BOWLS: Sleaford indoor club secure promotion
A glance at the table prior to the game revealed that two points were needed to secure promotion to the top division by having a far superior shot difference to their nearest rivals.
In a very close match, Dunholme were the victors, winning 99-96, but Sleaford even in defeat secured four points and were duly promoted.
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Hide AdRink 1: Doug Stobart’s set of Peter Annison, Alan Horne and Michael Wareham were 4-8 down after six ends and although they plugged away at the 12th end, the gap had grown to 8-17. But the set would not go down easily, bowling their way back into the game to level the scores at 18-18 but just failed on the last two ends, defeated 19-20.
Rink 2: Gerald Pask’s team of Bob Croyman, Ray Bales and Peter Lowder secured a valuable two points for the team winning their game 17-16. Although close throughout, the Sleaford set opened a gap of five points just past the halfway mark and matched the determined opponents bowl for bowl to the finishing line.
Rink 3: Tony Stanley had Roy Barnes, Nigel Moxon and Larry Davies facing an uphill battle after going behind 4-14 after 12 ends. They then took control of the game to close the gap but lost by a single shot 18-19.
Rink 4: Spectators must have wondered how the Sleaford set of Dave Chandley, Dave Hocking and Ron Pointon pulled off a superb victory 23-22 against the Dunholme set that must have been left shell-shocked. At the halfway mark Sleaford were 4-18 down, game over. But they stormed back slowly, closing the gap and scored 14 shots over the last six ends to win a nerve-jangling game.
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Hide AdRink 5: Aubrey Bristow’s set of Terry Wallis, John Scott and Bob McKie found the Dunholme set in good form, being 4-12 down after eight ends. Once again the determination from Sleaford showed as they carefully applied pressure to get back into the game and took a narrow lead 16-15, but couldn’t quite close out the game, losing 19-22.
They now go into the last match of the season away to Horncastle who were their challengers for the runners-up place.