NEW Earswick Falcons were unable to edge past Selby in a tightly contested game in the Yorkshire Over 55s League that finished 65-69, writes Terry Shepherdson.

At Huntington Road, Dave Imeson, Brian Birch, Ralph Tiplady and Dick Osguthorpe got off to the better start and led the Selby bowlers by 12-3 after 10 ends.

Though the two sides matched each other well, the Falcons saw an early lead of 17-9, but this did not stop Selby skipper John Phillips bowling the perfect winner with the last wood of the game, reducing the deficit to 17-10.

The first nine ends of the second game were dominated by a Falcons lineup of Dave Furness, Alwyn Anderson, Kevin Liddell and Gary Jones.

They held a lead of 15-2 over Selby, who would then go on to win five of the next six ends.

Each of their winning ends were singles, though, meaning New Earswick maintained a 17-7 lead that, by the end of the game, they would extend to 24-9.

In the first of the two games at Selby, the Falcons found themselves trailing 6-9, with Andy Humphreys, Dave Crane, Bill Waldie and Eric Cookson three shots behind.

From here the Selby rink took control of the game. From the last 13 ends the Falcons were only able to score five singles and were down 11-28.

John Harrison, Paul Murray, Alan Shearer and Andrew Fothergill would go on to win five of their first seven ends against Selby, but still trailed 5-7 due to dropping a five at the fourth end.

They would only go on to pick up three more singles throughout the next nine ends, seeing them behind 8-19 in an eventual 13-22 defeat.

New Earswick would lose the tie 65-69, their total of four points paling in comparison to Selby's 10.

The contest was a fiercely tight one. Perhaps if Phillips had missed his earlier perfect bowl for Selby then the game would have been one the Falcons could have won.