It was a momentous occasion on Sunday afternoon when Spalding Lightning’s national mixed Egham Trophy team took to the rinks at the national finals stage at Nottingham IBC.
Taking part in the club’s first final in this competition in their history, they were facing a side from Ilminster IBC in Somerset, who were also looking for their first taste of success in this competition.
After five ends, Lightning got off to a good start but it remained close (22-17) but by ten ends across all rinks, this lead had been increased further to 15 shots (43-28).
When the game reached 15 ends, the match was firmly in Spalding’s favour as they were 26 shots up overall (68-42) and at 18 ends or so, the gap was still 27 shots (79-52).
It wasn’t long after that the opposition conceded and the national title of Egham Trophy champions went to Spalding Lightning, who ended up winning by 87 shots to 52.
The team manager and club captain Graham Smith was proud of his players for a ‘perfectly managed performance’ and the squad which contributed to this success.
Rink scores: Ruby Philpott, Tracy Philpott, Martin Spencer and Mathew Orrey won 20-9 (top rink); Jean Patterson, Danielle Wild, Calvin Leuty and Dominic McVittie won 23-14; Graham Smith, Andy Dunham, Chelsea Spencer and Annie Dunham won 21-13; Louse Harris, Karen Martin, Stephen Harris andJordan Philpott won 23-16.
- The Lincolnshire under 18s inter-county double rink team (after qualifying as the Lincolnshire Tigers and featuring Owen Aspinall, Aidan Brickles and Max Butters from Spalding Lightning) were also competing at the national finals at Nottingham IBC last Sunday, with a semi final first in the morning session against Kent A CIBA.
In a close match, the Lincolnshire juniors took control over the last few ends and won their match by 40 shots to 29.
This booked their place in the national final versus Gloucestershire CIBA in the afternoon at the same time as the mixed Egham Trophy final.
National semi final rink scores: Thom Rodd (Lincoln IBC), Max Butters and Jake Johnson (Lincoln IBC) won 22-14 and Chloe Bland (Louth IBC), Aidan Brickles and Owen Aspinall won 18-15.
In a rematch of last season’s final in which Gloucestershire took the spoils, Lincolnshire juniors started well and continued their form throughout the game to win their national title by 41 shots to 22 and be crowned champions for the first time.
National final rink scores: Chloe Bland, Aidan Brickles and Owen Aspinall won 32-6; Thom Rodd, Max Butters and Jake Johnson lost 9-16.
- It was a very important match for the second from bottom of the table Spalding Lightning men’s over 60s team last Thursday, with a home tie against the bottom side Horncastle IBC and a relegation tussle was ahead.
The visitors played their part and finished the stronger team with the Spalding men losing by 60 shots to 79 and only gaining one rink and two points from the maximum 14 available.
The winning rink was skipped by Ian Harwood, with Tony Westland, Derek Chamberlain and Rob West who won 19-11.
This result leaves the team at the foot of the league standings with other teams having games in hand.Their final match of the season is at home against Boston A on April 23.
Rink scores: Tony Westland, Derek Chamberlain, Rob West and Ian Harwood won 19-11; Eric Wakefield, Cliff Lattimer, Ian Stafford and David Nunney lost 14-17; Mike Taylor, Keith Sellars, Robin Roffe and Gavin Staite lost 16-26; Mick Dolton, David Amess, Paul Turner and Terry Windsor lost 11-25.
- The race afternoon took place last Saturday at the club and saw more than 50 people attend.
After adding up horse, ticket sales, betting and bar takings the club made just over £1,000.
A club spokesman said: “Many thanks to everyone who helped put the event in place and on the day, and especially to our attendees and race sponsors (Ark ICT Solutions, Bridgestone Tyres, Calvin Leuty, the Hair Shop Spalding, the Spalding IBC 50+ group, the club itself and Specsavers) for their contributions.”
- In their final league fixture of the season, the Spalding Lightning men’s county league team needed to finish very strongly to maintain any chance of winning their division this year.
They were playing at home versus Horncastle IBC last Saturday and got the aggregate win by 96 shots to 64.
But in a game where all points were likely needed, they missed out on this and gained 12 points from the 14 available.
The team won on three out of the four rinks with the top winning rink skipped by Andy Dunham, with Mick Dolton, Mike Taylor and Dan Mills who won 33-13.
This means the side finished on 66 points and whilst they go back top of the league for now, both Lincoln and Boston have games in hand and are only a few points behind and so it is very unlikely that Spalding will succeed this season.
However team captain Mills thanked all players who contributed to the squad for their collective efforts over this year and will look to bounce back next season.
Rink scores: Mick Dolton, Mike Taylor, Dan Mills and Andy Dunham won 33-13; Ben Sharp, Max Butters, David Nunney and Kevin Ekins won 28-16; Nathan Puttrell, Terry Windsor, Ian Harwood and James Teesdale won 21-20; Tony Westland, Ian Stafford, Anthony Cronin and Brian Martin lost 14-15.
