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Two bowlers from the Royal Mail Cart Club in Spalding have helped England to medal glory at the European Championships.
Martin Spencer and Ruby Hill were selected in a 10-person team (five men and five women) and played two disciplines each at the event in Ayr in Scotland.
The duo were part of a strong England team who collectively came home with four gold medals and a bronze.
Martin played in the triples event at number two with Jack Emmerson (Nottinghamshire) and Andrew Briden (Buckinghamshire) and they were joined by Nick Wardle (Leicestershire) who led the fours.
Ruby was also selected to play in the triples event with Emily Kernick (Warwickshire) and county team-mate Amy Pharoah who is from Cleethorpes.
While Amy played in the singles, Ruby and Emily were joined by Nicole Rogers and Harriet Stevens (both Devon).
In the men’s triples, Martin helped his trio get through the group stage with a draw against Ireland (15-15) and wins against Hungary (18-17), Czech Republic (29-7) and Netherlands (21-12).
Ruby and her team in the ladies fours also got through the group with wins against Jersey (16-9), an astonishing victory against Spain (51-0) and Czech Republic (23-4) but they lost against Isle of Man (13-16) and Wales (9-17).
The ladies still came through the group and booked their place in the semi-final where an open draw saw the men’s triples play Ireland and the ladies fours face Scotland.
Jack, Martin and Andrew were always in front in the semi-final against Ireland and, despite a close finish, England won 17-12.
Their opposition in the final would be Scotland who beat Israel in the other semi-final.
Unfortunately, Ruby, Emily, Nicole and Harriet lost 14-17 against Scotland which meant that they would play in the bronze medal match against Wales.
In the ladies fours, they came up against a strong Welsh team who claimed the bronze medal (5-19) but Jack, Martin and Andrew claimed gold in the men’s triples against Scotland in front of their home crowd.
England opened an 11-5 lead before eventually winning 17-10 and it was a proud moment for Martin and his team when they were presented with their gold medal.
The men’s fours breezed through the group as they beat Wales (12-8), Switzerland (20-9), Isle of Man (18-7) and Hungary (25-6).
The ladies triples went through in a similar fashion as they beat Israel (27-7), Turkey (38-5), Scotland (21-13), Spain (38-10) and Jersey (26-7).
The men’s fours played Ireland in their semi-final and the ladies triples took on Wales.
Two agonisingly close matches saw the men’s fours lose on an extra end against Ireland and the ladies triples beaten on the last bowl of the game against Wales which saw them both play in the bronze medal matches.
Martin and his team in the fours lost the bronze medal match (12-13) against Israel but there was better news for Ruby, Emily and Amy as they claimed bronze by beating Ireland (24-12).
It was also a good day for Royal Mail Cart as they won the county club championship for the fourth time in a row and for the fifth time out of the last six seasons.
The finals were played at Mareham Le Fen and their opposition in the semi-final were Sleaford Town.
Royal Mail Cart were always in control, mainly thanks to the rink skipped by Ash Caress who won 32-12.
Although Sleaford Town battled hard, Royal Mail Cart proved too strong as they won 63-52 to book their place in the final where they would play Cleethorpes who beat Burton House.
In the final, Royal Mail Cart stamped their authority from the outset and were always in control as they beat Cleethorpes comfortably 53-25 to lift the trophy to complete another successful season for the club.
Rink scores: Semi-final v Sleaford Town – Paul Caress, Martin Simpson, Kevin Ekins and Ash Caress won 32-12; Simon Lilley, Chelsea Spencer, Harry Mycock and Dominic McVittie won 20-18; Dan Mills, Tracy Philpott, Graham Smith and Jordan Philpott lost 11-22.
Final v Cleethorpes – Simon Lilley, Chelsea Spencer, Harry Mycock and Dominic McVittie won 23-7; Paul Caress, Martin Simpson, Kevin Ekins and Ash Caress won 17-7; Dan Mills, Tracy Philpott, Graham Smith and Jordan Philpott won 13-11.
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