Stamford Indoor Bowls Club are beaten by St Neots in the Denny Plate
It had been more than 20 years since St Neots, the Cambridgeshire indoor bowls club which faced Stamford in the Denny Plate on Saturday, had taken the A1 route north in a national team competition.
Since their last visit in 2001, much has changed in the way these matches are played.
Bowlers often used to arrive in blazers and wore identical white shirts, grey or white trousers and brown shoes. The only way to tell the teams apart was by compulsory club tie, which matched the stickers on either black or brown bowls.
Back then, indoor bowls was chiefly a game of drawing to the jack on a carpet surface ill-suited to the strong bias bowls used on slower outdoor grass greens.
How times have changed with bowls every colour of the rainbow, designed to take a more direct line to the jack complimented by multi-coloured shirts, shoes and even shorts.
The game has become more assertive, too, for a younger generation of competitors.
While there is still room for the perfectly-weighted, swinging, draw shot, the Neots players wasted little opportunity to play a fast bowl to 'kill the head' or more likely drive the jack into the ditch when the opportunity presented itself.
And that proved the difference in the end in this event played simultaneously at both venues where aggregate scores decided the winners.
Apart from a handful exceptions, Stamford players tried to draw themselves out of trouble, while their opponents took a more attacking option.
The home rink of Mick Humphreys, Wayne Morris - creating an outstanding foundation for Neil Wright and skip Adam Warrington - were Stamford’s only winners in a 26-15 victory, while Roger Martin’s four lost by an identical score on an adjoining rink.
The away rinks found it a tougher proposition on an unfamiliarly slick St Neots carpet.
Simon Law’s four started promisingly by taking an unexpected early lead but lost early momentum. Jon Earl’s rink, meanwhile - featuring 14-year-old Owen Aspinall - never recovered from a 15-shot deficit after five ends.
However, it was a heartening performance by Stamford to make deep inroads into the competition and it leaves the way open for some of the club’s promising newcomers, hopefully encouraged by more experienced heads, to sharpen their skills for next season’s campaign.
St Neots, meanwhile, in their modern red and black outfits and not a black bowl in sight, established themselves as one of the favourites to contest the finals in Nottingham in April.
Denny Plate: Stamford 64 St Neots 90. Stamford names only. Home- M Humphreys, W Morris, N Wright, A Warrington won 26-15; C Ballard, A McNaughton, B Warters, R Martin lost 15-26. Away - W Aspinall, D Miller, O Aspinall, J Earl lost 9-28; P Dalliday, M Linnell, M Jeapes, S Law lost 14-21.
Stamford’s women bowlers also came to a full stop in their bid to break new ground in the Yetton Plate following their defeat of Skegness, hampered by late changes through illness and injury.
Marilyn Christie and Rita Downs were replaced by Vanessa Shackleton and Ann White.
But Chesterton were in no mood to allow their new opponents any favours, winning on all four rinks at home and away.
At Cambridge, the rinks skipped by Sue Moir and Moira Holroyd were always on the back foot, their efforts stalling at the halfway mark when they trailed by nine and a single shot respectively.
Stamford rinks were holding their own at a similar stage but the visitors eventually stamped their authority and stretch the overall shots difference to 37 by the time the gruelling four-hour match was conceded.
Yetton Plate: Stamford 57 Cambridge Chesterton 94. Stamford names only. Home - Janet Lonslow, Peggy Birch, Ann White, Chris Ford lost 17-21; Janet Dye, Vanessa Shackleton, Stella Henshaw, Denise Mackie lost 18-23. Away - Rosemary Roberts, Miriam Hulbert , Shirley Suffling, Sue Moir lost 12-27; Val Du’Kett, Ann Northen, ElIzabeth Wallace, Moira Holroyd lost 10-23.
Against bottom team, Boston B, Stamford Seniors were hoping to climb further up the Lincs Over 60s League table, following a maximum points win against Spalding.
They started promisingly but failed to maintain their momentum and, though they won three of the four rinks, it was not quite enough to claim the overall points.
John Holroyd’s rink raced into a 14-2 lead at eight ends and extended it to 23-7 with a five count on the 15th but then conceded 14 shots in six ends, hanging on for vital rink points.
In contrast Kevin Vinter’s rink finished strongly to overturn a 15-19 deficit in the last three ends, while Jeff Bourne and John Pearson were outstanding in claiming the 20-17 rink honours with Mick Owens and Bob Warters - a four-count on the penultimate end proving a game-changer.
Lincs Over 60s League: Boston B 87 (8 pts) Stamford 78 (6). Stamford : D King, D Bruce, K Rippin, J Holroyd won 23-21; R Blake,S Miner, M Hewitt, K Vinter won 21-19; T Barwell,D Cave, D Henshaw, P Smith lost 14-30; J Bourne, J Pearson, M Owens, B Warters won 20-17.
Stamford’s Mixed team entertain second placed Skegness in the Lincs League (South) on Saturday (2pm) aiming to close the gap on leaders Spalding.
With team captain Shirley Suffling making her debut representing Lincolnshire against Nottinghamshire in the Atherley Trophy, the team has been re-shuffled in a bid to maximise home advantage.
Stamford seniors entertain Sleaford on Wednesday, December 20 (10.30am) in the Lincs Over 60s League (South) and Grantham on January 3 (10 am).
Stamford Mixed: R Roberts, R Blake, S Moir, H Gordon; L Cave, J Lonslow, A March, D Cave; M Ramsden, J Allen, R March, N Crees; T Barwell, J Barwell, P Jones, B Warters.
Stamford Indoor Bowls Club’s annual Christmas Open Fours gala on Thursday, December 28 - and sponsored by Durant Scoreboards & Displays - has reached its 24-team capacity.
The draw is due to be made tonight (Friday) at 7pm, when teams will be split randomly into two sections starting at either 9.30am or 10.30am to play in four separate sessions of seven ends. Subsequent matches played at approximately one hour intervals will also be decided in advance.
Two points are awarded for each win with a further point for each end won. Prize money is paid for the top four scoring teams with shots difference deciding any tied points.
Team captains will be advised of their initial starting times and teams should register at least 15 minutes ahead of their initial start. They should make their own arrangements for their players for set meals in advance with Woody’s cafe at the club. Food and drink cannot be brought into the club.
Stephen Harris, who plays his domestic bowls at Stamford IBC and his national competitions at Spalding, has been selected to retain his place in the England team contesting the international series against Ireland, Scotland and Wales at Falcoln IBC (Chelmsford) from March 14-16.
Harris, who helped Spalding Lightning to victory in the latest round of the Denny Cup at Huntingdon on Saturday, leads a rink with Martin Puckett and former world singles champions Les Gillett and Greg Harlow.
His Spalding club-mates Graham Smith and Dominic McVittie also came through the trials.
The England women’s team will also include three Spalding players - Ruby Hill, who has also been called up to skip a rink for England Under 25s, Chelsea Spencer and Annie Dunham, who has also qualified to play in the televised Women’s World singles at Potters Resort in January.
