COMPETITION BOWLS

Majors: Our second semi-final has been played and we now have our two final teams that will battle it out for the championship bragging rights.

Super sub Viv Russell, filling in for Brian Spro Asimus and leading his team, Jax Murphy, Scott Andrews and Mitch Andrews to their victory on Saturday.

The result does not reflect the calibre of bowls that was shown by both teams.

Leading 8-3 in the first 5, Brett Davenport, Ian Hodges, Shayne (Shark) Staines and Bert Bayley definitely had their game faces on. Team Andrews were starting to get their game back on track on 6th. Taking the lead on 7 with a handy 5 points, this game was going to go down to the wire.

Sitting 21 to 10 in front on 12, Andrews' team could not slack off as Bayley's team came through and took the next 5 ends to trail by 3 17-21.

They say it only takes 1 point to make a difference and Andrews' team picked up 3 ends, scoring singles until the end and won the game 24-18.

Spro, Jax, Scott and Mitch will now come up against Clint Hurford, Geoff and Bruce Williams and Robert “Pooch” Dukes in the finals.

Minors: Two games played on Sunday morning to kick off our Minor Triples Championships for the 2025 season.

Billy Cowell, Posso Jones and Cherie Vicent gave it their all when they played Brett Davenport, Shayne (Shark) Staines and Pooch Dukes. Brett and Shark backing up from the day before and carrying their outstanding form into this game, didn’t let their skip down.

It was 14-all on the 19 with two ends to go, both teams were going to go down fighting to the end. Pooch's team was lucky enough to pick up 3 on the last and secured the win 17-15.

The second game was played by Phil Hocking, Tim Everest and Laurie Crouch against Tara Shaw (filling in for Ange Dwyer), Max Vincent and Sue White.

Starting out strong, Sue's team found their groove early and led 11-3 on 8.

Laurie's team started to get their eye in and started their comeback. Picking up a 5 on the 12th, this was certainly handy for their score board to only trail by 1, 11-12.

Laurie's team continued their streak and could smell victory, sprinting across the finish line with the win 25-14.

SOCIAL BOWLS

Due to inclement weather on Wednesday there were no games played for social Wednesday bowls.

Thursday – As the weather temperatures start to increase so do the number of bowlers for Thursday afternoon. 24 bowlers took to the greens endure the cool breeze but the sun was still out and so were great bowls.

Playing her first “comp/social” game was 14-year-old Harmony Hocking teaming up with her Pop, Phil Hocking to play against Tara Shaw and Bobby Grant.

Harmony put down some cracking bowls and was able to read the greens quite early. They dug deep but couldn’t come away with the win, Tara and Bobby winning the game 23-14.

Eddie Gould and Wayne Burton started out a little slower then Dale Maynard and Viv Russell who played like they have been playing together for years. Eddie and Wayne, despite gaining a 5 only trailed by 4 on the 17th 13-17.

In Viv’s words “read em and weep” being the winner on the card 21-15.

Terry Molloy and Cherie Vicent had a great game against Wayne Wright and Scott McKellar. Despite the 9 all score on the 11th, Terry and Cherie were lucky enough to pick up a 4 a 5 and another 4 to increase their lead 22-11 on 15.

Wayne and Scott tried to claw back some points but couldn’t match the board, Terry and Cherie won 25-16.

Our biggest margin card for the day was Tim Everest and Sue White against Dennis Byrnes and John Kennedy.

The one-sided card showed Tim and Sue were a well oiled machine and led 16-3 on 9.

They weren’t taking it easy on Dennis and John and put their foot flat to the floor and crossed the finish line with a 27-8 victory.

Max Vincent and Laurie Crouch were also celebrating their win over Noel Hocking and Cliff Nelson 33-11.

Max and Laurie kept their opponents to single figures until the last end when Noel and Cliff gained a 2. Max and Laurie had lady luck on their side gaining 2 5’s and a 6 during their game.

Our last game was played between John Baass and Jeff Nicholson teaming up against Jason Howell and Dale Scott.

John and Jeff flew straight out of the starting boxes and won 10 of the first 12 ends with the scoreboard showing 16-3 lead. Jason and Dale took the next two but John and Jeff did not slow down. Taking the 5 of the last 6 ends and the victory, John and Jeff won 22-7.

No resting touchers recorded.

Jackpot winner – John Kennedy

Winning rink – Dale Maynard and Viv Russell. Losing rink – Harmony and Phil Hocking.

Sunday – What a morning it was to be on the greens, that's what 20 bowlers said. Five games of pairs and their chance to win the winning rink or the jackpot.

Peter Tisdell and John Kennedy drew Dale Scott and late Al Phillips after a late scratching. Dale and Al led 9-6 at oranges and came out and picked up 2 4’s straight of the back of half time.

Peter and John couldn’t quite close the gap with Dale and Al winning 18-11.

Pat O’Neill and Viv Russell were too good for Juss Scifleet and Cliff Nelson.

Juss and Cliff only managed 1 point on the board in the first 8 and had to talk tactics in the break. They were able to gain a further 7 points in the back 8 but wasn’t enough against Pat and Viv’s 17 runs on the board.

Terry Molloy and Mick Merritt had a closer games against Trish Todd and Bobby Grant. 8-4 in favour of Terry and Mick at the break, Trish and Bobby had to refuel and take the second half.

They gave it their best and only trailed by 1 point on the 11th but Terry and Mick proved too good taking the victory 15-10.

The dynamic duo of brothers Tyler Murphy and Jax Murphy won 22-12 against Daryl Burley and Jason Howell. 11-4 the brothers were in front on 8, Daryl and Jason scored a 3 on the next.

Tyler and Jax answered with a 4 and sprinted to the finish line.

The closest game of the day was between Dennis Byrnes and John Cutler against Terry Murphy and Lyall Strudwick. 5 all on 8 Terry and Lyall pulled out all the stops, winning 5 on the last 8 ends to secure the win by 1, 13-12.

Winning rink – Terry Molloy and Mick Merritt. Losing rink – Juss Scifleet and Cliff Nelson.

Resting touchers: Bobby Grant.

Jackpot winner: Tyler Murphy

Chicken raffle winners: Jim Dukes, Pat O’Neill, Geck Acheson, Debbie Brown, Dick Sharkey, Shark Staines, Al Phillips, Billy Cowell and Nick Bolam.