WEDNESDAY BOWLING
The big game on Wednesday 27th July was the final of the minor pairs bringing Wal Markow and Arnold Lenczuk up against Ted McPhee and Chris Forrester. The game was played on the synthetic green (Waratah) with a somewhat tricky wind coming out of the south-west corner. Coming off a big win in the previous week’s semi-final, Wal and Arnold got away to a flying start to lead 7 – 1 after only four ends and had their opponents wondering what they had run into. At that point however, Ted and Chris found their line and length to score 3, 3 and 5 shots on the next three ends. A 7 on the eleventh end saw Ted and Chris in control and leading 20 – 9. With Ted astutely controlling the length of the ends, they dominated from then on and ran out very convincing winners 31 – 11. Both Ted and Chris played well disciplined, consistent bowls and basically shut Wal and Arnold out of the game. Congratulations Ted and Chris, and well done Wal and Arnold for making your way through to the final.
In addition to the pairs final, there were four social games on Wednesday, one on the Waratah green and the remaining games on the newly restored Lewis green. On the Waratah green, Laurence Vipond, Joel Hunt and Paul Rubie took on Graham Denman, Keith Henshall and Graham Hartnup. After an even start, team Rubie scored 3, 2, 6 and 4 to establish a huge 17 – 2 lead by the eighth end. There was no come-back from there and Laurence, Joel and Paul went on to win 30 – 11.
Having not been on the grass for many weeks, the bowlers on the Lewis green faced a heavy surface of narrow draw. Not surprisingly, some of us struggled to pick up the pace and line, and to play consistent bowls. That said, there were those who mastered the conditions quickly and showed the rest of us the way.
On rink 18, Col Stone, Ian Crow and Neville Tanner got away to an excellent start to lead Barry Werfel, Tony Oakes and Joe O’Donnell 11 – 2 after seven ends. Joe’s team got their heads down and reduced the gap to just one shot by the halfway point. Team Tanner steadied, however, and pushed on to win 21 – 14.
On rink 16, Eric Willacy, Steve Day (good to see you back from the sunny north Steve) and Bob Edwards were challenged by Viv Gear, Don Coleman and skipper Mick Flynn. Team Edwards got away to a slightly better start, but by the eleventh end Mick’s side had edged to a 9 – 7 lead. Although Bob’s team led 13 – 10 at one point, their opponents hit a purple patch and went on to win 24 – 14. Skipper Mick was deservedly very pleased after the game.
In the final game on Wednesday, Andy Connor, Terry Norwood and Gordon Lewis took on Richard Denman, Graham Hunt and Robin Staples. Team Staples got away to the better start and led 8 – 1 after eight ends. With the evergreen Gordon Lewis bowling very well, his team managed to keep in touch with their better playing opponents. Although scoring was tight, Robin’s team held a four shot lead with three ends remaining. In an exciting finish, with Gordon leading the way, the match ended in a 13 all draw.
SATURDAY BOWLING JULY 30th
A training session was again held on Saturday morning for aspiring pennant players. In pairs, the bowlers played ends with the scoring modified for individuals to earn points. Lead bowlers had to have both bowls inside their opponent’s best shot to score a point. Second bowlers had to positively alter the head to score a point. Interesting and challenging, this was a very good way to put some of the earlier skills covered to the test in a match situation. All bowlers seemed to enjoy the challenge.
The afternoon saw three pennant trial matches staged on the Lewis green with a couple of social games on the Waratah green. In the first of the pennant trial games, two grade one teams took to the green. Andy Connor, Alastair McGhee, Steve Della and Dugald Braithwaite took on Terry Butt, Carl Spilker, Gary Brown and Mick Anderson. In a very tight game with a high standard of bowls, the lead was exchanged through the first half. The scores were level at 9 all after thirteen ends and play continued to be tight. A 3 on the nineteenth end pushed team Anderson into the lead, and they went on to win 17 – 14.
In the second game, the first grade team of Gordon Lewis, Ashley Lewis, Mick Spong and Mick Armstrong were challenged by the grade four team of Peter Cornwell, Mick Flynn, Tony Oakes and Dave Coltman. As might be expected team Armstrong got away to a very strong start to lead 13 – 1 after six ends and then 19 – 5 after twelve. Bowling extremely well, the grade one boys went on to a comfortable win.
The third pennant trial game was between two grade four teams pitting Ted McPhee, Richard Denman, Terry Norwood and Peter Morales against Arnold Lenczuk, Graham Hunt, Glenn Giese and Bob Crowley. With team Crowley bowling the better, they pushed out to lead 10 – 4 after seven ends. At this point, team Morales found some better form to win the next five ends and draw level at 10 all. With Bob Crowley bowling especially well, his team then established a four shot lead by the eighteenth end. A massive 7 shot haul on the next end ensured team Crowley of a solid victory.
Next weekend, the grade four pennant teams will have matches against Picton who will be sending their teams to Bowral. The Bowral selectors will name the teams shortly and selected players are asked to indicate their availability as soon as possible to ensure things run smoothly on Saturday.
In the social games on the synthetic green, the girls, Reeta South and Julie Hayden, challenged Graham Hartnup and Mike Holmwood. The girls got away to an absolute flyer to lead 11 – 3 at the eleventh end. Not letting up at all, Reeta and Julie went on to a very impressive 22 – 7 victory. In the second social game, Graham Denman and visitor P Irons took on another visitor C George and the wily Keith Edwards. After a very even start, Keith and his partner pushed out to a 10 – 5 lead at the halfway point. Despite sharing the ends in the run home, a 4 and a 5 ensured that team Edwards were victors by 21 – 11.