BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 6th (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Some points to begin with:
- The BBC Championship Fours continues this weekend with the playing of the semi-finals in the morning of Saturday, and the final in the afternoon. The semi-final matches will see team Stafford against team Braithwaite, and team Spong against team Edwards.
- The BBC Championship Triples commences this weekend also with the staging of the two Round 1 matches in the morning of Sunday and the quarter final games in the afternoon. The two Round 1 games will see team Crow play team Crowley, and team Oakes up against team Norman.
- The latest participation figures, July to November inclusive, have now been posted on the notice board. Remember, any bowling member who reaches 50 social/competition appearances at the Bowral Bowling Club in a financial year is entitled to play social bowls free of green fees. To date, Arny Lenczuk leads the way with 42 appearances, but not too far behind are Ian Crow (38), Terry Norwood (38), Tony Oakes (33), Grahame Denman (33), Mick Flynn (32), Keith Edwards (32) and Robin Staples (32). It looks as though Arny will soon have the 50 ticked off for the 23/24 year!
- The call for Pennants participants has been success and BBC will now enter teams in the grade 3 and grade six Pennants Competitions to kick off in late February ’24. Coaching/training sessions will commence in January, so bowlers need to keep an eye out for notices about those.
Social Bowls Wednesday December 6th
Thirty-two bowlers turned out for social bowls on Wednesday, a goodly number given the warmish day. There had been mention of a possible storm in the late afternoon, but the weather was perfect all day and the Waratah Green was in very good condition. Given the number of bowlers, the Match Committee organised two games of pairs and four of triples.
In the 18-end challenge match, John Fleming, Bill ‘the’ Pope and Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie represented the 18-enders while Joel ‘grrr’ Hunt, Neville ‘the’ Tanner and skipper Don ‘handyman’ Chapman carried the flag for the non-18-enders. And what a start the Don led team made; they won the first four ends to lead 9 – 0, and were never really threatened from there. The 18-enders did get the score back to 7 – 14, but their run fizzled after the tenth end and the final score in favour of team Chapman was 19 – 10. So, bragging rights stay with the non-18-enders who are looking forward to the challenge next month.
In a triples match on rink 8, Bill Meredith, Steven ‘guileful’ Goddard and skipper Bob ‘wily’ Edwards took on Keith ‘the fox’ Edwards, Terry Norwood and Robin ‘maestro’ Staples. Robin’s team won the first three ends to lead 5 – 0, but three ends later the lead had been reduced to 7 – 4. With ‘the fox’ Keith leading well and skipper Robin in scintillating backhand form, team Staples continued to lead on the scorecard. However, a hard-earned three on the fourteenth end had Bob’s team within two shots and it was game on. Unfortunately for them, Robin’s team hit back immediately with three, steadied the ship, and went on to a victory by 22 – 14. This was an excellent match with some fine bowls sent down.
Robin had a blinder of a game!
In another triples game on rink 12, Graham ‘bananas’ Hartnup, Russell Dunstan and Gordon ‘elegance’ Lewis went head to head against Graham ‘grouper’ Hunt, Keith Scriven and skipper Ian ‘merlot’ Crow. Both sides got themselves on the scorecard early for Ian’s team to lead 5 – 3 after six ends. Team Crow continued to keep their noses in front, but the lead was only two shots after twelve ends. They then pushed the lead to four, but soon found themselves under pressure. Typical of Gordon led teams the turnaround came. Winning six of the last seven ends, team Lewis overwhelmed the opposition to run out winners at 16 – 13. Never count out a Gordon Lewis led team!
Never count out a Gordon led team!
In the last of the triples matches on rink 13, Peter Charnley, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and skipper Owen ‘wily Scot’ Williams took on Grahame ‘smurf’ Denman, Paul McInerney and the ‘miracle man’ himself Peter Morales. Both teams won early ends for the score to be 4 all after six. However, when Owen’s team bagged a mouth-watering five shot haul on the eighth end, they leapt to a lead of 9 – 6. Far from done, Peter’s team hit back immediately and by the eleventh end had levelled the score at 10 apiece. Team Morales then took the lead but by the eighteenth end the scores were again level at 15 all. Game on! Peter’s team then gained the initiative with a four on the second last end and held on to win 20 – 16 in a close one.
The ‘miracle man’ got his team home again!
In a pairs match on rink 9, Col ‘cruiser’ Stone and Clive ‘dasher’ Neutze took on Michael Hook and ‘gentleman’ Jim Starkey. In the planning, the Match Committee thought this would be a close one but it didn’t finish up that way. Both sides won early ends and by the eighth end Clive’s team led 8 – 7. From that point however, the game was totally dominated by Mike and Jim. They won ten of the last thirteen ends absolutely crushing the opposition. A couple of four shot hauls and a stunning six really had Col and Clive reeling. The difference in the end was a massive 20 shots with the final score being 32 – 12.
Gentleman Jim led his team to a huge victory!
In the other pairs match, Denis Lees and ‘Mr Unflappable’ Chris Forrester settled into battle against Ian ‘cool’ Duncan and Stephen ‘Bundy’ Day. This game got off to an amazing start with cyclone Forrester smashing the opposition to lead 15 – 1 after six ends. Call for oxygen, call for the defib, call for divine intervention … anything was the team Day cry. And it was answered! Ian and Steve won the next five ends and were back in the match at 9 – 15. They continued to pressure Denis and Chris, and, by the eighteenth end had hit the lead by a shot 18 – 17. What a turnaround! However with Chris not feeling the pressure at all, team Forrester took the next two ends and finally ran out winners 21 – 19.
‘What pressure’ was the call from ‘Mr Unflappable’!