Norfolk's tenpin bowling men's team have reached the Inter-County Championship national finals for the first time in seven years.

The Norfolk Area British Tenpin Bowling Association adult men's and women's teams made the short trip to Martlesham Heath, near Ipswich, for the Inter-County Championships qualifiers.

The top four teams in each division would make it through to the finals in Nottingham in November, something the men had not been able to achieve for a long time.

The men started brilliantly and led throughout the first four games. With some big scores shared amongst them they were all but qualified with two games to go unless something drastically went wrong.

The only team to keep close to Norfolk was a very strong Warwickshire team, which consisted of several England bowlers.

After the six games Norfolk qualified in second place, with a gap of almost 400 pins to the third-placed team from Hertfordshire.

A whopping 19 games of the 30 they bowled was 220 or over, the highest three scores being Daniel Frazer 289, Paul Cunningham 277 and James Tidd 256.

As a team the men averaged 222 per game – out of a maximum 300 score – and everyone contributed at different times.

The team, coached by area chairman Trevor Gibbs, enjoyed a fantastic atmosphere and were a real credit to Norfolk's bowling team – and could all be extremely proud of the success they achieved on Sunday.

At the finals they will be also joined by Robert Cater, who was part of the recent successful under-18s team.

The women's team also performed better than they had done for several years as well, putting up a real fight but missing out on qualification, finishing fifth.

Steph Tilson topped the scoring for the women with a 199 average, which meant she was in the top five women bowlers at the event.

Teresa McCarthy's 181 average and under-15 rising star Abigail Cater, with a 180 average, also performed well. With several young members of the team developing their games over the past year the women could be the team to look out for over the next few years.

The women's team consisted of Steph Tilson, Teresa McCarthy, Abigail Cater, Rachel Hodds, Sue Cobb, Charlene McCabe and was managed by Helen Gibbs.

The men's team will now prepare for the Senior Inter-County Championship finals, which are being held at MFA Nottingham on October 17-18.

For more information about the Norfolk Area BTBA, go to norfolktba.weebly.com.