Top three too good for opposition
A report for The Mercury by Peter Kirby
In Round 11 of Bowls South’s Divergence Built Premier Division, the first of a doubleheader weekend, the top three sides, Kingborough, Glenorchy Rodman and Sandy Bay, had solid wins while fifth placed Cremorne’s win at home enabled it to close within 6 points of Brighton after their stumble at Dover.
Kingborough travelled to New Norfolk with 3 of their regular players, Ryan Guy, Will Coad and Jack Butler all absent, attending Guy’s wedding. Robert “Treb” O’Neill did a splendid job for his side, filling in for Coad, defeating New Norfolk’s Barry Bone by 20 shots, 31-11.
Jarod Long, skipping in place of Guy, held a 4 shot advantage after 18 ends, but failed to win another end, dropping 4 shots in the process to Wayne Lampkin, himself filling in for regular New Norfolk skip, Kerry Hill, unable to play due to a hand injury suffered during the week working with his horses, but did enough to avoid defeat, the match ending in a 15-all draw.
Kingborough’s Nic Courto also held a handy lead of 8 shots after 18 ends, but lost the final 3 ends to Lauren Banks, who just missed out by 1 shot to equal Courto’s tally, Courto lucky to survive to win by 1 shot, 20-19.
The final match between New Norfolk’s Samual Winter and the Tigers’ Jason Fowler was a similar scenario, with Fowler up by 8 shots after the eighteenth end, conceded each of the final 3 ends to Winter, but restricted Winter to single shot gains to take out the match by 5 shots, 21-16, for Kingborough to win the match by 26 shots overall, 87-61.
With a bit of moisture lingering in the air, Sandy Bay travelled to New Town’s home of bowls, Buckingham. In a tough contest in non-breezy conditions, the Bay bounced back to the winners’ list with a 12-2, 19 shot victory, 85-66.
The big rink winner for the Bay, surprisingly, was Alby Norris over Todd Oakley. Norris went in with a mixture of experience including Jacquie Phillips, Ben Jones on debut, and Rohan Cooper, who made his long awaited return to the top division. It was Jones who led the way helping Norris secure the rink win, 31-14.
Stewart Cashion found himself skipping in what many consider was a team selection typo. He took charge of the dream rink in the absence of Josh Lording, taking on Bucks veteran Grant Chamberlain. Cashion jumped out of the blocks to lead 6 zip after three ends and was never headed. Andy Carswell, Chris ‘Ned’ Bye and Reggie Daly were solid throughout the 19-14 win.
The close rink of the day was between good mates Ryan McCoull and Andrew ‘Dingo’ Chamberlain. A hydrated McCoull shot out to an early lead but then Dingo attacked, treating his opponents like a bunch of Fraser Island tourists. The early lead was quickly pegged back and saw the score draw even in the dying ends. It was McCoull who rallied to get a win, 20-19, and the third rink win for Bay.
Stuart Rees, in only his second game as skip in 10 years, was the only rink winner for Bucks with a 19-15 result against the sharply dressed Brad Mabb rink. Rees was dominant early and at one point lead by 10 shots. Mabb rallied late and wished the 25 end game was still in play, going down by 4 with the wind in his sails.
Howrah’s indoor green caused no trouble for visitors, Glenorchy Rodman, who had a 3-rink, 24 shot win over their hosts, 87-63. Cam Tegg set up the win for Rodman, overwhelming Glenn Frame by 20 shots, 28-8. Anthony Clifford subjected the hosts to more pain through his 12 shot win against John Sutcliffe, 24-12.
Peter Jenkins just failed to claim a rink for Howrah, succumbing to Jack Ellis by a mere 2 shots, 17-19, while Bill Butler spoiled Rodman’s chances of an all-rinks victory, accounting for Grant Allford by 13 shots, 26-13.
Brighton gained no joy from their visit to Dover, the hosts completing a 3 rink win by 20 shots, 92-72. Roger Dale’s 19 shot, 31-12, victory over Grant Wakefield created the impetus for his side to claim the overall win.
Cam Norris had a very successful outing against Brighton’s Matt Breward, clearing out to a 14 shot win, 23-9. Brad Carver was made to work hard by Mick Daniels for Dover’s third rink success, finishing 4 shots ahead of Daniels, 25-21.
Riley “Pup” Davie continued his recent good performances to claim the solitary rink win for Brighton, defeating Chris Norris by 17 shots, 30-13.
Cremorne subjected their visitors, Claremont, to a 3 rink loss, taking out the contest by 12 shots, 91-69. Claremont’s Mick Taylor tried hard to inspire his side through his 10 shot, 27-17, win over Peter “Tex” Marshall, and fellow skip, Chris Chalker, laboured in vain to support him, just failing to get the better of Ashley Banks, going down by 2 shots, 17-19.
Cremorne’s Leigh Munnings gave no opportunity to the Mont’s Paul Hart to follow Taylor’s lead, subjecting his opponent to a 14 shot loss, 30-16. Brad Knight cruised to a 16 shot win over Claremont’s Justin Plumber, 25-9, to round out the 3 rink win for the beach boys.