BOWLS UPDATE WEEKEND 22nd & 23rd JULY (Terry Norwood reporting)
RSL Shield
The RSL Shield competition continued on Saturday with the playing of the singles and triples matches. The lead bowler for each of the fours was involved in a singles game while the remaining three made up the triples combination.
Rinks 1 and 2 were the venues for the clash between the teams led by Greg Lewis and Bob Edwards. In the triples game Robin Staples, Ted McPhee and Bob Edwards battled for points against Arnold Lenczuk, Ash Lewis and skipper Greg Lewis. In a scintillating start, team Lewis won the first five ends netting eleven shots and looking like they were in for a big day. However, Bob’s team got their heads down and got their scoring going. By the end of the game, they had won ten ends and scored 17 points. Greg’s team came home with 21. In the singles clash on rink 2, Mick Flynn representing team Edwards made a great start against Richard Denman for team Lewis leading 10 – 1 after seven ends. Richard then found better form and by the eighteenth ends had netted 10 points to Mick’s 14. Mick then had the better of the remaining ends so that by the close at thirty-one ends had scored 28 points to Richard’s 18. So, totals from the match were team Lewis 39 points and team Edwards 35.
Ted McPhee played a big role in the team Edwards strong showing against the fancied Lewis boys!
Rinks 3 and 4 saw the clash between teams led by Kevin Stafford and Tony Oakes. In the triples, Terry Norwood, Peter Cornwell and Tony battled against Scott Kennon, Dave Coltman and Kevin. For the first half of the game Peter Cornwell was at his ‘Rick O’Shay’ best getting double and triple wicks to work for him. After eleven ends, team Oakes had 9 points in the bag to the 5 for Kev’s team. The second half of the game was a different story however. Although Peter continued to get wick after wick, Kev’s team found much the better form of the two sides. By the close of the twenty-one ends, they had netted 18 points to the 13 for Tony’s team. In the singles on rink 4, Bob Crowley represented team Oakes while Gordon Lewis represented Kev’s team. And what a cracker of a game this was! These two tough competitors were into battle from the outset. Gordon had slightly the better of the opening ends so that by the eleventh ends he had bagged 12 points to Bob’s 8. Bob then hit back so that by the twentieth end they both had 17 points in the bag. They continued to share the ends but a three on the twenty-ninth end saw Gordon two in front. Bob scored a shot on the next and on the final end cagily put the jack in the ditch with his first bowl. He held onto the shot and so matched Gordon’s 25 points. Final points then were 43 for team Stafford and 38 for team Oakes.
The master of the slider, Peter ‘Rick O’Shay’, ‘Annie Oakley’, ‘the Pinball’ Cornwell!!
In the final match on rinks 5 and 6 team Braithwaite came up against team McGhee. In the triples game, Ian Crow, Stephen Della and Dugald Braithwaite took on Ian Duncan, Andy Connor and skipper Alastair McGhee. Although they dropped four of the opening six ends, Dugald’s team then put together a four and a three to have 10 shots in the bag after eight ends. Team McGhee then fired up, winning four of the next five ends to be leading the points by 12 – 11. Team Braithwaite then had a good run and after seventeen ends led the count. However, in an astonishing finish, Alastair’s team scored an eye-watering 6 shots on the last end to win the triples points 21 to 20. In the singles on rink 6, Jim Starkey represented team McGhee and Graham Hunt carried the colours of team Braithwaite. Although Graham scored three shots on the opening two ends, Jim found good form and was leading the count by 11 to 5 after seven ends. It was then that Graham forged ahead so that by the eighteenth end he led the count 21 to 16. From that point, in an excellent exhibition of bowling, Graham won all the remaining ends to finish with a massive 46 points. Jim had to be contented with his 16. So, final points for the day were team Braithwaite 66 and team McGhee 37.
In a masterful display Graham Hunt racked up 46 points!
These results mean that the standings after round two of the RSL Shield are team Braithwaite leading on 95 points, followed by team Lewis on 74, team Stafford 70, team Oakes 52, team McGhee 50 and team Edwards 44. The third and final round will be played next Saturday when the teams will split into pairs so that there are still plenty of opportunities to rack up the points.
PENNANTS SELECTIONS WEEK ONE AUGUST 5th
Division 2 Vs Austral at Austral
Alastair McGhee, Stephen Della, Dugald Braithwaite Mick Spong
Terry Butt, Gordon Lewis, Ashley Lewis, Kevin Stafford
Division 4 Vs Austral at Bowral
Peter Cornwell, Scott Kennon, Dave Coltman, Stephen Day
Arnold Lenczuk, Terry Norwood, Ian Crow, Tony Oakes
Reserves
Bob Crowley, Chris Forrester, Ted McPhee, Mick Flynn, Angelo Visintin
STATE TRIPLES CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
This event is currently being played in Wollongong with Terry Butt, Mick Spong and Mick Armstrong competing as the Zone 5 champions. In their opening game against Warilla, they went down 22 – 16 but bounced back with a win in the second match to beat Belrose 23 – 22. A strong showing against Forster today, Monday, could see them progress to the final series. We all send them best wishes!