Picture is of the players in the Spital Gents v Little Aston Gents match.

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Spital Gents v Little Aston Gents, Home

Spital 56 - Little Astion 65

Despite there being a gap of a few years since Little Aston men came to play on our green, the visitors adapted to conditions amazingly quickly and stormed to a strong lead, winning 4 and gaining a draw out of the 6 games played.  Luckily for the home team, Dave McAneny was on good form winning alongside Ade Coleman with a score of 16-2, then logging an 11-12 loss alongside Keith Evans in his second match. Alan Hancock and Ray Vanstone drew 10-10 in their match, helping to keep the loss down to 9 shots, but all credit to Little Aston who were on fine form. We know we will have a stern challenge when we play the return leg at Little Aston in July, but we relish the challenge! After the match refreshments were provided by the ladies, so thank you girls.

Spital v Little Aston, Mixed, at Home

Spital 97  -  Little Aston 38

On a beautifully sunny afternoon we welcomed our friendly adversaries from Little Aston to the first leg of this annual competition.  The home team were in fine form and won all 8 games played, gaining a 59 point advantage to take with us when we play the away leg in July. Rob and Sue Bates set the standard with a 14-5 win, followed by Mike and Wendy, 14-1, David S and Pat, 14-6 and Dave M and Sue S 14-9. Ade and Joyce had a 12-7 win, Keith and Jackie 9-3, Lidia and Rob, 9-4 and Keith, in his second match of the day with Pauline, 11-3.  Little Aston put up a valiant defence but our large very dry green worked in our favour on the day.

The afternoon concluded with a very well-deserved cup of tea and a slice of delicious homemade cake. Many thanks again to Ladies Captain Sue Bates who organized the event.  

Barry Holmes Trophy
The annual gents versus ladies competition was played on an unseasonably cold afternoon with 8 gents playing 7 ladies plus a volunteer gent Rob Bates. A draw was held to determine partners and a round robin format was used with the scoring system of first four woods count. Best results for the ladies were Jackie & Pauline 145 with Sue & Rob 138 and in the gents Rob & David 169 and Dave & Alec 168. The gents retained the Barry Holmes trophy for another year with the final score of 636-484.

Spital Ladies v Little Aston Ladies.

On a beautiful warm sunny afternoon Spital played host to Little Aston Ladies in the first leg of their annual friendly match. Both teams had struggled for players but they managed to make 4 games where Spital took 3 victories and Little Aston 1. Joyce & Wendy won 10-4 against Sheila & Doreen, June & Pat 10-6 against Brenda & Maddie, Sue & Joyce 13-4 against Mary & Dot and Maureen & Lidia had a close game with Chris & Shirley losing 7-9. After the match everyone enjoyed afternoon tea in the pavilion with a lovely selection of home made cakes. The ladies look forward to the return leg later in the season.

Spital Ladies v Lichfield Museum Ladies

Spital Ladies 45 - Musuem Ladies 55

This competition is always our first away match of the ladies bowling calendar, and in the past we have enjoyed balmy summer sunshine on the lovely green in Lichfield. However, on this occasion we were obliged to wear winter warmers whilst  battling very windy cold conditions. Lichfield Ladies, competitive as ever, won three of the five games, with June Atkins and Jackie Kirk, Jackie Fox and Pat Humphreys posting winning scores for Spital.  We will endeavour to reverse the scores when we play the return match later in the season.  

Bowling Season Starts at Spital Bowls Club

Gareth Coates,  the Mayor of Tamworth, looking splendid in his chains of office,  came to take the first bowl of the season and get our first afternoon of bowling off to a fine start. The Mayor showed a great aptitude for the game, benefiting from guidance from Gents Captain Ray Vanstone and playing alongside a crowd of us regulars until teatime, when we all enjoyed a marvellous selection of homemade cakes and a very welcome cuppa.