BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY JULY 9th         (Terry Norwood at the desk)

Important bits before important social bowls report to follow:

1. A date for your diary gentlemen; the AGM of the Men’s Bowls Club will be held on Sunday August 17th at 10am. Your committee is in the process of organising nomination forms and setting them up in the usual place with the voting/nomination box at the entrance to the Club. As is required, all positions are up for re-election so we’ll need nominations for President, Vice-President (2), Secretary, Treasurer, Committee Members (6). Nominations will close on August 10th so have a think about who you want to run the Committee for the year.
2. Another reminder that membership fees are now due. To be eligible for social, pennant and competition bowls, bowlers need to be current full members of the Club, so we need everyone to be financial members as soon as possible. In addition, to nominate anyone, or be nominated for the Men’s Club, you need to be a financial member.
3. It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Anne Meredith wife of long time bowler Bill. Anne became ill recently and she and Bill were taken to Canberra to be cared for by their daughter. Anne, who had turned ninety a few months ago, had not enjoyed great health for quite a while. We offer our condolences to Bill and family at this time of mourning. RIP Anne Meredith.
4. On a brighter note, the Men’s Bowls Club was delighted to welcome back to the green Mr Hawaii himself, Col Stone! Col has been under eye treatment for a while but has now recovered sufficiently to be back dazzling everyone with a flashy shirt! Great to see you back on the green Col!
5. Both Men and Women bowlers are reminded that the schedule for nominating for the Club Championship Mixed Pairs is on the notice board awaiting your names. Come on ladies and gents, get talking, get organised and get your names listed. This is a major event, so we want a long list of entrants worthy of such a competition. The first round of play is set down for July 19th, so urgent action is required. Let’s get cracking!
6. The Rookie Singles competition continues on Saturday with the playing of the semi-finals. Barb Wainberg will take on Denis Lees, while Mark Barrow will tackle Tizi Lear. Two women and two men, how good is that!

Wednesday Social Bowls

Forty-one bowlers were flushed out by the sunny weather, an excellent number. The Match Committee organised seven games of triples, but with the odd number, one had to have a swing lead bowler for both teams. The eager, ever-agreeable Barb Wainberg was happy to be a certain winner by filling the swing role. And, because of the large number, it was decided to play a couple of the matches on the grass of the Wilson Green to see how it was running. As it happened, the Wilson passed the test, with the majority of the twelve bowlers agreeing to say that it was ‘playable’. However, it was also agreed that a light scarify and additional rolling would smooth and quicken the surface. OK, so to the matches . . .

On rink 3 of the Wilson Green, Ian ‘Mr Cool’ Duncan, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and the irrepressible Chris Forrester battled against Brian ‘misère’ Bailey, Don ‘gentleman’ Chapman and Terry ‘PNE’ Norwood, and it was team Norwood that won the first three ends with singles. Chris’ team hit back with a four shotter, but, when they dropped a four themselves on the tenth end, they were behind 5 – 11. And then the turning point of the game arrived . . . Chris’ team cracked an eye-watering five shotter on the thirteenth and with a three to follow, thundered to the lead. From there it was nip and tuck, and with one end to play the scores were locked at 17 all. In a tight end, a single saw Chris and his boys home in a great game. All bowlers had their moments, but Peter and Don had a great battle as seconds.

Peter had great battle with ‘man of the match’ Don!

 

On rink 4 (still on the Wilson), Mark ‘straw’ Barrow, Mark ‘very rowdy’ Rundle and the ‘dasher’ Clive Neutze tussled against Russell ‘the crow’ Dunstan, Arnie ‘dickie knee’ Lenczuk and coach extraordinaire Robin Staples. Both sides scored early so that by the fifth end the score was 5 – 4 in favour of Clive’s team. They pushed this out to 8 – 5, but a solid run of four of five ends saw Robin’s team take a handy lead of 15 – 10. Team Staples then continued to out-muscle their opponents and by the eighteenth end were in a commanding position at 21 – 11. And then a hurricane hit . . . a double followed by a juicy five shotter had team Neutze within two shots, and with one end to play the nerve ends were jangling! And team Neutze won the last end, but could only come up with a double, so Robin’s team held on for a 21 – 20 victory.

Arnie’s red bowls took a while to behave on the Wilson grass!

On rink 7 of the Waratah Green, Jill ‘hollywood’ Harwood, Charles ‘morse’ Coode and Joe ‘rusty nail’ O’Donnell faced off against Shane ‘newknee’ Harvey, Graham ‘leaning tower’ Hunt and the ‘miracle man’ Peter Morales, and it was Joe’s team that had the better of the opening ends. They grabbed an impressive four shotter on the second end and followed with a three on the fifth to lead 8 – 2. However, Peter then got his boys cracking and when they notched up a four and three on the eighth and ninth ends, the scores were locked at 10 all. The teams then won alternate ends so that by the fifteenth there was only one shot separating them. It was then that Joe’s team broke the deadlock, and with each of the trio out-bowling their opposites, they had much the better of the last six ends. The final score in a game that had been a close tussle most of the day was 22 – 15.

After a win like this, Joe was certainly due a ‘rusty nail’!

 

On the next rink, Col ‘Hawaii’ Stone, Graham ‘hardnut’ Hartnup and Steve ‘incognito’ Day faced off against Joel ‘AC/DC’ Hunt, Denis ‘rowdy’ Lees and the wily Bob Edwards. With both sides feeling the other out in the blustery conditions, things were tight and scoring low early so that after six ends, Steve’s team led 4 – 3. And then Bob’s team broke the mould, burst from the blocks and led 14 – 6 after thirteen ends . . . breathtaking stuff!! They then progressed the score to 20 – 7 with five to play and team Edwards were handing around the cigars. Boom . . . the cigars were shattered by an avalanche of great bowls from team Day; a 3 followed by 3, 4 and 2 meant there was only one shot in it with one end to play! In a cliff-hanger, Bob’s team managed to snaffle a single on the last and so get home in a game that almost slipped through their fingers. Phew!

Definitely incognito . . . we think it was Steve Day!

On rink 9, Peter ‘senior’ Marshall, Terry ‘pepper’ Salter and Dave ‘beanie’ Charlesworth took on Barry ‘smerfel’ Werfel, Paul ‘mac’ McInerney and Richard ‘ten pin head’ Denman, and it was Richard’s team that swamped the opposition at the start to lead 7 – 1 after five ends. Before Dave’s team could catch their breath, the score was out to 11 – 1, and there was thought that oxygen might be needed to get team Charlesworth to the mat! And the score was 16 – 4 before the oxygen (or something!) kicked in and team Charlesworth went on a run . . . six of the next seven ends in fact, so that by the eighteenth end they were just four behind. Game on! Ah, the ever calm Richard was apparently unphased, kept his cool, inspired his team and got them home by winning the last three ends. 21 – 13 it finished!

Where can you but a beanie like that Dave!

On the next rink, Wal ‘speckles’ Markow, Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie and ‘flushed from success in the Pairs’ Gordon Lewis welcomed the challenge of Alex ‘wides’ Christlo, Owen ‘wily’ Williams and Rowena ‘morselle’ Coode. With gusty breeze at their backs, Rowena’s team had the better of the opening ends to lead 6 – 1 after five.  Gordon’s team found some better form, but at the eleventh end Rowena’s side still held sway at 11 – 6. And then the wheels fell of the Rowena led cart . . . completely! It was like a ‘once in a hundred year storm’ hit the Coode cart and the occupants were left prostrate! They couldn’t get a bowl near the jack and team Lewis showed them no mercy. End after end went to Gordon’s team as they relentlessly out-bowled their hapless opponents. In the only blow-out result of the day, the final score was 25 – 12.

Gordon’s good form just goes on . . . and on . . . !!

In the last game on rink 11, Barb ‘style’ Wainberg was swing bowler for Mike ‘gaff’ Hook and Viv ‘top’ Gear on the one side and Neville ‘nifty’ Tanner and Mick ‘potters’ Flynn on the other. Despite dropping a nasty three shotter on the first end, Viv’s side won the next four to lead happily at 7 – 3. Mick then steadied his crew, and by the tenth end had the scores locked at 8 all. In what had become a really tight affair, team Gear then edged to the lead, but by the fifteenth, the teams were back on even terms at 11 all. It was then 12 all and 13 all, and with one end to play Viv’s team were up by a shot. And, as would seem very fitting, Mick’s team notched a single on the last end for the game to finish all square at 14 all! What a great tight game, and alas, as swing lead, Barb wasn’t a winner after all!!

The style of birthday boy Viv!