Good week for Spa ends in rare victory at Llandrindod Wells

Royal Leamington Spa recorded wins in all three of their matches last week.
Caroline Edwards in action for Royal Leamington Spa against Rugby Rail last Saturday. Picture: Morris TroughtonCaroline Edwards in action for Royal Leamington Spa against Rugby Rail last Saturday. Picture: Morris Troughton
Caroline Edwards in action for Royal Leamington Spa against Rugby Rail last Saturday. Picture: Morris Troughton

They eased to a 70-36 victory in the first of them, a three-triples game at Warwick Boat Club.

Pick of the rinks was Chris Bearman, Chris Tarrant and Mike Wilkes. Trailing 6-0 after four ends, the Spa trio powered to a 31-12 win. There were also wins for Ian Plant (19-10) and Ray White (20-14).

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Next up, Spa hosted Rugby Rail in a six-rink mixed match which proved a much tighter affair.

With five ends remaining the match was all square but a strong finish on all rinks saw Spa pull away to take narrow wins on five of the six rinks and the overall match by 107 shots to 94.

Dick Williams (21-16) and Jim Tighe (18-13) both had five-shot wins and there were also victories for Trevor Briggs (18-14), Dave Turner (18-16) and Dick Allibon (20-18), while Jerry Horne lost 17-12.

The following day, Spa made the long journey to Llandrindod Wells in mid-Wales for a seven-rink mixed match.

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Because of commitments elsewhere, the hosts of the Welsh National Championships fielded a slightly weakened team but were made to look very ordinary by a Spa side that sensed the opportunity for a rare victory in this annual fixture.

Spa skips Dave Turner, Roy Lawrence and Ray White all pulled out double-figure early leads, with the latter 24-3 shots to the good after 13 ends.

Although White maintained his winning margin to finish 33-12 up, high-shot counts saw Turner upstage his teammate as he led Jean Leyland, Roger Hampson and Cynthia Briggs to a comprehensive 41-15 win.

With Lawrence ending 30-14 ahead and Graham White (24-19) and Dick Williams (22-21) also winning, narrow loses for Jerry Horne (21-17) and Dick Allibon (22-16) could not prevent Spa recording a 183-124 success.

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