Regions battle it out in Statewide Challenge
An article for The Mercury by Connor Munning (15 Feb 2022)
It was region against region when the third and fourth rounds of the Bowls Tasmania State Wide Challenge were held at Rosny Park Bowls Club on Sunday.
In the open men’s section, the South demonstrated why they are the team to beat, putting in strong performances against the North West in the morning and the North in the afternoon.
Against the North West, the South were able to win on all rinks by 10 shots. Keghan Booth’s rink of Nick Courto, Grant Wakefield and Ryan Guy played some great bowls to defeat Tim Douce 19-12. Will Coad and Isaac Maughan had closer contests, but were able to defeat Tony Simpson by two shots and Mark Nitz by one shot respectively.
In the afternoon, the South recorded wins on two rinks to defeat the North by 10 shots overall. Booth’s rink kept up its good form, defeating Lachlan Sims 22-14, while Isaac Maughan remained undefeated throughout the challenge with a 10-shot win over Josh Appleyard. Will Coad kept scores tight against Michael Sims, but eventually lost 19-11.
The South 2 side put up a fight against the North in the morning with Michael Taylor’s rink having a great 20-15 win over state skip Michael Sims. However, North’s Lachlan Sims showed his class to comfortably beat Bryce Guy 22-9 and Appleyard defeated Peter Bannister by seven shots to give the North a 14-shot overall win.
Against the North West, South 2 weren’t able to put up as much of a fight and went down on all rinks by 27 shots. David Gamble defeated Guy 23-12, Tony Simpson beat Taylor by eight shots and Mark Nitz had 20-12 win over Bannister.
South currently sit on top of the ladder with 46 points ahead of North (34 points) and North West (16 points).
In the open women’s section, it was the North who won the day, defeating South 2 in the morning session on all rinks by 41 shots and then beating the South in the afternoon session. North came out firing in round three, with Candice Ayton’s rink of Mikayla Baker, Chloe Flanagan and Kirsten Viney having a big 20 shot win over the South 2 rink led by Dianne Peck. Australian representative Rebecca Van Asch defeated Helen Barnes 21-10 and Rae Simpson beat Sue Clark by 10 shots.
South had the better of North West in the morning session, winning on two rinks by nine shots overall. Jenny Suttie led the way by beating Tracey Little 25-11, while Jorja Maughan chipped in with a nine-shot win over Alison Venn. Erin Moore secured the North West a rink win by defeating Lauren Banks 25-11.
The North continued their great form in round four by defeating the South on all rinks by 20 shots. Despite a comeback from Maughan, Simpson was too good to win 28-17. Van Asch showed her class in defeating Suttie by six shots and Ayton fought hard to beat Banks 19-16.
North West were able to get the better of South 2 by 25 shots. Moore had a comprehensive 28-13 win over Clark and Little defeated Barnes by 10 shots. Venn and Peck played out a 16 all draw.
North currently sit on top of the ladder with 36 points ahead of South (31 points) and North West (29 points).
The fifth and sixth rounds of the State Wide Challenge will be held on Sunday 6 March in the North of the state.