2022: League News
Thursday 17th November
Stamford & District Bowls League AGM.
The 73rd Annual General Meeting of the Stamford & District Bowls League was held at Burghley Park Golf Club on Thursday 17th November.
Chairman Charlie Underwood welcomed everyone and asked members to join him in a minute’s silence to remember those who had passed on this year.
Outgoing President Ally McNaughton presented Max Sawyer, president of the Royal British Legion, Barnack and District Branch with a cheque for £530.00, which had been raised at the President’s Gala Day on August 7th this year. He then handed over to the new President for 2023, Rita Downs, from Blackstones Bowls Club. She announced that her chosen charity would be Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Annual reports were read out by members of the Committee, followed by the election of League Officers.
The following dates were agreed for 2023:
President’s Gala Day: Sunday 6th August at Blackstones Bowls Club
Boor & Wainwright Shield final: Sunday 27th August at Langtoft Bowls Club
Oddfellows Rosebowl final: Saturday 2nd September at Blackstones Bowls Club
Duncomb Shield final: Sunday 3rd September at Bourne Town Bowls Club
AGM: Thursday 16th November, venue to be decided.
Presentations of trophies were then made to League winners and runners-up in each division, and to the winners and runners-up in each of the League competitions:
Division 1
Winners and League Champions for 2022: Blackstones D
Runners-up: Blackstones C
Division 2
Winners: Greetham Valley Eagles
Runners-up: Bourne Woods
Division 3
Winners: Empingham B
Runners-up: Oakham D
Boor & Wainwright Shield
Winners: Stamford Town C
Runners-up: Ketton Kestrels
Oddfellows Charity Rosebowl
Winners: Blackstones D
Runners-up: Stamford Town
Duncomb Shield
Winners: Greetham Valley Eagles A
Runners-up: Ketton
President's Gala:
Winners: Ally McNaughton, Hannah Willoughby, Mitch Willoughby, Louise Harris
Sunday 4th September
Duncomb Shield
Eight teams competed against one another in the final of the Duncomb Shield competition played at Stamford Town Bowls Club on Sunday 4th September. They played in a two-wood triples format over a round-robin of seven games.
The team from Greetham Valley were the runaway winners with a total of 36 points, having lost only one of their seven games, drawn one and won five.
It was a very close contest for second place, with four teams in contention on a similar number of points and it was all decided in the very last game. The team from Ketton were runners-up with a total of 30 points, with Market Overton Tornadoes, Empingham Ospreys and Empingham A tying for third place with 29 points.
Stamford Town were very welcoming hosts and the teams were well-supported by a large number of spectators.
Winners: Greetham Valley Eagles A - Frank Hinch, Peter Wood and Bruce Strickland
Runners-up: Ketton - Dick Ford, Chris Ford, Elizabeth Wallace and Martin Wallace.
Saturday 3rd September
Oddfellows Charity Rosebowl
Congratulations to Blackstones D on winning the Oddfellows Charity Rosebowl competition for 2022. The final was played against Stamford Town at Blackstones Bowls Club on Saturday 3rd September. The charity supported by this competition is the Royal British Legion (Barnack Branch).
Having battled against one another for dominance in the Stamford League all season, both teams knew they were in for a difficult match. and it was very closely fought on all three rinks.
On rink three, Darren Middleton’s Blackstones team established a good lead early on in the game, but in the second half this was gradually eroded by Len Marshall’s Stamford trio, with the final score being 22-11 to Blackstones.
Sam Downs, Wayne Morris and Mark Pye were a long way behind at the beginning of the game, at one stage being 12-0 down, but they staged a valiant recovery, finally losing by just one point, 17-18, to Kevin Vinter’s Stamford team.
The game on rink one kept changing hands, with a battle royal between the two skips, Jon Earl (Blackstones) and Martin Bailey (Stamford Town). Blackstones led by a few points for the first half of the game, then went behind after going 5 down in one end. Jon Earl saved a further 5 points by bowling a superb firing shot to kill the end. This meant that this rink was still bowling after everyone else had finished; Blackstones had a 10 point advantage overall from the other two rinks, but Stamford Town were leading by 5 points on rink one, so there was everything to play for. Eventually, it was down to the two skips - Jon Earl’s team managed to recover, losing by 16-18, giving overall victory to Blackstones.
Results: Blackstones D 55 - Stamford Town 47
(Individual rinks, Blackstones teams first)
Rita Downs, Mal Smith and Jon Earl lost to Ann Holmes, John Holroyd and Martin Bailey 16-18.
Wayne Morris, Mark Pye and Sam Downs lost to Brian Tuplin, Jay Travis-Jenner and Kevin Vinter 17-18.
Dusty Miller, Darren Russell and Darren Middleton beat Richard Allam, Paul Bailey and Len Marshall 22-11.
Sunday 28th August
Boor & Wainwright Shield Final
STAMFORD TOWN OVERCOME HANDICAP TO WIN SHIELD
Even a six shot deficit at the start could not deny Stamford Town C victory in the Boor & Wainwright Shield final, the local league’s annual event in which teams concede a handicap depending on their divisional status.
Played on the Langtoft Pearl green, perfectly prepared by Nick Carr and his team and with host club hospitality provided by its members, the match pitched together two teams from the first division who had emerged from their respective mini-leagues and two knock-out stages.
However, despite conceding two shots on each of the two-bowl triples rinks, Stamford Town surged into an early 23-9 lead after five ends and 41-22 at halfway.
Kevin Vinter’s Town trio of Richard Allam and Jay Travis-Jenner eventually won 31-15, while Martin Bailey and team-mates Brian Tuplin and John Holroyd scored 11 shots without reply in overcoming the rink of Charlie Underwood, who is also league chairman.
The trophies were presented by league president Ally McNaughton who thanked Langtoft for hosting the event and helped raise valuable proceeds for his British Legion charity.
Result:
Boor & Wainwright Shield: Stamford Town C 74 Ketton Kestrels (6) 46. Town names first: Brian Tuplin, John Holroyd, Martin Bailey beat John Suffling, Len Warrington, David Tilley 28-10; Richard Allam, Jay Travis-Jenner, Kevin Vinter beat Helen Tilley, Chris Ford, Charlie Underwood 31-15; John Turnham, Martin Hewitt, Paul Bailey lost to Elaine Upton, Shirley Suffling, Bob Warters 15-21.
Thanks to Bob Warters for report and photos; additional photo Len Marshall.
Wednesday 31st August
Bourne celebration at Ketton Gala
Mel and Val Thompson, from the Bourne Town Bowls Club, celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary in style on Wednesday as runners-up in the Ketton Bowls Club gala.
Paired with club colleague Alec March in the three-bowl triples event, they were just pipped by the last minute combination of Phil Hoare (Ketton), Ken Rawlins (Blackstones) and David Heffernan (Peterborough & District) who accumulated just enough points from the last match, to claim the £60 first prize.
Said Mel: “We are due to get a recognition card from the Queen on our 60th anniversary next year but this will do for now. We have really enjoyed the day.”
The Bourne trio had 22 points - one each for every end won and two for a win - when they had completed their four 8-end sessions. But Heffernan’s team picked up a vital four ends from a 7-11 defeat in their last match to overhaul them.
Twelve teams from as far afield as Spalding and Houghton on the Hill competed and the event raised vital funds for the Ketton club, who play in the Stamford and Peterborough Leagues.
Results:
Section 1 - 25 Alec March, 23 Tony Barwell & PUl Pheasant, 21 Dave Richardson,15 DaveTilley, 13 Chris Ford.
Section 2 - Phil Hoare, Denise Mackie, 20 Shirley Suffling, 18 Steve Brown, Graham Pearson, 15 Ian Cooke.
Thanks to Bob Warters for report and photos.
Tuesday 16th August
Stamford League Results
Congratulations to the Blackstones D team on their 10-0 victory last night in their final match of the season, securing their position at the top of Division 1 and as League Champions 2022.
For full results tables, go to the Online Results System:
DYNAMIC ‘D’ TAKE THE TITLE BY A WHISKER
For the first time since 2014, Blackstones D have won the Stamford and District Bowls League Division One title with 113 points from 16 matches - two clear of clubmates Blackstones C.
But it went down to the wire, even after they had beaten second-bottom Market Deeping Royals 87-32 on Friday to secure maximum points in their last match.
If Blackstones C could take a maximum 10 points at home to Ketton Kestrels on Monday and win by 12 or more shots they would snatch the title from under their neighbours’ noses.
But Adam Warrington’s team conceded two points on the last end in a 80-33 victory and had to settle for runners-up on 111 points. Stamford Town C were third on the same points tally but with an inferior shots difference.
Greetham Valley Eagles , whose John Cox, Tony Ansell and James Murphy won the Blackstones gala at the weekend, claimed the second division, while Empingham B took the Division Three honours.Indoor Bowls News
Sunday 14th August
Bett Vellam Rosebowl Memorial Gala
The Bett Vellam Rosebowl Memorial Gala, held at Blackstones this afternoon, was won by Greetham Valley.
President's Gala at Wittering: Sunday 7th August
This year's Stamford League President, Ally McNaughton, held his Gala at Wittering Bowls Club this weekend. Eighteen teams competed for the cup on a gloriously sunny day which was enjoyed by everyone.
The competition was won by the President's team: Ally McNaughton, Mitch Willoughby, Hannah Willoughby and Louise Harris. The runners-up were the Countdown team from Blackstones: Pete Linnell, Darren Middleton, Sam Downs and Rita Downs. The Gala raised over £500 for the President's chosen charity, the Royal British Legion, Barnack branch, so a big thank you to everyone for their support.
Tuesday 12th July
THRILLING END TO KETTON GALA
In a thrilling finish to the Ketton Bowls Club gala, a combination of Empingham and Blackstones bowlers took the top prize with 24 points - two for each win and one for every end won.
Twelve teams playing in two sections, contested the event in ideal conditions on a green picking up pace as the tournament progressed but it was the team of Ken White, Tony Barwell, Mike Ramsden and Blackstones guest skip Keith Rippin, who finally saw off the challenge of their nearest rivals from Houghton-on-the Hill with a 6-2 win.
The winners had started impressively with a 14-1 shots victory in the first 7-end session but had to recover from a 4-10 defeat at the hands of home players Pat and Bob Kelman, Paul Galloway and Paul Pheasant, who in turn lost to the Houghton quartet and eventually finished second overall with 23 points.
In the other equally competitive section, 22 points was the best achieved by Alec March’s Bourne Town rink, one better than Shirley Suffling. The event was adjudicated by Nina Rawlins and Glenys Edwards and the prizes presented by Ketton BC President Charlie Underwood. The event raised £564.
Wednesday 4th May
John Macpherson
We are sad to report the death of Empingham Bowls Club secretary John Macpherson after a short illness.
John played in the Empingham B team which won the second division of the Stamford & District League last year and he was also a valued member of Ketton Bowls Club, playing in its Peterborough Over 55 League Chater team.