Stamford Bowlers Bidding for County Singles Finals Places
LINCS COUNTY SINGLES LINE-UP
John Holroyd faces a tough opener as he lines up alongside four other Stamford bowlers in the second qualifying stages on the Lincs IBA singles at Lincoln IBC on Saturday (9 am).
The retired structural engineer will need all his bowling skills to overcome Dominic McVittie (Spalding), newly-crowned English Indoor Champion of champions singles winner who won the title at Dolphin IBC at the weekend.
On the adjoining rink, Ollie Jeapes faces home player James Staples.
Elsewhere at 11.30 Tony Barwell is matched against McVittie’s fellow international Martin Spencer (Spalding), Jeff Pitt meet Richard Ashton (Lincoln) and Chris Ballard takes on Graham Smith ( Spalding).
Semi-finals will be played at Louth on March 17 with finals at the same venue on April 20.
COUNTY TRIUMPH FOR BOYS
Lincolnshire has reached the semi-final of the national Under-25 double rink championship - featuring two schoolboys who play their indoor bowls at Stamford IBC.
Owen Aspinall (15) and Ollie Jeapes (14) featured in the 40-23 quarter-final defeat of Leicestershire played simultaneously at the Melton and Lincoln clubs.
At Melton, the away quartet of Nathan Dunnington, Aspinall, Jack Wells and Liam Reeson put in an outstanding performance to win 29-7, while at Lincoln, Jeapes also played No.2 in a rink that included Dan Stanley, Jake Johnson and Owen Kent. The young side restricted the experienced visitors to a 16-11 win.
Lincs will play hosts Nottingham on their home surface in the national semi-final on March 12.
Owen Aspinall
MIXED & SENIOR TEAMS
Stamford’s mixed team travel to top of the table Spalding in the Lincs League (South) on Sunday (2pm) hoping to cause an upset.
Team: M Christie, S Christie, S Suffling, N Crees; R Roberts, J Lonslow, J Hare, H Gordon; L Cave, J Suffling, P Jones, D Cave; R Blake, R March, A March, S Moir.
After their overwhelming defeat of Boston ‘B’, Stamford’s senior bowlers travel to Sleaford to make a first appearance on its new blue carpet on Monday (10 am).
Team: J Bourne, M Owens, M Linnell, B Warters; G Patrickson, I Hall, M Hewitt, K Vinter; T Barwell, D Bruce, P Smith, R Martin; R Blake, D King, P Burt, J Holroyd. Res: D Henshaw, S Miner, P Shaw.
FEDERATION NEWS
Northants ‘A’ are on the verge of reaching the final of the English Bowling Federation’s inter-county Derbyshire Trophy gaining maximum points in their penultimate home game against North Essex at Stamford IBC.
They hold a 25-point lead over nearest rivals Norfolk, who have a game in hand and who they play at home on Sunday and need only two winning rinks to secure their place against Nottinghamshire in the final on April 27 at Lincoln IBC.
The A team beat North Essex - newcomers to the indoor competition - 91-69 to retain their unbeaten record, winning on all rinks, though it was by no means a runaway victory with the result in doubt until the closing stages of 25 ends.
Brian Martin, Tom Newman and Jon Earl were perhaps the most convincing, winning by ten shots.
Meanwhile, Northants B team completed a much-improved programme by recording back-to-back wins, the latest at the expense of Hunts at Peterborough & District IBC. The final score line was a resounding 108-63, with two of the four rinks clinching wins on the last end.
RESULTS
Derbyshire Trophy: Northants A 91 (14), North Essex 69 (0) – (Northants rinks only): Stuart Agger, Graham Agger, Peter Brown won 22-19; Paul Dalliday, Stephen Harris, Simon Law won 23-20; Michael Humphreys, Wayne Morris, Adam Warrington won 19-17; Brian Martin, Tom Newman, John Earl won 23-13.
Derbyshire Trophy: Northants B 108 (14), Hunts 63 (0) – (Northants rinks only): Tony Barwell, Paul Bailey, Mick Linnell won 23-21; Jeff Clipston, Dudley Smith, Roger Martin won 35-8; John Holroyd, Mick Greaves, Kevin Vinter won 26-23; Martin Prudhoe, Ally McNaughton, Ray Keating won 24-11.