BOWLS: County pairs champions Grant Burgess and Marc Stones were just edged out of the All-England National Bowls Championships final at Worthing.

The Gilt Edge Bowling Club duo beat teams from Hampshire, Suffolk, Gloucestershire and Stratford to make the semi-finals.

They did brilliantly to beat a County Durham pair 26-16 but the Dewar Cup went to an experienced Buckinghamshire team 17-13.

Burgess, an ex-English bowls singles champion, and Stones picked up the Griffiths Cup as runners-up after 20 hours of bowling.

Stones, 22, is hoping to be selected for next year's junior international series, while Burgess is waiting for his 50th England cap.

Burgess said: "It was the first time Marc had got that far in a competition and I thought he might tense up a bit but he bowled very well."

The duo will meet Derbyshire in the Midland Counties semi-finals the weekend after next.

Two other teams from Kidderminster were unlucky to lose in Worthing's early stages.

Chester Road's triples, made up of Dave Durrant, Alan Hall and Richard Payne, lost to Plymouth, while Gilt Edge's fours team of Mark Weaver, Chris Lane, Ray Vickers and John Reynolds fell to a Norfolk club.