Stamford men lead Division One by 22 points

Post date: Jan 26, 2019 6:40:00 PM

Stamford bowlers turned up the heat on rivals Lincoln, the current county champions, with an impressive 137-74 defeat of Boston A in the first division of the Lincolnshire Men's League.

The 16 points they snaffled from a possible 18 - with four out of five winning rinks - takes them 22 points clear of Lincoln at the top of the table, though their nearest challengers have a game in hand.

Stamford A entertain fourth place Louth A on Saturday aiming to stretch their lead still further.

After the first handful of ends, Boston were well in the picture with little to choose between the sides before the home team found their line and length on a fast-running surface and pulled away to win the overall points.

Stamford might have claimed a maximum haul but on the last end with his last bowl, Boston skip Rod West - facing a match lie against him - converted the head in his favour to win 17-16 against Jeff Newson's rink which had fought back to level the match from a 10-16 deficit with three ends to play.

Elsewhere Martyn Dolby's rink picked up a six and dropped a similar handful two ends later before winning 30-17, while Jon Earl and captain Paul Bailey won 24-17 and 28-17.

The rink honours, however went to the home rink of Wayne Aspinall, Chris Ballard, Bob Warters and Roger Martin who overwhelmed Boston captain Tony Powell's rink 39-6. They claimed 17 shots without reply from the 6th to 12th end and 12 shots in the last four. Aspinall in particular was outstanding, persistently nailing the jack with his opening bowls.

Results (Stamford names only):

Lincolnshire Men's League Division One: Stamford A 137 (16 pts) Boston A 74 (2). D Hudson, M Humphreys, P Edwards, M Dolby won 30-17; R Allam, M Linnell, T Collins, J Earl won 24-17; W Aspinall, C Ballard, B Warters, Roger Martin won 39-6; M Ramsden, J Holroyd, N Wright, J Newson lost 16-17; A Romaine, J Travis-Jenner, A Warrington, P Bailey won 28-17.

STAMFORD MIXED TOP THE LEAGUE WITH ONE SHOT VICTORY

A late rally by Christine Ford's Stamford mixed team leapfrogged them four places to the top of the Lincs Second Division in a thrilling encounter with fellow title chasers Lincoln B.

With the bell having already sounded to signal that current ends in play must be completed, only two rinks were left on the green with Stamford trailing overall 83-89 and Lincoln looking to complete a double.

But then John Little's rink picked up a last gasp four and on Bob Warters' adjoining rink June Brennan, Carol Warters and Maurice Dye drew close to give Stamford a vital three. It pinched the overall 90-89, a 15-15 draw on their rink and 13 vital points towards their hopes of gaining promotion back to the first division.

Elsewhere Derek King's quartet of his wife Margaret, Tony Mackie and Shirley Suffling took the rink honours with a 20-16 win. They led 15-3 at 12 ends but let their opponents back into it, conceding seven shots in the last four ends to hang on to the points.

Mick Smith, Valerie Du'Kett, Chris Ford and Ally McNaughton also won 16-14 thanks to a cracking early start and a five count that took them into a 12-4 lead.

The win makes Stamford League leaders with 58 points - three clear of Dunholme, who they host on March 24.

Result (Stamford names only):

Lincs Mixed League Division Two: Stamford 90 (13 pts) Lincoln B 89 (5). M King, T Mackie, S Suffling, D King won 20-16; Mick Smith, V Du'Kett, C Ford, A McNaughton won 16-4; J Dye, M Andrews, J Hare, K Rippin lost 19-23; J Brennan, C Warters, M Dye, B Warters drew 15-15; J Lonslow, A Lonslow, S Moir, J Little lost 20-21.

FAMILY FALTER AGAINST BOSTON

The three-generation family trio of James Hebden, his father Mark and grandfather Trevor Christie had high hopes of progressing in the Lincs IBA triples after a tough qualifying campaign in their home club.

But they stumbled at the first hurdle against Boston's Paul Flatters and father and son Martin and Alex Tomblin. The Stamford trio started well with a 6-0 lead before the visitors got the hang of the green and two three-counts and a six finally helped to put the result beyond doubt at 24-11 with two ends in hand.

Louise Harris and brother Stephen have reached the Area 5 semi-final of the EIBA family pairs, beating John Holroyd and daughter Helen 21-12.

In the Northants Ferderation mixed pairs Chris Ballard and Denise Mackie beat Jan and Doug Want.