BOWLS NEWS WEDNESDAY 30th NOVEMBER with Terry Norwood
Let’s begin with a few reminders and notices of information:
- The Men’s Major Pairs Championship gets underway on Saturday 3rd of December with three matches starting at 10am. The four quarter finals matches are set down for Sunday 4th and the semi-finals and final for the following weekend. The actual day and time of some of the matches may vary due to player commitments and availability.
- The Pennants nomination form is now posted on the notice board, and bowlers are encouraged to list names if intending to be involved. The Bowls Committee is hoping to be able to enter three teams of twelve bowlers, so forty plus players will be required to maintain those teams. Training and skills development for aspiring Pennants bowlers will start mid January.
- The Minor Singles Championship nomination form is also now posted on the notice board. All eligible bowlers are encouraged to enter this competition which begins mid January.
- All bowlers and life members are reminded that BBQs will be put on by the Men’s Bowls Committee at 4pm on Wednesday 14th and Saturday 17th December. President Bob Crowley has planned quite a spread and there will be hams on offer as prizes in the raffles.
- Friday mixed social bowls will be re-introduced starting on January 6th. Bowling will commence at 4pm and will follow an alternative BPL format.
SOCIAL BOWLS
Thirty-five bowlers turned out on a very pleasant, mild Wednesday. Again, it was great to see Julie Hayden amongst the number, and it was wonderful to have Ken Looke back on the green after a long break.
In the customary 18-ender on rink 7 of the Waratah Green, John Fleming and Lawrence Vipond teamed with skipper John Cummins to challenge Graham Denman, Bill Pope and evergreen Paul Rubie. Again, this was a closely fought match with all six bowlers putting down some great bowls. Paul, Bill and Grahame made a good start but there is a suggestion that age does tell, and team Rubie began to slow down as the game went on. The game swung to the two Johns and Lawrence when they scored a 5, and luck really turned their way with skipper John getting some great results. Team Cummins went on to win 19 – 12 in a game that was high quality.
John Cummins on the mat! Lawrence is bowling well!
In another triples match, Mike Hook, Tony Oakes and skipper Clive Neutze battled it out against Joel Hunt, Mike Holmwood and skipper Gordon Lewis. And there was some red hot bowls on display in this game! Things got away to a fairly even start with team Neuyze leading 6 – 4 after six ends. It was then that team Lewis hit their straps, scoring 5 on the 7th end, and raced to a seven shot lead by the halfway stage of the game. With Joel leading excellently and Mike and Gordon in fine touch, they continued to dominate their opponents. A sixteen shot haul over the last five ends assured team Lewis of a very handsome victory, 36 – 13.
On rink 10, Graham Hartnup, Glenn Giese and skipper Robin Staples went head to head against Paul McInerney, Noel Fraser and Julie Hayden. And what an extraordinary game this turned out to be! With plenty of encouraging chat, and Graham, Glenn and Robin all bowling exceptionally well, team Staples won the first six ends and led 11 – 0. Although Julie and her team won four ends, they were trailing 20 – 5 with six ends remaining. Their cause looked lost! However, with excellent bowls and a little luck they turned the game on its head. Paul, Noel and Julie won the next four ends and had reduced the margin to five shots. On the 20th, the magic appeared; down three, Julie put her last bowl into the head and came out with a four shot result! To cap the recovery off, team Hayden scored three on the last end and recorded an astonishing win 22 – 20.
Julie produced magic on 20th end!
In the game on rink 12, Joe O’Donnell was swing bowler for both Jim Starkey and Bob Edwards against Don Chapman and Steve Day. This was one of those games where one team headed the other and managed to remain in front all the way. Team Day won the first four ends to lead 6 – 0. Bob and his men won the next three ends, but that was fairly much where their run fizzled. At the halfway stage of the match, Steve, Don and Joe led by 10 – 3 and the signs looked fairly ominous for team Edwards. Bowling very well and getting whatever luck that was on offer, team Day continued to win most of the ends. The final score in favour of Steve, Don and Joe was 25 – 10.
Steve Day’s in great form!
In another triples match, Keith Edwards, Barry Werfel and Owen Williams took on Kel Limbrick, Neville Tanner and skipper Don Coleman. Owen and his men dominated the first three ends to score 8 shots and looked to be in very threatening form. However, Kel, Neville and Don then found their touch to win the next six ends and square the score at eight all. With both teams having their good ends, the score-line was 16 – 13 in favour of team Williams after 16 ends, and it was still either sides game to win. At that point, however, a change came over the game and Keith, Barry and Owen completely dominated the remaining ends to claim victory by 30 – 13.
The Don Coleman style!
In the final triples game, Ken Looke, Graham Hunt and Chris Forrester took up the challenge of Denis Lees, Terry Norwood and Steven Goddard. And what looked like an even match on paper turned out to be anything but! Apart from the first two ends when Denis, Terry and Steven led 2 – 1, the game was totally dominated by team Forrester. Overall, Ken, Graham and Chris won 16, yes 16 of the twenty one ends! Certainly they enjoyed any luck that was on offer, but overall they kicked the butts of their opponents. Ken, after a couple of years off the green, led excellently, and Graham and Chris each out-bowled his opponent. The game was probably summed up by the last end; down four shots and with the jack beyond the ‘t’, Chris drew the shot to within inches of the jack with his last bowl! Brilliantly done!
Chris had a brilliant day!