Norfolk were beaten by neighbours Lincolnshire 124-118 in the semi-finals of the Liberty Trophy.

The national men's inter-county championship semis had been snowed off in March, and were re-arranged for indoor finals in Nottingham at the weekend.

It was a clash which was always impossible to predict – rarely if ever did more than six shots separate the two counties.

Three rinks – the Lincolnshire rinks skipped by England stars Graham Smith and Matt Orrey, and the Norfolk rink skipped by George Tubby – topped the 30 mark, while another Norfolk rink comprising four bowlers from the Norfolk Bowls Club, skipped by Wayne Willgress, won 27-15.

Willgress was in direct opposition to his father-in-law-to-be, Adrian Field – father of Bex Field – from Boston, who was playing lead for Jordan Philpott.

Two big counts swayed the balance of power, a six from the Willgress rink giving Norfolk a distinct advantage mid-game, and a magnificent seven from Matt Orrey's men against Mervyn King's quartet turning a 117-112 lead for Norfolk into a 119-117 lead for Lincolnshire Imps. In the final, Lincs beat Kent 120-107.

Lincolnshire 124 Norfolk (Lincs names first - Kevin Rands, Richard Ashton, Danny Brown, Billy Jackson 22 Aaron Johnson (Norfolk), Dan Seabourne (Gallow), Richard Summers (Norfolk), Sam King (Gallow) 16; Adrian Field, Alan Watts, Kevin Ekins, Jordan Philpott 15 Jake Leslie, Matt Flatman, Tom Segolo, Wayne Willgress (all Norfolk) 27; Steve Harris, Terry Berridge, Ashley Caress, Graham Smith 34 Adam Watts, Max Turner, Peter Wilkinson, Philip Barr (all County Arts) 12; Scott Dunham, Ron Flowers, Simon Law, Martin Spencer 9 Lee Holden (Diss), Danny Ramsbottom (Acle), James Segolo (Norfolk), George Tubby (Acle) 31; Matt Whyers, Richard Vinter, Martin Pulling, Matt Orrey 32 Dan Cawthorne, Mark Riches (both Gallow), Ian Wones (Acle), Mervyn King (Gallow) 15; Ian Clark, Rod West, Andy Dunham, Jonathan West 12 Dean Rudling (Gallow), Aaron Stimson (Diss), Bernie Perrett (Norfolk), Steve Winter (Lynnsport) 17.