BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY JANUARY 14th (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Some bits to reflect upon for a start:
- The Consistency Singles Competition continued on Wednesday with the completion of all but one of the Round 2 matches. More on those games below. The quarter finals will, weather permitting, be staged on Saturday 17th commencing at 12.30.
- Although Mrs Benton no longer wishes to sponsor the brain cancer charity day, the Men’s Bowls Committee agreed, at a special meeting on 14th January, to retain a cancer charity day on the bowls calendar. The Committee will look for a date later in the year.
- The draft minutes of the Special Meeting of the executive of the Men’s Bowls Committee will be posted on the notice board soon.
- The Men’s Bowls Committee has determined that the selection panel for the upcoming Pennants season will comprise Peter Flight (Chair), Gail Fraser, Robin Staples and Terry Norwood.
- Bowlers who’ve nominated to be considered for Pennants will soon have the opportunity to participate in trial matches. Information will be issued in the near future.
- Those bowlers who have yet to be issued with their new Club shirt are reminded that Vice-President Peter Flight is the person to approach.
Consistency Singles Round 2 Matches
Fortunately, there was sufficient break between the short storm and later rain for bowlers to get out onto the green and complete their matches in round two of the competition. Keep in mind that in this 130 point competition, there are 10 points up for grabs on each end with bowlers able to earn 4, 3, 2, and 1 points for the four closest bowls to the jack. And it’s a handicap event, with greater experienced bowlers starting from behind zero when playing against a bowler of lesser experience.
Being on the same handicap so both starting on zero, Peter Flight and Paul McInerney took to rink 7, for Paul to win the first couple of ends to lead 12 – 8. However, although ends were then fairly tight, Peter took the lead which he maintained until a ten pointer on the seventeenth end to Paul squared the scores. A couple of ends later, the scores were still equal, but then Paul managed to squeeze out a narrow lead of 4 shots at 102 – 98. In the tightest of finishes, the scores were either 5-5 or 6-4 as these two evenly matched bowlers ground out the ends. And then, with a shared 5 points each on the twentieth-sixth end, Paul held on for a 132 – 126 victory. What a great close game!
The victor’s style on the mat!
On rink 8, the more experienced Robin Staples gave a four point start to Cameron New who took the challenge up to Robin right from the start. The match was settling into a ding-dong battle when, unfortunately, Cameron took ill and had to retire. So, Robin moved through to the quarter finals.
In the next game, the more experienced Clive Neutze started on minus twelve (-12) points against Shane Harvey and quickly found that he had a real challenge on his hands. Undaunted, Shane took the game up to Clive and still held the lead at 45 – 41 after ten ends. Although Clive then took a four point lead on the next end, Shane recaptured the lead which he retained until the seventeenth, when Clive evened the scores at 78 apiece. However, Shane again retook the lead, and it wasn’t until the twenty-fourth end that Clive was back on even terms at 113. And then, with 6, 5 and 6 points on the next three ends (to Shane’s 4, 5, 4) Clive managed to close out this very tight encounter 130 – 126. Phew, what a close one!
This is how Clive gets the bowl onto the green!
On rink 10, the lesser experienced Ricci Wilson received a 24 point start against Terry Norwood, and, out-bowling her more experienced opponent, retained the lead throughout the early ends. However, better form and a couple of ten pointers saw Terry hit the lead on the eleventh end as he looked to settle into some consistent draw bowling. Ricci hung in well putting down some fine bowls, but, in the end, experience showed and Terry ran out quite a comfortable winner.
With Peter Marshall as marker, the two Grahams, Hartnup and Hunt took to rink 11 with Ghunt starting from -8 and Ghartnup on scratch. And it was Ghartnup that had much the better of the early ends to lead 50 – 12 after seven ends. Ghunt was struggling to find the length, while Ghartnup was getting at least two bowls fairly close most ends. However, as the ends wore on, Ghunt ground away at the deficit, and, by the nineteenth end, had reduced the gap to 5 points. And when he hit the lead for the first time three ends later, it seemed that he would finish on top. But Ghartnup had other ideas; behind 120 – 123, he grabbed an excellent 9 pointer, and notched up the win with shot on the next. A great win for Graham Hartnup at 130 – 126.
On rink 12, Gordon Lewis started on -8 against Terry Salter who grabbed 6 and 7 points on the first two ends to keep Gordon at -1. And when Terry notched up a ten pointer followed by a seven, he held a solid lead of 39 – 23. Head down, Gordon then notched up a seven followed by a ten, but still trailed by six points. Everything that the determined Gordon threw at Terry, he managed to parry and hold onto the lead. In fact, from a very tiny lead late in the game, Terry did not lose an end . . . he dominated five ends from the eighteenth, and when he shared the twenty-third and twenty-fourth ends with 5 pointers, he had rounded out a handsome victory at 130 – 113.
The final game between Wal Markow and Barb Wainberg will resume on Saturday 17th at 11am, with Wal leading 85 – 80.
Wednesday Social Bowls
With the Consistency Singles taking up all rinks on the Waratah Green, four rinks were needed on the Wilson Green to accommodate the twenty bowlers who turned out for social bowls. Two visitors, Andy Ritchie from Qld and Mark Dorizzi from Melbourne were welcomed as part of the group.
In a pairs game on rink 2, Andy Ritchie combined with Chris ‘tiramisu’ Forrester to tackle Mark Dorrizzi and Ross ‘trim’ Barber and proceedings were so even early that scores were locked at 6 all after nine ends. The score became 7 all, but Mark and Ross then won four ends on the trot to lead 15 – 7, only to have Chris and Andie get it to 15 – 17 with one end to play. And it was Ross and Mark who took the honours on the last end and victory at 20 – 15.
In a triples game on the next rink, Grahame ‘dragon’ Denman, Mike Hook and Don ‘gentleman’ Chapman dropped a four shotter on the first end but then ran together eight ends to lead Russell Dunstan, Mark Rundle and Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie 12 – 4. This they then pushed out to 18 – 10 after sixteen ends and, although dropping three shots as the game proceeded, polished off the victory at 23 – 13.
In another triples match, Joel ‘AC/DC’ Hunt, Denis Lees and Joe O’Donnell started slowly against Clive Hutchens, Col ‘Hawaii’ Stone (great to see you back on the green Col) and Peter Morales to trail 3 – 9 after seven ends. And when Peter’s team quickly added 5 and 4 to other good ends, their lead was out to 21 – 5 and the opposition was gasping! Joe’s trio got the score to 10 – 21, but 7 shots over the last four ends meant a strong victory to Peter’s team at 28 – 10.
In the final match, Charles ‘morse’ Coode and Viv ‘fifth’ Gear got the early jump on Barry Werfel and Owen ‘wily’ Williams to lead 8 – 1 after five ends. This they then advanced to 18 – 7 after eleven, and the signs were looking ominous. Try as they might, Owen and Barry found the slow Wilson Green more difficult to manage than their opponents who went on to round out a comfortable victory of 28 – 12.