Spalding Indoor Bowls Club’s leading team are through to the last eight of the national top club knockout competition after seeing off Great Aycliffe.
The match was played at the neutral venue of Doncaster on Sunday, with Spalding hoping to go one better than last year’s final defeat.
In the ladies’ singles, Lucy Cooke led the way for Spalding by winning 16-9, quickly followed by Matt Whyers, in the men’s singles, who recorded a 20-8 victory.
Two points a-piece meant that Spalding only needed one more rink win to seal the victory, which they achieved comfortably, winning all the remaining events.
Wins came in the mixed pairs for Ruby Hill and Martin Spencer (20-9), the triples for Jordan Philpott, Annie Bellamy and Paul Simpson (18-10) and fours thanks to Rebecca Simpson, Gloria Haney, Scott Dunham and Graham Smith (28-10).
Spalding now face Nottingham at home in the next round.
- Spalding’s Chelsea Tomlin was part of the ladies’ under-25 England team that won the International Series at Erewash Bowls Club over the weekend.
England played against Scotland and Wales across two sessions, with England winning five out of their eight matches.
Tomlin was selected to play number three, with Chloe Wordingham (Wellingborough), Emma Felce (St Neots) and Zoe Eagles (York) as the skip.
Her set suffered two defeats (23-14 and 28-22), but England still took the series with ten points, leaving Scotland in second.
- Spalding IBC’s men won their latest division one fixture to keep themselves on course for another league title.
They travelled to Sleaford on Saturday and quickly took the initiative, leading 32-12 after five ends. Spalding continued to keep the pressure on the hosts and stretched their lead to over 30 at the halfway stage. Sleaford fought back, but it wasn’t enough and Spalding ran out 96-75 winnners, taking 13 of the 18 match points on offer.
Derek Green, Steve Hill, Kevin Ekins and Martin Simpson led the way with a 30-8 victory over A Bristow.
Other rink scores: Scott Dunham 18-12 T Musson (after losing 25 per cent of his shots for being a player short); Maurice Elding 15-18 C Bradley; Paul Simpson 14-18 T Bannister; Andy Dawson 19-19 D Chandley.
- Spalding’s friendly bowlers gained a significant 25-shot victory over Stamford in the annual competition for the Welland Salver Trophy.
The match was played at the Castle Sports Complex on Sunday and was initially very tight, with the teams tied at 24 shots each after the first five ends. Spalding eventually exerted their dominance, gaining the advantage and running out winners by 121-96 – losing on only two of the six rinks.
The best of Spalding’s four winning rinks was skipped by Jenny Horton and included Vera Elms, Tony Westland and Peter Bendall.
The Welland Salva is played for annually on a home and away aggregate, and Spalding, the current holders, will take this lead into the return fixture at Stamford next month.
Captain of the day was James Newby.
- Over the past three weeks a number of the Spalding IBC’s promising youngsters have been in county competitions at various venues – and putting in some excellent performances.
At Horncastle in the under-18 singles (junior section) Danielle Wild, her brother Aaron, Aaron Barnes and Jonathan Field competed against other juniors from throughout the county, with Aaron Wild and Barnes going through to the last 16 at Boston.
In the senior section, Harry Ford and Jordan Philpott competed – with the latter coming out in top spot.
At Skegness, Emily Day, Nathan Putterill and Ruby Hill competed in the junior section, with Hill also coming out in top spot.
Following these performances, the young players were invited to attend The School of Excellence competition held at Grantham, where they competed in a singles competition in the morning and skills tests in the afternoon.Points were gained in the singles, which were added to the points gained in a series of skills tests.
The first two in both junior and senior sections progressed to the regional finals, where success would take them to the national finals. Danielle Wild was first in the juniors, with Aaron Barnes third. In the senior section, Ruby Hill placed second.
- Spalding’s under-18 single rink A team of Aaron Barnes, Danielle Wild, Ruby Hill and Jordan Philpott completed an outstanding performance in the county league when won 31-9 at Sutton St James.
