BOWLS

PENNANTS

The finals draw for the Grade Four Mid-West Bowls has been set.

Our mighty Forbes Bushrangers will be playing on Saturday 16 May, 8.30am at Parkes Bowling and Sports Club when they play to win against Bathurst City Bowling Club in the first round.

The winner of this game will have the bye that afternoon for round 2, the loser will take on West Dubbo at 1pm.

Round 3 will be played on Sunday morning at 8.30 in Parkes.

It is an enormous achievement for our Grade Four players and our Sevens that subbed in when needed and it would be even better to be in first place at the end of that weekend.

The players have worked very hard to be in the position they are and they are very proud of each and every player that has put on a Bushrangers uniform and contributed to their success to date.

Let's hope we can continue that performance to bring home the major prize, the win!

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

We are getting to the pointy end of the draw for our Men’s Major Pairs with only one game to go in the third round to determine the top four teams to play the semi finals.

The battle of the two Shanes, Shane Staines (Shark) and Shane Bolam (Bozza) against Ian Hodges and Robert (Bert) Bayley took place on Sunday afternoon.

Ian and Bert stamped their position early and held a 16-3 lead on the 10th.

Mates against mates on and off the green, neither team were going down without a fight. Ian and Bert keeping a valuable lead until the end for their 21-8 victory score.

Similar story on the next door rink on Sunday afternoon, the dynamic duo of Viv Russell and Robert (Pooch) Dukes played Geoff Williams and Greg Gunn who are no strangers to pressure played bowls.

Viv and Pooch leading 14-5 on 10, they could not afford to relax just yet. Winning 7 ends in a row, including picking up a 4, Viv and Pooch crossed the line 27-6.

MINOR SINGLES

Following the inclement weather on Thursday morning, Sue White and Cherie Vincent battled a heavy green to play their game.

Level at 7 all on 10, Cherie was just able to skip through to take the lead in the next two until Sue gained a 3 and the position changed. Sue was able to remain just in front of Cherie for the back half of the game and secured her place in the next round with a 27-18 win.

BENTICK TROPHY

We are slowly getting through the Bentick Trophy draw and we have one semi-finalist, Phil Hocking, waiting for the remainder of the games to be played to find out who his opponent will be.

Closing off another round, Jason Howell (handicapped at 8) played Billy Cowell (handicapped at 8). With a level starting block it was all going to come down to the performance on the day.

Billy led 8-4 on 6 until Jason scored a 3 to close the gap to 1 point difference. Jason holding two and three shots until the all mighty ‘paint brushes’, Billy’s bowls came through and won the end.

Jason was stuck on 9 for 6 ends straight and Billy saw the opportunity to sprint across the finish line with a 26-12 win.

SOCIAL BOWLS

Wednesday bowls – One is an improver while the other has a winning record. That was the winning combination of Phil Bayley and his skip Geoff Williams who were last week victors scoring a 23-16 win in 22 ends over Bill O’Connell and Lyall Strudwick.

It was not all clear sailing as Bill and Lyall led 11-6 after 10 and were still in the game at 14-all after 17 before Phil and Geoff won the last four ends 9-0.

Runners-up were Wayne Wright and Paul Doust, only just, 16-14 in 20 over Bill Scott and Alf Davies back showing his ‘skipper’ skills. Another even early, 7-all after eight and 14-13 after 17.

Darryl Burley and Barry Shine were ‘goodnite’ after the draw playing Irene Riley and Pat O’Neill who won 22-18 in 22.

Both leads had strong games but it was Irene who claimed the chocolates with her skip Pat also playing strong to lead 14-6 after 12.

A new hip is as strong as the form of Cheryl Hodges leading for Billy Cowell winning 20-17 in 20 over Peter Mackay and Dale Scott. Another game won late with a three on the last to Cheryl and Billy.

A real lesson in the last, 33-7 in 20 to Sue Smith (including a resting toucher) and Laurie Crouch winning 33-7 in 20 over Ron Thurlow and John Gorton who only graces the card five times.

A five on end 12 one of many highlights for Sue and Laurie. In-club winner, Pat O’Neill.

Thursday – After a soggy start to the day 10 players were not deterred by the heavy damp green.

A family affair on rink 4 saw Phil Hocking playing with his grandson Ashton for his first game against Richard Green and Laurie Crouch. Chasing 6 points on the 5th, Ashton and Phil won the next four in a row to close the gap and trail by 1. Richard and Laurie took no prisoners and answered back to win the next four in a row. Final score, Richard and Laurie held onto their lead and won the game 17-11.

The triples game was played between Tara Shaw, Al Hilder and Brian Asimus verse Wayne Wright, Viv Russell and Glen Kearney. 9 all on 7, Glen’s team won 4 on the next 5 to have a handy lead 17-12 on 10. Spro pulling out the bombs to cut the opposition down in points, Spro’s team couldn’t quite seal the deal going down 14-20.

No resting touchers were recorded this week but true to form, Wayne Wright was awarded his weekly raspberry along with Phil Hocking and Ashton. Phil took one for the team and had a raspberry as well along side his grandson.

SUNDAY BOWLS: A much different story this week on Sunday for bowls then it was the previous week, 26 Players fought it out across 6 rinks.

Paul Doust was on fire when he teamed with Alan Hilder to take on Time Everest and Steve Turner. Paul and Al were leading 7-3 on 8, 13-6 on 12. With only four ends to go Tim and Steve were unable to flip the board around meaning Paul and Al won the game 17-10.

One of the noisy rinks was rink 2 where the triples were playing. Juss Scifleet, Tara Shaw and Aaron Evans drew Terry Murphy, Dick Sharkey and John Kennedy. Aarons team were down by 4 at oranges then hit back with a 4 on the first end back. That was where the luck stopped and John’s team sprinted to the finish line, collecting another 6 points along the way and coming away with the win 13-8.

The second noisy rink went to Rink 3. Ange Dwyer playing with her bowls coach Al Phillips against Kelly Stringer and Peter Tisdell. The coaching was definitely working as Ange and Al were leading 8-3 at the break. Kelly and Peter needed to pull out all the tricks but Ange and Al proved to good and won the game 17-6.

Wayne Wright and Pat O’Neill were a force to be reckoned with in their 23-13 win over Noel Hocking and Scott McKellar. Wayne and Pat were 17-6 on 8, a 4 definitely helped boost Noel and Scott a little closer to their opponents.

The young gun team of Nathan Suttie and Jax Murphy were smiling all afternoon after their 18-11 win against Sue White and John Cutler. Three points the difference on 8, Nathan and Jax holding the lead until Sue and John flipped the game over. Going into the last, Nathan and Jax were only up by 1 until they scored a 6 to secure the 18-11 win.

Joyce Gray and Phil Hocking were unlucky in their 8-22 loss against Peter Mackay and Mick Merritt. 8-6 in favour of Peter and Mick on 8, refuelling at half time did not help Joyce and Phil. Only gaining single points in the back 8, it was no easy feat against 3’s and 4’s.

Resting touchers: Terry Murphy, Ange Dwyer and Phil Hocking.

Winning Rink: Rink 6, Peter Mackay and Mick Merritt. Losing Rink: Rink 1, Tim Everest and Steve Turner.

JackpotwWinner: Wayne Wright.

ChickenrRafflewWinners: Jax Murphy, Laurie Hocking, Geoff Williams, Pat O’Neill, Al Phillips, Bozza Bolam, Jason Howell, Greg Gunn and Steve Turner.

The club is currently running an additional raffle that will be drawn at Easter time: First prize – Bowls bag and trolley; second – 10 schooners; third: two bottles of wine.

Tickets are on sale now, ask the bar staff for assistance. Drawn on Easter Sunday.