BOWLING WEDNESDAY APRIL 5th (Terry Norwood reporting)
A few bits and pieces before we get on to the social bowling run-down:
- During the week, our dedicated money collector Brian Payne finished up in hospital following a medical episode. Brian was in the public hospital for a few days and has now been discharged. All the bowling community wish him well and hopes for a speedy and full recovery.
- We have to report that the octogenarian group within the club continues to expand. The latest to reach the milestone will be Denis Lees who will turn eighty on April 10th. We all wish you a happy day on Monday Denis, and hope you don’t go too hard on the celebrations!
- The Wednesday bowlers greeted a new bowler to their ranks on the 5th. Jill Harwood, who has been practising hard for a few weeks now, joined the group for her first game yesterday. We offer you a warm welcome Jill, and we trust that you will enjoy your Wednesday hit-outs on the green.
- It was wonderful to have Julie Hayden bowl again on Wednesday. It’s always a delight to have Julie with us, and, of course, to be able to admire her excellent bowling.
- With Saturday being Easter weekend, there will be no Pennants competition matches played. Pennants will resume on April 15th when the Grade Two side has the bye and the Grade Six side plays host to Robertson. Hopefully, the Grade Six bowlers can notch up their first win of the season.
- For any interested bowlers, social bowls will be conducted on Easter Saturday at the usual time of 12.30. As all committee members have other engagements over the Easter weekend, Tony Oakes has agreed to organise social bowls on the day.
Wednesday Social Bowls
A beautiful sunny autumn day greeted thirty-six eager bowlers and there was plenty of slip, slop, slap to get the day started. A gentle breeze wafted in from the east from time to time, but certainly could not be blamed for any mishaps on the Waratah Green.
Now, the customary 18-ender came with a bit of a different arrangement this Wednesday. John Cummins had a prior commitment and so it was agreed that he would be tagged into the game around 2 o’clock. There was also a late withdrawal so Kel Limbrick, John Fleming, Bill Pope, Harold Wall and Paul Rubie got themselves organised with one acting as a swing bowler. When John Cummins arrived it was time for Kel and Harold to be tagged out and the two Johns settled into battle against Bill and Paul who claimed a lead of 10 – 6. This was a high standard match which saw some excellent ends of bowls. These two teams battled hard and mostly shared the spoils. However, despite valiant attempts by the two Johns to get the better of their opponents, team Rubie held firm to win 21 – 16.
Bill’s blue bowls were often close to the jack!
In a pairs match on rink 7, octogenarian (almost!) Denis Lees and Glenn Giese took on Col Stone and skipper Don Chapman. Denis and Glenn got off to a flying start taking six shots on the first two ends. Although Col and Don took a shot on the third end, Denis and Glenn piled on the pressure with some very fine bowling. At the tenth end, which turned out to be the halfway point, they had extended their lead to 16 – 4. Things didn’t change much as the game progressed and team Giese extended their lead. They capped off their victory with an awesome clutch of five shots on the last end. To the casual observer, Glenn seemed to be right on the jack most of the afternoon.
Glenn Giese had a blinder of a game!
Rink 9 produced quite a remarkable triples match. With Jill Harwood playing her first game she was teamed with Terry Norwood and skipper Julie Hayden against Robin Staples, Graham Hunt and the mighty cobbler himself Gordon Lewis. This developed into a most extraordinary game! Down 5 – 0 after two ends, team Hayden took the lead by virtue of an mouth-watering 7 shot haul on the third! This was achieved when Julie trailed the jack with her last bowl, and things looked bright for team Hayden. However, for Jill, Terry and Julie, there endeth the story and beginneth the bowling lesson! They were to win only four more ends and so lost 16 of the twenty-one ends. Their opponents Robin, Graham and Gordon all bowled brilliantly … right through the game! They crowded the jack and snuffed out any opposition; ends of three and four shots were commonplace and they surrendered only single shot losses. The final score of 34 – 11 did not flatter them at all; they dominated. And as an aside, special thanks go to Robin for his careful nurturing and coaching of his opposite number Jill in her first game.
The brilliant trio, Robin, Graham and Gordon!
In another triples game on rink 10, Ian Duncan, Paul McInerney and skipper Mike Holmewood took up the challenge of Joel Hunt, Viv Gear and Mick Flynn. Team Flynn made an excellent start taking the first four ends and leading 6 – 0. Ian, Paul and Mike then won four of the next six ends, but after eleven ends were still trailing 12 – 6. They dropped another two shots on the next end, but then hit a purple patch of form to score four consecutive threes. Now in the lead at 18 – 14, they had a determined Joel, Viv and Mick to hold off over the last five ends. And come at them they did. Despite sharing the next four ends though, team Flynn still trailed by three with one end to play. However, Ian, Paul and Mike held firm to take the last end and victory at 23 – 17.
The final triples match was on rink 11 where Graham Hartnup, Ted McPhee and Chris Forrester did battle against Grahame Denman, Bill Meredith and ‘skip’ Tony Oakes. Team Oakes won three of the first four ends to set up a lead of 5 – 1. Despite Chris and his men scoring four shots on the next end, Tony and co still led 9 – 5 after eight ends. With plenty of chat and encouragement, team Forrester grabbed three shots on the ninth and, when they scored another three on the thirteenth end they had hit the lead at 12 – 11. Game on! Team Oakes hit back immediately, however, winning the next four ends to take a five shot lead into the last four ends. Chris’ team then scored a pair of twos to be only one shot adrift with two to play. In a gripping finish, Grahame, Bill and Tony scored a couple of singles to run out 19 – 16 victors. Another ripper of a game!
‘skip’ Oakes came out on top again!
In a pairs match on rink 12, Arnold Lenczuk and skipper Steven Goddard took to the green against Ian Crow and Owen Williams. Despite losing two shots on the opening end, Arnold and Steven suddenly started a blistering run. They won the next five ends on the trot and surged to a 12 – 2 lead. Although Ian and Owen then found some better form and notched up a few wins, they still trailed after the eleventh end by 17 – 6. It was then that a change came over the game. Ian and Owen won the next seven ends and so reduced the lead to a single shot; 17 – 16 to team Goddard with three ends to play. no doubt there was more than a little tension in the air! And then, another change hit the game. Arnold and Steven grabbed the initiative and scorched home taking eight shots to close out the game. The final score was 25 – 16 to team Goddard in a thriller.
Arnold and ‘the crow’ had a battle as leads!
The final game was a pairs match between Neville Tanner and Peter Morales as one pair, and Joe O’Donnell and skipper Bob Edwards as the other. This game was played on the outside rink 13 which, although only gets used when required, seemed to play truly. Joe and Bob won the first two ends but when Neville and Peter won the next three they had set up a lead of 8 – 2. Bob and Joe felt much better after a five shot haul on the sixth, but fell back again when they conceded four on the very next end. Joe and Bob stayed in touch with their opponents and were only four shots behind after thirteen ends. On the next end however, Peter and Neville scored a mammoth six shots, and when they won the following two ends the lead had swollen to 25 – 12. Joe and Bob hit back strongly with nine shots to reduce the deficit to four shots with one end to play. In a stunning end to the game, Neville and Peter notched up another six shot haul on the last end and so rounded off the game at 31 – 21.
Peter, the miraculous man, did it again!