BOWLING WEDNESDAY MARCH 15th (Terry Norwood reporting)
Starting with a few bits of info:
- Pennants – the Grade Two team heads to Penrith to take on the local team this coming Saturday. We wish them good fortune and hope that they can get their season firing. The Grade Six team has a bye this week, so most of the players will be in action getting some useful practice.
- The Men’s Major Triples Championship was concluded when the final was staged on Sunday last. Steven Goddard, Stephen Della and Dugald were victorious, defeating Mick Anderson, Carl Spilker and Nathan Boyers 26 – 19. From 22 – 4 down, Mick, Carl and Nathan fought back doggedly to take the game to the 25th end. Exciting stuff!
- On Sunday March 18th, Bowral Club will host first round Zone 5 singles matches in both the morning and afternoon. These games should make excellent watching for those with an hour or two to spare.
Social Bowls Wednesday 15th
With Mother Nature putting on an absolute cracker of a day, thirty-nine cheery bowlers listed their names for a game. It was good to see that happy nonagenarian Kel Limbrick back in the fray after an injury break. With the odd number of bowlers, Kel agreed to be the swing bowler as he edged his way back onto the green. Beautiful day that it was, a fluky breeze which couldn’t decide where it wanted to come from kept some of the bowlers guessing where the line might be!
In the customary 18-ender, strangely without Lawrence and Carol Vipond, Kel Limbrick was swing for both Bill Pope and John Cummins on the one hand and John Fleming and Paul Rubie on the other. Still on rink 7 of the Waratah Green, although we’ll change that next week now that the wheelchair is gone, this game came up with an astonishing result! It was a case of ‘where’s the oxygen’ for team Rubie! Although they scored a shot on the first end, they could win only six ends in total … and they suffered heavy losses on many of the other ends. Bring back Lawrence and Carol was the cry from Paul! Next week the committee will organise to have the defibrillator and oxygen on hand from the start. The result was an eye-watering 37 – 9 in favour of team Cummins.
Bill Pope in good form!
On rink 8, Graham Hunt, Terry Norwood and that ardent Cobblers supporter Gordon Lewis engaged in battle against Ted McPhee, Chris Forrester and the old smoothy himself Bob Edwards. With all three on the jack, team Lewis made a cracking start to the match winning the first five ends and setting up a 10 – 0 lead. The old smoothy was close to dropping to his knees and praying. Well, prayer or not, team Edwards hit their straps winning five of the next six ends and closing the deficit to 11 – 6. Then, after dropping two on the twelfth end they out-bowled their opponents over the next four to hit the lead 14 – 13. At this point, skipper Gordon called a team huddle to inspire his team, and this had the desired effect. Team Lewis won four of the remaining five ends and hung on to win 20 – 17. It was a very close thing though, as Bob missed picking up the jack with his last bowl by about half a centimetre. This was a cracking game with both skippers in fine form.
Skippers, Gordon Lewis and Bob Edwards had a great tussle!
It was a pairs match on the next rink, where Glenn Giese and Tony Oakes took on Joe O’Donnell and ‘gentleman’ Jim Starkey. And what an excellent, close game of bowls unfolded on rink 9. Joe and Jim won eleven ends to the ten by Glenn and Tony, and there was never many shots between the teams at any stage of the game. Each time one team looked like slipping away in the lead, the other would fight back. Great stuff! Both teams got on the scorecard early with Glenn and Tony leading 5 – 3 after four ends. However, a mouth-watering five to Joe and Jim on the next end, followed by a single saw them take the lead at 9 – 5. Two ends later, it was 9 all, and, by the eleventh end it was 11 – 10 in favour of team Oakes! Tony and Glenn extended their lead, and when they led 17 – 11 after fifteen ends, they looked to be in control. Not so, as Joe and Jim fought back to be within a shot with two ends remaining. As fate would have it, they shared the spoils on those last ends and finished at 19 – 19!
Jim Starkey and Joe O’Donnell matched their opponents all day!
In another triples game on rink 10, Graham Denman, a somewhat croaky Col Stone and ‘fresh as a daisy from holiday’ Don Chapman took on Keith Scriven, Paul McInerney and skipper, the quiet fisherman Mike Holmewood. In an absolutely breathtaking start to this game, Mike and his team scored an amazing six shots on the very first end! Ouch; team Chapman could be excused for feeling like reaching for the oxygen or a stimulant of some kind as they staggered to the mat for the second end. Don and his men got on the scorecard with a single on the third, but trailed 8 – 1 after four ends. Super cool Don and his men then found touch to win the next four ends and so take the lead at 9 – 8. But then Mike’s team struck hard to score yet another 6 and rocket to the lead. After scoring a couple of singles, team Holmewood led 16 – 9 at the halfway stage. Team Chapman hit back, and with an impressive four shot haul on the fifteenth were within a shot of their opponents. Although the remaining ends were shared, Mike and his team held on to win 22 – 18.
On the adjacent rink, Joel Hunt, Ian Crow and skipper Don Coleman went head to head against Keith Edwards, Neville Tanner and Owen Williams. What the match committee expected to be a close game was anything but close. Owen and his team won fifteen of the twenty-one ends and so dominated the match. The game had started evenly with both sharing the first two ends. However, a four shot haul on the fourth end gave team Williams the initiative at 5 – 2. Don and his team then scored a three on the sixth end to get to within a shot of their opponents. Unfortunately for them this was as close as they were to get during the game. Owen and his team won all but three of the remaining ends, and, although the scoring was low, they ground their way to an impressive victory. The final score of 24 – 8 was indicative of their superiority in the game.
Owen’s in great form at present!
In another triples game on rink 12, Barry Werfel, Wal Markow and Steven Goddard took on Graham Hartnup, Ken Looke and Bill Meredith. Now, this was another game that didn’t end up being as close as the match committee had anticipated! The match committee tries always to organise matches that are likely to be fairly close, but it doesn’t always turn out that way. In this game, both teams got on the scorecard early for team Goddard to lead 5 – 4 after three ends. However, a scorching five on the next end to Steven’s team, and a four two ends later, had them well in the lead at 18 – 7 after ten ends. This dominance continued and even when Bill and his men did win an end they could only score a single. The final score in favour of team Goddard was an overwhelming 30 – 9.
The final match was on rink 13 where Ian Duncan, Denis Lees and Bundy boy Steve Day did battle against Mark Rundle, Arnold Lenczuk and the ‘miracle man’ Peter Morales. And what an astonishing start there was to this game! Ian, Denis and Steve opened brilliantly winning the first six ends and setting up a lead of 15 … yes 15 to nil! Peter and his team then got onto the scorecard winning the next three ends, but after fourteen ends they were behind 25 – 4. How can you come back from that position, but come back team Morales did! They scored five shots on the next two ends, and when they notched up a massive seven on the nineteenth they had closed the gap to 26 – 18. Team Morales scored two on the next end, but a single on the last saw Steve’s team winners at 27 – 20.
The Bundy boy Steve Day in action!