Women’s bowls
Finally! We have some Ladies bowls to report on and wow, was it worth waiting for.
There were three matches for the first round of the Major Singles on 27 February, each with their elements of excitement, surprises and great consistency. Our club strongly encourages our newer bowlers to join in the championships for the experience. You just never know how a game of bowls is going to unfold.
Jane Haddon, last year’s runner-up in this championship, was drawn against Sue Sheil, who has been playing for a little while, always enjoys her bowls and tries her best. This game was no exception. Sue began the game strongly taking the lead with a promising three points. However, even though the player holding the shot changed frequently during most of the ends, Jane was on fire. Sue can hold her head high but was only allowed to win three ends for the entire match.
The second match was between a beginner in Laural Ferrington and an experienced player Gillian Portener. Little did we know the standard and the excitement of the game we were about to see. The game started very evenly, with each player taking turns to take the lead over the first four ends. It was at this point Laural found her rhythm winning the following four ends, including a four and three, to find herself in front – 12 points to 3 on the eighth end. However, Gillian’s experience in the game saw her collect her thoughts and nerve to win the following eight ends, clawing back the lead 15 to 12 on the 17th end. I should mention here that in a singles game, the number of ends it takes does not have any bearing on the game. The winner is the first player to 25 points. After sharing the next two ends, Laurel with a one and Gillian four, Laural fought back to win the following five ends, finding herself in front 24 to 19. It was about now that the old saying “That’s bowls for you” came in to play! Gillian scored a two on the next end closing the gap to three. Gillian started the following end beautifully and continued her accuracy to be holding three shots with only her final bowl needed to complete her comeback and take the game. Her final bowl was too accurate, if there is such a thing…picking up the jack and taking it to Laural’s bowls for the winning point Laural needed. Congratulations to both of you! You had all the spectators on the edge of their seats.
The final match of the day was between Anna Stewart, last year’s singles champion and myself. After a week of nervous anticipation, it was one of those games you can only dream about. Everything Anna tried didn’t work, whereas everything I did, worked – winning the game 25 to nine in 17 ends.
The Semi Finals on 5 March resulted in a win to Jane Haddon against Tina Ballard by 25 to 10 and a win for me against Laural Ferrington by 25 to 8. This cemented our places in the final on 12 March.
The Final was played in very hot, humid conditions but at least it wasn’t raining. Jane started the game well and it wasn’t until the tenth end that I managed to catch up at seven all and then took the lead by two on the next end. However, this wasn’t to last, with Jane winning six of the following ten ends, once again stretching her lead to 20 to 14. I did manage to score three on the following end, bringing the scores to 20 to 17. It was at this point of the game that I felt I had to try something different. My first three bowls had gone through the head and were grouped at the back, so Jane was easily holding three shots. With my last bowl I managed to pick up the Jack and I looked on hopefully as it was carried toward my waiting bowls. However, instead of tucking in neatly amongst my bowls, it ricocheted off one of them to be out in the open, closer to the side boundary than my bowls. At this moment I potentially held the lead by one point. Jane still had her last bowl to play, I held my breath. Jane went very wide with her bowl but slowly it made its way back to our rink, stopping with just the edge touching the side boundary, but that is all that is needed. Unfortunately, it was in, making the score 21 to 17. I tried my best but by losing a two, a one and another two over the next three ends, Jane deservedly took the win 26 to 17 over 26 ends. It was a great game. Congratulations Jane!
The Major Pairs championship starts on 19 March. The draw finds Irene Dunn and me playing against Anna Stewart and Jane Haddon and Pam Tulloch and Gillian Portener versus Christine Yeo and Margaret Hayes. I look forward to reporting on, what I am sure will be exciting games, in the next issue of the Voice.
Deb Folkard
Men’s bowls
Pennants
As previously reported, Kangaroo Valley is represented in the Berry Pennant Team by ‘Tige’ Lidbetter and Adam Rigney in Grade 3 and Bob Dunn, ‘Skippy’ Chittick, ‘Jingles’ Chittick, Deb and Rob Folkard in Grade 6.
The Grade 3 team has enjoyed good success by defeating Culburra on 17 February by 66 points to 54, losing to Mollymook by 62 points to 71 on 2 March and by achieving a narrow but decisive victory against Huskisson by 58 points to 57 on 9 March. This places them in third position on 27.5 points. Well done boys – keep up the good work and good luck in your future matches.
Sadly, the Grade 6 team has not enjoyed the same success, losing to Culburra by 51 points to 52 on 17 February and going down to Nowra on 9 March by 50 points to 68. The match against Shoalhaven Heads on 2 March was called off due to rain – our best result so far. In the overall scheme of things, even a miracle couldn’t save us as we are languishing on the bottom of the ladder with only 2.5 competition points. All we can hope to do is regain some pride by competing well in future matches.
Due to State Championships, the Pennant competition is having a break and does not recommence until 6 May. Hopefully the break will be the reset that we need.
Pairs Championship
Daryl Goodger and Tige Lidbetter were bundled out of the first round of the Club Pairs Championship by Terry Bezant and Mark Power, going down by 25 points to 9. Bob Dunn and I had a similar fate, being narrowly defeated by Mick Sulis and Paul Bezant (and a couple of very lucky shots), losing by 16 points to 14. Adam Rigney and David Badger are still alive in the competition but at the expense of Bill and Jingles Chittick.
Social bowls
17 February – Laurie Watson and Barry Jorgenson 26 – Daryl Goodger and Tige Lidbetter 10. George Waddell, P Hewatt and Jingles Chittick 28 – Keith Pepper, Bob Dunn and Steve Kellett 12.
21 February – Derek Raymond, Bob Dunn and Jingles Chittick 19 – Derek Raymond (swinging lead), Ron Nelson and Bill Chittick 14.
28 February – George Waddell, Keith Pepper and Tom Froggatt 20 – Bob Burney, Ron Nelson and Daryl Goodger 14. Cutthroat – Mark Power 17, Tige Lidbetter 16 and Col Agar 6.
6 March – Bob Burney and Terry Hayes 17 – Derek Raymond and Rob Folkard 15. Ron Nelson, Keith Pepper and Bill Chittick 25 – Deb Folkard, Tom Froggatt and Lindsay McNamara 17.
Rob Folkard
