Minor triples final a nailbiter

By TARA SHAW What a nail biter the Minor Triples Finals game was on Saturday. Plenty of spectators enjoying great bowls and the sunshine to watch the battle of the brother in-law skips. The game had everyone on the edge of their seats through the entire game. Pat O’Neill leading for Cheree Vincent and Skip Shane Bolam got the first runs on the board and skipped to a handy lead of 5-0 on 4. Bill Scott, Cliff Nelson and Robert Dukes answered with winning the next 2 ends to trail by 1. Shanes team put the petal to the metal and jumped to 9-4 on 7. Roberts team closed the gap again with a lucky 4 on the next. 13-8 on 11, Shane’s team was showing no signs of slowing down. Another 4 picked up by Roberts team kept them in the game. Roberts team finally hitting the front on 15 with the board reflecting 15-14. 15 all on 16 the game could go either way. Both teams going 1 for 1 until Roberts team gained 8 points in the last 3 ends to be the victors 24-17. Congratulations to all players making it to the final and for displaying some great bowls. SOCIAL BOWLS The weather is starting to warm up and it shows on the green with 30 keen bowlers taking to the greens for a sensational morning of social bowls. Card draw winners on the day were Max Vincent and Laurie Crouch who played a very close game against Ron Thurlow and John Gorton. Neck and neck for the first 9 ends when Ron and John jumped ahead by 4 which the score board showed 11-6. Laurie and Max were certainly not giving up and started clawing back their points to level the score on the 15th 14 all. Ron and John were able to pick up another 8 points over the next 6 ends but it was not good enough against Max and Laurie’s additional 10 points. Girl power was the name of the game with Lesley Dunstan and Kerry Roach teaming up to take on Colleen Liebich and Sue White. Colleen and Sue trailed by 2 until the 5th end where they jumped ahead to take the lead 6-5. They kept their eyes on the prize and continued to lead 11-5 on the 11th, 13-6 on the 13th. Lesley and Kerry picked up another 6 points in the last 7 ends but it was Colleen and Sue that sprinted across the finish line with a 20-11 score. Another close game was between Ray Dunstan and Lyal Strudwick vs Jim Malloy and Paul Doust.9 all on the 7th end with Jim and Paul just infront on the 14th by 1. Jim and Paul were lucky enough to pick up 5 points in the last 4 ends to steal the victory 20-18. Billy Cowal and Kerry Dunstan proved they have what it takes when they took on Peter Barnes and Barry Shine. Sprinting out of the starting box Billy and Kerry showed an 8 point lead on the 7th end with a 10-2 score line. Peter and Barry started to find their way back winning the next 3 ends to close the gap to a 7-10 score board. 15 all on the 17 which followed with Billy and Kerry gaining 3’s and 4’s to win the game 26-19. The triples game was played by Therese Davis, Gail McKay and Geoff Coles unfortunately not bringing home the win against Ann Nixon, Robyn Mattiske and Bill Scott. Geoffs team had first points on the board, matched by Bills team on the 2nd. Winning the next 2 ends, Geoffs teams got a taste for a win. Leading 9-2 on the 8 Bills team dug deep and pulled out all the stops to when the next 4 ends to win the game 11-3. Geoff West and Irene Riley proved to good for Garry James and Lyn Simmonds. Garry and Lyn started a slower then Geoff and Irene with the board showing them down 2-7 of the 6. Geoff and Irene were not taking it easy on them as they increased their lead 10-3 on 10, 17-4 on 13. Picking up a 3 and a 5, Garry and Lyn were not laying down which bought their score 14-19. Fortunately Geoff and Irene scored a 3 in the second last end to win the game 22-15. Sue Smith and Noel Jolliffe showed no mercy against Barry White and Cheree Vincent. Sue and Noel started the game with winning 5 or the first 6 ends to have a healthy 8-2 lead. Tables turned and luck was Barry and Cheree’s side. Down 9-10 on 11 there were only lucky enough to pick up 3 of the last 8 ends handing over the baton to Sue and Noel to be the victors 23-14. THURSDAY – The long weekend start early for some for some with lower numbers then usual for Thursday social bowls. 16 diehard players enjoyed the sunshine and great laughs on the greens. 4 Games of pairs were played with the first game consisting of Darryl Griffiths and Al Phillips vs Max Vincent and Greg Gunn. This was a game of sorts for both Maxy and Gunny as they both received resting touchers and a raspberry to go with the loss. Having first runs on the board, Darryl and Al were off to a great start. 6-3 on 6, 8-4 on 9 and they put their foot flat to the floor to come home with the win 24-10. Pretty close game was played by Ron Thurlow and Cliff Nelson taking on Alan Hilder and Ian Hodges. It looked to be a close game with Alan and Ian leading 4-3 on 5. Ron and Cliff won the next 3 ends to steal the lead 11-4 on 8. It was touch and go for a while but Alan and Ian pulled tricks from their pockets and they could smell victory. Ron and Cliff gave it the best but it wasn’t good enough on the day as Alan and Ian won 22-19. Ivan Hodges and Bruce (Posso) Jones played their cards close to their chest against Angie Dwyer and Brian (Spro) Asimus. 6 all on 7, Ange and Spro picked up a 3 to hit the lead. Ivan and Posso didn’t give up to level the scoreboard again 12 all on 13. 1 for 1 they continued till the end when Ivan and Posso picked up a 4 on the last to win the game 20-17. Dale Maynard and Dennis Byrnes played Tara Shaw and Cheree Vincent. A slow start for the girls not getting any runs on the board until the 6th and won the next 5 ends to hit the front 7-6. Dale and Dennis taking out the next 4 ends put them in a handy lead of 7points. Down 7-14 on 14, Tara and Cheree were not giving up yet. 11-18 on 19 Tara and Cheree picked up 4 & a 5 on the last two ends to win the game by 1, 20-19. Resting touchers: Tara Shaw, Max Vincent, Greg Gunn, Ian Hodges. Raspberries for wrong bias Greg Gunn, Max Vincent. Winning Rink was rink 2 (Tara Shaw and Cheree Vincent), losing rink was rink 3 (Max Vincent and Greg Gunn) Jackpot was $600 with rink 2 drawn to try their luck. They needed a 1 but were unlucky. SUNDAY - 26 bowlers enjoyed some laughs in the sunshine whilst they took to the greens to give it their best shot. Our triples game consisted of Trish Todd, Dale Maynard and Peter Tisdell taking on Jax Murphy, Kelly Stringer and Bobby Grant. 4 all on 5 until Bobby’s team picked up a 4 to put them in the lead 8-4. Still in the lead by two at half time Peters team picked up 4 points over 2 ends to level the scoreboard going into the last end 10 a piece. Bobby’s team were the lucky ones to pick up that final point winning the game 11-10. Billy Cowell and Dennis Byrnes came up against Peter Greenhalgh and Scotty McKellar. Peter and Scotty were out of the boxes early wining the first 3 ends to show a 6-2 lead on 5. Billy and Dennis found their rhythm picking up 6 points to go into the break 6-8 down. They refuelled and came out with a purpose. Picking up a 5 on the second last end certainly helped to bring home the game 16-11. Mick Merritt and Paul Baker drew Peter Besgrove and John Kennedy. Bezzy and John proved early that they were a force to be reckoned with picking up a 5 on the 2nd end and keeping the opponents at bay with a scoreboard showing 11-2 at half time. Mick and Paul tried to regroup during the break but it wasn’t enough as Bezzy and John made a run for it to the finish line 19-8. Angie Dwyer and Paul Doust took on Doug Miller and John Stringer. A close game leading into the break with 1 point the difference. 6-5 in favour of Ange and Paul. Doug and Pom tried to pull out all the stops but only picked up 3 points in the second half going down 8-15. The biggest margin game was played between John Baass and Al Phillips coming up against Terry Murphy and John Cutler. John and Al kept their opponents at bay by only giving away 3 points at oranges. Scoreboard showing 15-3 in Al’s favour they certainly were not showing any mercy following the break. 17-4 on 11, picking up another 9 points to win comfortably 26-4. A close game played by Tyler Murphy and Shane Staines taking on Lloyd Nelson and Tara Shaw. Going 1 for 1 keeping it nice and friendly Lloyd and Tara were in the lead at half time 7-4. Tyler and Shayne came out of the break guns blazing to win the next 4 ends to hit the front 11-7 on 12. Digging deep Lloyd and Tara won 3 out of the last 4 ends but it wasn’t enough going down by 1 12-13. Resting touchers: Mick Merritt and Tara Shaw. Raspberries went to Lloyd Nelson, Billy Cowell, Dennis Byrnes and Trish Todd. Winning Rink was Rink 3 (Ange Dwyer and Paul Doust), Losing Rink was rink 2 (Mick Merritt and Paul Baker). Jackpot was $580 for rink 6 but was not won. Jackpot is $600 next week. Chook raffle winners were: Billy Cowell, Ange Dwyer, Al Phillips, Pat O’Neil, Tim Marsden, Greg Ward, Paul Doust, Paul Hodge and Clint Hurford.