Gala Raises £500 for Charity
TRIPLES SUCCESS FOR KING & CO
Skill, luck, fate - even a little alphabetical manipulation. They all played a part in producing another thrilling finish to a Stamford indoor bowls tournament.
This time it was the Presidents’ Open Triples - the brainchild of Ian Hall and Margaret King - which attracted more than 60 players and helped to raise £500 for the Evergreen Care Trust based in Barnack Road, Stamford.
Presidents Margaret King (left) & Ian Hall (far right) with Evergreen Care Trust’s Ed Bailey (centre).
Teams were drawn chiefly alphabetically reflecting the name of their team captain in the hope that it would produce two evenly-matched groups looking to score points for matches and ends won in the hunt for more than £200 in prizemoney.
And so it proved - with the top places undecided until the last stages of a gruelling 24-end marathon played over eight sessions and nearly nine hours.
Novices were matched against seasoned, county, national and even international players but despite some one-sided encounters, everyone enjoyed the challenge, enhanced by the social experience and the chance to support a worthy cause.
Billy Andrew directs the head .
Father and son Wayne and Owen Aspinall - paired with Stamford-based England international Stephen Harris - dominated the Red Group with 23 points but were chased hard by Howard Neath and Reg & Jill Booth (21) and Martyn Dolby, Tom Newman and Mick Linnell (19).
Elsewhere Derek King - husband of the president - invited clubmates Richard Allam and Chris Ford to join him in the Blue section, winning their first three matches before facing Elizabeth and Martin Wallace and in-form 87-year-old Rosemary Roberts, fresh from success at the Potters Resort.
Presidents Ian Hall and Margaret King with triples winners (from the left) Derek King, Chris Ford and Richard Allam
The King trio needed a win and at least four point-scoring ends to edge out the Aspinalls, watching anxiously in the wings - and duly got them to record a winning 24 points, with Rose and Alec March and Peggy Birch - another octogenarian - scoring an eight-point clean sweep to snatch third prize overall with a superior shot difference.
Results: Red Group - 23 pts W Aspinall, 21 J Goode, 19 M Linnell, S Christie, 16 S Suffling, D Heffernan, 14 A Holmes, 13 L Cave, B Andrew, 12 N Andrew, 10 J Cox, 9 J Bourne. Blue Group - 24 D King, 21 R March, K Tuck, 16 B Jackson, E Wallace, 15 P Linnell, 14 J Little, 7 A Player.
FOOTNOTE:
Stamford IBC will hold it annual meeting on April 19 (7.30pm) with March 22 set for resolutions to be received in writing or email by secretary Dave Pawson (secretary@siba.org.uk) and included in the agenda.
Questions may be asked by members in an open session but may not be included in the agenda or voted on. The club is currently looking for a volunteer bar manager.
MIXED FORTUNES FOR PITT & BARWELL
There were highs and lows for the new pairs combination of Jeff Pitt and Tony Barwell competing first in national, then county competitions.
They travelled to Melton last week to contest the Area 5 final of the EIBA Over 60 pairs against Irvine Powdrill and his Charnwood IBC partner but neither adapted to Melton’s neutral venue carpet.
They lost 30-11 to miss an opportunity to play in the national championships at Nottingham in April.
However, they travelled to Grantham on Saturday to play club president Mark Eurich and Jay Lewis and quickly adapted to the surface, taking an early 16-shot lead from which the home players never recovered.
They were pinned back to 17-9 at 11 ends but five more shots in three ends put Pitt & Barwell beyond reach. They now meet either Skegness or the experienced Lincoln combination of Danny Brown and Billy Jackson in the semi-finals at Sleaford on April 2.
FINALISTS AGAIN
Katie Bailey and former Stamford bowler Helen Butler were part of the Lincolnshire Atherley Trophy team which beat Suffolk 123-104 at Ely to reach the final again.
Bailey skipped her rink to a 25-15, while Helen, now representing Boston, played No.3 to Di Wilson-Rogers, winning 26-13. They will play Essex in the final at Nottingham on April 1.
FEDERATION FINALISTS
Bowlers who play indoors at Stamford will be well represented when the Northants Bowling Federation stages its men’s and women’s finals at Peterborough IBC on March 19.
One of the latest to make it is Martyn Dolby who took his veterans semi-final match to Peterborough IBC, where he is also a member, to beat Richard Allam 21-3 - revenge for his earlier defeat by Allam in the 4-bowl singles.
He will meet Kevin Vinter, who beat Derek King 21-16.
The combination of Adam Warrington, Chris Ford and Stephen Harris overwhelmed Cliff Watson’s rink to reach the mixed triples final against Ian and Michelle Smith and Tom Newman.
Harris and Wayne Morris will attempt to retain the pairs against Paul Dalliday and Tristan Morton.
NBF RETAINS POTTERS TROPHY
Northants Bowling Federation retained the Top County trophy, when they took eight teams to the Potters Resort - three rinks reaching the quarter-final stage, one of which lost in the final.
Almost 90 teams from the English Bowling Federation took part playing at least once a day over the five-day break.
Graham and Stuart Agger, Lynn Betts & Mel Beck together with Chris & Dick Ford and Rose & Alec March lost in the quarter-final leaving Rosemary Roberts (87), Dave Corney & Mick Linnell to contest the semi-final against Langtoft quartet of Ann & Peter White, Nolan Catterwell & John Vaudin which the Corney rink won.
The final was close but a Bassetlaw (Notts) rink took the individual honours.
Northants bowlers reached the final of the Potters tournament and are pictured with NBF tour co-ordinator Dick Ford (left) and Potters ambassador Greg Harlow.
TOP TEAMS CLASH
Stamford ‘A’ travel to Grantham on Saturday (noon start) for a crucial Lincs Men’s League top of the table clash which could decide the county’s southern section champions to play the northern winners in April.
They have a 12-point lead on their rivals, who have gained a number of players from the closure of Newark IBC, but Stamford’s re-shuffled side is determined to maintain an advantage going into their final match at home to Spalding on March 26.
Stamford ‘B’ entertain Sleaford on Sunday (2pm start).
Stamford A :W Aspinall, M Miller, C Ballard, M Dolby; M Humphreys, M Ramsden, N Wright, A Warrington; T Barwell, J Bourne, K Vinter, J Pitt; R Allam, R Ford, M Linnell, R Martin.
Stamford B: P Linnell, H Gordon, M Owens, A McNaughton; J Suffling, D Henshaw, N Crees, M Hewitt; G Patrickson, M Wallace, D Bruce, D Edwards; R Blake, C Jones, M Dye, D King. reserves, B Orme, K Rawlins, M Smith.