BBC BROADCAST SATURDAY/SUNDAY OCTOBER 21st/22nd (Terry Norwood at the desk)
A few points of info to begin with:
- These reports are now being printed off and posted on the Men’s notice board at the club. They’ll stay up for about a week and be replaced when the next lot is ready to go up.
- According to those who’ve used it, the new shade cloth is very effective in giving protection from the sun. We just need to keep remembering to wind it back after use. The system is working well at the moment, so let’s keep it going.
- The BBQ after bowls last Wednesday seemed to go off very well thanks to Ted, Graham and those who jumped in to help. The next BBQ will be a Saturday affair on November 11th to which all bowlers are invited.
- The mixed pairs competition got underway on Sunday with the staging of round 1. More on that in the bowls reports below. Although a couple of matches will need to be postponed due to Zone commitments, Round 2 will get underway next Sunday the 29th at 10am.
- And just to repeat a request from the Men’s Bowling Committee – we ask that, when on or around the greens, any rubbish be placed directly into the black garbage bins and not into the small blue plastic buckets that are the numbered rink markers. The task of clearing those blue rink markers currently rests with the Match Committee members so you’ll be giving us a hand by using the black bins.
Social Bowls Saturday October 21st
Eighteen keen bowlers turned out for social bowls under clear skies on Saturday afternoon. With the Wilson Green still out of commission, play was assigned to the fairly quick surface of the Waratah Green. Given the number of bowlers, three games of triples were organised.
Rink 8 saw the two wily lefties Mick Flynn and Bob Edwards go head to head, Bob teamed with Graham Hartnup and Owen Williams, and Mick with Ian Duncan and Keith Edwards. Mick’s team had the better of the opening to lead 6 – 2 after five ends. They then continued to keep themselves in front on the scorecard to lead 10 – 4 after nine ends. However, Bob led his team into better form so that they were only a shot down on the thirteenth. Spurred into action, Mick’s team scored seven shots on the next two ends to put themselves in the box seat. Team Edwards, not giving in lightly, won four of the last six ends but were unable to bridge the gap. Mick’s team were victors at 22 – 16. The match report indicated that the stars of the game were Keith Edwards and Ian Duncan; well done boys.
On rink 10, Grahame Denman, Terry Norwood and Stephen ‘bundy’ Day took on Graham ‘red hot’ Hunt, Ian ‘equally red hot’ Crow and skipper ‘scorchingly red hot’ Craig Norman. In a blistering opening to the game with all three bowlers right on the jack, team Norman led 11 – 0 after four ends. This had Steve and his men reeling and gasping for breath! Stunned, they managed to reap a couple of shots on the next end, but when they lost the next two ends they were down 14 – 2. However, with Steve then finding some better touch (without much help from his team mates), his team won the next three ends but were still down 19 – 6 after thirteen ends. With Graham, Ian and Craig all continuing to crowd the jack, they led 25 – 6 after sixteen ends, and, despite team Day squeaking into double figures went onto a crushing victory of 30 – 11! Ouch!
The final triples game saw Andy Connor, Arnold ‘black foot’ Lenczuk and skipper Bob ‘ebullient’ Crowley pitted against Peter Cornwell, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and skipper ‘Mr calmness’ himself, Gordon ‘cobbler’ Lewis. And with Gordon in tiptop form, his team blitzed the opening ends. Admittedly, team Crowley was in the doldrums, but Gordon and his boys buried them over the first seven ends to lead 13 – 0. But then the wheels fell off the Lewis jalopy and Gordon’s calmness evaporated! Bob hit scintillating form for his team to win the next ten ends on the trot and lead 18 – 13. Wow, what a turnaround and Gordon’s thigh was getting quite a workout from his hat! Bob’s team then led 19 – 14 with two ends to play, but three shots to team Lewis on the next end set the match up for a tight end. As the last end unfolded, Gordon’s team held four shots, and game, with Bob’ last bowl to come. With calmness and precision, Bob cut out the loss to one shot and so took out victory. It was 19 – 18 in a thriller!
Mixed Pairs Competition Round 1 Sunday 22nd
On rink 10, Reta South and Bob Edwards took on Rowena and Charles Coode. Although Rowena and Charles won the first couple of ends, they soon found themselves under pressure from the Reta/Bob combination. Reta and Bob led 7 – 3 after six ends and then pushed that lead out to 16 – 6 at the end of the tenth end. With Reta in fine form and Bob chipping in well they then led 24 – 7 after thirteen ends and had their opponents under great pressure. Over the last eight ends the Coodes won six ends but, unfortunately for them, they could muster only singles and didn’t cut greatly into the lead. The final score in this twenty-one ender was 26 – 13 in favour of Reta and Bob.
Reta came out on top in the battle of the leads!
On rink 9, Terry Butt and skipper Lynne Boshier battled it out against Scott Kennon and skipper Sylvia Handley. Terry and Lynne made a very impressive start with threes on each of the first two ends, and by the sixth end, led 10 – 3. With Scott and Sylvia struggling in the wind a little more than their opponents, they had slipped further behind at 5 – 13 on the eleventh end. Terry and Lynne continued to get the better of the opposition winning five of the next six ends and looked very comfortable at 21 – 7. They then cruised home to an impressive 22 – 9 win and passage into round 2. In all, they won fourteen of the twenty-one ends to dominate the match. Next Sunday they look likely to prove difficult opponents for Bob and Mandy Challender in Round 2.
Sylvia and Scott show their styles from the mat!
The third match saw newcomer Eliza Kennon paired with Kevin ‘smooth’ Stafford against Margaret Dawkins and Graham ‘grouper’ Hunt. In a tight opening, both teams got on the scorecard early with Eliza and Kev leading 4 – 2 after five ends. Although Eliza was bowling impressively in her first game, it was then that Graham hit top form and with Margaret contributing skilfully, they surged to the lead. With three threes, they led 13 – 4 and had their opponents more than a little worried at the halfway stage. Each team then had short bursts of success so that after sixteen ends Graham and Margaret still led 17 – 10. It was at this point that Kevin hit top form, and with Eliza still putting down some excellent bowls, they ground their way to within two shots with one end to play. And what a last end it was with two shots from Eliza on the Jack, a couple from Margaret close in and a couple from Kevin … the count was two shots to Eliza and Kevin and the scores were tied. And so to an extra end which saw Graham and Margaret holding shot when the skippers went to the mat for their final bowls. With the bowl of the match, and there had been many excellent bowls put down, Kevin nudged his partner’s bowl in to take the game 18 – 17.
Kevin, Eliza, Margaret and Graham on the mat. What a cracker of a game this was!
Round 2 Matches October 29th
Because of Zone 5 commitments, two of the four quarter final matches of round 2 will need to be postponed and rescheduled. The two matches which will be played at 10am on the 29th are
Terry Butt/ Lynne Boshier Vs Mandy Challender/Bob Challender
Jim Neely/Gail Fraser Vs Kate Flight/Peter Flight
We wish you good bowling!