MEN’S MAJOR SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday the 24th of September saw the start of the Major Singles Championship, with two games set down for completion. Play was assigned to the synthetic Waratah Green because both the Lewis and Wilson grass greens were considered still below par. The weather for the past twelve months has been unkind and the Lewis and Wilson Greens have continued to struggle with the excess water and the lack of sunshine. That said, the renovation of the Waratah Green has meant that it is now in excellent condition and a very much more than satisfactory surface on which to play this championship. The weather, however, did not match the condition of the green: rain threatened all afternoon and came close to stopping play several times, and the blustery wind shifted between south-west and north-west just to provide further inconvenience.
Rink 8 was the venue for the match between two highly ranked bowlers Nathan Boyers and Mick Anderson. Both bowlers got away to solid starts and were 5 – 5 after the first six ends. Mick Anderson then netted a scorching haul of four shots on the next end, and a further three shots on the ninth end to race to 12 – 6 lead. From then, the bowlers shared the ends alternatively, but with Mick netting threes against Nathan’s twos the gap on the scorecard widened. Finally, with an emphatic haul of three shots on the nineteenth end, Mick secured victory 25 – 13. Nathan Bowled well, but Mick’s relentless precision saw him prevail.
Mick riding one home! Nathan Gets one away beautifully!
The second match was between the crafty leftie Jim Neely and the inform Chris Forrester. Both bowlers made confident starts, but with an impressive three shots on the fourth end, Jim took a lead of 4 – 2. Another three shots on the seventh end and a single on the ninth saw Jim out by 9 – 4. Far from done, Chris grabbed the next three ends to all but square the match. Jim then steadied and with nicely controlled bowling won the next five ends and had Chris under quite some pressure. Down 20 – 10 at the twentieth end, Chris dug deeply and clawed the score back to 21 – 15. The fight-back ended, however, when Jim secured the four shots he needed on the twenty-sixth end. Victory to Jim Neely in a calm, controlled performance.
‘Mr Reliable’ Jim Neely in action! The Chris Forrester release!
Because both bowlers were agreeable, a second round match was also played this Saturday. Mick Anderson, the victor from the earlier match, took on the challenge of the highly rated Carl Spilker. Fresh from his win earlier in the day, Mick got off to a flying start continuing his excellent standard of bowls. Mick won six of the first seven ends to race to a lead of 13 – 2. And Carl was bowling quite well! An emphatic four shot haul on the ninth end pushed the lead out to fourteen and Carl seemed to be in a spot of bother. However, with skill and determination, Carl won six of the next eight ends to reduce the lead to eight shots. Mick then steadied and closed out the match 25 – 13 on the twentieth end. The victory has meant that Mick Anderson is the first bowler through to the quarter finals.
Perfect weight transference by Carl!
The last of the round one matches, between Dugald Braithwaite and the ‘miracle man’ Peter Morales will be played on Wednesday 28th, as will the first of the round two games between Bob Crowley and Steve Della. The remaining matches in round two will be staged on Saturday the 1st of October. These games will include Bob Edwards Vs Arnold Lenczuk Terry Butt Vs Alistair McGhee Peter Cornwell Vs Ashley Lewis Andy Connor Vs Gordon Lewis Terry Norwood Vs Noel Fraser. There should be some very good bowls on display in these games, so Members are encouraged to get along and provide encouragement and support.
SOCIAL BOWLS SATURDAY
Not involved in the championship matches, six hardy souls chose to sharpen their skills in a social game of triples. Peter Cornwell, Rick Reynolds and skipper Gordon Lewis took on Arnold Lenczuk, Graham Hartnup and skipper Terry Norwood. Team Lewis raced away to an excellent start taking the first five ends and setting up a lead of 7 – 0. The opposition scored five on the next two ends, but Gordon and his boys pressed on to set up a commanding lead of 10 – 5 at the halfway point. Team Lewis continued to edge its way forward and led 14 – 6 at the fifteenth end. Not to be denied, and getting bowls in the head, team Norwood then got into the match. Six shots to one over the next four ends brought them to within two of their opponents, and it was game on! Under Gordon’s calm leadership, team Lewis steadied and went on to win 16 – 14. It was a close game in the end, and some very good bowls were put down.
No doubt a good one from Gordon! Peter was on the kitty most of the day!