Final four set, and desperate times for Beltana
Premier Division report by Peter Kirby
6 March 2023 (Round 17)
With one round remaining in Bowls South’s Derwent Eye Specialists Premier Division Saturday Pennant the top four is confirmed with Kingborough on top, followed by Sandy Bay, Glenorchy Rodman and Cremorne. Beltana is in a precarious position in last spot and, facing Sandy Bay in the final round, the side most likely to be relegated.
Kingborough enjoyed a three rink victory over Buckingham 116 – 50, on their indoor green. A highlight of the match were the brilliant lead bowls played across all Kingborough rinks. Brent Forsyth, with great support from Iain Dinning and Brad Carver, won convincingly against Andrew Chamberlain by 32 shots, 37-5. The Lefties rink of Ryan Guy, Treb O’Neill, Mark Burgess and Jack Butler was the big winner for the day, 31–8, against Barry Nash, with excellent draw bowls from Guy. Jason Fowler, executing conversion shots throughout his match with Craig Owen finished the day well ahead, 32–11, and Brent Forsyth, 37-5 over Andrew Chamberlain, also recorded comprehensive wins. Grant Chamberlain claimed a rink win for Bucks, and two valuable, in a hard-fought 26–16 victory over Nicholas Courto.
Brighton maintained its good form with a three rink 18 shot, 85-67, win over Beltana, in the process relegating their visitors to last position on the ladder. Grant Wakefield led the way for Brighton, easily defeating Gary Richardson by 14 shots, 23-9. Wakefield conceded only 7 ends to his opponent. Ricky Limbrick was down 0-7 after just four ends, but won the next six to lead 13-7 at the halfway mark, eventually defeating Mick Coppleman by four shots, 21-17. Matt Breward was trailing Alex McCoull until the fifteenth end, when Breward’s team picked up a 6, holding off McCoull to win by one shot, 20-19. Shane Young was Beltana’s only winning skip for the day, defeating Mick Daniels in a one shot thriller, 20-19.
Cremorne recorded a comfortable 3 rink, 27 shot victory over Dover, 95-68, which was played in terrific conditions at Cremorne on Saturday. Leigh Munnings and his team of Ash Banks, Dave Langmaid and Brendon Dance were in control all day against Chris Norris, recording a 29-10 win. Brad Knight and his rink continued their solid form with a 22-14 triumph over Roger Dale, and Peter Marshall was challenged late by Cam Norris but with Marshall playing some huge bowls in the last couple of ends hung on to win, 28-25. Ricky Ormerod from Dover secured a rink win and 2 valuable points for Dover in their battle for survival in the top division with a come from behind victory against Pat Hoffman, 19-16.
Perfect conditions for lawn bowls at the home of the Seagulls saw Sandy Bay comfortably overcome a finals contender, New Norfolk 92-54, three rinks to one. Behind early in the game, Justin Plummer powered away from Wayne Clark with Plummer’s two, Stephen Graf finding his metronomic rhythm early and setting up good heads for his rink’s win, 23 -9. Plummer, sporting a new look to rival his number two, fell marginally short of claiming the best dressed on the day.
The Bay welcomed the return of their ‘good boy’ Andrew Norris who, after a shaky start at the group huddle, played some great saving shots early against Lauren Banks. Banks herself returned the favour late in the game, playing some big bowls to reduce the margin to 14, 27-13, on the final end.
Scott Booth set up a good 15 shot win (26-11) for his son, Keghan, against Kerry Hill. Senior Booth and Chris Bye are a formidable front end for Junior Booth and his three Rhino McCoull, heading into the business end of the season.
The winning rink for New Norfolk was skipped by Chris Chalker. Down midway through the game, Chalker’s rink of Greg Kingston, David Duggan and Barry Bone managed to wear down Bryce Guy to secure a 5 shot, 21-16, win and an important 2 points for the Eagles to keep their slim finals hopes alive.
Glenorchy Rodman continued its bumpy run into the finals, this time at Claremont, sharing the rink wins but losing to their hosts by eleven shots, 70-81, with the win for Claremont most probably keeping them in Premier Division net season. Paul Hart defeated Luke Turner by thirteen shots, 24-11, and Mick Taylor added a second rink win for Claremont with his ten shot win against Jack Ellis. Rodman’s two rink wins came via Cam Tegg’s ten shot victory over Max Barry, 26-16, and Tony Vince getting the better of John McDonald by two shots, 20-18.