By TARA SHAW Caragabal – Well what a wonderful bowls day on Thursday January 30 four teams travelled to Caragabal as a warm up to the Pennants games commencing in February. Starting at 7pm was a different experience for our Bushranger bowlers but the opportunity to play on a terrific synthetic green was an opportunity not to be missed. "We played against a very strong Grenfell side which may I say they were the strongest of all the teams to play including Forbes and Caragabal," said Greg Gunn. "Our game was close with the first 12 ends going both ways, however something went wrong in the last few ends. We managed to hold a very strong side to 20-14 loss. "The paperwasp attack at the start of the game wasn’t the best but they seemed to attack the good, the bad and the ugly but they left Baassy (John Baass) alone." Christan West skipped one of the team and said the Armstrong foursome was off to a hot start under lights. Weight was the key on the beautiful synthetic surface and the cold beets had no effect on the goldminers (Grenfell). A minor injury to Brian (Spro) Asimus saw Big Gus from Caragabal fill in for him. The team was shuffled around and saw Clint Hurford move into the skip role to stage a great comeback and got within two off getting the win. Jeff Nicholson skipped for Joe Nicholson, Dennis Byrnes and Laurie Crouch. Jeff said the green was a little tricky for Joe to start with and Forbes started to find their way on the 11th end. Dennis and Laurie hit their straps to have the gold diggers in panic mode. Trailing by one on the 16th, Forbes won the next nine ends to put them in the lead 20-14. Consensus across the teams was that it was great night, possibly one of the best bowls say/night some have had in a while. Caragabal club were outstanding hosts with plenty of cold beer and sausage sangas for the bowlers following the game. Major Pairs Round 1 one Major Pairs has kicked off with eight teams getting in early to get their first game over and done. Robert (Pooch) Dukes skipping for Brett Davenport played Bobby Grant and Denis Byrnes. A tight game played with Pooch and Brett winning the game 20-18 to advance through to Round 2. Cherie Vincent and Lyall Strudwick drew against Greg Gunn and Geoff Williams. Greg and Geoff stamped their position early keeping their opponents at bay until the 10th end. Greg and Geoff were the victors of the game 26-6. New to Major Pairs, Billy Cowell lead for Laurie Crouch who played the Hodge Duo (Chris & Russell). Billy & Laurie took the win 23-14 to advance through. Shayne Staines and Shane Bolam came up against Christan West and Alf Davies. Very close game that kept everyone on their toes with Alf and Westy coming away with the win 19-14. Wednesday social bowls It was supposed to be cooler last Wednesday than previous days but was it? Some may not think so amongst the 14 who turned up for a roll where card draw winners were the two B’s, Bill O’Connell and Barry Shine from a ‘hot’ Irene Riley who was one to fell the heat leading for Billy Cowell. They scraped home 18-17 in 18 ends giving away three on the first three ends before hitting the lead 13-6 after eight. They were never headed but did loose the run home, 5-0 over the last three ends. In a battle over 20 ends Sue White and Alf Davies won 18-12 over Sue Smith and Lyall Strudwick. Only a shot or two separated the pairs, 8-all after 10, 11-10 at the end of 15 for Sue and Alf to win the last five ends 7-2. In a game of triples featuring the Dunstan clan ... Bill Scott, Ray Dunstan and Bob Grant won 15-10 in 14 ends over Leslie Dunstan, John Gorton and ‘one down the back’ in skip Kerry Dunstan. Kerry and Co must have felt it was to be their day leading 6-0 after only two ends to then let in 13 over the next seven ends to be behind 13-6. All over ‘red rover’. Wednesday bowls for all, noms no later than 9am for a 9.30am start. Play before the heat sets in. Thursday bowls The heat kept the numbers down for Thursday social bowls with only 10 players braving the warmer conditions. In the triples game Ange Dwyer, Max Vincent and Cherie Vincent played against Noel Hocking, Dale Maynard and Wayne Burton. Ange and the husband and wife team were to good and won the game 21-8. Tara Shaw and Christian West drew Billy Cowell and Al Phillips. Tara and Westy were off to a flying start but Billy and Al fought back. Tara and Christian were victors of the game 15-13. No resting touchers or Raspberries reported. Sunday bowls With four Major Pairs comp games played at the same time there were two full greens of bowlers including 28 social bowlers which was great to see. Ange Dwyer lead for Jamie Dukes taking on Dale Maynard and the injured Brian (Spro) Asimus. The injury didn’t slow Spro down with the scoreboard showing Dale and Spro leading 15-5 at half time. Ange and Jamie got a few more points on the board but it wasn’t enough going down 11-22. Pat O’Neill and Al Phillips teamed up against Peter Greenhalgh and Jason Howell. 3 points the difference at halftime, Peter and Jason just in front 8-5. Pat and Al picked up a 6 on the 11th and stormed home for the win 20-11. Trish Todd and John Gorton paired against Terry Murphy and Ron Thurlow. Trish and John leading 13-2 at oranges, Terry and Ron won 5 on the next 8 ends but couldn’t match with score. Trish and John won 16-9. Jax Murphy who is improving every week lead for Al Hilder to be drawn against Christan Markwart and Peter Mackay. Christan and Peter in front by 1 on 8, Jax and Alan picked up a 3 and 4 to win the game 18-13. Kelly Stringer and Mitch Andrews drew Tara Shaw and Peter Tisdell. A slow start for Tara and Peter who had no runs on the board until the 6th. Peter and Tara started their comeback tour after the break to gain valuable points but couldn’t win the game going down 9-17. Tyler Murphy and Mick Merritt played Cheryle Hodge and Ross Williams. Eight all on 8 the game was anyone's. Cheryle and Ross won 6 of the next 8 ends to win the game 18-10. The last pairs game for the day was Max Vincent leading for John Cutler taking on Paul Bray and Bruce Jones. Neck and neck all the way 8 all on 8, 9 all on 10. Max and John just skipped ahead picking up a 3 on the last to win 17-16. Winning Rink went to Mitch Andrews and Kelly Stringer. Losing Rink was won by Ange Dwyer and Jamie Dukes. Resting touchers were award to Mitch Andrews, Dale Maynard, Peter Greenhalgh and Pat O’Neill. No raspberries were recorded. Jackpot did not go off so will jackpot next week. Chicken Raffle winners were: Peter Besgrove, Jax Murphy x 2, Clint Hurford, Al Phillips, Mitch Andrews, Scott Andrews, Ross Williams and Spro.
