SOCIAL BOWLS WEDNESDAY 11th JANUARY 2023 (Terry Norwood reporting)
Before we get on to talking about the bowls on Wednesday, there are a few items of information which might be of interest to members.
- The Chris Benton Memorial event for 2023 will be staged on Saturday February 4th starting at 12.30. It will be a fours competition with each team playing two 10-end matches. Points will be allocated for wins and draws, and total shots used if necessary to determine placings. Bowlers can organise their own teams and the committee will help arrange teams if necessary. This is a terrific event and the money raised goes to brain cancer charity.
- The Mens Major Triples Championship will commence on February 11th, with entries closing on January 27th. Bowlers are encouraged to organise their teams and get them entered on the form.
- The word is that the Wilson Green will come back into service this coming weekend January 14th/15th. It’s now looking pretty good so hopefully we’ll have a truly running grass green back in us very soon.
- Our esteemed bowls colleague, bowls coach and general good bloke Robin Staples is, unfortunately, in hospital for a delicate operation on one of his eyes. We wish him a totally successful procedure and a speedy recovery.
- The Men’s Minor Singles competition will get under way this Saturday with five games being staged on the Waratah Green. These matches will see
Graham Hunt Vs Graham Hartnup
Tony Oakes Vs Andy Connor
Ted McPhee Vs Terry Norwood
Steven Goddard Vs Clive Neutze
Paul McInerney Vs Bob Crowley
There should be some very tidy bowling on view, so members are encouraged drop into the club and catch some of the action. Play commences at 12.30 in these first to twenty-five matches.
BOWLS REPORT
Wednesday saw forty, yep forty bowlers roll up for social bowls. What an excellent number on what turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon! The Waratah Green was running very well and a gentle breeze gusted out of the north/northeast. There weren’t many excuses for those wayward bowls.
On rink 7, the customary eighteen ender saw John Fleming, Lawrence Vipond and skipper John Cummins take on Keith Edwards, Bill Pope and Paul Rubie. Despite dropping four shots on the fourth end, team Rubie made a strong start winning nine of the first eleven ends. However good bowling by Lawrence kept team Cummins in the match and with one end remaining they had closed the gap to one shot. However, on the final end when holding four shots, they moved the jack to the opposition to give team Rubie a two shot victory. Such is life on the bowling green!
White glove, white bowls; Lawrence at his best!
In another triples match, visitor from St Ives Greg Smith skippered Denis Lees and Mike Holmwood against Graham Hartnup, Paul McInerney and Steven Goddard. And what a super game this turned out to be! Steven’s team won the first couple of ends, but by the ninth end the scores were equal at 6 – 6. The next two ends proved crucial as Greg and his men were right on the jack and suddenly had a lead of seven. Team Goddard hit back immediately with five and it was game on! This battle then went right to the wire with Greg, Denis and Mike finally victorious by a single shot. To the casual observer, there was some very good bowling in this match.
On rink 10, Neville Tanner, Tony Oakes and skipper Clive Neutze went head to head against Col Stone, Ian Crow and Peter Morales. And what a scorcher of a game this was! Despite dropping three shots on the second end, Peter’s team raced to a 9 – 3 lead after five ends. Team Neutze then steadied and, after the eleventh end, led by two shots. Team Morales gave them a mauling by scoring 6 shots on the 12th, and by the sixteenth end Peter’s team led by six. Unfortunately for them, that was the end of their run as Clive and his men took the final five ends, including a five, to run out winners 25 – 22.
In the last of the triples matches, Ted McPhee, Chris Forrester and Kevin Gould took on Terry Norwood, Graham Hunt and skipper Bob Edwards. Team Edwards made the better start winning the first three ends, including a 5 shot haul on the third. Kevin then marshalled his forces and by the tenth end the scores were even at 9 – 9. This closeness continued and the scores were still equal 14 – 14 after fifteen ends. It was then, with Chris in fine touch, that team Gould forged ahead to lead by seven with a couple of ends remaining. A three on the 20th end put Bob and his men in touch, but Kevin’s team ran out winners in the end by 24 – 19.
Chris continues to bowl very well!
In a fours match on rink 12, Graham Denman, Phillip Payne, Keith Scriven and skipper Don Chapman battled it out against Wal Markow, Barry Werfel, Noel Fraser and skipper Richard Denman. Richard and his team made much the better start to lead 11 – 5 after ten ends. However, team Chapman grabbed six shots on the next two ends to square the score-card. The battle continued with the scores 14 all after fifteen ends and then 15 all after seventeen. At that point, it was anyone’s game. However six shots to team Denman on the next two ends put paid to that, and they went on to win by four 21 – 17.
In the second of the fours matches, Mark Rundle, Viv Gear, Owen Williams and skipper, the wily Mick Flynn went head to head against Joel Hunt, Joe O’Donnell, Glenn Giese and the unflappable nonagenarian Gordon Lewis. Despite winning four of the first six ends, Mick and his team found themselves down on the score-card by 4 – 7. With Joel leading especially well for team Lewis, they scored more heavily than their opponents and by the thirteenth end led 16 – 6. Mick’s team won five of the remaining eight ends but were unable to close the gap on the score-card. The match ended 25 – 14 in favour of team Lewis. However, the day ended sweetly for all eight bowlers as they took out the jackpot prize in the margin draw.