BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 1st (Terry Norwood at the desk)
A couple of points to begin with:
- The Mixed Pairs Championship continues on Sunday 5th with the playing of the semi-finals. In one game Reta South & Bob Edwards play Terry Butt & Lynne Boshier, while in the other Enid Brown & Ash Lewis meet Jim Neely & Gail Fraser. Both games should be beauties!
- The BBC Fours and Triples Championships will be conducted in late November/early December. Bowlers are urged to get their teams organised and listed on the schedules posted on the Men’s notice board. Keep in mind that any team in each of these competitions can include a maximum of two top grade players, male or female.
Social Bowls
Thirty-eight eager bowlers turned out for a roll on this first day of November, the number including Les Hubert for his first game on the Bowral green. Welcome Les, and we hope it will be the first of many games. The group was also pleased to welcome back Jill Harwood after her long holiday cruising the oceans. Great to have you back Jill. And the group was delighted to have Billy Dodwell amongst the bowlers again; great to see you on the green Bill. The weather was very pleasant and, with no wind of any consequence, there were few excuses for those wayward bowls. Given the number of bowlers, the Match Committee arranged two games of pairs and five of triples.
In the first of the pairs matches, Jill Harwood and ‘gentleman’ Jim Starkey took on Neville ‘the’ Tanner and Richard ‘denman’ Denman. The teams shared the first two ends but Richard and Neville soon scooted away to lead 7 – 2 after five. However, Jim and Jill scored heavily on the next two ends and pushed on to lead narrowly at 11 – 9 after ten ends. The lead then changed a few times, but after scoring three on the seventeenth end, Jim and Jill led by 20 – 16. Far from done, Nev and Richard won the last three ends of this 20-ender to take out victory at 21 – 20. What a great finish!
Both Richard and Jim had a good day at the office!
In the other pairs game, Wal Markow and Steven ‘unrufflable’ Goddard played Ian Duncan and Bob ‘windsock’ Crowley. Although Wal and Steven dropped singles on the first couple of ends, they had their opponents gasping at 9 – 2 after five. However, Ian and Bob then steadied the ship to win five of the next six ends to be within a shot of the Goddard led pair. And then three ends later they hit the lead at 14 – 11. What a cracker this game was turning out to be! Bob and Ian then retained the lead and were 16 – 13 up with three ends remaining. And then, in a very tight finish, Wal and Steven took the last three ends and victory by one shot at 17 – 16. What a beauty!
On rink 7, Joel ‘Grrr’ Hunt, Graham ‘fairly hot’ Hunt and skipper Ian ‘the’ Crow did battle against Brian ‘misère’ Bailey, Ted ‘Mr Ed’ McPhee and Arny ‘black feet’ Lenczuk. And what a serious battle this game was finishing half an hour after all the other matches! Very serious stuff with lots and lots of chat! With ‘Mr Ed’ in charge (skipper Arny had been held up), his team took the first three ends but two ends later it was 5 all on the scorecard. The Crow’s team then edged to the lead only to drop a very painful five shots on the tenth end and slip behind their opponents at 9 – 12. Arny’s team still held the lead after thirteen ends but when they dropped an eye-watering six on the next end they were behind 14 – 17. The Crow’s team, with Joel having yet another blinder of a game, then won most of the remaining ends to win the game 22 – 17.
Another blinder from Joel, this bloke is in terrific form!
In the usual 18-ender, John Fleming, Bill Dodwell and skipper John ‘junior’ Cummins took on Grahame ‘Smurf’ Denman, Bill ‘the’ Pope and skipper Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie. With Grahame Denman on fire, team Rubie got away to an excellent start, and, when they scored three consecutive threes, they led 12 – 2! At this point ‘junior’ was thinking of reaching for the oxygen! Or even something a little more stimulating?! Something worked, because team Cummins had a brief comeback led by Mr Fleming, and they moved to within five shots with one end to play. The comeback looked to be continuing on the last with junior’s team holding four shots; however, skipper Paul put his last bowl on the jack to seal a well-deserved victory. The final score was 19 – 13.
The two leads, Grahame and John, both had good games!
On the far rink, Paul McInerney, Michael Hook and skipper Joe O’Donnell battled for honours against Russell Dunstan, Graham ‘bananas’ Hartnup and skipper Owen ‘wily Scot’ Williams. Both teams got onto the scorecard early but it was Joe’s team that made a move when they notched up a four on the fifth end and hit the lead at 7 – 2. Owen’s team then found better touch, winning four of the next five ends and so levelling the score at 8 – 8. Team O’Donnell then edged to the lead, only for team Williams to catch them on the fifteenth end at 11 all. Owen’s team was having a nice run and they pushed their lead to five shots on the seventeenth end. And then, despite dropping a four along the way, and two shots on the last, they hung on to win by 19 – 17 in a cliffhanger! Great stuff!
Owen got his team home in a tight one!
On rink 9, Viv Gear, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and skipper Mick ‘potters’ Flynn took on Keith Edwards, Keith Scriven and skipper Peter ‘miraculous’ Morales. Despite trailing 1 – 3 after three ends, Mick’s team was soon in the ascendency. They won the next seven, yep seven ends on the trot to really stamp their authority on the game. Their lead was 15 – 3 after these ten ends, and it really had Mr Miraculous praying for more than one miracle. Well, it wasn’t a miracle, but they did win five of the next six ends to get within six shots of their opponents. However, with skipper Mick urging his team not to ease up, they had the better of the closing ends to take out victory at 22 – 14. To the casual observer, it seemed that the ambidextrous Peter had those red bowls of his fairly close in much of the time.
Skipper Mick kept pressure on the opposition!
In the final match which was on rink 8, Barry Werfel, Bill Meredith and skipper Gordon ‘cobbler’ Lewis were up against newcomer Les Hubert, Terry Norwood and that very wily leftie Bob Edwards. Both teams won an early end, but with Gordon in fine form, it was his team that edged to the lead at 7 – 4 after eight ends. It was then that team Edwards found some excellent form and they won the next four ends, including two four shot hauls, to race to a lead of 17 – 7. An exasperated Gordon salvaged a few shots over the next few ends but they still trailed by nine. And then, summoning all his guile, Gordon blitzed the opposition on ends 18, 19 and 20 to get his team to 18 – 19. The final end was then a cracker! When the skippers went to the mat, Gordon’s team was holding two shots and game. Skipper Bob then played the shot of the match by nudging the jack away and securing the victory at 20 – 18. What a nerve-wracking last four ends it was!
Gordon almost got his team home from a long way behind!