Pride in defeat for Spalding Indoor Bowls duo as Wales take the title

Spalding Indoor Bowls Club duo Jordan Philpott and Stephen Harris impressed on England under-25 duty over the weekend – but they narrowly missed out on the team title.

The duo were part of the England side that was beaten by Wales in a winner-takes-all showdown in the men’s under-25 international series at Aberdeen.

There was some consolation for debutant Harris, however, as he was named England’s player of the series.

Harris, in what was his first taste of international bowls, was selected to lead a rink with current national singles champion, Jack Bird (York), Andrew Rodger (Swale) and Jamie Barker (St Neots).

Despite having played at this level for a number of years, Philpott was selected to skip a rink for the first time with Glen Adams (Herga) and new caps, Adam Pitfield (Wellingborough) and James Hampton (Exonia).

In the first match of the series, England played Scotland in an extremely tight encounter and came out on top 77-74.

Any nerves that Philpott may have had as he skipped a rink for the first time soon disappeared, as he made a count of six shots on the first end which helped England in to a 10-0 lead after only one end.

Philpott’s rink eventually went down 17-20, while Harris helped his rink to a 16-15 win.

In the afternoon session, England enjoyed a comfortable win against Ireland.

Winning on three rinks and losing on one by a single shot, they triumphed 78-56 to make it two wins from two on the first day of the series.

Philpott skipped his rink to the highest margin of the match with a 21-10 win whilst Harris enjoyed a second rink win of the day, 19-14.

With Wales securing a comfortable win against Ireland and drawing against Scotland, it effectively made the final match of the series on the Sunday morning a final of sorts.

Unfortunately for the Spalding duo, England came up against an exceptionally strong Welsh side, which included the considerable presence of Commonwealth Games pairs gold medallist, Daniel Salmon.

A close match, which saw the lead exchange hands on a number of occasions, was eventually won by Wales 87-79. And, with two wins and a draw, they won the series for the first time since 2004 and for only the second time in their history.

Philpott’s rink went down by a single shot (19-20), while Harris impressively drew 20-20 against Wales’ star man Salmon.

Philpott said: “Before we started the Wales game, we knew how tough it would be with their top players in the team.

“It was a hard fought battle and as the Welsh came out fighting, we found ourselves a few shots behind early doors.

“Some class leading play from our player of the series, Stephen Harris, helped his rink pick up a count of four at the same time as my rink picking up five shots which put us back in front overall.

“With three ends left to play, we were six behind.

“My rink was last on and was left needing a seven to win the series.

“With my first bowl, I trailed the jack to make six shots however, this did not last long as the opposing skip played a runner, got a great result and picked up one shot to ensure that Wales lifted the trophy.

“We fought hard but couldn’t quite manage it this year.

“We will be back next year to fight for our trophy back at our home series.”