THE Beccles Ladies' Yetton bowls team reached the national quarter-finals of the Plate competition with a tremendous win against Essex County from Westcliffe-on-Sea.

THE Beccles Ladies' Yetton bowls team reached the national quarter-finals of the Plate competition with a tremendous win against Essex County from Westcliffe-on-Sea.

Beccles raced into an early lead which they maintained right up until the final three ends when the gap closed to a single shot. However, both the home rinks won their last end to leave Beccles six shots up with one end to play.

This was safely negotiated and Eccles ran out winners by five shots with a score of 72-67.

In the quarter-finals Eccles will play either Borough of Havering or Hatfield. The match is due to be played on February 18 and may be played at a neutral venue or on a home and away basis.

Rink scores - Home: M Moore, G Marwood, J Plant, D Pye 23; M Newman 18. M Wright, M Ashford-Hull, P Mulcairn, B Capon 19; J Tann 17.

Away: D Gaze, P Howard, M Rayner, D Woodhouse 19; E Schooling 19. J Batley, R Clarke, N Rutherford, M Draper 11; D Howard 22.

Both Eccles teams had 6-1 wins on Sunday in the Mixed County League. The A Team beat Sole Bay B by 117-53 and have now secured 27 points out of a possible 28.

Rink scores - Home: P Mulcairn, T Topple, J Knights, M Cole 42; R Skitty 10. M Moore, J Plant, G Catchpole, M Todd 35; R Dearing 9. Away: D Woodhouse, D Catchpole, M Rayner, B Harber 15; A Buck 20.J Webster, M Wright, R Stanton, S Cook 24; J Whyte 14.

The B Team beat Sole Bay A by 100-58 to move into second place in the league table.

Rink scores - Home: G Marwood, R Ward, T Wright, B Capon 36; J Summons 14. J Ramsbottom, D Thompson, A Ward, G Ramsbottom 26; P Gooch 10. Away: R Winterton, R Clarke, P Clarke, N Plant 29; B Allison 12, J Monk, G Slater, N Rutherford, C Moore 9; P Baggott 22.

This weekend the B Team play Sole bay B and the A Team's match against Ipswich B has been postponed because Ipswich cannot raise a side.