All roads lead to Forbes for Easter bowls carnival

The preliminary rounds and the quarter finals of the Pairs competition were played on Friday and the same progress was made in the Fours competition played on Saturday.

Sunday saw the Triples competition completed and the semi finals and finals of both the Pairs and Fours.

In the semi final of the Pairs it was popular local player, Robert "Pooch" Dukes partnering Andrew Lawrence from the Merrylands Club and they were up against former Forbes representative, Peter Foster and regular visitor Heath Lewis also representing the Merrylands Club.

It was a bowling masterclass from Peter Foster that put his side well in front and they advanced to the final with a 26 to 7 win.

In the other semi, Dale Scott from Forbes teamed up with Adam Wallace from Yass and they played Derek Woodstone and Shane Morris from Dee Why. This one also proved to be a bit one-sided with Dale and Adam going down 20 to 11.

The Pairs final between Woodstone and Morris and Foster and Lewis was played before a packed gallery and spectators witnessed some outstanding bowling over the cracking 18 end event.

The accuracy and consistency of the bowls on show from all four players was worthy of a television final with every end being closely contested.

The teams went bowl for bowl through the first 8 ends with Woodstone and Morris just in front 8 to 6 but from there they gained the upper hand and held their lead to score a well deserved 19 to 13 victory. Congratulations to Derek and Shane winning the Easter Pairs.

The semi final of the Fours competition had a real local flavour. In one semi it was former Forbes player, Daniel Tisdell who skipped the team from Grenfell that consisted of his mother, Annette, Col Myers and Kerry Aston. They played Trevor Clay, Peter Stankevicius, Adrian Batt and Shane Partridge from the Toongabbie Club.

Unfortunately for Daniel and his team they could not get going against the strong Toongabbie boys and went down 17 to 9. The other semi final featured a team of three former Forbes residents in Jason Rath, Tony Dukes and Jason Dukes and they teamed up with Ray Pascoe to represent the Yass Club.

Their opponents were the team from Merrylands that also featured former Forbes players Peter Harry, Peter Foster and local player Pooch Dukes along with Michael Clarke. This game saw the very competitive Merrylands team get home 13 to 8.

The final in Fours saw Peter Harry's team against Shane Partridges team and it was a close encounter with both teams playing some great bowls. Harry's team had the best of the early ends, but Partridge's drew a shot in front on the 9th end.

Harry's drew level on the next end and then went to a 3 shot lead with just 3 ends left to play. Partridge's team hit back to win all the remaining ends to get a 14 to 11 victory. Well done to Shane and his team on taking out the Easter Fours.

The Triples event consisted of three games with the winning team being determined by the progressive for and against scores. At the finish it was Steve Mackin, Grant Gudmonson and Greg Stuart representing Dee Why and Denistone who took out the winners prizemoney. The runners-up were Bruce John, Peter Strong and Keith Smith from the Dee Why and Toongabbie clubs.

At the presentations, Club President Peter Mackay thanked all the players, particularly those that travelled long distances to participate. Peter also acknowledged all the hard-working volunteers and bar staff who put so much effort into making this another very successful carnival.

Social bowls: Wednesday bowls continues to grow in popularity with 36 bowlers taking to the greens for a roll last week.

Lyall Strudwick put the previous week's big loss behind him when he partnered with Sue Smith to record a good win over Geoff Coles and Peter Mackay. Lyall and Sue jumped away to a good lead in the early stages of the match and kept Geoff and Peter on the back foot for most of the game to get home 21 to 11.

Terry Molloy has been enjoying his bowls in recent times and put is another solid performance when he led for Tony Bratton in their game against Gail McKay and Scott McKellar. Terry and Tony started with a 5 and then kept the score jumping ahead with a few 4s and a couple of 2s to win the game 26 to 11.

Fred Vogelsang was back on the greens and he led for Bill Scott in a 16-end game against Geoff West and John Browne. Geoff and John got away to a good start to lead 7 to 2 after just 4 ends but Fred and Bill came back to trail 13 to 12 on the 13th end. Fred and Bill rounded out the victory by winning 2 of the 3 remaining ends to get home 16 to 13.

It was another close game when John Baass and Paul Doust teamed up to play Noel Jolliffe and John Kennedy. John Bass is renowned for playing great lead bowls and he laid the foundation for his team to be 8 to nil in front after just 4 ends. Noel and John came back to trail by just 2 on the 8th end but gave away 7 shots over the next 5 ends and then couldn't make up the difference to just go down 17 to 15.

Anne Mackay and Lesley Dunstan would have been very pleased to get a good win over T. Davis and Ray Dunstan in a game of 14 ends. Anne and Lesley had the better of the scorecard for nearly the entire game and ran out convincing 19 to 9 winners.

Robyn Mattiske and Bill Looney probably thought they had the game in hand when they led A. Dent and Bill O'Connell 17 to 10 after 13 ends but a flurry of multiples over the 3 concluding ends saw Bill's team snatch a draw at 17 all.

Brotherly love was set aside between the Cowell siblings when Cagey Cowell partnered Lyn Simmonds to get a comprehensive win over Irene Riley and Billy Cowell. It took 8 ends before Irene and Bill got on the scorecard but by then Cagey and Lyn were 11 in front. Cagey and Lyn continued to pile on the shots to win 30 to 9.

Dale Scott and Alf Davies got an 18 to 13 win against John Gorton and T. Thurtell. Dale and Alf were just in front 8 to 7 on the 8th end but they got the better of the scoring on the remaining ends to take the game.

In a real nailbiter between Sue White and Kerry Roach against Kerry Dunstan and Annette Tisdell the scores were tied 15 all on the penultimate end and it was just a single shot on the last end that gave Kerry and Annette the victory. Sue and Kerry held a good lead 11 to 6 on the 11th end but couldn't maintain it in the final stages of the match.

The winning rink on the day went to Dale Scott and Alf Davies and the runners up were Cagey Cowell and Lyn Simmonds.

At Thursday bowls, the Bob Asimus Memorial event attracted plenty of interest from local bowlers as well as a number of Toongabbie visitors here for the Easter Carnival with 28 taking to the greens.

Jamie Dukes and Viv Russell were never in the hunt when they were well beaten by Toongabbie visitor Shaun Irvine and Bruce "Poss" Jones. Once he got the pace of the green Shaun played some classy lead bowls and Poss just kept rolling down close ones to get an easy 23 to 15 win.

Keith Smith is another Toongabbie player who is well known at the Club, and he teamed up with Billy Cowell in a game against Shane "Booza" Bolam and Tony Bratton. Keith and Billy were in the lead by a single shot after 8 ends but a flurry of multiples gave Booza and Tony a commanding 22 to 8 lead on the 19th end. Keith and Billy came home strongly to pick up 8 shots in 3 ends, but Booza and Tony were never in danger and cruised to a 27 to 16 win.

Laurie Crouch and Clint Hurford were well in the game at 11 all after 13 ends but couldn't produce the goods over the remaining ends in their game against Dale Scott and, the in-form, Tara-Lea Shaw. Dale and Tara powered away winning 7 of the last 9 ends to record a 22 to 14 victory.

Max Vincent and Glen Kearney got away with a close 21 to 18 win over Ian Hodges and Alan Hilder. Ian and Alan were down 20 to 12 after 16 ends but they rallied to win 5 of the last 6 ends but that wasn't enough to snatch the win from Maxie and Glen.

There was another close game between Ron Thurlow and Denis Byrnes and Toongabbie visitor Gary Minogue and Scott McKellar. Gary and Scott held the lead by a single shot after 12 ends but got away from Ron and Denis to lead 21 to 13 after 19 ends. Ron and Dennis scored 5 shots on the final 3 ends, but it was Gary and Scott who got kept their lead to win 22 to 18.

The Toongabbie players were again on show when Shane Partridge partnered Terry Molly and Peter Strong partnered Dale Maynard in a one-sided affair. Peter and Dale started well with a 3 on the first end but it was all downhill from there. Terry and Shane hammered their opponents with plenty of multiples while Dale and Peter could only muster a few singles. In the end it was a 32 to 8 thrashing to Terry and Shane.

Things didn't start well for Toongabbie visitor, Wayne "Radar" Carter when he face planted into the green before a bowl was rolled. Thankfully he recovered to team up with Cherie Vincent in a game against Cagey Cowell and Brian "Spro" Asimus. Obviously, Radar's fall didn't affect his early bowls as he and Cherie won the first 4 ends to be in front 6 to nil. Cagey and Spro got their game going but were still behind 13 to 6 on the 13th end. From there they clawed back Radar and Cherie's lead to edge in front and then finished with 4 shots on the final end to win 20 to 14.

On behalf of the Asimus family, Brian thanked all the players for participating in the Bob Asimus Memorial event, particularly the Toongabbie players who make sure they are in town for this one each year. The winning rink draw actually went to Cagey Cowell and Brian Asimus but they generously donated it back and this time it was Shaun Irvine and Poss Jones who picked up the prize. Other winning rink prizes went to Gary Minogue and Scott McKellar and Terry Molloy and S Partridge while the losing rink draw went to Radar Carter and Cherie Vincent. Resting touchers for the day were rolled in by Poss Jones and Ian Hodges. Ian also picked up a raspberry drink for bowling one down on the wrong bias as did the Cowell brothers, Max Vincent, Radar Carter and Alan Hilder.