Last weekend, Spalding Lightning participated in three national team events against Lincoln IBC.
The men’s national Denny Cup third round match saw Lightning bow out of the competition by 65 shots to 74.
After five ends were played both home and away, Lincoln edged out a 13-17 lead for themselves and when reaching ten ends, they extended this up to ten shots (27-37).
At 15 ends, this score has increased slightly to 44-56 in the opposition’s favour and by nearing the finish at 18 ends, the gap remained 12 shots (57-69).
Although Lightning closed the gap a little, this was not enough and they lost by nine shots.
Rink scores: Home – Tony Westland, Lewis Parnell, Calvin Leuty and Jordan Philpott won 18-17 and Dan Mills,
Martin Simpson, Rob Aves and Kevin Ekins lost 12-21; Away – Nick Wilkie, Owen Aspinall, Simon Lilley and Stephen Harris won 19-18 and Brian Martin, Max Butters, Andy Dunham and Graham Smith lost 16-18.
The ladies’ national Yetton Trophy third round match saw a defeat for Lightning by 65 shots to 94.
At the five ends early period of the match Lightning started slowly both home and away facing a ten-shot deficit on aggregate (12-22).
After ten ends, the opposition increased this lead to 18 shots (26-44).
Rink scores: Home – Danielle Wild, Jessica Butters, Maggie Wheatley and Annie Dunham won 25-13 (top rink) and Gill Haydon, Mandy Parkins, Tracy Philpott and Ruby Philpott won 21-19; Away – Jean Patterson, Carole Nunney, Betty Deaton and Karen Martin lost 10-31 and Ann Newbury, Sue Slayven, June Taylor and Maisie Belding lost 9-31.
The mixed national Top Club third round match saw a victory with Lightning winning in four out of the five disciplines and collecting the overall 12-4 match points.
After good singles wins by Chelsea Spencer and Graham Smith, getting four points on the board early, the pairs and fours won in the closing ends to win the match.
The next match is at Long Sutton against defending national champions Barwell IBC on January 4.
Rink scores: Ladies’ Singles – Chelsea Spencer won 21-9; Men’s Singles – Graham Smith won 21-13; Pairs – Dan Mills and Annie Dunham won 19-14; Triples – Danielle Wild, Stephen Harris and Jordan Philpott lost 9-17; Fours – Ruby Philpott, Louise Harris, Martin Spencer and Mathew Orrey won 18-14.
qThe weekend saw the Spalding Lightning mixed county league team play at home against Louth IBC and after a win and two defeats in their first three games, the team collected a second win by 82 shots to 65 and gained 12 points from the 14 available.
Winning on three from the four rinks, the top rink was skipped by David Nunney, with George Deaton, Carole Nunney and Betty Deaton who won 25-10. Their next match is away against Scunthorpe IBC on January 11.
Rink scores: George Deaton, Carole Nunney, Betty Deaton and David Nunney won 25-10 (top rink); Tony Westland, Gill Haydon, Maggie Wheatley and James Teesdale won 23-15; Ann Newbury, Maisie Belding, Cliff Lattimer and Ian Stafford won 20-16; Christine Williamson, June Taylor, Rob West and Ian Harwood lost 14-24.
- The Spalding Lightning national ladies’ over 60s Mason Trophy team started their campaign in the second round versus Stamford and saw a close victory by 30 shots to 24.
The home rink of Jean Patterson, Sue Slayven, June Taylor and Maisie Belding got off to a flying start surging 8-0 ahead after five ends and ended up succeeding in the finish 18-9, whilst the away rink of Ann Newbury, Carole Nunney, Maggie Wheatley and Betty Deaton were only one shot behind early on and managed to maintain a close match only losing out by three shots (12-15), therefore Lightning won the match on aggregate by six shots.
The third round will take place on January 2 against Boston IBC.
- The Spalding Lightning men’s over 60s team played their first home fixture against Louth IBC, going down by 60 shots to 78 and only gaining four points from the 14 available.
The team won on two rinks and lost on two rinks with the top winning rink skipped by Martin Simpson, assisted by Paul Turner, Ian Stafford and Terry Windsor who won 23-11. Their next match is at Lincoln IBC A on December 18.
Rink scores: Paul Turner, Ian Stafford, Terry Windsor and Martin Simpson won 23-11; Tony Westland, David Amess, Peter Bendell and Anthony Cronin won 13-12; Martyn Stanley, Martin Holmes, Graham Hicks and David Nunney lost 17-24; Robin Roffe, Cliff Lattimer, Ian Harwood and Gavin Staite lost 7-31.
- Stephen Harris and Dominic McVittie (men’s senior team) and Annie Dunham, Ruby Philpott and Chelsea Spencer (women’s senior team) have been chosen to represent England at Belfast IBC in March. Owen Aspinall has been selected for the men’s under 25 squad, with this team being finalised after their squad day. If successful, he will represent England at Ffrith IBC, Wales in February.
- The national under-18 inter-county Lincolnshire Tigers team won their match against the Lincolnshire Bears team at Boston IBC by 41 shots to 27.
Representing Lincolnshire from Spalding were Owen Aspinall, Aidan Brickles and Max Butters (playing for the Tigers) and Jessica Butters (playing for the Bears).
Lincolnshire Tigers face Yorkshire and Durham in their remaining group stage matches, whereas Lincolnshire Bears have Yorkshire, Durham and Nottinghamshire to play.
