Baddesley League: Tamworth Castle C & Birch Coppice A
After getting through the pre-lim against Tamworth Castle C in the Charity Shield of the Baddesley Mine Midweek league Spital travelled to Dordon to face Wilnecote in the quarterfinals. Things did not go well as the first 3 games went Wilnecote’s way with the shot score 42-63. In game 4 David McAneny had a comfortable win against Helen Sheldon 21-10 but in game 5 David Storr could only make 7 shots against Gordon Bath so when Jackie Fox took on David Hateley Spital were already 24 shots adrift but she buckled down and lead until midway when Hateley drew at 11 all then lead 12-11 but only got a couple more as Fox scored 10 shots over 10 ends to take the game 21-13. Final match score Wilnecote 107-91.

Spital’s next league game played against Birch Coppice A carried on in the same vein with David Storr losing 21-9 to Steve Betteridge in game 1 but Keith Evans had a tough match with Mark Pratt in game 2 finally coming out on top 21-18. Game 3 saw newby Paul Greenaway go down to 7 against experienced John Hammond. Spital were 20 shots adrift when Jackie Fox took on Paul Turner. They’re game swung both ways up until 12 all at 19 ends when Fox put in 6 shots over 6 ends to lead 18-13 but Turner replied with a double and a single to 18-16 with Fox parrying with 2 singles to 20-16 but she could only watch as Turner took 2 doubles and a single for the game. The match score now was 57-78 against Spital and things didn’t improve over the last 2 games with David McAneny struggling to get any rhythm losing 21-12 to Glen Thomas and Ade Coleman only scoring 8 against Simon Thomas. Final match score 120-77 to Birch Coppice A.

Spital v Castle

In the Baddesley Mine Midweek League Spital visited the historic Tamworth Castle Bowls Club for their next league encounter. In game 1 Jackie Fox played John Bennett who led throughout with Fox only managing to get within a couple of shots at 9-11 but held on with a last ditch attempt to make 16 as Bennett took the game 21-16. Game 2 went in similar fashion with David McAneny trailing all through the game with Chris Barnett finally losing 21-9. In game 3 Ray Vanstone took an early lead over Glyn Evans but then found himself caught at 9 all mid game then 11 all at end 21 as Evans scored 10 shots over 9 ends with Vanstone only managing a couple more losing 21-13. The score line was then 38-63 so the next games were crucial for Spital’s recovery. In game 4 Ade Coleman built up a good lead over Tony Millership 10-3 at end 12 and continued to keep ahead throughout with Millership only making 12 shots. In game 5 David Storr had an early lead against Malcolm Gregory but then found himself battling it out as Gregory forged ahead to 12-7. Storr fought back to 14-15 and lead 16-15 at end 27 but despite his efforts Gregory took 2 doubles and 2 singles over the next 4 ends to win 21-16. At this point Spital could only hope for a 21-0 victory to draw the match but unfortunately when Keith Evans went on in game 6 it was not to be as Steve Stratfull pulled back from a shaky start to 6 all at end 13 then powered through with 15 shots over 12 ends to take the game 21-6 and the match 117-81.

Charity Shield

On the hottest summer evening for years Spital travelled up the A5 where they met their opponents Tamworth Castle C on the green at Wilnecote Working Men’s Club playing in the pre-lim of the Baddesley Mine Midweek League Charity Shield competition. Wilnecote’s Green had suffered with the intense heat as had all the greens in the league so both visiting teams found the going difficult. In game 1 David Storr took 38 ends including 9 no ends to win 21-13 against Peter Randell. Game 2 was a quicker affair with Keith Evans winning against Jan Millership 21-7 over 19 ends. Ade Coleman had a similar game as Storr with 11 dead ends in his game with Paul Wetherill as they drew level mid game with Coleman pulling ahead from then on taking the victory 21-13 over 40 ends. Despite a lead by Kevin Westlake in the early stages Jackie Fox soon caught up and cruised through the game with just 3 dead ends to take the game 21-12. In game 5 David McAneny had another long game over 39 ends with Castle C’s Captain Glenda Watson with each player pulling ahead then being caught up to 16 all. McAneny pulled ahead to 19-16 at end 35 only to be overtaken at end 38 19-20 with Watson rolling in the single to take the victory. The final game saw Sue Bates take a lead to 13-3 over Chris Metcalfe with 6 dead ends to end 19 but with a change of mark Metcalfe started to build a score to 9 shots then was just 2 behind at 14-12 when Bates managed to get back on a better mark taking the next 7 shots over 7 ends to win 21-13. Final shot score Spital 124-79 which puts them into the next round. 

Spital v Glascote B

On the hottest evening so far Spital travelled up the B 5000 to Glascote Social Club to play in the Baddesley Mine Midweek League against Glascote B. In the previous week they had had a friendly on the same green when the weather was in stark contrast with torrential rain. Game 1 with Jackie Fox against Lynda Beal saw Fox get a good lead to 15-9 but Beal pegged back to lead 16-15. From then on it was nip and tuck as the players kept drawing level right up to 19 all but Fox managed the double to take the game 21-19. Game 2 saw Keith Evans struggling to get any sort of rhythm going and was 2-10 down on end 9 against Andy Athersmith but picked a few shots up mid game to draw near at 13-14 but despite his efforts Athersmith was able to regain his composure and take the next 7 shots over 7 ends to take the game 21-16. In game 3 David McAneny had a tremendous battle with Tom Beal lasting over 34 ends with the lead changing throughout the game with Beal leading 17-13 at end 25 but McAneny scored a couple of singles to pull back to 15-17 then 17-18. Beal took the next 2 singles to 20-17 then had to watch as McAneny played 2 doubles to take the game 21-19. At this point Spital were 2 shots behind and when Ray Vanstone took on Dave Chamberlain the pressure was on. Both players had a slow start but Vanstone took an early lead to 7-4 but was soon caught mid game trailing 9-7. He battled on to equalise 11 all then 12 all but Chamberlain pressed on to 18-13 ahead with Vanstone just managing a single to 21-14. The match deficit was now 9 shots so when David Storr played Charlene Parkinson there was everything to play for. Storr lead from the start and was well ahead at 18-11 on end 25 when Parkinson put in a tremendous effort to 19-14 then 5 shots over 3 ends to 20-19 but to lose on the next Storr single. The final game with the score line being 93-100 had Ade Coleman up against Kevin Beal where despite being 6-0 down pulled back to draw then take the lead mid game 10-7 but then got stuck as Beal powered back to lead 17-10 and finally take the game 21-12. Final match score Glascote 121-105.

R.Evans Cup

Spital travelled to Atherstone Grove to play against Tamworth Castle B in the first round of the R.Evans Cup in the Baddesley Mine Midweek League. The team had a good start when Keith Evans scored 9 shots over 7 ends against Zoe Locke and continued to dominate the game as Locke started to score but couldn’t make any headway finally losing 21-10. Game 2 was a marathon between David McAneny and Castle’s Dave Clay with McAneny building a lead and Clay drawing back throughout right up until end 32 at 19 all then taking a shot to 20-19 with McAneny pulling back to 20 all and clinching the game 21-20 at end 36. In game 3 Ray Vanstone started well leading 9-5 against Nigel Grounds but then got left behind as his opponent scored 12 shots over the next 9 ends to lead 17-9 at 25 ends finally taking the game 21-10. The shot score was now 52-51 in Spital’s favour and the next game of David Storr with Mike Pickford was crucial. Pickford got into a good rhythm early on and dominated the game throughout winning 21-9. Jackie Fox totally overwhelmed Lorna Findlay in game 5 taking the game 21-4 over 18 ends to redress the shot score 82-76. In the final game Sue Bates struggled to get any rhythm going against Lorraine Chritchley and despite pulling back to within 2 shots 9-11 didn’t settle and lost 21-12. This tipped the balance in favour of Castle B with the final score line 94-97. 

Spital v Wilnecote

In the Baddesley Mine Midweek League Spital Bowls Club travelled up the A5 to Wilnecote WMC with its spectacular views over Tamworth. The first game saw David Storr have a shaky start against Dave Bellamy but by end 20 had taken control to lead 16-10. Bellamy hit back to equalise at end 24 but Storr managed 2 doubles and a single to finish the game 21-16. Game 2 saw Ade Coleman build a lead of 10-7 against Steph Clancy who then took control to lead 15-10 at 20 ends. Coleman fought back to draw 16 all and after a dead end took the winning 5 shots to take the game 21-16. Game 3 had Sue Bates against Gordon Reid in a marathon match lasting 90 minutes with Bates leading throughout until end 32 after Reid pulled back to 18 all. Despite getting back a shot to 19 Bates finally succumbed with Reid taking the game 21-19. In game 4 Jackie Fox took control early in her match with Helen Sheldon scoring 6 doubles to contribute to her final shot score of 21-5 at 21 ends. At this point the shot score was 82-58 in favour of Spital. In game 5 Keith Evans managed to get to 5-7 down against Gordon Bath but never scored again as his opponent took 14 shots over 10 ends to take the game 21-5. The shot score by this time was 87-79 still in favour of Spital so the final game was crucial. David McAneny pulled back on Richie Brown’s early lead to 3-4 but got stuck as Brown built a lead of 9-3. He fought back to get 6 shots but Brown ploughed ahead to lead 18-6. McAneny had it all to do and managed to score 5 shots from 5 ends but it wasn’t enough and the game was lost 21-11 with Wilnecote taking the match 100-98.

Spital v Atherstone Grove

In the Baddesley Mine Midweek League Spital travelled up the A5 to their hosts for the evening Atherstone Grove. On a very slick green with a true crown Spital struggled to find form. Jackie Fox had a tremendous start against Steve Bown leading 14-8  but after a failed challenge for long tapes seemed to lose momentum and got stuck on 16 shots while Bown pulled back back 12 shots over the next 10 ends to lead 20-16 and take the game 21-17. Game 2 saw David McAneny up against Lisa Chapman  who kept level until end 5 then started to build an impressive lead to 14-6 and despite an attempt to pull back by McAneny took the game 21-10. Ade Coleman suffered the same fate against Ian Cope going down 21-8 after 21 ends. In only his second league game Paul Greenaway followed the trend and trailed 16-2 against John Wilson pulling back a few shots in the latter stage of the game but losing 21-6. In similar fashion David Storr struggled to find any flow in his game with Norman Kester and lost 21-7. The final game saw Keith Evans unable to get into any rhythm against Gary Taft in the early stages but hung on despite being down 20-11 by end 24. He then scored 7 shots over 4 ends to pull back to 20-18 but finally succumbed to Taft 21-18. Match result Atherstone Grove won by 126-66.

Spital v Birch Coppice A

In the Baddesley Mine Midweek League Spital played host to Birch Coppice A on an unusually warm evening for late April. David Storr had a tight game with Mark Pratt to end 18 keeping in touch at 11 all but couldn’t pick up the shots as Pratt forged ahead to 17-11 and despite getting a couple of singles went down 21-13. In game 2 Ray Vanstone started strongly against Simon Thomas leading 16-10 at end 20 but Thomas scored 9 shots in 6 ends to lead 19-16. Vanstone fought back with 3 singles to level the game 19 all but Thomas sealed the game with 2 singles. In game 3 David McAneny had a marathon match lasting well over an hour with Laura Pratt where she led most of the game to end 26 at 15-14 but McAneny managed to draw at 15 all then pull away to 18-16 at end 31 finally taking the game 21-17. Game 4 saw Jackie Fox play Andy Jones who never settled as Fox steadily built the shot score leading 10-2 then 14-4 finally taking the game 21-9. Keith Evans started well in Game 5 against Steve Betteridge with a steady score line up to mid game but Betteridge fought back to equalise at 10 all then 16 all and finally took the game with 5 shots over the next 4 ends. By the last game the shot score was Spital 90 to Birch Coppice A 89 so the onus was on Ade Coleman to try and secure the match. His opponent John Hammonds had a shaky start but soon got into his stride and got into a good scoring rhythm whilst Coleman could only trail behind finally losing 21-13. Final shot score Baddesley A 110 - 103.

Spital v Tamworth Castle A.

After three weeks of beautiful weather Spital played host to Tamworth Castle A in the Baddesley Mine Midweek League on a cool and cloudy evening. In game 1 David McAneny played a powerful game against Glyn Evans leading 16-2 at end 13 and taking the victory 21-6 in 21 ends. Game 2 saw David Storr start slowly but by end 11 had equalised against Tony Millerchip 8 all then kept in the lead from then on taking the game 21-14 on 28 ends. Game 3 saw league newby Paul Greenaway have some unlucky knock-ons against experienced Castle player John Bennet in the early stages but buckled down to pull up to 1 shot behind 14-15 at end 25. Bennet held his nerve and took 6 shots over the next 6 ends to take the game. Game 4 saw Jackie Fox have a slow start against Chris Barnett but pulled back to draw 5 all then 8 all mid game. Barnett pushed Fox for the next 11 ends to lead 15-14 then Fox scored 3 doubles and a single on the last 4 ends to take the victory. Game 5 had Ade Coleman playing Bill Jephcott who lead until end 6 but Coleman pulled back the score and from then on the game swung in favour of both players until end 28 when Jephcott led 20-19 only for Coleman to bowl a double for the win.The final game saw Ray Vanstone take on John Coope who led in the early stages but Vanstone equalised at 8 all and then built a steady lead and maintained it to take the game 21-14. Final score Spital 120-90