WEDNESDAY 10th AUGUST
Initially quite cold, the cloud cleared for the weather to be reasonably warm and windless. So, there were no excuses for wayward bowling, although some might want to point to the slowish Lewis green running at about 13. Attracted by the fine day, a very impressive 38 bowlers signed up for social bowls. Because of the numbers, some games were held on the Waratah green with the remainder on the Lewis green.
On the Waratah green, Laurence Vipond, Bill Pope and Paul Rubie took on Graham Denman, John Fleming and John Cummins. It was great to see John Cummins back after his bout of the flu, and John Fleming after his pilgrimage to the chamber music festival at Townsville. The chamber music must have held some magic powers because John Fleming returned with his game well tuned. He led the way with some fine bowling as his team got away to a good start. The two Johns and Graham led by four shots at the halfway point and then seven shots with only two ends remaining. Laurence, Bill and Paul then gave them a real fight by grabbing 5 shots to come to within two at the end.
Also on the Waratah green, were two pairs matches. In the first game, Mike Hooke and skipper Neville Tanner challenged Greg Mitchell and Jim Starkey. Greg and Jim got the better start to race out to a lead of 12 – 4 by the eleventh end. Although Mike and Neville had slightly the better of the run home, team Starkey came in winners by 4 shots. In the final game on the Waratah green, Joe O’Donnell and Glen Giese took on Keith Edwards and Steve Day. It must have been some magic in those green scottish bowls of Keith’s because he was on the kitty all day as he led for Steve. Scoring freely, including a 6 shot haul, they finished with a huge 23 – 6 victory when time was called after thirteen ends. Was that a ‘mercy’ rule being applied after 13 ends Glen?
On the Lewis green rink 15, Joel Hunt, Wal Markow and Brian Bailey battled against Col Stone, Barry Werfel and Paul McInerney. Despite still getting used to using the ‘extended arm’ Col led extremely well for his team as they bounced out of the blocks with fire. With Barry and Paul following Col’s lead well, they converted an eight shot lead at the eleventh into a fifteen winning margin at the end. Despite trying hard, team Bailey was just unable to match their opponents on the day.
On rink 18, Graham Hartnup, Richard Denman and skipper Mick Flynn took on Ian Crow, Don Coleman and Owen Williams. With Mick providing clear directions and guidance, his team won eight of the first ten ends and held a 15 – 5 lead. This pattern continued in the second half of the game, and, although the scoring was tighter, team Flynn finished with a comfortable 23 – 11 victory. Keen as mustard, Graham Hartnup now seems to be reaping the benefit of his recent coaching.
Eric Willacy, Graham Hunt and Robin Staples battled against Ted McPhee, Chris Forrester and skipper Kevin Gould on rink 17. The match was fairly even at the start, but with Eric leading excellently, team Staples pushed out to a six shot lead by the tenth end. With Kevin starting to feature more strongly, his team managed to reduce the lead. The fifteenth end proved decisive however as team Staples secured 7 shots and what looked like a match winning lead. Ted, Chris and Kevin hung in well over the final ends but could only reduce the lead by a couple of shots. The final score of 24 – 15 gave bragging rights to team Staples.
The final game on the Lewis green saw Arnold Lenczuk, Terry Norwood and Gordon Lewis take on Viv Gear, Tony Oakes and Bob Edwards. The game got away to a tight start with close ends and low scoring – five all after eight ends. With Viv leading excellently, and Tony showing some of that fine pennant form of his, (and of course wily Bob chipping in as well), team Edwards squeezed out to a 6 shot lead at the fourteenth. Not done by a long way, the irrepressible Gordon Lewis inspired his faltering team to pull them back into the game. Unfortunately for them, their seven shot haul over the final seven ends saw them fall just short of victory. Team Edwards won 14 – 13 in a close one.
