Tight contests remain for Premier Division survival
Premier Division report by Peter Kirby
25 February 2023 (Round 16)
With two rounds remaining before the finals commence in Bowls Tasmania South’s Derwent Eye Specialists Premier Division, fourth place remains in doubt with a single point separating Cremorne and New Norfolk, and only percentage separating Beltana and Claremont in their battle for survival in the top division. Sandy Bay remains second on the ladder after an uncomfortable 1 shot victory over sixth placed Brighton, 79-78. The win was secured by Justin Plummer’s 10 shot victory over Ricky Limerick, 25-15. Plummer’s front end was well served by Marlon Quinane and Stephen Graf, who was easily the sharpest dressed on the day. Plummer has finally settled on a new formation after recent selection changes.
The in-form skip of the Premier Division, Brighton’s Grant Wakefield, had a tough match-up with Josh Lording in a well fought battle. Wakefield played great conversion shots to keep his rink in the game, but ultimately went down by 3 shots, 17-20, after converting 3 on the last end. Sandy Bay’s Keghan Booth had what could only be described as an arm wrestle with Matt Breward. Booth was able to secure the win for the Seagulls and his rink on the last end, declaring the head with a bowl in hand for 2 shots and securing the rink win by 1 shot, 17-16. Chris Bye was a stand-out for Booth in the two position. Mick Daniels was the only rink winner for Brighton, with a 13 shot victory, 30-17, over Bryce Guy. Guy, who normally thrives on a lack of moistness in the green, was out-classed on the day by Daniels, whose team all contributed well to the rink victory.
Kingborough proved to be the better side on the day against a gallant Glenorchy Rodman, which went down by 5 shots overall, 79-84, to the current ladder leaders. Jason Fowler, with Jason Commane leading well and supported by Jordie Seabourne, played some big bowls to defeat Tony Vince by 11 shots, 27-16, and set up the win for the visitors. Brent Forsyth had a great tussle against Luke Turner before prevailing by 5 shots, 21-16, and Nick Courto did enough to eclipse Cam Tegg by one shot, 19-18. With Danny Gahan in fine form Jack Ellis secured a rink win for the hosts with a 12 shot win over Ryan Guy, 29-17.
Dover’s late season form continued to hold on Saturday with a solid 3 rink, 29 shot win over their visitors, New Norfolk, 87-58. It was a case of big winning margins on all rinks with Dover’s successful skips being Ricky Ormerod, 29-11 against Wayne Clark, Chris Norris, 22-8, over Kerry Hill, and Josh Mazur defeating Chris Chalker by 13 shots, 26-13. Mitch Banks was the sole rink winner for New Norfolk, 16 shots ahead of Cam Norris, 26-10.
Jeanette Lane, in her first appearance as a Premier Division kip, led the way for Buckingham in their 78–68, 3 rink victory over Cremorne. Lane defeated Peter Marshall, 22–13, while Craig Owen continued his fine season with a 23–17 win over Patrick Hoffman. Andrew Chamberlain defeated Leigh Munnings 19 – 18 in a tight encounter for Buckingham’s third rink win, while Bradley Knight skipped away in the final ends of another tight contest to post a 20–14 win over Grant Chamberlain, for Cremorne’s only rink win for the day.
After nine winless rounds, bottom side Claremont finally broke through at Beltana for a 3 rink 17 shot victory, 86-69, and in the process pushed their hosts to ninth. Claremont’s winning skips were John McDonald, who came from behind to beat Brendan Breen 20-14, Paul Hart was solid all day in beating Gary Richardson 20-15, and Max Barry had a good win over Shane Young, 22-14. Beltana’s rink win came from Alex McCoull, who defeated Mick Taylor, 26-24, to ensure Beltana didn’t drop to the bottom of the ladder.