BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY MARCH 19th         (Terry Norwood at the desk)

Some gristle to chew on as a starter:

1. The Grade Six Pennants side will play its final home game on Saturday when they take on the Tigers from Taralga. Currently running second to the Picton Razorbacks, it is essential that Bowral win this one if we are to contest a showdown with Picton in the following match. Bowl well ladies and gents!
2. Although pennants is being staged on Saturday, there will be room for a couple of rinks for social bowlers. So, if you’re not sitting transfixed by the spectacle of the Pennants, you might want to have a roll on rinks 12 and 15.
3. The Men’s Bowling Committee Executive held its latest meeting at 10am on Wednesday and the minutes from that meeting will be available as soon as cleared by the committee members. Most of the meeting was devoted to finalising the Strategic Plan which will be available as soon as Ian Duncan has been able to update the draft.
4. The Wilson Green is now nearing the stage of some trials to test the upgraded surface. From appearances, its looking OK, although it can never get too much rolling and the cooch runners might benefit from a scarifying. However, it looks as though we are moving in the right direction. Good on you Dale!
5. Social bowlers are reminded that Wednesday April 2nd will see a Wiggles show on in the morning at the Club. Bowls will take place however, even though parking might be a bit of an issue in the middle of the day and there could be young children still around inside and out. Incidentally, for bowls you don’t have to come dressed as a pirate, Dorothy or an octopus, normal bowling clothes will suffice!!

Social Bowls Wednesday

The weather was favourable on Wednesday, although it did get fairly steamy when the sun did its thing mid-afternoon. There was a fluky breeze which kept shifting around and keeping the bowlers on their toes each time they stepped on the mat. It wasn’t, however, of sufficient force to explain the orange bowl that snaked its way from the 10th rink onto the 11th! Thirty-five bowlers stepped onto the Waratah Green in six games of triples, one with swing lead.

On rink 8, Denis ‘rowdy’ Lees, Jill ‘Hollywood’ Harwood and Owen ‘scotty’ Williams tackled Mark Shelvey, Neville ‘the’ Tanner and John ‘junior’ Cummins. Owen’s team grabbed four shots on the first two ends, but by the sixth were leading by a single at 5 – 4. A five shotter on the tenth end then gave team Williams a solid eight shot lead, and things looked tough for John and his men. And when they dropped another five on the thirteenth end, it was time to break out the sniffing salts. And something worked for team Cummins because they clawed their way to within five with one end to play. Alas, too little too late, as team Williams ended the day winners at 21 – 15.

On the next rink, Barb ‘stretch’ Wainberg, Terry ‘Puff’ Norwood and Bob ‘wily’ Edwards battled against Mark ‘straw’ Barrow, Arnie ‘dickie knee’ Lenczuk and the affable nonagenarian Gordon Lewis. Despite dropping a single on the first end, Gordon’s team grabbed a mouth-watering six shotter on the second to send a shudder through the opposition. However, Bob’s lot quickly regrouped, got shots in the head and had the scores levelled by the fourth end. Gordon’s team then led 9 – 7 after seven ends, but a run of five ends to team Edwards put them well and truly on the front foot at 19 – 9. Singles were all that could be chalked up from that point as Bob’s team outpointed the opposition to get home 24 – 13. All bowlers had their moments with the leads, seconds and skips all having solid struggles.

On rink 10, Joel ‘Grr’ Hunt, Richard ‘bowling ball’ Denman and Viv ‘top’ Gear faced off against Alex ‘wides’ Christlo, Paul ‘macmac’ McInerney and Mr Ricochet Paul Rubie. Paul’s team had the better of the early ends to lead 6 – 0 after three, but by the seventh the score was 7 all. And then, by the eleventh end Paul’s team led by a shot, but from that point it was one way traffic in favour of team Gear. They zoomed away on the run home scoring multiples freely, and when they notched up a scintillating six shotter on the nineteenth, they led by twenty. Ouch! Paul’s boys came back to win the last two ends but they were well outplayed on the day. Winning the jackpot after the game was very soothing however!

In the next game, Rick ‘lollypop’ Reynolds, Don ‘gentleman’ Chapman and Mick ‘potters’ Flynn took on Graham ‘hardnut’ Hartnup, Bruce ‘scratched’ Yahl and Clive ‘dasher’ Neutze. Mick’s boys hit the ground running to take the first four ends and notch up six shots. However, Clive’s team reversed the trend taking the next four ends and scoring five. Game on! Mick’s team then gained the edge winning four of the ends nine through fourteen and gaining an eight shot advantage. By the seventeenth the lead was ten, and still ten at the nineteenth; a very commanding lead. Clive and his men picked up five shots on the last two ends to put some more respectability into the final score of 22 – 17.

On rink 12, Wal ‘speckles’ Markow, Harold ‘stentless’ Wall and the Admiral Peter Watson tussled for honours against Bill ‘jockey’ Dodwell, Ian ‘Mr Cool’ Duncan and Dave ‘pot black’ Charlesworth. In a tight opening, the first four ends were shared for the score to be 2 all. Peter’s team then edged in front but when they cracked a seven . . . yes, readers, your specs are ok . . . a SEVEN shotter on the seventh, they led by by ten! Dave’s team dug in to win the next couple of ends, but by the sixteenth, they were down 5 – 26! Down, but not out, for, to their great credit, Dave’s boys rallied to win the final five ends and salvage a respectable score-line at 26 – 14. Wow, a seven shotter!

In the final game, Grahame ‘dragon’ Denman was swing bowler for Barry ‘smerfel’ Werfel and Robin ‘maestro’ on the one hand and Graham ‘leaning tower’ Hunt and Peter ‘miracles’ Morales on the other. In a red-hot opening, Robin’s team blitzed the opposition to lead 11 – 1 after six ends. They then continued their dominance to have the lead out to 16 – 3 on the eleventh, and have the opposition scratching their heads for inspiration. And, fortunately for them, some inspiration was in the air. Peter’s team had the better of the scoring in the back half, outpointing team Staples by six shots overall. However, in the end the deficit was too great to pull back, and victory went to Robin’s team by 26 – 19.