YMGCR BOWLS CLUB
In Midweek Pennant the A1’s played Benalla at home and had a solid win scoring 14/79 to 0/51. Anne Miles rink took control early and was never headed. They got to a 15/11 lead after 13 ends and over the next 9 ends pulled away to win 30/15. “GG” Green having his first game as skipper this year got the job done, with Sue Middleton and Shirl Hummel giving the rink a great start they won 28/18. Laureen Smith’s rink got off to a flyer and after 12 ends lead 18/6, but after that the wheels fell off and they limped over the line and won 21/18. This now puts them on top of the ladder 7 points clear of second.
The A2’s travelled to the undefeated Corowa RSL. After last week effort where we got off the bottom of the ladder our spirits were very high. The team put on a fantastic display and came up short losing 0/56 to 14/63. Rob Hummel’s rink went head-to-head with their opponent and after 7 ends they were tied at 6 all. RSL then got a break but a 5 on the 14th end got us back to be 1 down. When it came to the final end the scores were level on 20 each, but it was meant to be with the RSL getting a 1 to win 21/20. Meanwhile Kerry Kinnane’s rink was engaged in a game where shots were hard to come by (in the first 4 ends the opposition skip played big bowls to save at least 14 shots). With new lead Sue Evans giving us a good start, we always had bowls in the head and it also went down to the wire and we went down 14/16. Allan Goudge’s rink was always around the mark in a tight game and after 19 ends the scores were 22 each, but they went down 22/26.
The A3’s had the road trip to Club Mulwala and got a good win 12/56 to 2/53. Ian Morffew’s rink was having a battle at the start and trialled early being 10/14 down after 14 ends, but that was the last time the opposition scored with Morf’s rink winning the next 7 ends to win 23/14. Good to see Garry Hart back in the pennant side. His rink began slowly but only loosing 1’s they quickly caught up and went to a 10/4 lead after 9 ends. From that point the pulled away to win 20/12. Cliff Morton’s rink was in the game for the first half of the game and trialled 11/15 after 14 ends, but the Club Mulwala rink then pulled away to win 27/13.
Weekend Pennant had the A1 ‘s play Benalla at home and won 16/102 to 2/61. Scott Widdison’s rink came out with all guns blazing as they raced to a 9/0 lead after 4 ends. Benalla made a mini come back but Scott won 3 ends in a row to re-establish their dominance and when coming to the last 10 ends, they then won 9 of them to win 32/8. His rink of Smith, Irvine and the “Golden Boy” Vaughan all combined to set up the great win. Jim Lefevre’s rink also put on a dominant display as they cruised to a 31/10 win. Garry Sanders was always on the jack and with Andy Lefevre also applying pressure and Rod Jones looking like he has got his mojo back they will be dangerous for the opposition coming into the finals and young James just plays brilliant bowls and is one of the stars of the O&M. Troy Williams rink played fantastic bowls, but a Benalla player would get one in and they led 7/8 after 12 ends. Benalla then won the next 3 ends to take a very handy lead of 7/17 with 6 ends to play, but to the rinks credit they won 5 of the last 6 to pull off a great fight back and won 22/19. Stewie McNeill’s rink was always up against the wall and trailed 1/10 after 6 ends. They fought their way back in the game to trail 16/17 after17 ends, but they dropped a 5 and that was the end of the ball game and they lost 17/24. We still sit 2nd on the ladder behind Wodonga.
The A2’s had their last road trip for the year when they ventured to Corowa Civic and after a brave performance, they went down 1/69 to 17/79. The only bright spot of the day was Ray Brown’s rink snagging a come from behind draw. In a tight start to their game the scores were level at 7 a piece after 8 ends. Civic then got the upper hand and after 17 ends lead 11/17. Ian Febey was playing a great game leading (his opposition was also playing well) and it got down to the last end with Civic 4 shots up. When the skips crossed over YMGCR held 2. The Civic skip then knocked another into the count. Brown looked like he had to draw another, but it was close and when the opposition skip did nothing, Brown had a chance to get a victory……couldn’t do it. The umpire was called and the YMGCR got the nod for the draw. Vic Brincat stepped up to skip a rink after playing 3rd for most of the season and jumped out to a 17/11 lead after 15 ends, but the opposition skip played some big bowls to pull his side to a thrilling win getting across the line 20/19. Neil Loveridge’s rink trailed 5/12 after 10 ends, but they peeled off the next 4 ends to level the scores at 12 each. The Civic skip was having a blinder and he got his side over the line winning 19/16. Rob Hummel’s rink was always in the game, but they dropped a 5 on the 14th end and that turned out the difference in the end when they went down 16/22. Unfortunately, that dropped us back to 3rd on the ladder and makes next week’s game against an in-form Chiltern critical.
The A4’s played Mansfield at home on our green number 1. It was a bit slow but will slowly get back to its normal speed in the next few weeks and they won 14/77 to 4/62. Danny McNeill’s rink was level at 8 all after 12 ends and then the willey old fox Ian Morffew hit his straps and they won the last 6 ends to win 21/11. Bob Evans rink was never headed and held a 17/5 after 13 ends and they went on to win 22/13. Doddy’s rink started slowly but went on a winning run and led 14/6 after 12 ends, but they dropped a 4 and a 5 in 2 ends and the game was back on level terms. The Mansfield rink then won 3 of the last 4 ends to win 19/17. Bill Jenkins was in the same boat as Doddy and held a nice lead 12/6 after12 ends, but he also dropped a 5 and 4 to lose 17/19. That now puts them 2nd on the ladder, but they still have to play Swanpool at Swanpool (always a hard assignment) and two teams in the bottom half.
The B2’s travelled to St James and just went down 4/58 to 10/66. Best rink was Gavin Borwick who won 22/11. YMGCR held an early lead but the St James rink came back to level the scores 8 each after13 ends. The game was decided when YMGCR got two 5’s and proved to be too strong over the last few ends. Bill Butterworth had a tight game all day with no less than 4 shots in it all day, but the rink got the victory with two 3’s on the last 2 ends to win 23/20. Poor old “Nifty” Coleman’s rink never fired a shot and went down 13/35.
On Sunday we had our Finals of the Ladies and Men’s Singles. In a fantastic game between two of the best lady bowlers not only in the O&M, but in the State (both current part of the Australian Ladies Fours Champions) Anne Miles and Laureen Smith didn’t let the spectators disappointed, when they put on a classic game of draw bowls. The game went shot for shot with both ladies not being able to break the shackles and the game had 11 lead changes. The biggest margin got out to 4 on the 19th end when Laureen led 14/10, but the champ roared back to win the next 3 ends to take a 2 shot lead. Then Laureen hit back to retake it back again but Anne won the next 2 ends to get her nose in front. Back came Laureen and the scores were level at 19 apiece and the game was on. Anne then picked up a 3, 22/19 but Laureen then won the next 3 ends and the score swung back into Laureen’s grasp and she hit the front 23/22. On the next end Anne got the shot to make the difference 1. What turned out to be the last end will be remembered for a long time. With Laureen holding shot, Anne’s first 3 bowls slid through a couple of feet and Laureen was holding championship point. Miles looked at the head went back and played the shot of her life by piercing through 2 of Laureen’s bowls and picked up the jack and trailed it back for 3 and the Championship. Well done ladies. It’s a shame there can only be one winner, but I’m sure this rivalry will be around for a few more years.
In the Men’s Championship it was held between Scott Widdison and Gary Presnell, and in another epic battle the scores were never more than 3 shots either way. Gary got out to a 3 shot lead only to see Scott win the next 3 ends to hit the front 6/3. Going shot for shot over the next 19 ends the scores were level on 18 each. Gary was holding 3 shots when Scott played a beautiful backhand shot to pick up the jack for the shot, but Gary responded to then get it back again. Gary then got a 4 and shut the game out to win 25/18. Well done to both players as it was a very high standard game and it was very special to Gary to win his first singles championship. The only downer for the game was when the marker’s phone went off…….come on “Golden Boy” Mr Vaughan you’re supposed to be a professional.
Social Bowls had 16 players and the winners were Col Withers and Frank Linberg with 2 wins and +13. Runners up with 2 wins and +3 were G Presnell and a visitor Paul McKenzie.
Now for the most important award of “RINK OF THE WEEK” and the winners were Scott Widdison, “Golden Boy” Vaughan, Ray Irvine and Laureen Smith.
This week’s funny story goes to one of our regulars. It is no other than Terry “Shagga” Baxter. Lyn cooked some beautiful home-made rissoles and Terry decided it was missing something so he went to get some mango chutney but instead grabbed the apricot jam. “Shagga” thought it tasted a bit sweet. That’s our boy.