BBC BROADCAST SATURDAY NOVEMBER 22nd (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Some bits and bobs to chew on for a start:
- The quarter finals of the Minor Singles Competition were played on Saturday despite the constant mist and drizzle. More on that below.
- Nominations for the Major Fours Championship have now closed and the draw has been completed. This will be posted on the notice board as soon as it’s been typed up.
- The next meeting of the Men’s Bowling Committee executive will be held next Wednesday 26th at 10 am, and the draft minutes will be posted on the notice board asap after that.
- The second round of the ‘Spirit of Bowral Bowling’, the competition for Wednesday bowlers sponsored by Gordon Lewis, will be staged next Wednesday with all social bowlers included in the random teams draw. Barb Wainberg, Robin Staples and Terry Norwood are the leaders after the first week on 3 points and 40 shots. Gordon Lewis, Richard Denman and Barry Werfel are close behind on 3 points and 31 shots.
- The schedule inviting nominations for the Consistency Singles Competition, to be staged in early January, is now posted on the notice board. Open to men and women, this competition will be a handicap event with higher ranked bowlers giving lower ranked bowlers a starting margin in the race to the 130 shot total. This is a great event to test your drawing consistency, so come on bowlers, get your name on the board and test your drawing ability.
Minor Singles Competition – Quarter Finals
With Rowena Coode as marker, Graham Hunt and Paul McInerney took to rink 8 and in a closely fought opening the score was 3 all after three ends. It was then that Graham strung together some fine ends so that by the eleventh, he had a handy lead of 12 – 6. Paul then hit his straps to rein Graham in, only to see Graham advance to 18 – 13 by the seventeenth. It was at this stage that Paul hit top form, won the next seven ends and was within two shots of victory at 23 – 18. With his back to the wall, Graham came up with some big shots to get to 21 – 23, but Paul held firm and finished the game with a double. So, Paul moves to the semi with a 25 – 21 win under his belt.
On rink 9, Tisiola Lear was the marker as Chris Forrester battled for honours against Mike Hook and it was Mike who stunned Chris by taking the first four ends and a 6 shot lead. However, Chris then hit form and by the sixth end the match was all square; and then by the eighth end Chris was three in front at 11 – 8. Hanging in, Mike was still within three shots after fifteen ends, but then Chris really put him to the sword with a blistering ten shot haul over four ends and was in the box seat at 23 – 10. A couple of ends later it was all over with Chris advancing to the semi a handsome victor at 25 – 12.
Peter Flight was the marker when Denis Lees faced up to Terry Norwood on rink 10, and Terry had much the better of the opening taking the first six ends and leading 10 – 0. Denis then found a much better line to win four of the next six ends and scrape a couple of shots from the deficit. However, a couple of doubles then put Terry twelve in front, and two ends later he hit 20 and still led by twelve. Try as he might, Denis just couldn’t get inside his opponent and Terry ran out winner at 25 – 9. It was just one of those games when the movement of the jack went against Denis on every occasion.
In the final match, Richard Denman was the marker for Ted McPhee versus Charles Coode, and it was Ted all the way in this game! Drawing really well, the score in Ted’s favour was 6 – 1 after four ends, then 12 – 2 after eight. Charles rallied to win four of six ends but with scoring only singles the pickings were too lean for him to make any gains on the scorecard. From 16 – 6 up, Ted then dominated proceedings as he went on an end-winning spree of seven ends and notched up a well-earned victory at 26 – 6.
And so, the semi finals will see Chris Forrester take on Paul McInerney, while in the other game, Ted McPhee will do battle against Terry Norwood. Bowl well chaps!!
Saturday Social Bowls
Despite the inclement weather and many bowlers involved in the Minor Singles quarter finals, fourteen hardy souls turned out for a social game. With the singles matches taking up most of the Waratah Green, the social games were allocated to the Wilson Green, which played quite well despite the rain.
On rink 1, Ian Duncan and the maestro Robin Staples tussled against Barb Wainberg and the wily Bob Edwards and Bob and Barb settled into a good rhythm early to lead 7 – 1. Robin and Ian fought back to 5 – 7, but it wasn’t long before they were behind 5 – 14 and starting to feel the pressure Barb was applying. And it was Bob and Barb who were still solidly in front at 17 – 11 when stumps were pulled.
In the next game, Graham Hartnup and Steve Day battled against Barry Werfel and Gordon ‘cobblers’ Lewis and despite dropping the first three ends, Gordon and Barry were soon in front 7 – 3. They then held onto the lead and with five ends to play, led 18 – 11. However, in a sudden turnaround, Steve and Graham hit back strongly, and with a double on the last tied the game at 19 all!
In the triples game, Grahame ‘dragon’ Denman, Owen Williams and Clive Neutze faced up to Peter Marshall, Ross ‘trim’ Barber and Mick Flynn and Clive’s team won the first five ends and collected 6 shots. They were still six in front at the halfway stage, but then the turnaround came! Mick’s team hit their straps and came home strongly to take out the game 16 – 13!