WOMEN’S BOWLS
In the June edition of the Voice I said that the Major/Minor pairs was supposed to be next……but when the time came Margaret Hayes and myself found ourselves in Fiji. I will leave the rest of that story to Rob in the Men’s report.
Instead, on 4 June the Final of the Minor Singles Championship was played between Laural Ferrington, of Kangaroo Valley, and Tina Ballard. Both of these Ladies are fairly new to bowls so the game promised to be very close and apparently it was. I am sorry I missed it. The game was played over a gruelling 31 ends, taking three hours and 50 minutes! Laural started the scoring but Tina took the lead on end three and kept it for the next eight ends. However, Laural fought back and the match was tied at eight all on end 11. This polite sharing of the lead continued throughout the game with the scores drawn on another six occasions! It is now end 28 and Laural has just fought back to take the lead and continued her final push to take the win by scoring two points on each of the last three ends. The final score was 25 to 19. I understand there was a lot of laughter and genuine enjoyment of the game and neither could believe they had played for so long! Well done to both of you and a big congratulations to Laural for winning the coveted Minor Singles Champions trophy for 2023/24.
Next the Final of the Minor Pairs competition was held on 18 June between the experienced team of Cathy Cole-Clark and Ruth Willdig (Skip) against relatively new bowlers Tina Ballard and Laural Ferrington (Skip), playing together in this event. The strong pairing of Cathy and Ruth started the scoring as expected, leading three nil on end two. However, after Tina and Laural’s epic singles match, they were determined to make a game of it, winning the following four ends to be in front six to three. To their credit the rest of the game was really close and it was only two slip-ups, where Cathy and Ruth scored a six and a four on two ends, that made the difference. Congratulations to Cathy and Ruth on the win and congratulations also to Tina and Laural for their never give up attitude!
Deb Folkard
MEN’S BOWLS
Fiji Trip
Nine bowlers from Berry travelled to Nadi in Fiji at the end of May to compete in the “Sunny West” Bowls Carnival. The trip was organised by the President of the Berry Men’s Bowling Club and lifelong Kangaroo Valley resident Geoff “Tige” Lidbetter.
The tournament, which attracted teams from Fiji, other pacific countries, New Zealand and various locations in Australia, comprised both open gender fours and pairs competitions. Teams competed in four pools and played five games of 15 ends over two days in both competitions to determine the semi-finalists.
In the fours, Tige’s team, including Keith Pepper, Mark Power and Paul Bezant played really well but they had a tough draw, including the eventual winners and the eventual runners up of the Carnival. The other team, skipped by Terry Hayes and including Deb and Rob Folkard and David Badger, won all five of their matches and topped their pool to progress to the semi-finals on the third day. Unfortunately, we came up against the local side that won the event last year and, despite our best efforts, we were bundled out of the competition.
Deb and I started playing the pairs together but after one game Deb succumbed to a knee injury, sustained in the fours competition, and Margaret Hayes replaced her for the remaining four matches. Margaret played very well but nonetheless we struck very strong competition and managed to win only one of the five matches. Tige and Keith Pepper won two of their five matches and narrowly missed out on a third win. None of the Berry teams made the semi-finals in the pairs.
Most people go to Fiji for a relaxing holiday, whereas we went for seven days of exertion in the heat. Nonetheless, we had a tremendous time. The Fijian people were great, the event was well run, the competition was very strong and the camaraderie and ‘apres bowls’ at the Nadi Sports and Social Club and Legends Bar were a highlight. Thanks very much Tige for organising such a great trip. I am certain you will have no difficulty making it an annual event should you wish to do it again next year.
Mixed Pairs Competition
The final of the Mixed Pairs, between Bob and Irene Dunn and Margaret and Terry Hayes held on 2 July was very much a game of two halves. Terry and Margaret started well and were leading by 17 points to 5 after 10 ends. In true form Bob and Irene never gave up and played strongly in the second half of the game but eventually went down 22 points to 16. It is worth noting that Bob and Irene won 10 of the 21 ends. Congratulations Bob and Irene on becoming the runners up in the Mixed Pairs competition.
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The AGM of the Berry Men’s Bowling Club was held on 10 July. I am delighted to report that Tige Lidbetter was returned unopposed as the President and Phillip “Jingles” Chittick was elected unopposed as a Committee Member. Congratulations Tige and Jingles on being elected and thanks for all of the work that you do on our behalf.
Social Bowls
15 May – Bob Burney (swinger), Keith Pepper, Jingles Chittick 27 – Bob Burney, Margaret and Terry Hayes 13. Ron Nelson, Darryl Goodger, David Badger 25 – Col Agar, Tom Froggatt, Lindsay McNamara 15.
22 May – Ron Nelson, Col Agar 22 – Tom Froggatt, Jingles Chittick 18. Bob Burney (swinger), Darryl Goodger, Bob Dunn 25 – Bob Burney, George Waddell, Lindsay McNamara 16.
25 May – Cut-throat Jingles Chittick 25, Derek Raymond 17, Bob Dunn 7.
29 May – Darryl Goodger, Bob Dunn 23 – Ron Nelson, Col Agar 21. Lindsay McNamara, Jingles Chittick 24 – George Waddell, Peter Heffernan 14.
12 June – Derek Raymond, Bob Dunn 27 – Bob Burney, David Badger 16.
19 June – Mark Power, Jingles Chittick 25 – Bob Dunn, David Badger 24. Bill Chittick, Terry Hayes 17 – Darryl Goodger, Tige Lidbetter 9.
26 June – Bill Chittick, Tige Lidbetter 29 – Derek Raymond, Mark Power 11. Col Agar, Jingles Chittick 25 – George Waddell, Rob Folkard 21. Keith Pepper, Russell Tulloch, Terry Hayes 18 – Tom Froggatt, Bob Dunn, David Badger 16. George Waddell, Bob Dunn, Tige Lidbetter 21 – Tom Froggatt, Mark Power, Jingles Chittick 20.
3 July – Bob Burney (swinger), Keith Pepper, Lindsay McNamara 20 – Bob Burney, Derek Raymond, Bill Chittick 16.
10 July – Derek Raymond, Terry Hayes 21 – Tom Froggatt, Jingles Chittick 20. Bob Burney, Tige Lidbetter 22 – Darryl Goodger, Bill Chittick 12.
13 July – Derek Raymond, Jingles Chittick 23 – George Waddell, Rob Folkard 17.
17 July – Bob Burney, Tige Lidbetter 30 – Derek Raymond, Lindsay McNamara 24. Bill Chittick, Terry Hayes 18 – Col Agar, Tom Froggatt 8.
Rob Folkard
