YMGCR BOWLS CLUB
On Thursday we had the final of the ladies pairs between Laureen Smith/Rhonda Irvine and Lyn Baxter/Vicki Withers. In a very high standard game, all 4 girls were all bowling well and after the first 4 ends Baxter/Withers were leading 7/2 over the more experienced pairing. But as excepted Smith/Irvine pulled back the next 3 ends to trail 6/7. The game drifted along for the next 7 ends and after 14 ends the scores were locked together on 11 apiece. Then in the championship ends the more experience pair pulled away to win 19/11. The scores do not indicate the closeness of the contest. Congratulations to Smithy for winning another championship and to Rhonda for breaking through for her first major championship. You thoroughly deserve the win as you proved you were the best combination for the year. To the losers you can be very proud of your efforts and you will be a force in the future (just goes to show that if you put in the effort and time anything can happen) and your improvement this year has been unbelievable.
Also on Thursday we had the Novice Men’s Championship between 2 new bowlers in Col Withers and Shagga Baxter. After 6 ends young Withers held a 1 shot lead. Then on the 7th end Col dropped a 4 which can be unsettling, and old Shagga skipped out to 15/7 lead, but to Col’s credit he dug deep to win the next 5 ends to lead 16/15. Then with the scores on 17/17 Withers turned the table to score his own 4 and skip to a 21/17 lead. Terry had to show a bit of character to win the next 3 ends to tie the game 21/21. Then in a blink of an eye Col picked up a 2 and 3 to win 26/21. Both boys have taken a huge leap in the last 6 months and with their application and willingness to learn and train they will be very very handy bowlers for our club in the future.
Weekend Pennant had the A1’s play 4th side Corowa RSL at home and won 16/95 to 2/64, with a weakened RSL side put on the green and to YMGCR credit they applied themselves to come away with a convincing win. With Szab’s rink getting a great start from their front end in Middleton and Snodger who were putting bowls in the head and then be followed up with Milesy and Szabs also playing well in a great team effort they came away winning 31/16. Cabbage Spencer rink got off to a solid start and were well in control leading 11/5, when a good shot from the RSL third had YMGCR dropping a 5 and RSL were back in the game 11/10. Then on the very next end YMGCR bounced back to pick up a 4, with Smithy and Garry Sanders playing some magnificent bowls they won 25/15. Junior LeFevre rink was always in control and won 24/14 and Suger Ray was in a tight battle and lost 15/19.
The A2’s travelled to Yackandandah and came home with another gutsy win 14/78 to 4/76. This team has now won their last 4 games and with player changes happening each week they have shown a lot of resilience and will never give in. When things are looking bad they dig in deep to find a way to win. Last week’s Covid cancellation round could prove quite costly. We were to play Chiltern at home and with the team’s new found believe a win was on the cards and not only that Myrtleford was to play Wodonga at Wodonga and we could have been in the 4…… if only. So next week’s game against Wodonga at home (who only beat us by 4 in the first round) is now our grand final. Also the other 4 teams above us all play each other. With Cat’s rink now leading the way with Harty making a rare appearance, they won 24/11. Cat is getting back to his best and playing some brilliant bowls. He put down some telling bowls going down to the wire and he told his team mates shot by shot on the bus trip all the way home from Yack with a few beers. “Pinkie” Lidgerwood …. what can I say, with his rink 6 shots down on the head on the 20th end, he calmly got on the mat and drew the shot for a 7 shot turn around (that shot won the game for his team). He was well supported by “Harry” Potter and they won 22/20. Allan Goudge playing his first game as skip just went down 16/21 and Kerry Kinnane rink was leading most of the day but lost 16/24.
The A4’s travelled to Corowa RSL and lost 6/75 to 12/83. Bob Evans rink had an excellent win 24/16 and it’s good to see Bob getting back to his best after his long illness. Roberto Liddell also had a great win getting up 25/18 and old Morf just keeps getting the job done winning a close battle 18/17 and Marie Whitehead lost 8/32. Unfortunately this loss has now put them out of the finals race, but all is not lost as we have unearthed some promising new bowlers and quite a few of our last year’s premiership players from the B2’s team have made the jump to the higher division and held their own.