BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY APRIL 30th (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Some Odds and Ends to start with:
- Pennants concluded last Saturday April 26th with the playing of the final round. Bowral defeated Robertson to finish in second position behind Picton in section three of the grade six competition. In the end, only 3 points separated first and second, with another 3 points to third placed Taralga. Congratulations are extended to Picton, and we wish them well as they compete for the overall title on Saturday May 3rd against the other section winners.
- The annual Chris Benton Charity day is to be held on Saturday May 10th and the entry form is on the notice board for bowlers to sign up. This day, organised by Club Chairman Stephen Della, supports the very worthy cause of brain cancer so, come on gents, get your names entered.
- The Board of the Club Ltd has now appointed a manager, Shane Holland, to take over the Club’s management on May 5th. The Men’s Bowling Committee extends a warm welcome to Shane and we look forward to working closely with him in the promotion and development of lawn bowls in Bowral.
- Following the staging of the Chris Benton Memorial Day will be the running of the Major Club Triples Championship which will commence on May 17th. Come on bowlers, get yourselves organised and get those entries on the notice board.
- Member Keith Edwards, still in hospital but recovering from pneumonia, is undergoing rehab to get him fit to return home. You might keep Keith in your thoughts.
Social Bowls Wednesday April 30th
Well, some might call us crazy, but twenty hardy souls braved the arctic weather conditions to play our beloved game on Wednesday!! The rain held off but the wind out of the south . . . south east . . . south west . . . wherever . . . made matters anything but comfortable. At the southern end of the Waratah Green there was some protection from the Club building, but the northern end was not for the faint hearted! Ah, who’d be anywhere else on a Wednesday afternoon?! With twenty bowlers, the Match Committee organised two games of pairs and two of triples.
In a pairs game on rink 8, Barb ‘stretch’ Wainberg and Mick ‘oh no, potters might be relegated’ Mick Flynn took on Mark ‘early’ Rundle and Clive ‘dasher’ Neutze. Barb and Mick got the better of the start to lead 5 – 0 after three ends and looked to have settled into a good rhythm. However, not to be out done, both Clive and Mark found their touch and by the ninth end trailed by only one shot at 5 – 6. This game was proving to be a very tight affair with singles the order of the day. However, at this point, and with doubles now on offer, team Flynn grabbed the initiative and by the sixteenth led comfortably at 14 – 7. Clive and Mark were never going to surrender, but they found the deficit too much to claw back, and Mick and Barb finished in front 17 – 13.
Old photo, but similar day! Mick defeated the weather and the opposition!
On rink 9, Graham ‘leaning tower’ Hunt, Arnie ‘dickie knee’ Lenczuk and the maestro Robin Staples tussled against Ian ‘Mr Cool’ Duncan, Joe ‘skip’ O’Donnell and the evergreen cobbler Gordon Lewis. Despite dropping four shots on the first end, Gordon’s boys hit hard on the next two to lead 5 – 4, and then a further four shotter had them 9 – 6 to the better. In a game of high quality bowls, Robin’s team then ran four ends together to snatch the lead. However, with Gordon in red hot form, he and his men took over and to dominate the next five ends and have a solid lead of 19 – 12. But never write off a team Staples! With Graham and Arnie firing in some good ones, they took over the scoring and, in dropping only two shots, stormed home to snatch victory with a single on the last. What a cracker of a game!
Man of the match, the formidable Gordon ‘cobblers’ Lewis!
In the other triples game on rink 10, Grahame ‘dragon’ Denman, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and the ebullient Chris Forrester battled for honours against Shane ‘newknee’ Harvey, Graham ‘hardnut’ Hartnup and Terry ‘Preston’ Norwood. With Chris on the jack, team Forrester won the first two ends to lead 4 – 0, but the opposition wasn’t going to roll over. Terry’s trio grabbed seven of the next eight ends to set up a solid lead at 13 – 5. Chris’ boys did move the score to 9 – 14, but another short run of ends had team Norwood in front 20 – 9 after sixteen. Never-say-die Chris fired up his men and they then snagged three ends to be within six. However, it was too little too late as Terry’s team won the day when stumps were pulled at twenty ends. Man of the game was Graham who had a blinder as second.
In the final game, Mark ‘straw’ Barrow and Dave ‘pot black’ Charlesworth faced off against Paul ‘macmac’ McInerney and Richard ‘ten pin’ Denman. Mark and Dave collected a shot on the first end but then Paul and Richard took over the scoring. The put together six ends on the trot to have a very solid lead of 11 – 1! Phew, reach for the smelling salts time! Well, smelling salts or not Mark and Dave got moving and had improved the scorecard to 6 – 12 by the eleventh. It was a false dawn however, because team Denman resumed control and piled on the shots. Dave and Mark did take singles on the last four ends, but the damage had well and truly been done. 26 – 10 to team Denman, with Richard in particular having a great game.
And didn’t he enjoy it; the victorious skipper Richard!