Stamford senior guaranteed place in county finals

Players from around the county who took part in the Lincs IBA Senior Singles playdowns at Stamford IBC on Saturday to earn places in the semi-finals and subseqently the finals.

AT LEAST ONE Stamford bowler will contest the final of the Lincolnshire Indoor Bowling Association Over 60 Singles at Boston IBC on April 22 after three of its members qualified for the semi-final stages on their home green this weekend.

Derek King will face clubmate and defending champion Martyn Dolby - chasing a third successive title - while Dave Hudson will meet Spalding veteran Maurice Elding in the other semi-final to be played at Lincoln IBC on April 2.

All three were successful over two 18-end matches played on the recently re-furbished Stamford indoor carpet after thrilling quarter-finals in which opportunities see-sawed.

Having beaten Grantham's Malcolm Lehair 19-13, Hudson faced the only female competitor, Jane Saunders (Long Sutton) and trailed 4-8 at one staged but eventually pulled away to win 20-12.

For King, finding good form on shorter jacks against John Maury (Sleaford), whom he beat 15-9, he repeated the tactic against Lincoln's George Draper, who had earlier beaten Brian Jenkinson (Sleaford) convincingly. He grabbed a 13-5 lead and though his wily opponent pegged him back to 14-12 and held two shots on the penultimate end, King edged home 18-12.

For Dolby who won this title in both 2015 and 2016, he will rarely face a tougher opponent than Ron Flowers (Boston). Flowers was dogged in his resistance and held three tight to the jack for a chance to force an extra end but Dolby, scattered the head with a running bowl to clinch it 18-14.

Results:

I Bartram (Louth) lost to R Flowers (Boston) 14-20; M Thompson (Lincoln) lost to M Dolby (Stamford) 21-10; M Elding w/o Mrs P Kelly (Scunthorpe); T Musson (Louth) beat M Ramsden (Stamford) 17-12; G Draper (Lincoln ) beat B Jenkinson (Sleaford) 24-4; J Maury (Sleaford) lost to D King (Stamford) 9-15; Mrs J Saunders (Long Sutton) beat G Lancaster (Horncastle) 20-9; D Hudson (Stamford) beat M Lehair (Grantham) 19-13.

Quarter-finals: Dolby bt Flowers 18-13; Hudson bt Saunders 20-12; Elding bt Musson 17-8; King bt Draper 18-12.

Staying with the Senior theme, Stamford's Over 60 Lincs League Division Two team, improved their chances of going up in status with a 96-93 win at promotion rivals Boston, picking up 16 treasured points to head the league table.

With 128 points from 12 matches they lead their rivals by eight points though Boston have two games in hand and third-placed Dunholme (115) have three games in hand.

It was a tight match in which Stamford finished the better though Kevin Vinter's rink made their team-mates sweat, conceding eight shots in the last three ends.

Results (Stamford names only):

Lincs Over 60s League Division Two: Boston 93 (2 pts), Stamford 96 (16). W Kettle, T Freeman, R Harvey, K Vinter lost 14 25; R Graham, A Lonslow, P Banks, A Horton won 22-19; R Barwell, G Corby, T Christie, M Owens won 15-12; Mal Smith, D Veasey, D Henshaw, D Heffernan won 24-22; D Howarth, T Weaver, A March, Richard Martin won 21-15.

Stephen Harris reached the semi-final of the Northants Federation 4-bowl singles defeating Neil Wright 21-5.

Northants Federation's hopes of reaching the final of the indoor inter-county Derbyshire Trophy will go down to the wire on Sunday after they conceded vital points against Lincolnshire at Peterborough IBC.

Ideally they needed a maximum 14 points against the southern section holders to make the task against Norfolk (at Stamford IBC) a little less stressful but had to settle for two out of four winning rinks and the overall points to take 10 points.

It still gives them a chance to overhaul local rivals Hunts at the top of the table but only at least 12 points and a winning margin of 29 shots will do.

Stars of the win against Lincs were Howard Shipp, captain James Harford and the recalled Tris Morton who rarely looked in any danger and ran out comfortable 27-15 winners.

And with Stephen Harris drafted in to lead for Neil Wright and Roger Martin against Trevor Bannister they finished in style with six shots in the last two ends to win 22-12.

Elsewhere, Simon Law's rink kept George Draper's in check but couldn't quite prevent a 22-23 deficit, while Joe Randall's trio found their Lincoln IBC opposition, used to a similar pace of green, to tough to handle and went down by eight shots.

Result

Derbyshire Trophy: Northants 86 (10 pts) Lincs 73 (4). Northants names first. B Martin, B Warters, J Randall lost to S Ashton, M Smith, T Gilroy 15-23; H Shipp, J Harford, T Morton bt K Tointon, M Thompson, P Flatters 27-15; S Harris, N Wright, Roger Martin bt A Field, I Clark, T Bannister 22-12; P Dalliday, P Afford, S Law lost to D Skayman, R Ashton, G Draper 22-23.