Claremont ventures into Tiger’s Den
A report for The Mercury by Peter Kirby
Round 3 of Bowls South’s Divergence Built Premier Division commences tomorrow night at 6:30pm in the Kingborough Indoor Bowls Centre, with Kingborough hosting Claremont. Claremont welcomes Dean Shaw back from his holiday in Hawaii and has included Tony “Elvis” Smith also. In an ominous sign for Claremont and the rest of the competition, Kingborough is bolstered further by the return of Robert “Treb” O’Neill to the side after missing the first two weeks on holiday. While Claremont will be competitive Kingborough should prevail. A good crowd of spectators is expected to provide a rowdy, supportive atmosphere from the mezzanine floor of the indoor centre. The match will be livestreamed and those at home can pick up the live action through Bowls Tasmania’s Facebook page.
Its normal Saturday afternoon action for the other four matches of the round with the most interesting encounter being that of current 4th placed Dover welcoming 3rd placed Sandy Bay to Dover. Dover should put up stern resistance to the visitors and could take the points against a side still searching for new combinations to remain competitive, but Sandy Bay’s longstanding winning culture could be just enough for it to deny their hosts the joy of victory.
A confident Glenorchy Rodman make the short trip to New Town for their contest with Buckingham and will expect to win comfortably on a synthetic surface similar to their own. Buckingham is not enjoying the best of seasons and is yet to win a match, while Rodman is currently second on the ladder, having won both of its games. Rodman should have superior playing ability across all four rinks to ensure it victory in this match.
Cremorne, winless this season and languishing in the relegation zone, is getting back to full strength with the return of Leigh Munnings to the side and will be hoping that its good form from last season against visiting side, Brighton, winning at home and away with comfortable shot margins, will be repeated this season to commence its resurgence. Brighton, though, is in good form, and the confidence gained from being undefeated so far this year may be enough to secure them a tight win on a difficult synthetic surface.
With rain expected on Friday, the green at New Norfolk will likely play slow and heavy, which will favour the home side against Howrah, used to playing on the slick surface of their indoor green. The outcome of the match will be determined by how well Howrah can adapt to playing conditions of which they have had little recent experience, while the home side will be hoping to take full advantage of their intimate knowledge of the quirks of their green.