Spalding Lightning started their Egham Trophy campaign with a comfortable win against Sleaford.
Spalding have lost in the national semi-final for the past two seasons so will be looking to go further this time.
They started strongly and were 20-10 up after five ends, increased to
49-20 after ten and 70-35 by 15 ends. They eventually won by 27 shots (82-55) to book a place in the second round against Grantham.
Top winning rink was skipped by Mathew Orrey, with Ruby Hill, Louise Harris and Stephen Harris who had an excellent
29-11 rink win.
Rink scores – Home: Jean Patterson, Julie Hicks, Simon Lilley and Dominic McVittie won
23-9; Carole Nunney, Karen Martin, Kevin Ekins and Martin Spencer lost 9-23. Away: Ruby Hill, Louise Harris, Stephen Harris and Mathew Orrey won 29-11; Danielle Wild, Tracy Philpott, Graham Smith and Jordan Philpott won 21-12.
Lightning started the defence of their national Denny Cup title with a comfortable 95-63 win against Boston. Spalding were in control from the outset and dominated the game to win by 32 shots.
Although winning on two rinks and suffering narrow defeats on the other two, the top winning rink was skipped at home by Jordan Philpott, with Ollie Jeapes, Owen Aspinall – making his Denny Cup debut – and Kevin Ekins who won 32-9. The other rink to win was the away rink skipped by Dominic McVittie, who had a remarkable turnaround from 13-5 down to win 30-15, including seven unanswered ends. Next up for the two-time Denny Cup champions are Sleaford on Saturday, November 2.
Rink scores – Home: Ollie Jeapes, Owen Aspinall, Kevin Ekins and Jordan Philpott won 32-9; Dan Mills, Jack Wells, Simon Lilley and Graham Smith lost 19-20. Away: Lewis Parnell, Martin Simpson, Martin Spencer and Dominic McVittie won 30-15; Brian Martin, Nick Wilkie, Ean Morton and Tristan Morton lost 14-19.
Spalding Indoor Bowls Club found it tough going in their home fixture of the Men’s Over 60s County League against Sleaford. The away team proved too strong, winning by 20 shots (85-65) and 12-2 on match points. Spalding did manage one winning rink, which was skipped by Graham Wright, with Mike Taylor, Alan Tokley and Roger Billingsley, who won 22-18.
Rink scores – Mike Taylor, Alan Tokley, Roger Billingsley and Graham Wright won 22-18; Bill Hodges, Eric Wakefield, Ian Harwood and David Nunney lost 18-20; Tony Westland, Rob West, Ian Stafford and Chris Warboys lost 16-26; Mick Dolton, Dave Amess, Graham Hicks and Martin Simpson lost 8-21
A friendly match at Melton Mowbray was closely contested with Spalding winning by five shots, 125-120. Top winning rink was skipped by Graham Fairbank, with John Selwyn and Sylvia Andrews.
