A Team Still on Top

‘A’ TEAM STILL TOP OF THE SHOW

With a convincing defeat of Sleaford, Stamford Men’s ‘A’ team maintained their grip of the Lincs League (South) title chase - keeping a 13 point gap between themselves and their nearest rivals after seven fixtures.

Second-place Spalding were hoping to narrow the points margin at home to Stamford ‘B’ but conceded two points in a 103-44 shots victory.

The foundation for the ‘A’ team’s 116-46 victory was established by the tried and tested rink of Wayne Morris, Dusty Miller, Jon Earl and Martyn Dolby determined to wipe out the memory of a 7-38 humiliation at Sleaford in December.

And they did that, winning 41-8 including a seven-count on the 11th of 21 one-sided ends.

Elsewhere, Adam Warrington steered his rink to a 29-8 win, while a ditched jack for a four count proved the turning point in a 29-11 win by Bob Warters’ four which never conceded a shot after the 16th end.

Always a handful on their own surface, Spalding held the initiative against Stamford’s ‘B’ side registering convincing margins on three rinks.

But full credit to John Suffling, Dennis Henshaw, Martin Hewitt and Neil Crees for snatching the points in a 17-12 rink win, which could prove crucial in their club colleagues’ title aspirations.

Both Stamford teams meet on February 26, where both points and bragging rights will be at stake.

Lincs League (South): Stamford ‘A’ 116 (12 pts) Sleaford 46 (2). Stamford names only: W Morris, D Miller, J Earl, M Dolby won 41-8; T Barwell, B Allen, M Linnell, R Martin lost 17-19; M Humphreys, K Rippin, C Ballard, A Warrington won 29-8; R Allam, M Ramsden, K Vinter, B Warters won 29-11.

Lincs League (South): Spalding 103 (12) Stamford ‘B’ 44 (2): Stamford only: J Suffling, D Henshaw M Hewitt, N Crees won 17-12; H Gordon, M Wallace, M Owens, A McNaughton lost 9-33; P Linnell, G Patrickson, D Bruce, D Edwards lost 7-28; K Rawlins, D Wilkinson, D Middleton, M Dye lost 11-30.

WOMEN TRIUMPH

Stamford’s women’s team beat fellow strugglers Grantham to move into third place in the Lincs (Trudy Bates) League southern section.

Their comprehensive 108-46 win in which Rita Downs and Elaine Purvis made their season’s debut, earned them a valuable 12 points from the 14 at stake.

Women’s Lincs League (South): L Cave, J Lonslow, M Holroyd, D Mackie lost12-24; A Lea, V Shackleton, E Wallace, S He shaw won 34-5; A Sampy, E Purvis, R Downs, S Suffling won 26-9; M King ,M Christie, L Tuck, C Ford won 36-8.

SENIORS SHARE POINTS IN TOP OF TABLE THRILLER

In a thrilling finish to their top of the table Lincs Over 60s League clash, Stamford and Lincoln ‘A’ shared both shots and points in a match which went down to the last bowl.

The home side had held an early overall lead but Lincoln - on a long unbeaten run - refused to crumble and with only one match unfinished, both teams had the chance to snatch victory.

After Don Bruce had displaced the jack to the re-spot with an accurate drive, his skip Bob Warters drew two bowls to it (to keep Stamford ahead overall by 73-72), only for his opposite number Mick Thompson to fire jack and bowl into the ditch to tie the total scores.

It’s extremely rare for teams to share 14 rink and aggregate points but after 82 ends of cut and thrust, no one deserved to lose.

Earlier Roger Martin had drawn a vital last shot on the perimeter of the rink in a 14-23 defeat while Kevin Vinter’s quartet - despite conceding 10 shots in six ends midway - kept their score respectable against the evergreen George Draper.

The rink honours eventually went to club president Ian Hall, Peter Smith, Peter Burt and John Holroyd, who got off to a flier and eventually won by 15 shots.

It leaves Lincoln still in an impregnable position at the top of the southern section, still unbeaten after eight matches with 82 points to Stamford’s 76 (9 matches) but none will forget the drama of this outstanding match.

Lincs Over 60s League (South): Stamford 73 (7), Lincoln A 73 (7). Stamford names only: T Barwell, S Miner, T Christie, R Martin lost 14-23; J Bourne, D Henshaw, D King, K Vinter lost 15-22; I Hall, Peter Smith, P Burt, J Holroyd won 24-9; B Crouch, M Wallace, D Bruce won 20-19; B Crouch, M Wallace, D Bruce, B Warters won 20-19.

BATTLING ASPINALLS

Though no Stamford bowlers negotiated the first round of matches in the Lincs IBA singles at Lincoln at the weekend there were some battling performances.

Most notable was that of 14-year-old Owen Aspinall against seasoned junior international Jordan Philpott (Spalding). The Stamford youngster was a little overwhelmed in the early stages, trailing 9-18 but didn’t let his head drop and showed his fighting qualities to level the match at 19-19. However, Philpott confirmed his experience to snatch the two singles he needed.

Owen’s dad Wayne earlier faced Colin Barks (Dunholme) and fought back from 1-10 to trail 19-20 and held shot with a chance to snatch the match by drawing another. Sadly, he touched the jack to his opponent to lose 21-19.

Elsewhere, John Holroyd led comfortably against seasoned campaigner Simon Reeson (Louth), who got stronger and finally won 21-13, while Peter Burt and Jeff Pitt, both making their debuts in the event were out-bowled by David Bristow (Sleaford) and Graham Smith (Spalding) respectively.

Smith went on to beat Philpott 21-11 and clubmate Dominic McVittie 21-6 to reach the semi-final at Sleaford on April 2 against Adrian Field (Boston) for a place in the final against either Martin Spencer or Paul Oke (Sleaford) at Spalding on April 22.

On February 18 at Louth, Richard Allam, John Pearson and John Holroyd represent Stamford in the LIBA Open sets singles.

PRESIDENTS’ PRIZE

A prize pot of £225 will be shared out among the top three teams in the Stamford IBC Presidents’ Open Charity Triples tournament on March 4. 

Entry fee is £18 per team, with four rounds of six ends guaranteed, starting at either 9.30 or 10.30 am. Forms available from reception, with profits going to Evergreen Care.

Latest Results:

Nick Wilkie (Spalding) reached the area final of the national Over 60s singles,with a comprehensive 21-4 home win against Stamford Tony Barwell.

In the Lincs Mixed pairs, John and Moira Holroyd lost out 18-5 to Jean Patterson & Dominic McVittie (Spalding) and in the NBF Senior singles Richard Allam beat John Suffling 21-7.

Club competitions update: Men’s pairs: C Ballard or A Speechley v J Pryor; B Crouch v B Allen or M Dolby; B Orme or P Linnell v J Suffling or J Holroyd; A Warrington or P Smith v M Jeapes or I Hall. Mixed pairs: R Allam or J Holroyd v D King or J Suffling, K Tuck or J Little v A McNaughton or B Crouch, T Barwell or G King v D Cave; P Smith or B Orme v N Crees or H Gordon.