The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Spalding Indoor Bowls Club totally dominated at the men’s and women’s county finals on Sunday.
They collected ten titles from the 11 finals they contested at the Boston IBC-hosted event, once again proving that they are a force to be reckoned with in Lincolnshire.
Due to Danielle Wild being at the England under-18 international trials on county finals day, the all-Spalding clash in the county senior under-18 singles final was brought forward and played (at Spalding) last Tuesday.
In a closely-fought battle which went down to the final bowl of the match, Wild beat Harry Mycock, 21-20 to win the title for the first time.
The county junior under-18 singles final was also an all-Spalding affair, as James Cherry defeated TJa Spiller, 21-11.
Being able to boast all four under-18 singles finalists really does show that the future of the club is in good hands.
The blue riband singles event for both the men and the women was always going back to Spalding, as Graham Smith defeated Kevin Ekins, 21-12, winning the title for a record-equalling fifth time, while Chelsea Tomlin beat Ruby Hill 21-15 to win the title for the second time.
The next two finals were also all Spalding clashes, with Smith making it a singles double, beating Martin Spencer in the sets singles final in straight sets (6-5, 7-4) and winning the title for the third successive season.
Hill then got revenge on Tomlin as she won 21-11 in the ladies’ under-25 singles to win the trophy for the first time, beating Tomlin in her final under-25 season and stopping the run of four consecutive title wins.
Spalding made it an under-25 singles double as Stephen Harris won the open under-25 singles title for the first time, beating Lincoln’s Sam Ashton on the last end of the tie break 2-1 (6-7, 8-6, 2-1).
The men’s pairs was won by Spalding’s Matt Whyers and Jordan Philpott, beating David Bristow and Paul Roberts from Sleaford.
The young Spalding pair fell behind early however, a count of six shots gave them the lead for the first time as they eventually closed out the match 21-15.
The pairs title was extra special for both Whyers and Philpott as Whyers now has the main set (singles, pairs, triples and fours) of titles over his already impressive bowls career whilst Philpott won his first senior county title.
The ladies’ pairs title also went to Spalding as, after competing against each other for two games in the morning, Hill and Tomlin joined forces to collect the county crown for the second time, beating Rachel Stanley and Tina Reeson (Louth) 18-14.
The final title of the day going back to Spalding was in the men’s triples – and in dramatic fashion.
Whyers, Spencer and Smith collected four shots on the final end to win by a single shot (18-17) against a trio skipped by Scunthorpe’s Phil Parker to win the competition for the second time.
The only disappointment for the day for Spalding was in the men’s fours, where David Staples, Andy Dunham (sub for Nick Wilkie), Maurice Elding and John Needham, lost by a single shot (13-14) against a set from Lincoln.
They were skipped by former world singles champion Billy Jackson, alongside Alan Watts, Dean Stevenson and Kevin Rands.
