Club Finals require dramatic extra end measure
Feeler Gauges were needed to decide the most dramatic finish during Stamford Indoor Bowls Club's finals over the weekend with club chairman Keith Rippin called from his seat to decide the outcome of the men's pairs. The bowls he had to measure were millimetres apart on the final end of the match, and Keith's steady hand finally decided in favour of John Holroyd and Stephen Harris, 19-18, against Martyn Dolby and John Earl. The four finished neck and neck at 18-18 over the regulation 18 ends, resulting in an extra end being required, the tightest finish of the two days of competition, for the club's experienced ladies and gents and novices.
Jonathon Earl & Martyn Dolby on their knees carefully overlooked by Stephen Harris and John Holroyd.
Mens Rinks: from L to R Len Marshall, John Holroyd, Kevin Vinter, Bob Burton, Neil Crees, Peter Smith Tony Barwell & Roger Clarke.
Play started at 10am on Saturday and finished late on Sunday night.
No calipers were needed to decide the equally tense men's rinks which also went down to the last end. This time Neil Crees, Roger Clarke, Peter Smith and Tony Barwell snatched victory against Kevin Vinter, Holroyd, Len Marshall and Bob Burton, who in addition to their indoor allegiance are all members of the Stamford outdoor club just across the car park.
Footnote: Two of the players in the finals, Ollie Jeapes and Stephen Harris, were not available to play on the Saturday as being members of neighbouring club, Spalding, they were assisting that club in winning the prestigious national inter club Denny Cup competition at Nottingham.
Most of the other finals were more clear-cut, but Margaret King needed 25 ends to reach the 21 shots required against Shirley Suffling in one of Saturday's openers, final score 21-15.
Once again, Dolby and Chris Ford featured and succeeded in multiple finals while Ollie Jeapes (junior sets singles) was the youngest winner on view.
Ollie (L) & Stephen (R) holding the Denny Cup.
Ladies Singles: from L to R Shirley Suffling & Margaret King
Results:
Ladies' singles: M King beat S Suffling 21-17
Ladies' pairs: D Mackie and R March lost to J Brennan and E Wallace 14-24.
Ladies' triples: J Brennan, S Suffling and C Ford beat J Bourne, P Jones and M King 20-14.
Ladies' rinks: J Brennan, M King, S Suffling and C Ford beat E Wallace, P Jones, R March and D Mackie 21 -15.
Sets singles: J Holroyd lost to A Warrington 0-2 (5-7, 3-5).
Junior set singles: Ollie Jeapes beat Owen Aspinall 2-0 (7-2, 9-3).
Senior singles: T Barwell lost to M Dolby 2-21.
Novice cup: D Jibb, D Jibb and K Whittle beat V Woodward, D Ancliff and B Jackson 16-10.
Mixed pairs: K and I Reay lost to C Ford and M Dolby 4-18.
Mixed triples: S Harris, C Ford and A Warrington beat M Holroyd, N Crees and J Holroyd 22-10.
Mixed rinks: J Brennan, J Suffling, S Suffling and P Buckley lost to C Ford, M Dolby, P Jones and A Warrington 14-20.
Men's pairs: M Dolby and J Earl 18 lost to J Holroyd and S Harris 19 (after an extra end).
Men's triples: P Galloway, O Aspinall and C Ballard lost to M Dolby, D Miller and J Earl 3-27.
Men's rinks: N Crees, R Clarke, P Smith, T Barwell beat K Vinter, J Holroyd, L Marshall and B Burton 15-14.
Men's singles (M Dolby v S Harris) to be played on Tuesday 19th April at 6.30pm.
Men's final match is a cracker
Stamford men's A team produced a cracking finish to their season in Lincs League (south) with an 84-64 shots away victory over Boston B.
There were heroes all round after the team travelled a player short, with the coup-de-grace provided by Chris Ballard's quartet completed by father and son Wayne and Owen Aspinall and Arthur Lonslow, cruising home 28-12.
Skipper Adam Warrington, shouldering the burden of the missing player, and had the duet of John Suffling and Ian Reay for company in winning 19-17, scoring a two on the last end for victory.
Mick Linnell's rink (Mike Ramsden, Paul Buckley, Gary Oliver) took a two-shot lead into their last end, dropped a single, but won 21-19.
And finally Don Bruce, accompanied by Alec March, Denis Ancliff and Vic Woodward, scored a single on the last to draw 16-16.
Stamford collected 13 points to finish their season on 103 pts.
Boston A are second with two away games to go, against Spalding and Stamford B. Spalding (currently on 70pts in fifth) have three games left in all.
The team that finishes top takes on the winners of the northern section in a play-off.
Solid work by the ladies
A solid performance earned the Stamford's Trudy Bates ladies' team a home win over Boston.
Three of the four rinks won, with skipper Chris Ford's the highest scorers. She won 34-20, accompanied by June Brennan, Margaret King and Elizabeth Wallace.
Other results were: V Shackleton, R Roberts, P Jones, S Suffling 18-11; J Benns, P Birch, V Dukett, R March 25-22; J Lonslow, C Gray, M Holroyd, S Henshaw 17-20.
The ladies have had a decent season, but the forfeit of a match during Federation finals week at Skegness without the chance to replay it, will affect their final finishing record.
Over 60s beaten
The Stamford over 60s lost 76-83 at Grantham in a match that was close for most of the time.
The rinks were shared, but the loss of a four on the 19th end by Keith Rippin's rink made a difference one way, while Mick Linnell's quartet picked up six on the last two and Tony Christie's a three on the 17th to help Stamford's cause the other.
The result effectively ensures that their race for the title following an otherwise good season is now ended.
Rink scores: H Gordon, B Crouch, D King, K Rippin 11-30; T Barwell, R Clarke, D Henshaw, K Vinter 17-25; D Heffernan, W Crees, D Bruce, M Linnell 28-12; J Bourne, C Jones, P Burt, T Christie 20-15.