 23 – 13 K. Harkin (Winning Rink) A spectacular performance from Urwin’s rink. They dominated from the off, turning a 13–6 lead at the 10th into a 22–6 cushion by the 15th, providing a massive 10-shot boost to Northumberland’s overall total.
- Rink 4: N. Povey 14 – 25 A. Phillips Povey’s rink ran into an in-form Yorkshire unit. Despite being up against it after the 10th end, the Northumberland squad dug in to limit the damage over the closing ends.
- Rink 5: A. Marsh 21 – 7 M. Morgan (Winning Rink) The standout performance of the day. Marsh’s rink put on a masterclass, commanding the green from start to finish. Leading 10–4 at the halfway mark, they completely shut out the opposition in the second half to win by a phenomenal 14 shots.
Looking Ahead
To travel to a venue like York RI and come away with a 9-shot aggregate victory is a perfect start to the Stella Logan campaign. The performance showed both high-scoring flair and excellent game management when Yorkshire piled on the late pressure.
​Northumberland will look to carry this winning momentum back to home territory for their next fixture against Cumbria on Friday, 5th June. Let’s get behind the team as they look to make it two wins from two!