YMGCR BOWLS CLUB
Midweek Pennant had the A1’s host the very dangerous Wodonga outfit at home and had a resounding win 12/69 to 2/49. The big winners for the day were Laureen Smith’s rink. In the first half of the game, they won 10 ends to lead 12/1. From that position they then applied the pressure and started to rack up some big ends and won 26/7. Anne Miles rink had a great start and got a very handy break and lead 10/0 after 4 ends. Wodonga then bounced back to win the next 4 ends to get right back into the game. YMGCR then got out to a 19/9 lead after 14 ends and came home winning 22/15. Julian Jones rink had the tight battle of the day and the scores were level at 9 all after 8 ends. YMGCR then got a mini break to lead 14/9 but Wodonga came back and the scores were once again level at 19 all after 17 ends. Wodonga then got the upper hand and came away with a good victory winning 27/21. This now puts YMGCR into 2nd on the ladder, 11 points behind top side Wangaratta and 7 points clear of Kiewa. Next week is going to be the game of the season as we travel to Wangaratta. The winner will then go into the finals full of confidence.
A2’s played 2nd side Moira at home. This was going to be the most important game of the year for us as a win would give us a chance to get off the bottom of the ladder and avoid relegation. Moira is always a formidable opponent and they seem to have the wood on us, but YMGCR rinks came to play and we won 12/70 to 2/50. Allan Goudge’s rink was holding a handy lead after 8 ends being 8/2 up. However, they lost their advantage when they dropped a 6, but like a good team they bounced back to win the next 3 ends to restore their lead. They then exchanged ends for the rest of the game and got a 4 on the last end to give them a 26/15 win. Kerry Kinnane’s rink was level with 6 each after 5 ends, but with Sue Evans and Cathy Spicks playing well and Mr Kinnane playing the game of his life they got out to a 17/8 lead after 14 ends. YMGCR came away over the last few ends to record a 24/12 win. I know it is hard to believe, (and I am in shock) but Kerry was unbelievably good. Rob Hummel ‘s rink got the start from hell as they trailed 0/10 after only 4 ends, but once they got off the mark, they began to peg them back but they were still 12/17 down after 12 ends. In the end they won 4 out of the last 5 ends to fail by only 3 shots going down 20/23. Great fight back and boy did they show a lot of ticker. Oh yes, the victory did get us off the bottom of the ladder and we are now equal with Rutherglen on points but have a far better percentage. Next week we play the 6th side Benalla at Benalla and we still have to win to make sure we don’t go down the GURGLER.
The A3’s played Wangaratta at Wang and we had a real dirty day going down 0/25 to 14/84. Ron Lamson went down 8/24, Ian Morffew went down 8/27 and Lillian Borwick lost 9/33.
Weekend Pennant saw the A1’s travel to Myrtleford and were beaten 14/72 to 4/67. Scott Widdison, “Golden Child” Micky Vaughan, Ray “Sugar” Irvine and Laureen Smith finished the season off with another victory which made them the most successful rink in the A1’s. They got off to a great start and led 9/2 after 6 ends, but the Myrtleford rink came back to win the next 7 ends to lead 10/9 after 13 ends. Then the YMGCR rink came home over the closing ends and won 19/12. Jimmy Lefevre’s rink held sway for most of the day and led 16/10 after 15 ends. Myrtleford rink then regained the lead with 3 ends to go but they just fell short losing 19/18. Julian Jones rink got out to a 9/1 lead and was looking very solid but they couldn’t take a trick in the second half and lost 13/17. Les Spencer’s rink also got a start but they couldn’t hold shots and went down 16/25. We still finished 2nd and will now play Wodonga at Rutherglen and the winner will advance straight into the Grand Final.
A2’s played our neighbours Club Mulwala on a beautiful Friday night and had to win to give them a chance of playing finals. In a tense battle YMGCR got the win 16/91 to 2/73 and it might look like an easy win but boy did Club Mulwala come to play. Allan Goudge’s rink was in a battle all night and after 14 ends trailed 10/16, but they dug deep to win the next 5 ends and got over the line winning 21/18. Rob Hummel’s rink got off to a flyer winning the first 5 ends to lead 8/0, but the Club Mulwala rink came back to tie the game at 13 all after 13 ends. They then got out to a 19/16 lead but Hummel’s rink regained the lead and won 22/21. Gary Presnell’s rink won 13 ends out of the first 14 to lead 25/3. With Gary in fine form and with Ian Morffew and Ian Febey playing well they ended up winning 32/10. But the highlight of the night was when Ray Brown played a wrong bias (much to the delight of his teammates and spectators who gave him plenty of stick), but he had an excuse. Just before he was about to bowl he looked up into the lights and was blinded by the bright lights and could not see his rings, (the same thing happened a few weeks earlier but that one was in broad daylight). Neil Loveridge’s rink was in the game and trailed 14/16 after 14 ends. They were holding many shots until the Club Mulwala skip played some telling bowls to get his rink over the line winning 24/16. Now the wait had started. All eyes were on the Chiltern/Corowa Civic game. We had put ourselves 5 points clear of Chiltern in the four, and much to our delight we heard that Chiltern had failed to win a point and that we were in. We now play Corowa RSL at Club Mulwala in the Elimination Final. We still need to improve but once you are in anything can happen.
The A4’s played Corowa RSL at home and won 16/89 to 2/60. This secured third spot on the ladder. The stars for the day were the rink of Stewie McNeill who won 30/7. The pairing for the first time of father (Danny) and son in a pennant game was a deadly combination with the young gun putting on a clinic. They were in total control from start to finish. Ian Price was trailing 3/7 after 6 ends and then they picked up 8 shots over the next 3 ends to take control. They then went shot for shot and recorded a 21/16 win. Bill Jenkin’s rink got a good start and lead 7/2 after 6 ends. Things then tightened up with RSL getting out to a 8/16 lead, but this rink has been playing well, and to no one’s surprise, they came rattling home to pick up 11 shots in the last 6 ends to win 19/17. Doddy’s rink trailed from the start and at one stage was 8 shots down but they fought it out to the end and went down by only 1 shot loosing 19/20. They now play Mansfield in the Elimination Final at Benalla.
The B2’s played Corowa RSL at home and went down 0/39 to 14/76. Billy Butterworth’s rink led 10/8 after 13 but they then lost the next 6 ends and went down 16/19. Gavin Borwick’s rink started well but they also dropped 4 ends and could not recover from that losing 12/29. Neville Coleman’s rink couldn’t get in the game and went down 10/28.
This week’s “RINK OF THE WEEK ” goes to Stewie McNeill, Danny McNeill, Mary Essex and Vicki Withers.
The selectors would like to thank all the players from every team for their support and a special thanks to the B2’s because they were the most effected. We know we didn’t get it right all the time but we are picking positions for 60 players every week and a lot of bowlers see it only through their eyes and how it affects them…. so cut the selectors some slack because we all know it is a thankless job.
On Sunday we had the Champions of Champions at Corowa RSL and in the ladies we had Anne Miles representing us and boy did she do us proud. In her first round she drew former World Champion Kylie Whitehead from Wodonga. The game would have been a fitting Final as both champs traded shot after shot and the biggest lead over the whole game was no more than 2. Anne went to a 1 shot lead after 25 ends. She then picked up a 2 on the next end and victory was in sight. In a marathon game she won 25/21. In the next round she drew the Yarrawonga champ in Roz King who played beautifully in her first round. When Anne jumped out to a 7/0 lead Roz looked in trouble, but she then got into the grove and hit the front to lead 14/12. Roz was getting on top and playing consistent bowls but Anne kept finding ways to get shots and they were back level again at 21 all. Going into the finally straight Anne began to find that little bit extra and had a few chances to close the game out, but to Roz’s credit she played some fantastic bowls to get the shot and it came down to a final shoot out with scores locked on 24 each. Anne prevailed but not without a mighty scare. Anne then played Judy Black from Corowa RSL in the Quarter Final and found her weight and won 25/6. Next week she plays one of her old sparring partners in Mary Tragardh in the Semi Final.
In the men’s section we had the “Energizer Bunny” in Gary Presnell representing YMGCR. His first opponent was the Rutherglen champ and Gary hit the ground running and led 12/0. He was drawing beautifully and had his man under the pump and kept the pressure up to lead 17/2. He then finished the game to win 25/13. In the next round he played the Beechworth champ and from the first end he just went from strength to strength going to a 15/0 lead and winning 27/5. The moment of true had arrived as his next opponent was current “Champion of Champions”, Wodonga’s Mason Bayliss. Could the “Energizer Bunny” keep going or would he run out of power? The answer was no. Gary played great bowls and held his own with the younger player. Whatever the Wodonga gun did our boy went toe to toe and the scores were level on 17 all, but Bayliss got the break needed and won 25/17. Well done Gary you did our club proud!!!!
While all this was going on we had our O&M Novice Champ in Ian Febey playing at Mulgrave Bowling Club, but Ian was put out in the first round. Well done young fella. You have a fantastic future in front of you.
Wednesday social bowls had a field of 18 players and the winners were Norm Windebank and Ross Lloyd with 2 wins and +16. Runners up on a count back were Vic Brincat and Noel Millar with 2 wins and +8 shots.
Last week we said goodbye to Terry Matthews who passed away suddenly on Sunday. It came as a terrible shock to all of us and we wish his family and friends all our best wishes.