Double defeat of Sleaford in two major competitions

Post date: Nov 25, 2014 7:18:44 AM

Stamford bowlers will have to delay the celebration of recent national successes until the £25,000 re-fit of the club's bar is complete later in the week. This follows a double victory over local rivals Sleaford in the Over 60s Double rink and inter-club Denny Plate.

Indeed the Double rink victory was well-earned on Monday despite a background racket of hammering and drilling as the original bar was dismantled and choking dust left a visible trail of a bowl's path across the synthetic carpet.

Said one player: "It was almost impossible to concentrate but we showed our mettle to come from behind in the closing stages and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."

With the aggregate score counting over home and away rinks to claim a place in the next round against Grantham, Stamford's home rink skipped by Martyn Dolby trailed 13-16 with three ends to play, while Roger Martin, chasing the game at Sleaford was 15-19 with just two of the 21 ends to go.

Dolby's rink finally rose above the obvious distractions to grab six shots to win 19-17, while Martin, thanks to lead bowls smothering the jack, snatched a single and a four on the last end to win 20-19 and claim a 39-36 overall victory.

Result (Stamford names only)

Over 60s Double Rink: Stamford 39, Sleaford 36. Home - R Keating, R Montgomery, P Edwards, M Dolby won 19-17; Away - A Romaine, P Cox, B Warters, R Martin won 20-19.

The Denny Plate was more straight forward with all four Stamford rinks emerging victorious, two at Sleaford and two at home, to earn a rare confrontation with Melton IBC on Saturday.

After their demolition by Grantham, Stamford re-shuffled their pack for Sleaford and new combinations worked well with comfortable wins across the board both at home and away to claim an overall 92-67 triumph and set up the chance of a visit to either Rugby or Tamworth.

Result

Denny Plate: Stamford 92, Sleaford 67. (Stamford names only):

Away - A Romaine, R Keating, B Warters, R Martin won 28-23; R Allam, D King, C Watson, K Rippin won 21-17. Home - S Harris, B Plowman, J Earl, M Dolby won 25-15; W Morris, J Holroyd, A Warrington, P Edwards won 18-12.

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Playing simultaneously against Sleaford, sadly the Stamford women's team was unable to emulate the men and slipped to a 95-61 defeat, losing on all rinks in the Yetton Trophy.

Results (Stamford names only): Home - J Brennan, F Rogers, S Suffling, C Ford lost 17-25; J Robinson, M Andrews, M Bloxham, C Warters lost 13-17; Away - M Holroyd, P Barton, S moir, G edwards lost 16-25; J Gamble, S henshaw, R March, D Mackie lost 15-18.

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Stamford players have also put in some outstanding performance in national knockout competitions, particularly in the Over 60s pairs where representatives scored impressive victories at Boston.

Alan Romaine and Keith Rippin looked to be dead and buried against Keith French and Mick Tomlin when they trailed by six shots with two ends to play but when both peppered the jack with three apiece Tomlin was unable to reduce the count and the match went into a deciding end level at 19-all, when the Stamford duo drew two close and the Boston pair were unable to respond.

Later Bob Warters and Martyn Dolby trailed 1-7 against Flatters and Les Feary but battle back to lead 18-13 and hung on over the last two ends to snatch a showdown with Lincs President Richard White.

In the national over 60s Fours, the 2012 finalist from Stamford made a promising start to their campaign with a defeat of their clubmates 22-18 in a closely fought battle. Bob Warters, Peter Edwards, Roger Martin and Martyn Dolby, trailed early on against Alan Romaine, Peter Cox, Cliff Watson and Keith Rippin but when Dolby trailed the jack for a four count it knocked the stuffing out of their rivals.

In the English triples John Holroyd, Chris Ballard and Ray Keating quickly fell behind 4-14 against a strong and lively Grantham trio skipped by Nick Orrey, before a two and four count changed their fortunes and they added nine more shots from the 15th end to run out worth 19-18 winners.

They now face a daunting trip to Spalding to face the holders featuring three England internationals.

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A maximum eight count on the opening end by Cliff Watson's rink - surely a first in local bowls - set the scene for Stamford Mixed to claim 14 vital points against Scunthorpe in their Lincs League division one match.

Chris and Alan Barnes and captain Margaret Bloxham went on to win 31-9 but it was Mike Ramsden, Denise Mackie, Christine Ford and Keith Rippin who took the rink honours, winning 32-9 as their contribution to an overall 126-71 victory.

Results

Lincs Mixed League: Stamford 126 (14pts), Scunthorpe 71 (4). D Hudson, M Andrews, S Moir, B Warters lost 17-20; M Ramsden, D Mackie, C Ford, K Rippin won 32-9; J Robinson, P Barton, S Harris, M Dolby won 28-13, C Barnes, M Bloxham, A Barnes, C Watson won 31-9; J Brennan, D Mackie, D Ford, J Little lost 18-20

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Dolby, Warters, Martin and Derek King helped Lincolnshire Over 60s reach the quarter-finals of the Over 60s inter-county championship, tieing their rink 15-15 at York in a 114-98 defeat of Durham. Lincs now face either Cumbria or Yorkshire.

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Four Stamford bowlers have been selected for Northants Federation to compete against Hunts on December 7 at huntingdon IBC in a new format of the inter-county Derbyshire Trophy.

Stephen Harris, Roger Martin and Martyn Dolby will make up one of four two-bowl triples rinks, while John Holroyd joins Joe Randall and James Harford from Peterborugh.

Completing the line-up from Peterborough are: Nick Wilkie, Andrew Thurston, Jeff Newson; Howard Shipp, Neil Wright and Simon Law. Stamford IBC will host matches on January 11 and February 15.