BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY MARCH 13th (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Some general information to begin with:
- The BBC Pairs Championship continues on Sunday 17th with the playing of the semi-finals in the morning commencing at 9am. One semi will see Peter Flight and Dave Coltman up against Dugald Braithwaite and Al McGhee, while in the other the two Micks, Armstrong and Spong will take on Stephen Della and Kev Stafford. There should be some wonderful bowls played for anyone interested in watching.
- For Wednesday social bowlers there will be an after bowls BBQ put on by the Men’s Bowls Committee. A notice will be posted on the notice board very soon for those intending to be part of the afternoon to list their names.
- In Pennants news, the Grade Three team travels to Springwood for round three of the competition on Saturday March 16th. Currently, our men are leading the competition and another victory would keep them on top. Bowl well boys! On the same day, the Grade Six team, still licking wounds after a mauling at Taralga a fortnight ago, will play host Robertson and is hopeful of chalking up a first win.
- There will be organised social bowls on Saturday with rinks 12 and 13 available on the Waratah Green.
Social Bowls Wednesday 13th
Thirty-six eager bowlers turned out for social bowls on Wednesday, a very encouraging number. The steamy day gave some of us a bit of discomfort, but, with virtually no wind, it was a great day to be on the green. There were certainly no excuses for any wayward bowls! Given the number of bowlers, the Match Committee opted for six games of triples.
On rink 8, Ted ‘Mr Ed’ McPhee, Dave Charlesworth and skipper Chris ‘Mr Cool’ Forrester took on Brian ‘misère’ Bailey, Paul McInerney and Peter ‘miraculous’ Morales. Peter’s team had a cracking start winning the first three ends to lead 6 – 0. Chris’ team then found better form and by the ninth end had edged to the lead at 8 – 7. Team Morales then took the lead but a mouth-watering five shotter to Chris’ team on the fifteenth had them back in the lead. The teams then won alternate ends with Chris’ team holding on to win by a shot in a thriller. All bowlers were in good touch but to the casual observer Dave Charlesworth had some cracking ends.
In the 18-ender, Keith ‘the fox’ Edwards, Richard ‘denman’ Denman and John ‘junior’ Cummins battled for bragging rights against Bill ‘the’ Pope, Terry ‘PNE’ Norwood and Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie. Junior’s team won the first couple of ends but by the fifth end Paul’s team had edged to a one shot lead. This pattern continued so that after eleven ends team Rubie led by a slender 10 – 7. And then real drama struck! As though hit by COVID, team Cummins tanked, fizzled, spluttered, almost expired . . . they gave up an 8 shot end . . . yes readers, 8 shots! And then, having not recovered, they conceded four shots on the next end! Game over; when time was called, the difference was seventeen on the card.
Paul didn’t need ricochets to get his team home today!
On rink 10, Rowena Coode, Alex Crowther and the maestro Robin Staples shaped up against Ian ‘smooth’ Duncan, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and skipper Stephen day. Stephen’s team was on the jack at the start to take the first three ends and have their opponents on the back foot. However, Robin’s team stepped forward and three ends later had taken the lead at 8 – 6. With Rowena now leading excellently, team Staples started to dominate and by the eleventh end had surged to a 19 – 8 lead. Stephen’s team members were bowling well but they just couldn’t match the opposition. They hung in over the back half of the match but couldn’t reel in the hot team Staples which went on to win 29 – 17. Rowena was the star on the rink with her very high quality leading.
Rowena had a cracking game as lead!
On the next rink, Denis ‘rowdy’ Lees, Charles Coode, and the wily Bob Edwards took on Neville ‘the’ Tanner, Arny ‘man in black’ Lenczuk and skipper Mike Holmewood. Wily Bob’s team had the better of the early ends to lead 5 – 1 on the fifth. They then pushed this out to 8 – 3, but a run of three successive ends saw Mike’s team hit the lead on the eleventh end at 9 – 8. The game remained tight over the next few ends so that by the sixteenth Mike’s team clung to a three shot lead. And then calamity struck the Edwards camp . . . they conceded eleven, yep eleven shots on the next two ends to suddenly loose sight of their opponents. Mike’s team went on to win comfortably by fourteen at 25 – 11. Skipper Mike, only two weeks back after a long break, had a cracking game.
Rink 12 saw Grahame ‘pop’ Denman, Graham ‘jockey’ Hunt and wily Owen Williams up against Joel ‘Grr’ Hunt, Col ‘Hawaii’ Stone and Charles Stewart. Charles’ team found the better touch early and raced to a lead of 7 – 1 after five ends. They pushed this out to 11 – 3 but then a solid run of fine bowling from team Williams saw them jump to a lead of 14 – 11 after twelve ends. Charles’ team retook the lead only to conceded four shots, and the lead, on the fifteenth end. In a really tense and tight match, the teams won end for end only for team Stewart to edge two in front with one end to play. Not done, Owen’s team grabbed two shots on the last to tie up the match at 22 all. In a cracking game of bowls all bowlers had their moments, but there was none better than Joel who led very well.
In the final match, Mike Hook, Joe O’Donnell and the indefatigable Gordon Lewis took on Wal Markow, gentleman Jim Starkey and Mick ‘silent’ Flynn. Gordon’s team won the first couple of ends and by the sixth end led 7 – 5. However, a whopping, eye-watering five shotter to team Flynn on the next end catapulted them to the lead, and they pushed on to lead 14 – 8 after twelve ends. As noted on previous occasions though, never write off Gordon Lewis. He immediately got the whip cracking and his team won the next six ends to hit the lead at 19 – 14. They then held on to win 20 – 17 and take out the honours for the day.