Take the greens for tournament

BOWLS By FORBES SPORTS AND REC CLUB Round 2 - Let's get more bowlers on the green! We kicked off the Johnny Woods Painting Bowls Tournament last Saturday with a fantastic 20 bowlers taking part in the first of our three-week competition. After Round 1, the leaderboard is heating up. Sitting on top with 43 points are Richard Green and Laurie Crouch. Game winners were: Game 1 Nathan Suttie and Jason Howell; Game 2 Maynard and Wayne Burton. Now it’s time for Round 2 this Saturday. We’d love to see an even bigger crowd on the greens this week. Everyone is welcome, so grab your bowls, bring a mate and come along for a great afternoon of bowls, laughs and friendly competition. Names in by 12.30pm for a 1pm start. A big thank you to Johnny Woods Painting for supporting the tournament. See you on the green this Saturday. CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS Only one club championship match was played over the weekend, with the Major Fours taking centre stage. Pat O’Neill, Jason Howell, Viv Russell and Shane Bolam took on Paul Doust, Clint Hurford, Scott McKellar and Lyall Strudwick in what turned out to be a closely contested match. Team Strudwick opened the scoring and got away to a strong start, keeping Team Bolam scoreless until the sixth end. By the 10th end, Strudwick held a 10–5 advantage and continued to maintain the lead as the match progressed. The momentum began to swing on the 16th end when Team Bolam picked up a valuable five shots to level the scoreboard at 13-all. With just five ends remaining, the match was shaping up for a thrilling finish. Team Strudwick held a two-shot advantage after 19 ends, before Team Bolam claimed the next end to narrow the margin and head into the final end trailing by just one shot, 16–17. With the match on the line, Team Strudwick held their nerve and picked up two shots on the final end to secure a hard-fought 19–16 victory, booking their place in the next round of the Major Fours. SOCIAL BOWLS Wednesday – They were smiling like ‘bees in a honey pot’ after taking the last two ends 5-0 to win on the green then in the clubhouse after winning the morning draw. We’re talking ‘Goodnight’ Irene Riley and Paul Doust winning 15-14 in 18 ends over Gail MacKay and Cliff Nelson in a game which could have gone any way all morning with both combinations on stage in front on the scorecard. Two ‘queens’ of the club were involved in the runner-up draw for different reasons. ‘queen of the green’ Cheryle Hodges and ‘queen of the club’ Tara Shaw. Cheryle led for Barry Shine and after few weeks off played like a champion winning 28-11 in 22 ends over Geoff West and his skip Tara Shaw who is ‘bowls’ within the club organising continually all year long. 6-0 after three set the scene before 12-3 at halftime. Another to finish strong winning the last three ends were Robyn Mattiske and Alf Davies to draw with Lyn Simmonds and Geoff Williams 14-all in 20 ends. Lyn and Geoff jumped to a 9-2 lead after winning end six with a five to keep their noses in front as Robyn and Alf kept eating away at the lead highlighted by their pressure play finish. Lesley Dunstan and Billy Cowell won 19-14 over Sue Smith and John Gorton in, wait for it, 21 ends? 4-all after five, 8-7 after 10, 10-all after 13 with Lesley and Billy getting the better of the run home 9-4. Deanna Williams and Lyall Strudwick struck a solid combination winning 23-14 in 22 over Colleen Leibech and Peter Barnes. Deanna and Lyall were quick out of the gates to lead 11-5 after seven before Colleen and Peter found touch bridging the gap to 14-all after 18. Their run stopped there big time with the winners dominating 9-0 in the last four ends. In the last Neil Riley and Phil Bayley won 25-15 in 20 ends over Bill Scott and Don Craft who got stuck on zero for the first nine ends for 20-0. While Phil was smiling Don wasn’t so happy before he and Bill came to life winning 10 of the last 13 ends. In club winners John Gorton and Lyn Simmonds. Thursday - Sixteen bowlers took to the greens on Thursday, enjoying a great afternoon of bowls in the sunshine. The winning card of the day went to Paul Doust and Glen Kearney, who recorded a six-shot, 22–16 victory over Tara Shaw and Scott McKellar. Paul and Glen made a strong start, reaching double figures by the eighth end to lead 12–5. Tara and Scott responded by winning the next two ends, reducing the deficit to four shots at 10–14. However, Paul and Glen kept the pressure on and finished strongly to secure the win. The losing card of the day went to Wayne Wright and Cherie Vincent, who went down 12–23 to Wayne Burton and Laurie Crouch. Wayne and Laurie started strongly and maintained the lead throughout the match. Wayne and Cherie managed to pick up singles along the way, but a four-shot haul from Burton and Crouch on the 19th end helped seal a convincing victory. The biggest winning margin of the afternoon belonged to Richard Green and Posso Jones, who claimed a dominant 25–7 victory over Eddie Gould and Al Hilder. Richard and Posso controlled the game from the outset, with Eddie and Al struggling to get points on the board during the opening ends. Trailing 17–2 after 12 ends, Eddie and Al had plenty of ground to make up. Richard and Posso answered with another three shots on the following end and kept their foot firmly on the pedal through to the finish. The closest contest of the afternoon saw Billy Cowell and Tim Everest edge out Bobby Grant and Viv Russell, 17–12. There was little separating the two teams for most of the match, with the scores locked at 4-all after eight ends, 7-all after 12 and 10-all after 15. Billy and Tim found another gear when it mattered, winning four of the final five ends to claim the victory. Resting Touchers: Al Hilder, Eddie Gould, Posso Jones, Wayne Wright, Glen Kearney, Tim Everest and Bobby Grant. Raspberries for Wrong Bias: Richard Green, Wayne Burton and Scott McKellar. Winning rink: Glen Kearney and Paul Doust. Losing rink: Cherie Vincent and Wayne Wright. Jackpot winner: Al Hilder. Sunday – No notes at time of publication.