Wymondham’s Debbie and Jon Sparham won the NCSMBA Memorial Pairs at Hingham on Sunday after a convincing victory against fellow Wymondham bowlers Andrew Jackson & John Jeffery. A good turnout, although affected by some late covid withdrawals, resulted in an entertaining day of bowls at the annual event to remember bowlers that have passed on. Sadly, since the last time this event was held, far too many bowlers are no longer with us. In the final Debbie & Jon Sparham consistently drew to the jack on the opening end which resulted in them taking a 4-0 lead. The second end looked like being a repeat until a super last bowl by John Jeffery saved his pair from another costly end and earned his pair two shots. On the third end Jon Sparham returned the favour scoring three shots with a last bowl winner that gave his pair a 7-2 lead. More impressive drawing by Debbie and Jon on the fourth end extended their lead to 9-2. Andrew Jackson and John Jeffery needed to win the fifth end to give themselves hope of recovery but three more shots to the Sparhams stretched their lead to 12-2 in what was becoming a walk in the park for the two former Norfolk Premier stars. A bizarre incident on the sixth end caused the end to be replayed. With the Sparham’s again holding several shots John Jeffery drew a great bowl into the head that drew applause from spectators. After a light hearted exchange between Wymondham teammates Debbie Sparham and Andrew Jackson at the head end Debbie proceeded to kick all the woods out of the head. Unfortunately both skips, Jon Sparham and John Jeffery, still had a bowl each to play. After a discussion on the mat both pairs agreed to replay the end instead of trying to replace the bowls in their original positions, it would have been impossible to remember exactly how they had been positioned anyway. The replayed end saw Jackson & Jeffery score a single to cut the deficit to 12-3. The penultimate end saw Jackson & Jeffery pull back another shot to cut the lead to 12-4 leaving the Sparhams the winners. The last end was actually played though with Debbie and Jon taking a single to win 13-4. NCSMBA Competition Secretary Mike Smail then asked NCSMBA Membership Secretary Teresa Goldsmith to present the Memorial Shield to the winners and thanked all who had taken part and helped on the day. As usual the winners were asked which charity they wished to benefit from the days profits. Debbie and Jon choose the Marie Curie Charity and the East Anglian Air Ambulance to share the money raised on the day.
Winners Debbie & Jon Sparham with NCSMBA Membership Sec Teresa Goldsmith
Finalists John Jeffrey, Andrew Jackson, Debbie Sparham and Jon Sparham
Memorial Pairs action at Hingham
Halvergate, Norfolk and England bowler David Lamb
NCSMBA Competition Secretary Mike Smail with Neil Davidson giving a helping hand