THERE was disappointment for the ladies of City of Ely Bowls Club on Tuesday as they fell at the final hurdle of the National Indoor Championships in Northampton.

The ladies competed in the finals of the Mason Trophy – the over 60 inter club double rink championship – and, despite a strong showing in the semi-finals, they ran out of steam in the final against Egham, going down 50-28.

In their semi-final, the Ely ladies took on a strong Cumbria team, Jan Lowe and Sara Matthews skipping the rinks, and the team put in an excellent display to record a 42-31 victory. Lowe’s match was always very close but a win by two shots was supported by a convincing nine-shot win from Matthews.

In the final the ladies faced Egham who had enjoyed a comfortable win over Thornbury in their semi-final match.

A slow start saw them fall five shots behind after five ends and that deficit had increased to 22 shots after 10 ends. The ladies managed to maintain the gap until the end of the match but a final score of 50-28 meant that the Ely team had to be satisfied with the runners-up prize.