YMGCR BOWLS CLUB
Midweek Pennant had the A1’s travel to Benalla in what turned out to be a tough game. Playing on their synthetic green which played very well, YMGCR came away with a 12/66 to 2/50 victory. The big winners for the day was the rink skipped by “JJ” Jones, with Mick Vaughan, Ray Irvine and Sue Middleton all bowling very well. They won 27/11. Laureen Smith’s rink struggled early until Garry Sanders and Smithy steadied the ship and they got a good win in the end 20/13. Anne Miles rink was in trouble all day but they dug deep and finally went down 19/26. This now leaves YMGCR 3rd on the ladder.
The A2’s played Corowa RSL at home and lost 1/53 to 13/65. The only joy for the team was Allan Goudge’s rink drawing 19/19 all. Doddy had a tight game all day but lost 19/23 and Danny McNeill lost 15/23.
The A3’s also played at home against our foe from across the road ….Club Mulwala and they had a very good win 12/57 to 2/42. Best rink went to one of our returning players and it’s great to have him back. Well done to Ron Lamson’s rink who was in control all day and won 26/12. Les Balfour’s rink also got on to the winners list winning 21/10 and Ian Morffew had a rare bad day losing 10/20. This win keeps them in touch with the top four as they now sit 5th.
In the Weekend Pennant the A1’s travelled to another premiership threat in Benalla and with the flooding situation early in the month at the club, the game was played on the back grass green. With limited preparation (it was a great effort by the green keeper to have this green available in such a short time) the players found the going very difficult …..BUT they did prevail to win 16/76 to 2/70. To have a win away from home and not play well showed a lot of determination and fight. The stars of the day were fill in skipper Les Spencer’s rink who won 28/14. They got off to a fast lead and held that all day. Kenny Widdison moved from lead to third and using all of his experience played a blinder and showed there is still plenty of fight in the old dog. Scott Widdison’s rink got out to a steady start and after 13 ends led 10/5. Benalla then came back and won the next 4 ends to take the lead and after 19 ends YMGCR trailed 11/14 with “Golden Child” Micky Vaughan not having his best day….but he stepped up to play a telling bowl which turned the game on its head, making a 6 and they won 18/14. Jimmy Lefevre’s rink had a tight battle all day and with 1 end to played led by 1 shot and they then went on to win 18/15. “Disco” Davies rink never got going and they went down 12/27. They now sit 13 points clear of second place on the ladder.
The A2’s played Corowa Civic at home in another danger game and they won 14/91 to 4/73. New skip Allan Goudge’s rink jumped out of the blocks and looked in total control and with one bad end the tables were turned when Civic grabbed a 5 to get within 1 shot. But the rink rallied and picked up a 7 two ends later to gain their supremacy back again (the eighth shot was out by an inch). They then went on a scoring frenzy winning eight out of the next nine ends to win 31/13. Ray Brown’s rink dropped a 4 on the third end but then went on and won the next seven to led 18/4. Civic then made a mini come back and they lost 27/14. Ian Febey who played his third pennant game is showing what a top player he can be with a fantastic game of draw bowling. He was well backed up by the two old stagers in Tony Durkin and Billy Jenkins. Vic Brincat’s rink got out to the worst possible start and was trailing 1/12 after six ends, but they hung in there and with Robert Lidgerwood playing a good game, they got back to be 11/14 after ten ends and they held them to lose 16/22. Rob Hummel’s rink played solid bowls and looked in total control of the situation and led 15/8 after thirteen ends and then they had a bad end and dropped a 6 and Civic then took control and won 24/19. We learnt a very important lesson during the game when Col Withers was in control of the main scoreboard. Armed with his pen and paper he added the totals up…..made a little error and it appeared that both sides were 60 shots each. This sent shock waves through the rinks. Obviously, his maths is far better when he is working on how much a ton his canola is worth. That now has us in second spot but the competition is going to be tight all year.
The A4’s travelled to Mansfield in a game where both teams were undefeated and in a titanic battle we went down 6/76 to 12/79. Bob Evans rink is having a great season and with an even spread across the rink winning 23/15. They got off to a bad start and trailed 3/9 after nine ends. They then got on level terms after 13 ends and then put the foot to the floor and won the last 5 ends to win. Morf’s rink also got a bad start (I’m told the green was very tricky and our players had trouble adjusting) but came back strong to be leading 16/8 and they went on to win 20/15. Doddy’s rink was having a good battle until the Mansfield rink got the next 8 shots to take a nice lead 18/11, but the Dodmaster’s rink then lifted and with the whole rink contributing they got their noses in front on the last end to win 25/23. Danny McNeill’s rink lost 8/26. Well done to the team. They are definitely in the hunt for the flag. If the can push a top rival on their home track and lose by only 3…..very encouraging !!!!
The B2’s played St James at home and they lost 2/47 to 12/73. Newly promoted skip in Gavin Borwick got the job done with a good victory, winning 23/15. The star was Lyn Baxter but with Hans Lang, Noel Millar and Gavin all having a solid game. Thanks to “Grumpy” Loveridge for filling in at the last minute but the rink went down 15/25 and Neville Coleman lost 9/33.
“RINK OF THE WEEK” goes to Allan Goudge, Stewie McNeill, Dougie Wheeler and Rhonda Irvine.
On Thursday saw the return of “Blokes Day”. It has been a couple of years that we haven’t played due to Covid. We had a full field of 28 teams which looked fantastic with both greens full. The day raised $2500 for Prostate Cancer research. The winning teams of the day were Ian Brimblecombe, Ian Dobson and Peter Humphries in an unbelievable result all in a 3 way tie. Thanks to all the helpers who made this event possible with special thanks to Norm Windebank and his trusty offsider in Barb Tennyson who did so much leg work in getting the sponsors. A great effort for your first tournament and you should be very proud of the outcome. Thanks also to Danny McNeill, Rob Hummel, Lil and Gavin Borwick, Greg Fisher, John Millar and Rhonda Irvine and to anyone else I might have missed. To the major sponsor in Arrowood (benchtops, flat pack cabinetry etc), the Lidgerwood brothers and Bunnings, Celebrations, Woolworths, K Hub, Blooms Chemist, Bi-Rite, Newsagents, Burkes Hotel, Terminus Hotel, Ski Club, YMGCR Golf Club and Bill Jenkins. We are hoping to make this an annual event and hope we can get the same support and make it bigger and better.
In some fantastic new the AUSTRALIAN OVER 60’s squad was named this week to play New Zealand and we have Anne Miles and Claire Sanders in it. Think about it …YMGCR has 40% of the ladies team (for all of you non arithmetic geniuses that is 2 out of the 5 ladies). This is one of the clubs proudest moments EVER!!!!!!.
On Sunday we had the O&M Triples in Men and Ladies Championship. In the men’s we have Disco Davies, Scott and Ken Widdison getting through to the semi finals and Anne Miles, Laureen Smith and Claire Sanders through into the Grand Final. The ladies game will be played next Sunday starting at 9:30 at Corowa RSL and the boys will also try to progress in the championship at the same venue. Good luck to both teams.