Photo is of Kath Brown receiving the Birchwood Bowl from Ladies Captain Sue Bates , together with the runner-up Keith Evans.

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The Birchwood Bowl.

Winner: Kath Brown

Runner-up: Keith Evans

On the hottest day so far in the bowling calendar 14 entrants competed in the only knockout singles competition held at Spital for the Birchwood Bowl. The pre-lim round saw 12 competitors fight it out over the best of 3 games to 7 shots and the quarterfinals on the same footing. The first semi final saw Keith Evans against Jackie Fox with Evans having to pull out all the stops to win 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 and the other saw Kath Brown take the victory 7-4, 7-4 against newby  Paul Greenaway. The final was played over a full game to 21 shots with Kath taking the win 21-11 and the trophy.

Spital Bowling v Castle Bowls Club

Winners: Spital 106 - 67

It was a pleasure to reacquaint ourselves with our friendly rivals from the Castle Bowling Club for the first leg of this annual contest.   Eight matches of 15 ends took place on a glorious sunny afternoon.  The games were played in good spirits and while the visitors seemed to come to terms fairly well with our unique green Spital bowlers all played well to gain the advantage which we will need when it comes to playing the second leg away from home.  The top players for Spital were Lesley Maujer and Dave Henderson and Jackie Fox and David Storr, both couples scoring 23-4.  We look forward to the rematch next month.

The Russells Cup

Winners: Pat Dale and David Storr

Runners-up: Kath Brown and Adrian Coleman

Score: 21-19

The Russells Cup is a mixed doubles knock out competition.  Sixteen pairs took part and in the first two rounds the pair with the highest score after ten ends went through to the next round.  Having cut a swathe through the opposition, Pat, David, Kath and Adrian played the final and the winners were the first to score 21.  We could not have had a more enthralling final as all four played exceptionally well.  Until the sixteenth end it was level pegging, then Kath and Adrian got a 3, but Pat and David responded with a 4, followed by a 3 making a leap to 18-13.  Kath and Adrian battled back until the score was 19-20 at the penultimate end where Pat and David required one and Kath and Adrian a two.  On the last end it looked like Kath and Adrian had the two they needed for victory until with his final bowl of the afternoon David knocked them both off securing the win for himself and Pat. It was a brilliant game to watch.  Congratulations to Pat and David and commiserations to Kath and Adrian. 

 Barry Holmes Trophy

Spital Ladies v Spital Gents

Winners: Spital Gents

A keenly contested battle of the sexes, this competition has been won by the men for the last few years and though the ladies made a concerted effort to win the cup this time they were yet again thwarted. The match consisted of two ladies paying two men, five ends each game, with a scoring system peculiar to our club but great fun. All the ladies played against all the men in rotation  throughout the afternoon. Despite the fact that one pair of men had to have a bye each round due to there being more men than ladies in the club, they still managed to retain the trophy with a score of 791-711.  Highest scorers for the ladies were Joyce Moore and Pat Humphreys with Alec and David Storr gaining top score for the men.  We are very grateful to Captain Sue Bates who not only organised the event, she competed in it and also kept the score!   Congratulations to Spital gents on a well deserved win. Better luck next year ladies

Spital Bowls Club Ladies v Little Aston Ladies

Winners: Spital Ladies 53-33

A pleasant sunny afternoon of friendly bowling ensued on May Day itself when our old friends from Little Aston came to play the first leg of our annual encounter.  The match consisted of four games of fifteen ends and Spital won the first three; Joyce and Lesley won their game 13-6, Kath and June scored 18-6 and Pat D and Pat H 15-6  with Madeleine and Mary from Little Aston putting on a spirited effort to gain a win for the visitors.  We look forward to playing them in the return leg on their green later in the season.  Tea and cakes  and a raffle organised by our captain Sue Bates completed a very satisfactory afternoon for Spital Ladies. 

The Toseland Trophy

Winner: Paul Greenaway

The Toseland Trophy is a singles competition for those members who have never won any other trophy  or cup at the club.  Only two bowlers qualified this year, Paul Greenaway and Lesley Mauger both relatively new to the club.  It was a keenly fought contest, with scores level pegging at first until Paul surged ahead to win the trophy  21-12. Well done to both players for giving us an entertaining match to watch.

Cliff Thompson Memorial Mash Up

Winner: Pauline Jenkins

Our first in house competition of 2024  a random mixed doubles round robin tournament.   Six rounds of five ends were played and everyone changed partners each time, with scores carried forward and logged by our Captain Sue Bates. While most of us had mixed fortunes Pauline played  consistently well throughout the afternoon and achieved an impressive score of

32, closely followed by Kath Brown in second place with a score of 30.  Many thanks to Sue for  a great well organised event.  Congratulations to Pauline on her win.   

Spital Ladies v Lichfield Museum Ladies

Score -  Spital: 63  Museum Ladies: 68

This first ladies match of the year was a pleasant encounter on the lovely smooth green in Beacon Park.  Museum Ladies won four of the six games played and while everyone played well for Spital, the two winning games for Spital were played by  Kath Brown and Joyce Moore whose score was 17-9 and Sue Bates and Pat Humphreys who scored 14-6. Although it was an  unseasonably cold day we were given, as always, a warm welcome by our hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed our tea and cakes afterwards.  We look forward to seeing them for the return match on our green in July.