BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY MARCH 26th         (Terry Norwood at the desk)

Some general info for a start:

1. The Regional Pennants competition will have a break of two weeks while higher level championships are held in rural NSW. The Bowral Grade Six side is currently in second position on the competition table, five points behind the Picton Razorbacks. When the competition resumes on April 12th, Picton and Bowral will clash at Picton in a game that should go a long way to deciding the winner of the Nepean Highlanders section three competition. After that game on the 12th, there will be one more round, so there is plenty of bowling yet to roll out.
2. Currently, two long standing members, Jim Starkey and Col Stone, and Betty Lewis, wife of Gordon are battling serious ailments. Members might like to keep them in their thoughts and send positive energy.
3. Next Wednesday morning, April 2nd, will see a Wiggles Show at the Club for hundreds of preschoolers of the community. Despite this, the Men’s Match Committee has decided to run bowls as usual commencing at 12.30. Nobody is certain at this stage about parking in the middle of the day, so it could be pot luck. The Match Committee will attempt to have the gate behind the Lewis Green unlocked to assist if the front parking area is chaotic.
4. The Strategic Plan finalised after the conclusion of the survey of members is now on its way to the Chair of the Club Board. Also on its way is a draft of an approach to sponsorship which we hope will be acted on soon. Both of these documents have been prepared by committee member Ian Duncan who has been hard at work for a couple of months.
5. General Manager Tony Dunn and his wife Kate have now finished their tenure at the Club and the Men’s Bowling Committee bids them well and offers thanks for their commitment to progressing the Club over the past five years. A former GM of the Club, Trevor Olsen has stepped into the breach on an interim basis until a new GM is appointed.

Wednesday Social Bowls

Thirty-eight bowlers turned out on what was a very pleasant Wednesday afternoon. It was fairly warm but a cooling breeze kept the conditions much to everyone’s liking. However, in not making up its mind from where it wished to blow, the breeze was a bit of a pest from time to time. With thirty-eight bowlers, the Match Committee organised two games of pairs and five of triples.

On rink 7, Jill ‘Hollywood’ Harwood, Graham ‘hardnut’ Hartnup and Viv ‘low’ Gear battled against Graham ‘James’ Bond, Don ‘gentleman’ Chapman and Arnie ‘dickie knee’ Lenczuk. And ‘battled’ was the situation for team Gear from go to whoa! Despite taking a shot on the first end, Viv’s team didn’t win another end until the seventh, and by the tenth end were down 16 – 3! Oxygen puffer time! They got the score to 8 – 17 by the fourteenth, but could rustle up only one more shot as Don and Arnie’s red bowls continuously gained the jack. A big win to Arnie’s team by 24 – 9.

On the next rink, Bill ’emeritus’ Meredith, John ‘handcuffs’ McGuire and the wily Bob Edwards took on Alex ‘wides’ Christlo, Rowena Coode and Robin ‘maestro’ Staples. Robin’s team won the first couple of ends but by the sixth Bob’s boys led 6 – 3. Continuing their superiority, team Edwards then pushed their lead to 11 – 5 by the eleventh and had the opposition under pressure. Robin’s team edged the score to 9 – 11, but a run of solid ends by team Edwards had them well in front at 17 – 11 with two ends to play. And then the hurricane hit . . . a single on the twentieth followed by a magnificent five on the last to Robin’s team secured them a last gasp draw! What a fight back!

In a pairs match on rink 9, Barb ‘stretch’ Wainberg and Mick ‘potters’ Flynn tussled for honours against Wal ‘speckles’ Markow and Bruce ‘scratched’ Yahl. Straight into form, Mick and Barb burst from the blocks to lead 7 – 1 after four ends. Bruce and Wal took singles on the next two ends, but by the eleventh were down 3 – 15 and gasping! However, with plenty of G and D, Wal and Bruce hung in over the back half and managed to outpoint Barb and Mick. On the run home,  they netted nine shots to seven to add respectability to the score-line. Unfortunately for Bruce and Wal, it was the front half of the match where the damage was done, and the catch-up was too great.

On rink 10, Mark ‘straw’ Barrow, Charles Coode and Dave ‘pot black’ Charlesworth faced off against Denis ‘rowdy’ Lees, Harold ‘stentless’ Wall and the miracle man Peter Morales. In a bright opening, Peter’s team won four of the first five ends to lead 5 – 2. Far from done, Dave’s boys hit back strongly and by the eighth end led 8 – 5. Peter’s team then had a fine run winning five of the next six ends to lead 13 – 9. Again, Dave and his men dug deeply to win the next four ends and lead 14 – 13 with three ends to play. In a nail-biting finish, Peter’s team nabbed two singles to the one by Dave’s boys, and so the score finished 15 all! What a beauty!

In a triples match on rink 11, Barry ‘smerfel’ Werfel, Graham ‘leaning tower’ Hunt and Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight sought bragging rights over Mark ‘midshipman’ Shelvey, Paul ‘macmac’ McInerney and Richard ‘ten pin head’ Denman. With plenty of chat, both sides won early ends for the score to be 5 – 4 in favour of Richard’s team. They then pushed this to 9 – 6 after nine ends and had furrowed brows on the opposition. And then the furrowed brows switched sides as Peter’s team won four of the next five ends to lead 16 – 12. This became 17 – 14 on the sixteenth until Mark on Richard’s team starting to slip some bowls onto the jack. In a rousing finish, team Denman swamped the opposition to sail home 24 – 18 victors.

On rink 12, Bill ‘jockey’ Dodwell, Neville ‘the’ Tanner and Peter ‘admiral’ Watson fought for honours against Grahame ‘dragon’ Denman, Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie and Terry ‘puff’ Norwood. After loosing a single on the first end, Peter’s team grabbed an eye-watering six on the second and had the opposition floundering. Keyed up, team Watson pushed the lead to 10 – 2 after five and it was close to smelling salts time! Team Norwood hung in but were still well behind on the card at 6 – 14 after eleven ends. And then the fightback began . . . one end became six on the trot and a one shot lead to team Norwood with one to play! On the last, one down to a bowl 12 inches from the jack, Peter drew a forehand for shot, and then a backhand for two with his last for victory! Brilliant!

In the final match, a pairs on rink 15, Joel ‘grr’ Hunt and Chris ‘ebullient’ Forrester ground away against Mark ‘rowdy’ Rundle and John ‘junior’ Cummins. With Junior a little under the weather, Joel and Chris leapt into action immediately to lead 8 – 0 after five ends. Mark and John then found some better rhythm to win a couple of ends and give the opposition a bit of cheek at 3 – 9 behind. Down but not out, Junior and Mark won five of the next seven ends and were hanging in at 10 – 15. And then the wheels fell of the Cummins cart when Chris and Joel bagged a six shotter. When stumps were drawn after eighteen ends, the score was 22 – 11 in favour of Joel and Chris. Joel, as is his habit these days, had a fine game.