BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY JANUARY 22nd (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Only gristle to chew on before we get into the social bowls:
- Two of our gentlemen bowlers have been in hospital recently for, in both cases, some minor patch-up work. Don ‘gentleman’ Chapman and Clive ‘dasher’ Neutze are on the mend, but we might need to be gentle with them for a while yet! Go well Don and Clive!
- The next round of pennant trial games will be on Saturday February 1st at 12.30. The selectors have now posted the teams for those games on the notice board so it would be helpful for bowlers to tick off their names or let the selector chairman Robin Staples know if you are unavailable.
- The first pennants game for Bowral will be against Bargo at home on February 8th. The match against Bundanoon scheduled for February 1st has been deferred till March 29th.
- And an oops, we’ve slipped up! Yesterday, Wednesday, a few groups forgot to rewind the shade cloth following the game. Come on chaps, we need the cloth rewound at the conclusion of play each day. If you run it out, you must run it in at the end!
- The minutes (draft) from the Men’s Bowling Committee meeting on Wednesday January 15th are now posted on the notice board. Just ask if there is anything you wish to know.
- The Wilson Green is starting to green up under the minor renovation currently under way. Keep in mind that this green will be out of commission for a few weeks, with barefoot bowls being shifted to the Lewis Green.
Social Bowls Wednesday
Thirty-four bowlers turned out for a roll on what was a fairly nasty day to begin with. The temperature was in the thirties, and a strong blustery north-wester made things even more uncomfortable. Half-way through the afternoon, the wind, still strong, shifted to the south and, mercifully, the temp dropped to something much more pleasant. Bowling east-west, the Match Committee organised two games of pairs, one game of fours and three of triples.
In the 18-ender on rink 7, John ‘boisterous’ Fleming and Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie battled for bragging rights against Neville ‘the’ Tanner and ‘junior’ Cummins. Sleeves rolled, there was action aplenty from both team from the outset. Five all after six ends, junior and Nev cracked a three on the next to be all smiles. However, the smiles shifted as the boisterous one and Mr ricochet won the next six ends and set up a huge lead of 16 – 8. But with the shift in wind came a shift in fortune — a four shotter to Cummins and Tanner put the wind in their sails and by the eighteenth, they were only two behind at 15 – 17. Such was the chest thumping that the challenge was to play two more ends! Great decision for Fleming and Rubie as they secured singles on both and ran out victors 19 – 15.
Take him on at your peril; Paul the plunderer!
In a triples game on rink 8, Joel ‘grr’ Hunt, Graham ‘hardnut’ Hartnup and Dave ‘pot black’ Charlesworth took on Bill ’emeritus’ Meredith, Mike ‘grappling’ Hook and Joe ‘skip’ O’Donnell. Despite dropping a shot on the first end Joe’s team mastered the elements quicker and led 7 – 2 after five ends. Dave and his boys got the score to 7 – 9 after eight, but then had to endure a run of four ends against them. Up 17 – 7, Joe was not about to let his team slip. They ground out a couple of huge ends ( a five shotter and a three), and restricted the opposition to singles on the run home. When time was called after twenty ends, team O’Donnell had a very comfortable lead of 27- 12. And to round out a very satisfying day, Joe cracked a prize in the raffle.
The style of skipper Joe on the mat!
In another triples game on rink 9, Mark ‘wheel’ Barrow, Owen ‘wily’ Williams and the effervescent Chris Forrester shirt-fronted Jill ‘hollywood’ Harwood, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and the wily leftie Bob Edwards. And in a hurricane opening, Chris and his boys crushed the opposition to lead 14 – 1 after seven ends. Now, it seems as though we need a group to undertake first aid training because all members of team Edwards looked as though they needed treatment! They did get the score to 8 – 14 and raised a glimmer of hope for the back half. But no, they were soon under the pump again and looking for mercy. There was none available unfortunately, and the further the game went, the bigger the gap became between the teams. The final score was 31 – 16 to team Forrester, with the wily Owen Williams red hot. In fact, so hot were his bowls that they were left on the bank after the game to cool!!
He of the hot bowls, Owen ‘red hot’ Williams had a blinder!
In the fours match on rink 10, Barb Wainberg, Arnie ‘fruitcake’ Lenczuk Terry ‘puff’ Norwood and the evergreen cobbler Gordon Lewis faced off against Bruce ‘scratched’ Yahl, Ian ‘cool’ Duncan, Mick ‘potty potters’ Flynn and Robin ‘maestro’ Staples. Robin’s team had the better of the opening to lead 5 – 2 after five ends. It was then 6 – 3 after seven, but 17 – 3 when they collected an eye-watering six shotter on the eleventh. All of Robin’s team were out-bowling their opposite number and the signs were very ominous for team Lewis. Gordon pulled his team aside, set a goal and launched into the second half. Much to their relief, they improved in the run home, winning six of the ten ends and reducing the deficit to eight shots. It was, however, a decisive win to Robin’s team with all four bowling well to get home 21 – 13.
Ian and Mick both had fine games for the victors!
In a three-bowl pairs game on rink 11, Wal ‘speckles’ Markow and Graham ‘leaning tower’ Hunt tussled against Keith ‘foxy’ Edwards and Ted ‘Mr Ed’ McPhee. Both sides grabbed the goodies early for Ted and Keith to lead 4 – 3 after five ends. Keith and Ted then edged further ahead, so that by the eleventh end they led 13 – 6. Wal and Graham had won only three ends and were really under the pump. Although they shared the next few ends, the gap remained the same and the pressure still strong. And then, behind 12 – 22, an astonishing end exploded — a full house of six shots secured by Graham and Wal!! Aghast, Ted had fears of having to shout the bar for dropping a full house! Woow, Ted let’s check the fine print of the gentlemen’s agreement . . . get back to you Ted, but in the meantime let’s acknowledge your victory of 25 – 18!
The ‘fox’ had another fine game!
In the final game, a triples on rink 12, Graham ‘dragon’ Denman, Denis ‘rowdy’ Lees and Richard ‘denman’ Denman battled against Alex ‘wides’ Christlo, Barry ‘smerfel’ Werfel and Viv ‘first’ Gear. Both sides won early ends for the score to be 4 – 3 in favour of Viv’s team after five. From there, although things were very tight and scoring low, Viv and his boys won six ends on the trot to lead comfortably at 11 – 3. And then, the massive turnaround came! Perhaps it was the shift in the wind, or maybe something in the water, but Richard’s team went on an enormous scoring spree that could spell only pleasure . . . or pain! In eight ends they amassed an astonishing twenty-three shots and in the process obliterated the opposition! From 3 – 11 down, they turned the game into a 26 – 14 victory. Wow!
The Denman smile was sure to flash after this game!