Kingborough wins Midweek Semi-Final
A wrap-up of the Midweek Semi Finals
by Peter Kirby
The Semi Finals of Bowls South’s third pennant competition, Men’s Midweek Pennant, were played on Wednesday of this week with the winners of the Qualifying Semi Finals in the four divisions progressing to the Grand Finals on Wednesday 19 April. All but three of the semi-finals were close contests with single digit winning margins.
The Division 1 Qualifying Semi Final was played in the Kingborough Indoor Bowls Centre between top side, Kingborough, and Orford. The match was very close for the first third of the match, but by the completion of the forty-eighth end Kingborough had established a twenty-three shot lead, a handy gap between the two sides that it maintained for the rest of the game, winning by twenty-one shots, 66-45.
Kingborough skip, Shane Garth, contributed most to his side’s victory with his twelve shot win in a high pressure game against Allan Bannister, who played some excellent conversion and draw shots to keep his team in the match. Heath Seabourne took until the eleventh end to get the better of Orford’s Clive Kelton, after which he was never headed, finishing eight shots up, 22-14.
The third rink was much closer, with Orford’s Chris Martyn delivering excellent draw bowls to keep this game on a knife edge, forcing the best from Kingborough’s Mark Crawford, who withstood the pressure to sneak in by one shot, 17-16.
The Division 1 Elimination Semi Final was played on Glenorchy Rodman’s green, the home side ending Cremorne’s season with a comprehensive all-rinks, thirty-three shot win, 71-38, to progress to the Preliminary Final against Orford, at Orford, next Wednesday. Tony Vince defeated Peter Marshall by twelve shots, 21-9, Anthony Clifford toppled Phil Ions by eleven, 26-15, and Luke Turner won by ten shots against Leigh Munnings, 24-14.
In Division 2, Glenorchy City grabbed a Grand Final spot with its one shot win against Royal Hobart, at Royal Hobart, 60-59, while Sorell eliminated Sandy Bay, winning by thirteen shots, 59-46. Royal Hobart and Sorell meet in next week’s Division 2 Preliminary Final.
Buckingham eliminated North Hobart in Division 3, winning by 2 shots, 64-62, while Glenorchy Rodman advances to the Grand Final after defeating Claremont by 7 shots, 63-56. Claremont plays Buckingham in their divisional Preliminary Final.
Claremont eclipsed St Johns Park by a single shot, 61-60, and Kingborough made the best of their visit to Brighton to advance to the Division 4 Grand Final, winning by eight shots, 59-51. Claremont meets Brighton in Division 4 Preliminary Final.