Spalding Indoor Bowls Club ace Annie Dunham was part of the England ladies’ team that successfully defended their British Isles title.
Dunham was selected as number three at the Stanley event, with Lauren Copeland and Stef Branfield forming a front end partnership and Ellen Faulkner skipping.
England played Scotland in their opener – and it proved to be a comfortable match for the hosts. Dunham won 21-16, with England posting a 137-102 success.
Next up were Ireland, which turned out to be a very one-sided match. England won by a massive 165 shots to 65, with Dunham’s set winning again, this time by 24-16.
In the final match, England only needed to beat Wales to take the title – and despite a mid-match comeback, they were no match for Dunham and her team-mates.
England took the spoils with a 117-102 victory, with the Spalding star making it three wins out of three, this time 24-17.
Final standings: 1st England (6pts); 2nd Scotland (4pts); 3rd Wales (2pts); 4th Ireland (0pts).
- South Holland favourite Jordan Philpott was just one victory away from glory at the under-18 national singles finals, held at Spalding, for the second year on the spin.
Jordan, who lost in last year’s final, was hoping to go one better this time – and started his campaign with a narrow 2-0 victory over Imogen Jenner from Swale in the round robin group stages.
His next match proved pivotal, as Philpott beat Tom Hall, from St Neots, to leave himself just needing one set in his final match for a place in the final.
He continued his excellent form and won in straight sets against Andrew Orme, from Donyngs, to set up a final clash with England under-18 colleague Noah Cummings, from Darlington, who had won all his group matches.
With a packed crowd cheering him on, the Spalding lad found his opponent in fine form from the outset and he fell 1-0 down. Despite an excellent effort, Philpott couldn’t quite match Cummings’ consistency and it was he who took the next set to seal the title.
Although it was heartbreaking for Philpott, he can console himself with a fantastic achievement of reaching a national final for the second year running.
- Spalding’s IBC’s mixed team gave a good account of themselves in their last outing as they beat hosts Lincoln A 94-92, taking 14 of the 18 match points on offer.
They won on three rinks, with the best set being Freda Lyons, Gill Haydon, Roger Perkins and Graham Wright.
- Spalding IBC’s top men’s team are one step closer to retaining their county Division One title after a two-shot victory over second place Boston.
Visitors Spalding took a very early 12-shot lead, then went about the same amount behind for a few ends.
That all changed at around ten ends when they edged ahead cross the boards.
This narrow lead was maintained throughout, but Spalding held on to take the spoils.
Simon Lilley and Graham Smith both skipped their rinks to victory, whilst Ash Caress and Andy Dawson’s sets found their opponents in fine form and lost.
Scott Dunham’s late comeback also snatched a draw on his rink.
Spalding are 50 points ahead and Boston have three games to play, including the reverse fixture at Spalding on Thursday, April 16 (6.45pm).
- Spalding IBC’s over-60s team were soundly beaten 146-77 at Lincoln A.
Despite the overall defeat, Spalding came away with two valuable points and Lincoln gained 16 points which, they announced later, will secure them the Division One title for the 16th year in a row.
The only winning rink for Spalding was skipped by Tom Bell, who was supported by David Lunn, Bill Hodges and Dave Amess. Captain for the day was David Lunn.
- Spalding IBC’s ladies’ team have won their group in the Trudy Bates county league, courtesy of a victory over local rivals Sleaford on March 5. They will now face the other group winner, Lincoln, in the county final.
