Presidents Gala Raises Money for Charity
Charities benefitted to the tune of almost £600 when Stamford IBC presidents Ian Hall and Margaret King staged their annual gala tournament.
The local Evergreen Trust received just over £500, while an impromptu ‘spider’ competition for all competitors was won by Reg Goode and made £73 towards sending a national visually impaired bowls team to the world championships.
Presidents Ian Hall and Margaret King with winners Roger Clarke, Ron Blake and Neil Crees.
Reg Goode, spider winner.
The main event, however, was hotly contested by more than 70 bowlers throughout the eight session tournament of three-bowl triples and the winners were not known until the last few bowls were delivered.
Scoring 27 points - two for each win and one for every end won - the trio of Roger Clarke, Ron Blake and Neil Crees entered the final six end phase unbeaten and leading their nearest rivals both in their group and overall by just a few points.
And a 13-1 win over John Salter’s three, picked up the seven points they needed to stay ahead and claim the £100 top prize.
Their 27-point haul was two better than Wayne Aspinall, Chris Ballard and Stephen Harris (25) and four clear of Mick Humphreys, Martyn Dolby and Jon Earl (23).
Top ten results: 27 pts - Ron Blake’s team, 25 Chris Ballard, 23 Mick Humphreys, 22 Rose March, 21 Elizabeth Wallace, Steve Christie, 20 Viv Hempsell, Kevin Tuck, 19 Rita Downs, 18 Jeff Pitt, Pete Linnell.
MAXIMUM POINTS FOR ‘A’ TEAM
With an outstanding performance against fellow Lincs League (South) challengers Boston A, Stamford’s Men’s A team stormed to the top of the table.
Their maximum 14 points from four winning rinks rook them 73 points - four clear of Spalding who they play on Saturday for the right to take on the winners of the northern section in April.
With the other rinks finishing strongly, it looked like they might have to settle for just 12 points when Mick Linnell’s rink trailed 12-17 and six shots against them with four ends to play. But the veteran skip produced a pin-point strike to drive the jack into the ditch and claim two unexpected shots.
A five count on the penultimate end took them into a three-shot lead and they finally won 22-17.
Elsewhere Wayne Aspinall, Keith Rippin, Ally McNaughton and Roger Martin took the rink honours with a final flourish of 12 shots in five ends to win 30-17.
And there were other wins for rinks skipped by Adam Warrington and Jon Earl, for whom Blackstones clubmates Trevor Smith and Paul Martlew made impressive debuts alongside another veteran, Mike Ramsden.
Trevor Smith (left) and Paul Martlew.
Lincs Men’s League ( South): Stamford A 105 (14 pts) Boston A 62 (0). Stamford names only: MW Aspinall, K Rippin, A McNaughton, R Martin won 30-17; G Patrickson, D Bruce, B Warters, M Linnell won 22-17; M Ramsden, T Smith, P Martlew, J Earl won 27-15; M Humphreys, W Morris, N Wright, A Warrington won 26-13.
SO SOLID SENIORS
With a solid performance at home to nearest rivals Boston A, Stamford’s senior bowlers secured second spot in the Lincs Over 60s League (South) behind runaway leaders Lincoln A.
But their 85-63 scoreline, taking 12 of the 14 points at stake, perhaps didn’t do justice to to the fighting spirit of Boston’s who suffered some good fortune in Stamford’s favour in the closing stages.
The quartet of Jeff Bourne, Derek King, Mick Owens and Bob Warters took the rink honours 23-11 but certainly rode their luck against the dependable Paul Flatters, including one outrageous result with a six count staring at them, promoting a wide, stray bowl into the head for a jaw-dropping single.
Elsewhere, Peter Smith’s four finished with five shots in three ends, Kevin Vinter almost squandered an 18-1 while John Holroyd contributed to the overall shots advantage with a five-count on the last end.
In the last game of another successful season, Stamford visit Lincoln A on March 21.
Lincs Over 60s League (South) : Stamford 85 (12 pts) Boston A (63 (2). Stamford names. J Bourne, D King, M Owens, B Warters won 23-11; R Blake, K Rippin, D Bruce, P Smith won23-15; P Shaw, S Miner, P Burt, J Holroyd lost 16-21; G Patrickson, I Hall, M Hewitt, K Vinter won 21-16.
LINCS QUALIFIERS
Owen Aspinall and Ollie Jeapes qualified at Boston for the semi finals of the Lincs Under 25 championships. Owen defeated Jacob Hobson and Dan Stanley in straight sets and Ollie showed great maturity to beat Jack Wells (Spalding) in a tie-break.
Jeapes had last week defeated Owen 21-13 in the final of the Northants Federation Under 25s.
Stamford also have two other Lincs IBA semi-finalist at Louth on March 17, qualifying at Boston in the Over 60 singles.
John Holroyd beat Grantham’s Mark Eurich 21-11 and Trevor Bannister (Sleaford) 21-18 - after earlier leading by eight shots - while Jeff Pitt saw off the challenge of Boston’s Rod West and then Nick Orrey (Lincoln) over 18 ends.
They will play respectively play George Draper (Lincoln) and Jeremy Russell (Grantham) who had earlier knocked out Stamford’s Kevin Vinter.
WEEKEND TEAMS
In a vital top of the table clash, Stamford A visit Spalding on Saturday (2pm) while their B team entertain Boston A (2.10pm).
A team: M Humphreys, TBC, N Wright, A Warrington; W Aspinall, TBC, A McNaughton, R Martin; M Ramsden, D Miller, O Aspinall, J Earl; C Ballard, C Jones, B Warters, M Linnell.
B team: P Linnell, M Owens, G Patrickson, M Hewitt; H Gordon, G Clark, S Downs, D Wilkinson; J Suffling, B Orme, D Bruce, D Henshaw; SChristie, J Hare, P Smith, N Crees.
Northants Federation win at Potters!
The Stamford rink of Rosemary Roberts, Elizabeth and Martin Wallace and Chris Ford won the English Bowling Federation's rinks title at the Potters Resort near Great Yarmouth.
Flanked by national presidents Trevor Flatt and Irene Ballam are, from the left, Rosemary Roberts, Chris Ford, Elizabeth & Martin Wallace.
Representing Northants Bowling, they defeated former winner Dave Adams’ Notts Federation rink. The local trio, who all play their indoor bowls at Stamford, led 6-1 in the eight-end final before dropping a four-count on the penultimate end. But they held their nerve to snatch a single on a dramatic final end to win 7-5.
They were the only one of six Northants rinks to make it through to the last 16 from the group stages by winning all their four qualifying games.