Dramatic End to Derby Clash
With a dramatic last bowl defeat of the club’s B team, Stamford A reached 68 points and stretched their lead at the top of the southern section of the Lincs Men’s League.
Stand and deliver: from the left Martin Wallace, Mick Owen’s and Roger Graham
With Spalding’s home clash with bottom-placed Boston B and Boston A’s hosting of Sleaford still to be recorded, Stamford A have 68 points from eight matches. It takes them - at least temporarily - 14 clear of their nearest rivals who have games in hand. Stamford B are tied on 46 points with Sleaford.
With the bell already sounded to signal the last ends being played, the Stamford teams were tied on 71 shots a piece.
On the mat: From the right - Ken Rawlins, Don Bruce and furthest Pete Linnell.
Charlie Jones strikes a pose.
The A team edged ahead when captain Bob Warters drew shot to the re-spot to reduce his rink’s deficit to two shots against Dave Heffernan but with his rink tied 13-13, B team skip Darren Middleton was unable prevent Adam Warrington’s ‘A’ quartet scoring two shots on their final end.
It was a tense but sporting contest with plenty of banter flying about between two sides determined to claim bragging rights more than points.
The rink honours indisputably went to the A team combination of experience and youth - Malcolm Cullingworth and John Suffling supporting Chris Ballard and 13-year-old Owen Aspinall. At 10 ends they trailed 10-13 but a rash of scoring - 19 shots in eight ends - saw them surge ahead 28-16 by the completion of 21 ends against Martin Hewitt’s four.
Elsewhere, Ally McNaughton was taking revenge for an earlier defeat by Roger Martin, who had Paul Green making his debut, while Heffernan and his quartet of Ken Rawlins, Roger Graham and Dennis Henshaw, staged a remarkable comeback. After trailing 6-15, then won all but three of the last 12 ends.
But it was the Warrington rink that made victory secure and set up what promises to be a thrilling encounter at home to Boston A on March 5, albeit without several players likely to be attending Warrington’s wedding.
Result Lincs Men’s League (South):
Stamford A 74 (10 pts) Stamford B 71 (4)
Stamford A names first: M Ramsden, D Ford, N Wright, A Warrington beat P Linnell, M Wallace, C Jones, D Middleton 15-13; M Cullingworth, J Suffling, O Aspinall, CBallard beat H Gordon, N Crees, K Rippin, M Hewitt 28-16; P Green, D Bruce, M Linnell, R Martin lost to Mick Smith, K White, M Owens, A McNaughton 12-20; B Crouch, J Little, B Warters lost to K Rawlins, R Graham, D Henshaw, D Heffernan 19-21.
Lincolnshire County News
Stamford representatives Tony Barwell and Richard Allam were both eliminated from the Lincs IBA men’s singles at Boston on Sunday.
Barwell lost 21-15 to Grantham’s Jay Lewis, who subsequently lost to Jim Pullen (Lincoln). Allam lost 9-21 to Simon Lilley.
Qualifiers for the county semi-finals at Stamford on April 3 are Paul Roberts (Sleaford) v Paul Bark (Horncastle); George Draper (Lincoln) v Pullen .
LIBERTY SELECTIONS
Paul Dalliday and Simon Law have been selected for the delayed Liberty Trophy quarter final between Lincs and Cumbria at New Earswick (York) on Sunday. They join the rink of Ean and Tistan Morton ( Spalding).
Stamford-based Spalding bowler Stephen Harris leads for clubmate Graham Smith, alongside Sleaford’s David Bristow and Paul Roberts.
Federation Latest
In the closing stages of the Northants Federation Competitions, Richard Allam and John Holroyd will meet Stamford Town colleagues Martin Bailey and Kevin Vinter for a place in the final of the Northants Federation indoor pairs. Allam & Holroyd beat Mick Humphreys and Roger Martin (Whittlesey Manor) 23-6 while Bailey and Vinter beat Wittering’s Mick Smith and Ally McNaughton 23-11.
In the men’s singles, Humphreys’ 21-17 defeat of Paul Dalliday has earned him a semi-final spot against Tony Barwell, a 21-11 winner over Cliff Watson.
In the mixed triples, the Bailey brothers teamed up with Chris Baker to defeat Simon Law’s trio and reach the semi-finals against Adam Warrington, Chris Ford and Martyn Dolby which was won by Warrington, Ford & Dolby 26-5.
They will play Stamford Town trio John and Moira Holroyd and Kevin Vinter who beat Ian Smith’s rink at Peterborough 17-16. They trailed 6-13 at 13 ends but switched positions for Kevin to lead and John to skip and picked up 11 shots in eight ends.
Tony Barwell reached the semi-final of the Northants Federation Veterans 4-bowl singles when he beat Empingham clubmate Mike Ramsden 21-19 in a 23-end marathon. Ramsden led 14-5 before Barwell bounced back with 12 shots in five ends before scrambling over the line.
Barwell will play another former winner Martyn Dolby who edged home 21-17 against resilient Kevin Vinter who led 12-9 but then conceded six shots in four ends. He tied the scores at 17-17 and held a close shot before Dolby trailed the jack for two and added a couple of singles to clinch it.
Ramsden was also out of luck in the pairs, when with Nick Wilkie they lost 22-8 to Brian Martin and Chris Ballard.
The Finals are due to be staged at Stamford IBC on March 20.
From L to R: Kevin Vinter & Martyn Dolby
Setback for Seniors
Against bottom of the table Spalding, Stamford’s Seniors we’re hoping to extend their lead at the top of the Lincs Over 60s League but found the opposition in no mood to concede this derby fixture.
Instead the home side raced into a comfortable lead early on as Stamford battled to adjust to a faster-paced carpet and though the scores narrowed to within a handful of shots, Spalding eventually opened up a nine shot advantage by the close of an enthralling 21-end contest.
Mick Linnell’s rink of Tony Barwell, Bernie Crouch and Don Bruce, struggled at first, trailing 3-11 after just seven ends but then went on a run of 18 shots in 14 ends as they got the measure of their opponents and ran out 21-14 winners.
Sadly the other rinks couldn’t contain their hosts though a six on the 18th end put Trevor Christie’s rink back in the game at 16-18 but two more shots were not quite enough to salvage a point. Kevin Vinter held a 17-9 lead with six ends to play but was overhauled by Graham Wright 20-18 and Bob Warters’ quartet fell away after a bright start.
Stamford still top the table with 79 points from eight matches but Boston A and Sleaford still have games in hand.
Result Lincs Over 60s League (South): Spalding 79 ( 12 pts) Stamford 70 (2).
Stamford names only. D Heffernan, N Crees, K Rippin, K Vinter lost 18-20; R Blake, R Clarke, P Burt, B Warters lost 12-26; H Gordon, D Henshaw, D Miller, T Christie lost 18-19; T Barwell, B Crouch, D Bruce, M Linnell won 21-14.