The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Six stars from Spalding Indoor Bowls Club helped England win eight of the 11 disciplines on display at the British Isles Championships last week.
Held at Falcon IBC in Chelmsford, the competition sees representatives from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Channel Islands battling it out to become the best in Britain.
Following Spalding IBC’s national success last season, representing England were Matt Whyers, Graham Smith, Martin Spencer and Mathew Orrey in the men’s fours and
Ruby Hill and Chelsea Tomlin in the ladies’ pairs.
Prior to the championships even commencing, Hill and Tomlin received a walkover in the semi-final of the ladies’ pairs after their opponents from the Channel Islands had to concede due to injury.
On Monday afternoon, Whyers, Smith, Spencer and Orrey, started their campaign in the preliminary round of the men’s fours against the Welsh champions, skipped by Jarrad Breen, with Jordan Davies, Jack Breen and Paul Taylor.
A tough start for the Spalding quartet saw them fall 6-12 behind after ten ends, but back-to-back fours saw them go in front for the first time at 12 ends (14-12).
The Spalding boys continued their excellent form to win the next six ends before the Welsh rink conceded with the score at 26-13 after 19 ends.
In the semi-final on the Tuesday afternoon, the defending English champions were drawn against the Scottish champions, skipped by Derek Oliver, with Jamie Higgins, Joe Mower and Scott Kennedy.
Another slow start for the Spalding boys saw them fall 9-14 behind at 12 ends, but they won seven of the next eight ends.
WHAT A PERFORMANCE! Pictured (back, from left) are – Matthew Orrey, Matt Whyers, Graham Smith and Martin Spencer; front – Ruby Hill and Chelsea Tomlin.
Despite a fantastic effort by the Scotland skip on the last end, they only picked up three shots which secured a 19-18 win for Spalding stars and set-up a final against the Irish champions.
The final day of the championships on the Wednesday saw a packed crowd eagerly anticipating the finals on show.
In the men’s fours, the Spalding boys played against an Ireland rink skipped by Mitchell Albert, with Scott Jess, Simon Beggs and Adam McKeown.
Whyers, Smith, Spencer and Orrey were much quicker out of the blocks this time and looked like they were going to cruise their way to the British Isles title as they went into a 16-3 lead after 13 ends.
The Irish rink bounced back slightly to give themselves a glimmer of hope at 16-9 after 15 ends. This hope was short lived, though, as the Spalding and England rink closed out the game well to secure a 21-11 win and the title of British Isles Men’s Fours Champions for the first time.
Meanwhile, Hill and Tomlin were playing in the ladies’ pairs final against Sharon Leitch and Lorraine Craig from Scotland, who had beaten the Irish champions, 21-8 in their semi-final.
The girls were fresh from helping England win the ladies’ international series only days before and Hill and Tomlin took this confidence into the final.
On the very first end, Tomlin played a perfect push and stop on a Scottish bowl to pick up six shots which quickly turned into a 13-0 lead after only four ends.
The Spalding girls were in top form and never looked back as the Scotland pairing accepted defeat at 25-12 as Hill and Tomlin claimed the title of British Isles Ladies Pairs Champions, also for the first time.
The two Spalding success helped secured a win for England in the Gedling Trophy – the overall team championship.
Spalding’s Colin Wilson also enjoyed time umpiring as he marked arguably the game of the championships in the men’s singles between Scotland’s Paul Foster MBE and Wale’s Ross Owen.
On this occasion, Foster won 21-20.
Wilson also marked the ladies singles final between the current ladies’ world champion, Julie Forrest from Scotland and Alison Merrien MBE from the Channel Islands.
Forrest won another high quality final by a score of 21-17.
