Kingborough triumphant in Grand Final thriller
Saturday grand finals report by Peter Kirby
Bowls South’s Saturday Pennant Grand Finals were played in overcast, cold conditions on Saturday, with the result in most matches being very close. The Derwent Eye Specialists Premier Division match was a high standard game with the result in doubt until the final few ends as Kingborough gradually built up a winning lead, defeating Sandy Bay by nine shots, 74-65. Kingborough’s Nic Courto opened strongly against Josh Lording, gaining the upper hand from the outset, picking up 5 shots on the first end of play. Lording was never able to recover from this early blow with Courto dominant, winning 14 of the 21 ends played, finishing nineteen shots ahead, 29-10.
A highlight of this match was the battle between the two leads throughout the game, with Kingborough’s Clinton Seabourne just shading his direct opponent, Matt Grace, to set up good heads for his skip. Darren Reeve, Courto’s second, was solid throughout, constantly drawing shot, while Nathan Dinning, at three, followed Courto’s direction to the letter, placing his bowl strategically to the advantage of his team.
The first half of the match between Kingborough’s Will Coad and Sandy Bay’s Justin Plummer was close, with Coad slightly ahead, until Coad won three ends in succession from the twelfth to fourteenth ends to establish a winning lead. Coad was well supported by all members of his team, with Tony Rowe leading well, Brad Carver drawing scoring shots, and Brent Forsyth converting heads to advantage. Plummer conceded the match to Coad with one end to play as Kingborough’s overall lead by then was greater than the maximum number of shots Plumber could score, Coad winning, 21-11.
Sandy Bay’s Keghan Booth, with his dad, Scott, leading well, did his utmost to offset Courto’s big winning score, and kept his opponent, Ryan Guy, under constant pressure, mostly containing Guy’s winning ends to single shots. Guy kept battling on, and in scoring a four on the twentieth end reduced his deficit to sixteen shots, going down to Booth, 12-28.
Kingborough’s Jason Fowler kept in touch with his Sandy Bay opponent, Andrew Norris, but was not able to get in front until he picked up a three on the eighteenth end to go one up, 12-11. Unfortunately, Norris rallied to win each of the last three ends to finish four up, 16-12.
Division 1
After building a good lead early, Howrah withstood late pressure from Kingborough to take out the Division 1 Grand Final, 87-76. A highlight of this match were the close battles on three of the rinks, with two being drawn and the other won by a single shot. Bill Butler’s rink ensured victory for his side with his twelve shot win against Kingborough’s Gavin Cleary, 24-12. Maddy Johnston won for Kingborough, defeating Peter Jenkins by a shot, 21-20. Danny Neale drew with Kingborough’s Heath Seabourne, 22-all, and Mark Crawford drew with Howrah’s John Sutcliffe, 21-all.
Division 2
The Division 2 Grand Final between Orford and Rosny Park for the most part seemed to be going Orford’s way, but Rosny’s players stuck doggedly to the task of getting the better of their East Coast opponents, gradually reducing Orford’s lead over the final ends to eventually win by 9 shots, 83-74. Rex O’Neill’s massive thirty four shot win against Orford’s John Oates, 43-9, set up the win for Rosny. Ian Brazendale and Rosny’s Wayne Pidgeon played out a 13-all draw, Orford’s Chris Martyn defeated Wayne Cowen, 24-14. Clive Kelton also won for Orford, 28-13, against Neville Bryan.
Division 3
Division 3 was another match-up between sides from Kingborough and Sandy Bay, with the result a repeat of the Premier Division encounter, Kingborough winning by 9 shots, 83-74. Two of the matches ended in 18-all draws, with nothing separating Kingborough’s Bruce Moran and Greg Riley from their respective Sandy Bay opponents, Derek Oseman and Barry Monk. Tony Verrier’s thirteen shot win against Sandy Bay’s Graham Monk, 27-14, easily offset Ant Sculthorpe’s four shot loss to Sandy Bay’s Robyn Leggett, 20-24, to claim the pennant for Kingborough.
Division 4
In Division 4, two extra ends were required to separate Cygnet and Howrah as they were locked 76-all at the completion of the match. The first extra end did not find a winner, with both sides scoring seven shots each. Cygnet was declared the winner after the second extra end, scoring four shots to one, for a final score of 87-84 to Cygnet. Yet another drawn game occurred in this match, with Cygnet’s Paul Williams drawing 20-all with John Steed. Greg Coad’s ten shot win over Howrah’s Jack Steele, 24-14, easily accounted for David Woolley’s six shot loss to Howrah’s Brian Walker, 19-25, and David DeBurgh’s efforts in containing his loss to Howrah’s Colin Hewlett to a single shot, 24-25, was enough to get Cygnet over the line.
Division 5
In the Division 5 Grand Final, Claremont again proved its mastery over Glenorchy City, winning by eighteen shots, 75-57. Claremont’s John Howard was the big winner for Claremont, defeating his opponent, Ray Holland, 33-19. Ron Coleman also won for Claremont, defeating Ken Parish by 7 shots, 25-18. Ingrid Makowski did her best for her side, winning by three shots against Claremont’s Peter Trikilis, 20-17.
Division 6
Franklin surprised Glenorchy Rodman in Division 6 with their form reversal from their Qualifying Semi Final meeting, defeating the more favoured Rodman side by twenty six shots, 63-37, to take out the Division 6 Pennant. Franklin won on all three rinks with Colin Coulson leading the way with his nineteen shot victory over Faye Joseph, 23-4, well supported by Geoff Reeves’ 22-16 defeat of John Clarke, and Jeremy Reeve’s slim one shot win against Shane Withers, 18-17.
State Finals
Bowls Tasmania will invite all Saturday Pennant winners to participate in its State Pennant Finals on the North-West Coast next Saturday and Sunday, to be played at Burnie and South Burnie Bowls Clubs.
See Saturday Pennant State Pennant Finals for more detail.