Tense finish to charity Gala 

Tense finish to charity Gala 

In a thrilling finish to the Hegarty Charity Gala, the trio of Paul Buckley and Shirley & John Suffling emerged as winners of the silver trophy donated by the Stamford solicitors and £120 first place prizemoney.

Also benefitting from the day were the Mutts & Nutts and Bumps & Beyond local charities with £500 raised on the day from a raffle and a ‘spider’ competition won by Jean Millar.

Twenty teams competed in the event - a three-bowl triples format of four 7-end matches played in two ten-team sections, scoring two points for every match victory and a point for each of the 28 ends won.

And after a gruelling 11-hour marathon it went down to the equivalent of a tight measure to separate the top four places.

The Suffling team edged home with a convincing maximum points in their last game to shade out Tony Barwell and life-members Dave Heffernan and Maurice Dye with a superior shots count though both had an identical 27 points.

And despite a narrow defeat by nearest rivals Mick & Karen Porter and Lyn Dunn in their last game, the combination of Alfie & Julie Hynes and Dave Oakey hung on to third spot with 26 points,  thanks chiefly to a maximum nine count on the penultimate end of their third match.

A feature of the competition was the inclusion of three relatively inexperienced teams. Two juniors - Evie Patrickson (8) and Billy Maltby (9) - were aided by Graham Allen and coach Dave Donovan while the Hegarty sponsors, represented by Andrea Beesley-Hewitt & Samantha Cornforth and Simon Pierson & Emily Kavanagh, were supported respectively by John & Moira Holroyd.

Leading scorers: 27 points S Suffling (+51 shots difference), D Heffernan (+34); 26 J Hynes (+29), M Porter (+25); 23 R March (+21), Y Monaghan (+13); 20 M Osborne (+13), S Downs (+12); 18 K Wilkin (+3), J Millar (-13); 17 L Hulme (+1), D Cave (0), B Jackson (-2), 16 J Wallace (+5); D Morgan (-8).

Mixed defeat

Stamford Mixed team’s feint hopes of promotion were dashed by a rampant Dunholme, who collected maximum points from their first visit to the town since Covid disrupted the bowling programme.

They collected all 14 points in a dominant display, though the home side were far from their recent form.

Lincs Mixed League division two. Stamford 53 (0) Dunholme 87 (14). Stamford names only. j Hynes, J Lonslow, J Suffling, A Hynes lost 15-19; C Warters, G Hulme, S Suffling, B Warters lost 19-25; L Cave, C Parker, K Hulme, B Orme lost 11-23; J Parker, S Orme, D Henshaw, D Cave lost 8-20.

*Stamford B men’s team complete their Lincs IBA second division fixtures with a visit to Scunthorpe on Saturday(March 28). Team: J Suffling, S Brown, B Orme, JV Pearson; K Rawlins, J Wallace, C Parker, M Hewitt; TBC, J Pearson, M Dye, D Henshaw; P Shaw, D Bruce, M Porter, A Hynes.

Last game

Stamford women bowlers complete one of their most successful recent seasons when they entertain Boston on Wednesday (March 25, 10.30 am) in their last southern section match in the Lincolnshire League.

Though leaders Lincoln are just out of reach, Stamford are on target to finish second. Team: J Hynes, V Du’Kett, E Wallace, C Ford; L Dunn, A Sampy, L Hulme, R Downs; J Parker, S Gentry, G Oakey, S Moir; J Lonslow, A White, S Suffling, L Tuck.