Bowling on Wednesday 20th July

Despite the very cold, misty, drizzly weather, a small band of hardy bowlers took to the Waratah green. The two big games were the semi finals of the Minor Pairs, while there were sufficient bowlers to make up three social games.

In the first of the semi finals Ted McPhee as lead and Chris Forrester challenged Keith Edwards and his skip Peter Morales. Both teams got off to good starts to be 5 all after five ends. Ted and Chris then asserted some authority and pushed the score out to 18 – 8 by the eleventh end. Keith and Peter then steadied the ship with 6 shots on the next two ends to get back to within four shots. This was matched by Ted and Chris immediately, and they then played nicely controlled bowls in the run home. Despite Keith and Peter taking three of the last five ends, the final score was 28 – 20 in favour of Ted McPhee and Chris Forrester.

The second semi was brought Graham Hartnup as lead and Robin Staples as skip into competition with Wal Markow and his skip Arnold Lenczuk. After four ends the score favoured Wal and Arnold 7 – 6. From this point, they controlled the game with fine bowling from each of them. In the end, Wal and Arnold ran out comfortable winners 33 – 9, and should take quite some confidence into the final on 27th July.

In the social games, the teams fought the weather as much as the opposition. Laurence Vipond and John Fleming had a great tussle to be 14 all with two ends remaining against Graham Denman and Paul Rubie. Four shots to Laurence and John on the next end ensured they went on to a three shot victory. In the second game, Ian Crow and Joe O’Donnell got off to a flying start to lead Harold Wall and Richard Denman 9 – 2 after six ends. Harold and Richard then fought back well to level the scores at 12 – 12 on the eleventh end. From then on, however, Ian and Joe scored consistently to run out winners 26 – 16. In the final game, Owen Williams and Gordon Lewis played Neville Tanner and Terry Norwood. Both sides got away to fairly good starts until Neville and Terry pushed out to a five shot lead by the eleventh end. At this point Owen and Gordon struck some very good form to turn things in their favour, with a five shot lead by the nineteenth. Despite some wretched weather and desperate bowling in the last couple of ends from Neville and Terry, Owen and Gordon held on to win by a single shot.

 

Saturday 27th July

Pennant training kicked off at 10.30 for a small band of devotees.  The group formed pairs to play six or seven ends with scoring modified to reward consistency. Leads had to defeat the opponent by two shots to score a point, and skips scored only by gaining shot. In addition, ‘lucky’ shots were not to count. It was an interesting and challenging exercise. Full training will recommence next Saturday with training at 10.30 and trial games in the afternoon. Players selected in the trials are asked to indicate their availability by ticking names off.

Minor Triples Final – at 12.30 this final got under way with lead Terry Butt, Glenn Giese and skip Robin Staples taking on Arnold Lenzcuk, Peter Cornwell and Peter Morales. Team Staples got off to a flyer to lead 14 – 2 at the sixth end, including successive 5’s on the fifth and sixth ends. Working extremely well as a team, they had added one more to the lead at the half way point. Arnold and the two Peters then had a massive end to collect seven shots and breathe some life back into their game. It was short lived, however, and Terry, Glenn and Robin pushed on to a comfortable 29 – 15 win. Humble in victory, the winners were warm in their praise of their opponents and the competition organiser.

In the first of two social games on Friday, Graham Denman was swing lead for both Keith Edwards, Harold Wall, and Barry Werfel, Rick Reynolds. At the half way point, the game was 8 -5 in favour of Keith and Harold and they went on to a comfortable 24 – 10 victory. In the other game, Eric Willacy, Tony Oakes and Bob Edwards were challenged by Terry Norwood, Neville Tanner and Gordon Lewis. Both sides got away to good starts exchanging the lead through the first half for team Edwards to lead 10 – 9 at the eleventh end. Team Lewis then gained the ascendency to lead by seven shots with three ends to play. In an exciting finish, Eric, Tony and Bob picked up 4 shots falling just short in the 20 – 17 final score. It was a very good hit out for all the players.