Stamford and Spalding in Denny thriller

Post date: Nov 14, 2015 4:49:39 PM

,,Indoor bowls doesn't get more tense and exciting than the Denny Cup national inter club match between local rivals Stamford and Spalding which went down to the last bowl delivered after 84 gruelling ends.

Two rinks of four players each, lined up against each other at each venue, with the aggregate score determining which club would go through to contest the next round.

Stamford had never beaten Spalding in recent times as the Lincolnshire club, through its outstanding youth development programme, produced a string of England internationals and national champions.

But after their run in the Denny Plate last year in which they reached the quarter-finals, much-improved Stamford felt they had a chance to run their local rivals close. And so it proved, with Stamford taking an overall lead 47-43 lead after 15 of the 21 ends each rink had played.

On their familiar home carpet Stamford skips Martyn Dolby and Peter Edwards held respective 16-4 and 12-6 leads over Scott Dunham and Martin Spencer at the 15 ends stage, while away from home Keith Rippin, making a succession of saving shots with heads against him, and Roger Martin were hanging on 12-17 and 13-16 down at the same stage.

Turning point came when Matt Whyers' Spalding quartet picked up 12 shots in five ends against Rippin and team mate and fellow England international Graham Smith picked up a sloppy five on the 20th against Martin.

With the overall scores level at 73-73 just two rinks were left to complete and possibly change the fortunes of the match - one at Stamford, one at Spalding. And with telephone lines red hot between the respective umpires at each venue, Spencer picked up a valuable two against Edwards while Rippin could only manage a single, leaving Spalding the winners by 75-74.

Commented club president Bob Warters: "There will be finger pointing and recriminations at the opportunity missed to beat one of our oldest rivals in a national team competition. But while great credit should be offered to those who performed well at home and did their job, consider,too, the away players prepared to take on an experienced Spalding outfit on their home turf and overall only just came up short.

"It is always disappointing to lose a close match and everyone has an O level in hindsight but as a game of bowls it was outstanding both in its competitiveness, commitment and drama. It is a game most of us play to enjoy and I would prefer not to dwell on the negatives, but on the positives and consider it a stepping stone in team performance from which no doubt we will learn for the future."

Results (Stamford names first)

Denny Cup Second round: Stamford 74 Spalding 75. At Stamford: S Harris, W Morris, J Earl, M Dolby bt J Haney, J Needham, A Dunham, S Dunham 25-5; D Hudson, J Holroyd, A Warrington, P Edwards bt R Hill, M Elding, A Dawson, M Spencer 19-15; at Spalding: A Romaine, M Humphreys, B Warters, R Martin lost to D Staples, K Crane, M Simpson, G Smith 17-26; R Allam, C Watson, D King, K Rippin lost to J Philpott, P Cherry, K Ekins, M Whyers 13-29.

Ends: Stamford 22 Spalding 13 (after 5) 43-22 (10), 53-47 (15), 62-60 (18), 74-75 (21).