Stamford trio beaten in quarter-finals
Post date: Apr 8, 2019 10:32:08 PM
Ahead of the match with North Wilts from the left: Cliff Watson, Andy Moore, Keith Rippin, Steve Moore, Bob Warters and Chris Moore.
AFTER winning their first game in the national finals, the Stamford trio of Bob Warters, Cliff Watson and Keith Rippin met their match in the quarter-finals of the Over 50 Triples - beaten 22-9 by three from the Victory Club in Portsmouth.
The day had started well against three brothers from the North Wilts indoor club in Chippenham - Steve, Chris and Andy Moore. Overall, the more experienced Stamford trio edged the early exchanges 8-5 in 13 ends before finally stretching their lead to 14-6. All three played their part but Rippin in particular made some accurate conversions at skip.
However, against Charlie Bailey, Colin Thresher and Barry Starks - former winners of the Over 60 fours in 2016 and part of the team that has reached the semi-finals of the Over 60 Double Rink this week - the Stamford bowlers never got to grips with the tricky outside rink eight.
They never recovered from giving up a six count on the third end and after losing a couple of four counts and finally conceded the match with two ends still to play.
Stamford's women - Jan Want, Sue Moir and Christine Ford - had earlier been knocked out of the Over 50 triples by Annie Lennie's experienced trio from the West Denton club in Newcastle.
The Geordie girls' knowledge of the Nottingham rinks in a pre-qualifying match held the previous night, proved invaluable and they ran out 25-5 winners inside 16 ends.
Malcolm Smith and Martyn Dolby are due to contest the Over 60 pairs against either Westlecot or York on Wednesday morning.
OWEN'S BEST EVER SKILLS SCORE
Owen Aspinall (10) finished sixth in his age group category in English Bowls Youth Development Scheme Midland region qualifiers at Melton.
Having qualified from the Lincolnshire area at Grantham in January, he started with two matchplay defeats but didn't let his head drop, won his final match and went on to record his best ever score of 49 in the skills section.
This demands a range of skills included delivering the jack to specific lengths, bowling to a displaced jack and playing weighted bowls to a target - all requiring being able to focus under pressure while being assessed.
STAMFORD MIXED PROMOTION CONFIRMED
Stamford IBC's mixed team will be back playing in the First Division of the Lincolnshire League following two shock defeats for their Division Two promotion rivals Dunholme.
After a bad start to the season, promotion for Christine Ford's squad looked out of reach but despite a single shot home defeat by champions Scunthorpe they battled on and got their reward.
Stamford finished with 104 points from ten games - 32 behind Scunthorpe but 13 ahead of Dunholme who picked up just two points from a 109-66 defeat at Grantham.
It has been an excellent season for the Stamford teams in the county leagues with the Men's B team winning the Men's second division and the Seniors winning the Over 60s Division Two to also gain promotion.
Stamford's men's A, meanwhile hold their breath, awaiting the result of the final league game at Boston, where Lincoln need a win to retain the Division One title.
Stamford A have completed their ten fixtures with 139 points, while Lincoln A have 131 with 18 points still at stake.