BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 12th (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Some bits and bobs to chew on for a start:
- The first of the second round matches of the Minor Singles Competition was played on Wednesday, with more on that below. The remainder of the second round matches will be played on Saturday.
- On Saturday 15th, all rinks of the Waratah Green will be taken up with Minor Singles matches so any social bowls will be allocated to the Wilson Green.
- Member Owen Williams is still yet to locate his bowling jacket which went missing on Wednesday the 5th. Could all bowlers from that day please check any jackets you have at home to ensure that you have the correct one, and that you haven’t taken Owen’s by mistake.
- Bowlers are reminded that any roll ups or games on the Wilson Green are to be played east – west to allow the worn patches at the north and south margins some relief.
- Bowling member Graham Hartnup (0412604301) is again the go-to person if you are interested in purchasing one of the wonderful Lions Club Christmas cakes this year. Anyone interested can enquire at the bar of the Club or to Graham directly.
- The teams to represent Bowral in the Southern Highlands Cup for 2025 will be posted on the notice board shortly. Ten bowlers, two triples teams and two pairs, will defend the trophy Bowral won last year. Games are played at each of the Bowral, Robertson and Bundanoon venues with the competition kicking off at Bowral on Sunday November 30th.
Minor Singles Competition
By arrangement, the first of the round two matches was played on Wednesday when Richard Denman took on Mike Hook. Rolling out on rink 8 of the Waratah Green, both bowlers won early ends for the score to be locked at 4 all after six ends. Drawing well, Mike then won six of the next seven ends to take a 12 – 5 lead, and then, although Richard picked up three shots on the next two ends, four doubles in a row to Mike gave him a commanding 20 – 9 lead. Three ends later Mike was in front 24 – 13 and looked ready to apply the killer blow. However, finally finding something like his best form, Richard dominated the next five ends, picked up three doubles and a couple of singles and trailed Mike by only three shots to have him feeling the pressure. But it was Mike who found the magic shot, getting one on the jack on the twenty-eighth end and scrambling home 25 – 21.
The remaining six matches of the second round will be played on Saturday rolling off at 12.30 in the afternoon. And a reminder to those now listed to do the marking for these games that you will be needed so that everything will go off smoothly; the list includes losers of first round games Rikki Wilson, Mark Barrow, Shane Harvey and Richard Denman, and volunteers Graham Hunt and Mike Hook.
Wednesday Social Bowls
In a triples match on rink 9, Mark Shelvey, Mark ‘rowdy’ Rundle and Joe O’Donnell battled against Barry Werfel, Paul Rubie and Peter ‘magic’ Morales and Peter’s team opened very brightly to lead 7 – 1 after five ends. Joe’s trio hung in and a four on the ninth end had them up and running, and then by the twelfth, they were on even terms. With the wind in their sails, Joe’s team continued to get the better of Peter’s trio, winning four of the final five ends and sliding home to a 22 – 12 victory. All bowlers had their moments, but ‘rowdy’ Rundle had a particularly fine game.
In another triples game, Joel ‘AC/DC’ Hunt, Neville Tanner and ‘Junior’ Cummins tussled for honours against Ted ‘Mr Ed’ McPhee, Denis Lees and Robin Staples and it was Junior’s team that started better, taking the first five ends and notching up 10 shots. Joel, as is his habit, was dominating the short ends and setting up his trio very nicely. However, Robin’s team eventually found their touch, lengthened the ends and by the fourteenth had hit the lead by a shot. And, in a really tight struggle, team Staples had then edged out to three ahead with two ends remaining. With Junior barking the instructions, and Joel and Nev responding, team Cummins hit back and in two cracking ends grabbed four shots to snatch a last breath victory. What a terrific game with some splendid bowling!
On rink 11, Mark Barrow, Col ‘Hawaii’ Stone and Gordon ‘cobblers’ Lewis faced up to Shane Harvey, Peter Martin and Viv ‘third’ Gear, and a stunning five shotter to Gordon’s team on the second end set this game alight! However, Viv’s team soon squared things up and it was five all after four ends. This became six all, then eleven all and by the eleventh end was twelve all! Viv’s trio then notched up a three, but by the fifteenth end the scores were again locked. Neither side could break free of the other, and both were wondering if a game-breaker would occur . . . well it did in the form of a massive five shotter to team Gear on the nineteenth! Spinnaker set, they skimmed home leaving their hapless opponents adrift; 25 – 18 were the final numbers.
On the twelfth rink, Grahame Denman, Barb Wainberg and Arnie ‘dickie knee’ Lenczuk took the challenge to Peter Marshall, Graham Hartnup and the wily Owen Williams and, despite dropping singles on the first two ends, Arnie’s team bolted to an emphatic lead of 12 – 2 after seven. And when team Lenczuk pushed this out to 15 – 4 after ten, it looked as though this was one of those days when nothing was going to work for one of the teams. Unfortunately, their misery continued because, despite determined efforts, Owen’s team could just not stop the onslaught. They did win three of the last six ends, but the final score was a whopping 36 – 9.
In the final game, a pairs matchup on rink 15, Graham ‘NZ’ Hunt and the irrepressible Chris Forrester set out to stare down Ross ‘trim’ Barber and Steve Day, and, although they dropped a single on the first, Chris and Graham roared out to a lead of 8 – 1 after five ends. With NZ bound Graham in red-hot form and smothering the jack, they drove the score out to 15 – 5 after eleven and had the opposition seeking divine intervention . . . well, anything! If Graham wasn’t on the jack, then Chris was, and with the opposition haemorrhaging, the lead was 21 – 8 after sixteen. And then, in a face-saving rear-guard action, Ross and and Steve won four of the final ends to put respectability into the final score of 22 – 15.