BOWLS

We are gearing up for our annual July Mixed Pairs carnival being held on the 4th and 5th July which we will see a lot visitors in town to participate in our two-day carnival.

We will welcome back a lot of familiar faces who attend our carnivals on a regular basis and also welcome a lot of new players to our club.

This will be a great weekend with top notch bowls being played and a great weekend for spectators.

There was plenty of hype across the greens over the weekend with our club champion games rolling through.

A reminder to those who still need to organise games, please do so as soon as you can, there are a lot of games to get through before the semi-finals in September.

Shayne Staines, Ian Hodges and Bert Bayley just scraped through in their 20-18 win for Major Triples game against Viv Russell, Glen Kearney and Laurie Crouch.

Team Bayley led from the get-go leading 8-3 on 9, Team Crouch won two in a row adding an additional 4 points to their scoreboard to trail by 2 points on the 10th. Team Bayley had a great run over the next 5 ends to increase their lead again 13-7 on 15.

Team Crouch dug deep on the back 9, picking up two fours but Team Bayley was not giving up that easily. Team Crouch scored a single on the last end but it wasn’t enough to claim victory over the game.

Shayne, Ian and Bert will now face Wayne Wright, Tim Everest and Dale Scott for round 2 of the competition.

Peter Hocking, who has not played bowls for some time, teamed with his son Phil Hocking to participate in the Minor Pairs this year. Phil and Peter drew the dynamic duo of Paul Baker and John Cutler.

John and Paul, who have been a force to be reckoned with in the past, played as if they have not skipped a beat leading the score board 14-5 on 10, picking up a five and a four on the next ends increased their lead.

On the final bell, Paul and John came away with the win 29-6 and will now play Wayne Wright and Steve Turner.

Cherie Vincent and Phil Hocking battled it out on Sunday for the Minor Singles draw.

Cherie had the first runs on the board gaining 7 points on the first four ends. Phil answered and won the next five and changed leader position 11-7.

Cherie showed no signs of taking her foot off the accelerator and once again hit the lead on 11 until Phil scored a 4 on the 12th to lead the board again. Phil won 5 on the back 6 ends to win the game 25-14.

Phil will now meet Pat O’Neill in round 4 of the competition.

Lyndy Bokeyar and Clint Hurford were able to pip Tara Shaw and Shayne Staines at the post in the 24-20 win in the Mixed Pairs.

It was a close game over the first nine ends, 7 all on 6, 12-10 on nine then Lyndy and Clint started to pull away. 18-11 on 12, Tara and Shayne had their work cut out for them to climb back. Gaining a 5 on the 13th, Tara and Shayne were back in the game trailing by 2.

19 all on 15, three ends to go, Lyndy and Clint gained a 4 on the next to hit the front again. Tara and Shayne won the next but couldn’t quite match Lyndy and Clint to win the game.

Phil Hocking and Kerry Roach are the next players to play Lyndy and Clint on the draw.

SOCIAL BOWLS

Wednesday bowls – Playing his first game of competition lawn bowls Neil Reilly had his playing partners asking ‘are you sure’ as he ‘kissed’ the kitty four, or is that five times, in his first six deliveries.

Neil, leading for the in-form Peter Mackay, they had all the answers early but had to be satisfied with a 21-13 loss to morning winners Barry Shine and Sue White.

Neil and Peter led 3-1 after three ends before 8-all at the end of 10. However, Barry and Sue finished the stronger only losing four more ends of 22 played.

Runners-up were Wayne Wright and Noel Jolliffe dressed to perfection in their Dragons NRL colours with a 22-16 win in 20 ends over Irene Reilly and John Gorton. The start won it for them leading 20-5 after 12 to only register more points, on end 19.

It can’t get any closer than the 19-all draw between Bill Scott and Laurie Crouch who battled Don Craft and Kerry Dunstan over 22 ends.

Don and Kerry were 11-4 in front at 13 ends and despite battling a bit at the end still let 19-16 before the last. Naturally a three to Bill and Laurie on the last secured the draw.

Colleen Liebich can play, and she did again on Wednesday morning leading for John Kennedy winning 23-11 in 20 over Ann Mackay and Paul Doust. They had few problems leading 17-1 after 11.

Peter Barnes keeps showing his sporting talents matching his golf skills to the bowling greens skipping for Geoff West and Leslie Dunstan winning triples 14-8 in 16 ends over Therese Davis, Angela Dent and the musio extraordinaire Lyall Strudwick. Not much in it early before the winners jumped to a 11-5 lead at 11.

Winner of the Jelbarts Tyrepower wheel alignment was Laurie Crouch while Noel Jolliffe won the meat raffle. Wednesday morning bowls for all, noms by 9.30am for a 10am start.

Thursday bowls – a little chillier than the previous day but 10 brave bowlers braved the weather for an afternoon of bowls.

Our pairs game was played by Bobby Grant and Laurie Crouch defeating Noel Hocking and Viv Russell 19-13. Bobby and Laurie were leading the first 10 ends until the scoreboard was levelled on the 11th end 8 all.

Keeping it a close game, 12 all on 16, 13 all on 18 with two to go. Bobby and Laurie scored two 3’s on the last two to concrete their win.

The triples game was played by Al Hilder, Wayne Burton and Cherie Vincent verse Tara Shaw, Wayne Wright and Posso Jones. Posso’s team scored a 6 on their first end but needed to keep that momentum going. 14-4 on 10, Posso’s team didn’t run out of steam.

Three ends a piece on the last six ends but Cherie’s team didn’t quite make it over the finish line in time with final score, Team Posso, 18-12.

Jackpot winner of the day: Wayne Burton.

Sunday bowls – With a lot of competition games happening at the same time we still had 32 bowlers to enjoy the cracking weather on the greens.

Jax Murphy and Steve Turner practicing for their upcoming A & B Pairs game, defeated Juss Scifleet and Pat O’Neill 21-9. Jax and Steve kept Juss and Pat scoreless until the 7th end, the scoreboard showing 14-1. Half time break did not affect Jax and Steve performance who won 6 of the last 8 ends and the game.

Dale Maynard and John Kennedy were a well-oiled machine in their 20-5 win over Chris Simmonds and Lyall Strudwick. 11-3 on 8 in favour of Maynard and John Kennedy they kept their rhythm steady all the way to end to win by 15 points, final score 20-5.

Gill Taylor has caught the bowling bug and returned for her 3rd game ever and was teamed with Nathan Suttie to take on Ange Dwyer and Bobby Grant.

Ange and Bobby 9-7 at oranges did not take their foot off the pedal during the break. Ange and Bobby crossed the finish line with a 16-11 win.

Brendan Burley teamed up with his Dad, Darryl Burley drew Kelly Stringer and Billy Cowell. Brendan having not played before, scored their only point in the first eight ends and had to dig deep at half time.

Brendan and Darryl were able to win 1 more end in the back 8 but Kelly and Billy were the winners of the day 29-2.

A close game on rink 9 played by Noel Hocking and Al Phillips verse John Cutler and Brett Davenport. 8 apiece on 8, who was going to come out of the break swinging?

Noel and Al had the first points on the board after half time but were answered on the 12th, 11 all. Noel and Al just slipped away to secure their win 18-15.

Wayne Wright and Al Hilder were the victors, 20-5 when they drew John Simmonds and Paul Doust. Straight out of the starting boxes, Wayne and Al were 11-2 up on 8.

John and Paul had to dig deep in their bag of tricks, but Wayne and Al sprinted to the end with their victory.

The two Peter’s, Peter Mackay and Peter Tisdell gelled together from the start and had a four-point lead, 10-6 on 8 over Terry Murphy and Sue White.

Terry and Sue added a 3 to their side of the board following the break but it was no match against Peter's 4’s and 3’s to seal the deal 21-11.

The last game of the day was played by Trish Todd leading for Scott McKellar against Joyce Gray and Robert (Pooch) Dukes.

Joyce and Pooch started well and picked up a 4 on the 3 which contributed to their 10-4 lead at the break. Trish and Scott were able to gain 9 points over 3 ends but it wasn’t enough to catch Trish and Pooch who did the victory dance for their 18-13 win.

Winning rink: Ange Dwyer and Bobby Grant. Losing rink: John Simmonds and Paul Doust.

Resting touchers: Wayne Wright, Peter Mackay, Pat O’Neill, Jax Murphy, Pooch, JC, Trish Todd, Scott McKellar and Kelly Stringer. No recorded raspberries.

Jackpot winner of the day – Brett Davenport.

Chicken raffle winners: Dick Sharkey, Chris Simmonds, Ron Thurlow, John Simmonds, Wayne Wright, Pat O’Neill, Steve O’Neill, Brad Sharkey and Joyce Gray.