PENNANTS SATURDAY MARCH 15th (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Saturday saw the Bowral Grade Six pennants side travel to Bargo to take on the Bushrangers. Currently holding down second position on the competition table, it was important for Bowral to have a win and net the ten competition points. With competition leaders Picton Razorbacks at home to Bundanoon and strongly favour to win, it was very important for Bowral not to go down as they had done the previous week. Now the weather . . . the temperature was high 30’s, so it was a real stinker. Keeping hydrated had to be a high priority, but even so it was a very draining day. Not surprisingly, quite a few of the bowlers from each side suffered mild effects with some consequence on the green. That said, all hung in to complete their matches and suffered no long term effects. And the green . . . it was a beauty; flat as a pancake, very quick and completely true it was a pleasure to bowl on. So, the results of the three matches were:
Reta South, Peter Flight, Steven Goddard, Ash Lewis 32 Vs Bargo 13
Ash’s team made a very solid start to lead 6 – 0 after three ends and they then pushed this out to 17 – 2 after eight. The Bowral four were all in good touch, with Reta as a standout as lead. Bargo picked up four on the ninth end and two on the eleventh to give them a glimmer of hope. However, with Ash cracking the whip, Bowral knuckled down to fine bowling in the back half of the game and came home comfortable winners. In the back half, Steven was consistently in fine position, Peter chipped in well and Ash did whatever tidying up was needed. This was a commanding performance and exactly what was need.
Despite the heat, Reta had a cracking game as lead!
Terry Norwood, Chris Forrester, Dave Coltman, Al McGhee 29 Vs Bargo 9
Despite dropping three shots on the first two ends, Al’s team quickly hit their straps and led 7 – 3 after four. This turned into 8 – 6 after seven, but then the Bowral four all managed to get the better of their opposite number. A run of four ends put Bowral in a sound position, but with Bargo hanging in, the lead was only five shots after fourteen. Bowral then shortened the ends, got the shots where they were needed, had the opposition floundering and won the final seven ends on the trot. In the end, it was a comfortable victory on the very quick surface. All Bowral bowlers were solid, but Dave came home strongly when needed towards the close.
Dave came to the fore when others were beginning to flag from the heat!
Noel Fraser, Jim Neely, Gail Fraser, Robin Staples 28 Vs Bargo 15
It was a rude awakening for the Bowral four when they dropped a six shotter on the opening end, and this sent a shudder through the team. Stung into action, they replied immediately with a four, and some of the nerves were settled. Bargo did lead 11 – 6 after six ends, but then Robin’s team kicked into gear. They won the next nine ends, including a five and a six, to take a strangle hold on the game. The last six ends were shared as Robin ensured that this one was never going to slip away. After the shock of the opening end, all Bowral bowlers got their heads down and did the job well.
Under pressure, Noel led consistently to have Bowral in good position.
So, this was just the result that Bowral was seeking, a ten point victory to the zero for Bargo. In Picton, the local side secured nine points in the victory over Bundanoon, so Bowral was able to creep one point closer on the competition table. 6.5 points now separate the top two sides with Taralga 1.5 points behind Bowral in third position, and three games remaining in the competition. Next Saturday, in a round that will probably determine who will challenge Picton for the title, Bowral will play host to Taralga. Stay tuned!!