BOWLS NEWS WEEK ENDING SATURDAY OCTOBER 29th
Terry Norwood reporting here a little later than usual. Unfortunately, some days in Sydney and other commitments here in Bowral disrupted the normal routine and have delayed this reporting. There are a couple of bowling days to catch up on as well as a few other matters to let you know about.
WEDNESDAY BOWLS OCTOBER 26th
Thirty-five keen bowlers turned out for social bowls last Wednesday. The odd number meant that a swing bowler was going to be needed in one of the games, but bowlers are flexible when it comes to giving everyone a chance to have a roll. The Waratah Green, now under the regular care of the greenkeeper, provided a fine surface running at about 16/17 and the weather was very kind to the bowlers.
With John Cummins unavailable, the amiable Don Chapman became the skipper in the regular 18-ender with Paul Rubie. Laurence Vipond and Bill Pope teamed with Don, and Graham Denman and Kel Limbrick with Paul. Unfortunately for team Rubie, this game might be one that will give them a few sleepless nights! In a one-sided event, team Chapman won thirteen of the ends and had a massive 36 – 6 victory. Team Rubie were left to lick their wounds and look to avenging the defeat next week.
On rink 8, Graham Hartnup agreed to be the swing bowler in a triples game with Barry Werfel and Bill Meredith in one team and Paul McInerney and skipper Neville Tanner in the other. And this turned out to be a very tight game! Billy Meredith’s team won the ends eleven to ten, and the game became a last end decider. Leading by two shots, team Meredith grabbed another two on the last end and ran out winners 22 – 18.
In another close encounter, Keith Edwards, Don Coleman and skipper Andy Connor took on Joel Hunt, Jim Starkey and Clive Neutze. Again the completed ends were 11 to 10, and the result rested on the final end with Team Connor holding a one shot advantage. Clive and his boys scored an impressive five on that last and so took out the match 28 – 24.
In a game that wasn’t close in the end, Denis Lees, Col Stone and skipper Joe O’Donnell went head to head against Harvey Harwood, Mike Hooke and Harold Wall. Joe and his team dominated the game winning sixteen of the 21 ends. The final score in favour of team O’Donnell was 32 – 8, and included a haul of seven shots on the final end.
On rink 10, Richard Denman, Graham Hunt and skipper Peter Morales battled it out against Julie Hayden Steve Goddard and Steve Day. Both teams made sound starts and shared the ends in the first half of the game for the score to be 10 – 8 in favour of team Day. Despite some fine bowling from team Morales, Steve’s team managed to edge them on all but two ends in the run home. The final score in favour of the two Steves and Julie was 20 – 12.
The final match on Wednesday saw Ted McPhee, Chris Forrester and skipper Bob Edwards take on Terry Norwood, Glenn Giese and Gordon Lewis. This game was very tight to begin with and the score was 4 – 4 after seven ends. At that point team Lewis began to edge ahead and by the fifteenth end held a lead of 13 – 7. Bob and his boys then hit their straps winning the next three ends and taking a one shot lead. However, a massive 7 shots against them on the second last end put paid to their run, and the game ended with a score-line of 21 – 15 in favour of team Lewis.
SATURDAY BOWLS
Saturday saw the staging of the semi-finals of the Mens Major Fours Championship. These games were played on the synthetic surface of the Waratah Green on a very pleasant, sunny afternoon. The green was running at about 16/17, very comfortable for the bowlers. There was, however, a fairly strong, blustery wind coming across the green out of the west, and this proved to be quite a challenge.
On rink 9, Terry Butt, Dave Coltman, Ashley Lewis and skipper Mick Spong went head to head against Gordon Lewis, Don Chapman, Clive Neutze and Bob Edwards. And what a great tussle this turned out to be! Both sides got onto the scorecard early, and the score-line was 4 – 4 after five ends. Although alternatively winning ends, team Spong then edged its way into the lead 11 – 8 after eleven ends. At that point, team Edwards hit back strongly and took thirteen shots on the next four ends. With a lead of 21 – 11, Bob and his boys looked to be in a commanding position. However, not to be denied, team Spong came good with a vengeance and won all of the remaining six ends. The final score favoured Mick, Terry, Ashley and Dave by 25 – 21, and left team Edwards feeling that this was a game that slipped through their fingers.
Ash in the great escape! Skipper Bob on the mat!
In the second semi-final, Alastair McGhee, Carl Spilker Nathan Boyers and skipper Mick Anderson battled it out against Terry Norwood, Graham Hunt, Glenn Giese and Bob Crowley. And what an intriguing game this turned out to be! Despite team Anderson taking an eye-watering 6 on the second end the scores were locked at 7 all after five ends. Winning three ends each, the match was still close after eleven ends with Mick and his men leading 14 – 12. Then, leading by one shot after sixteen ends team, team Anderson scored three on the next end and led 22 – 18 with four ends remaining. With the next few ends very tight, Bob and his team edged their opponents to square the match 22 all with one end to play. On the last end, the skips went to the mat with team Anderson holding shot in a tight head. With his last bowl, Bob put in a wonderful draw bowl to secure shot and win the game. The final score of 23 – 22 was indicative of how closely the game was fought.
Skipper Mick watching one intently! Last bowl maestro Bob Crowley!
The final of the Mens Major Fours will be played on Saturday November 5th at 12.30pm. Let’s hope that the final is as exciting as the two semi-finals turned out to be.
OTHER NEWS
The AGM of the Mens Bowls Committee was held on Saturday October 29th. Minutes of that meeting should be available shortly. One point of note is that there are still positions vacant on the committee, so any interested members are welcome to put themselves forward.
The next competition will be the Mens Major Championship Pairs and organisation of this is currently underway. Interested members will find the entry sheet on the notice board.
Two members, Robin Staples and Mick Flynn are currently dealing with medical issues. All members wish them a speedy and complete recovery.