The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Royal Mail Cart Bowls Club continued their excellent run this season with a historic win in the Durham Centenary Trophy on Saturday.
This is an EBF competition where you gain entry by winning the county championship the year before – and Royal Mail Cart were Lincolnshire’s representatives for this season.
Having beaten teams from Norfolk, Suffolk and Huntingdonshire throughout the season, Mail Cart’s opponents in the final were defending champions, Jarrow Borough from Durham.
The final was played at Skegness Foreshore on the opening day of the EBF national championships.
Royal Mail Cart were not fazed by the defending champions and took a narrow lead by five ends, 20-15.
This was extended to 17 shots (42-25) at ten ends and 19 shots (56-37) at 15 ends.
And, by 20 ends, the lead for Royal Mail Cart was a dominant 74-53.
With the match being played over 25 ends, this meant that the Spalding side simply had to hold their nerve to win the title, which they did exceptionally well to win comfortably by 29 shots (98-69).
Royal Mail Cart won on three of the four rinks however, the top winning rink was skipped by captain Martin Spencer, with John Allen and Simon Lilley, who had an impressive 26-13 rink win.
The victory is just Royal Mail Cart’s second title in the competition, with their first triumph back in 1997 – which included current players, Simon Lilley, who was captain at the time, Martin Simpson and Phil Cooke.
Amazingly, The Durham Centenary title is the club’s fourth team trophy of the season.
After winning the Spalding EBA league, their attention will now turn to the county club championships, where they will look to retain their title on Sunday, September 4 at Blackstones, Stamford.
Durham Centenary rink scores: John Allen, Simon Lilley & Martin Spencer – won 26-13; Tracy Philpott, Martin Simpson & Ash Caress – won 28-18; Ruby Hill, Phil Cooke & Jordan Philpott – won 22-16; Steve Hill, Chelsea Tomlin & Dominic McVittie – drew 22-22.
