Round-up of the action from Spalding Indoor Bowls Club
Twelve of Spalding Bowls Club’s stars helped Lincolnshire land a treble of Liberty Trophy triumphs on Saturday.
Kevin Ekins, Martin Spencer, Simon Lilley, Mathew Orrey, Graham Smith, Ean Morton, Dominic McVittie, Tristan Morton, Mark Dawes, Jordan Philpott, Stephen Harris and Andy Dunham were part of the 24-player squad which faced Surrey at Nottingham.
The national competition is the main inter-county knock-out event and Lincolnshire had beaten Yorkshire, Cumbria and Northamptonshire to reach the final.
They went into the contest arguably as favourites and were aiming to make it a hat-trick of titles after winning the trophy in 1981 and 2018, while Surrey were playing in their first final since they won it back in 1978.
Lincolnshire soon got in their stride and, even though the early exchanges were close, they extended their lead to 45-25 - mainly thanks to the rinks skipped by Tristan Morton and Mark Dawes.
Surrey did reduce the deficit to 14 shots at one stage, but that’s as close as things got.
Cheered on by their supporters, Lincolnshire reduced the hopes of Surrey as the match was conceded with 13 ends still left to play across the board and Lincolnshire 44 shots (125-81) ahead.
Rink scores (from Spalding unless specified): Martin Pulling (Grantham), Alex Tomlin (Boston), Martin Spencer, Mathew Orrey won 20-10; Jonathan West (Boston), Nick Orrey (Lincoln), Andy Dunham, Dominic McVittie won 19-13; Ian Clark (Boston), Dean Stevenson (Lincoln), Kevin Rands (Lincoln), Billy Jackson (Lincoln) won 20-13; Stephen Harris, Simon Lilley, Graham Smith, Jordan Philpott lost 14-21; Paul Dalliday (Stamford), Simon Law (Stamford), Ean Morton, Tristan Morton won 26-11; Terry Berridge (Grantham), Kevin Ekins, Paul Roberts (Sleaford), Mark Dawes won 26-13
Following the Liberty success the day before, it was the turn of the under-18s on Sunday in the semi-final and final of the inter-county double triples competition.
Spalding’s Harry Mycock skipped one of the rinks, while Ollie Jeapes led in the other rink skipped by Daniel Stanley from Louth.
Lincolnshire’s semi-final opponents were Suffolk and, in a match that had it all, the spectators were on the edge of their seats - and no doubt some mothers were proud to be watching their kids play in their first championships on Mother’s Day.
When Mycock’s rink finished having won 21-18, there were three shots in the game with Stanley’s rink playing their last end.
With one bowl in hand, Stanley found himself three down and the match facing an extra end.
However, Stanley had other ideas as he kept his cool to draw third bowl and secure Lincolnshire’s place in the final against a strong Kent team.
Unfortunately, Kent did prove too strong in the afternoon’s final.
Everyone played their part in a highly-contested match, but the Kent rink skipped by under-25 international Isaac Jenner pulled away from Mycock and his rink 7-24.
Stanley’s rink did manage a 23-17 win, but Kent ran out 41-30 victors overall as Lincolnshire reflected on a fantastic achievement to get to the final.
Spalding Indoor Bowls Club’s ladies continued their winning streak in the Trudy Bates League match at home against Skegness.
They got off to a terrific start before Skegness got the measure of Spalding’s green, with only five shots in the aggregate at the halfway point.
Spalding then moved into top gear and extended their lead before closing out an impressive 86-45 win.
Although some of the rinks had to be altered due to hospital appointments and Covid, Spalding adapted well.
They gained all 14 points to keep them at the top of the league with only one match left against Boston, their nearest rivals, at home today (Thursday).
Rink scores: Jean Patterson, Petrine Ault, Maggie Wheatley and Barbara Hurst won 27-5; Freda Lyon, Jenny Collins, Jan Sinclair and Maisie Belding won 20-13; Judy Jackson, Michelle Billingsley, Trish Stafford and Betty Deaton won 17-15; Ann Newbury, Carole Nunney, Sandra Hammond and Chris Jackson won 22-12
