Bucks wins the “cellar dweller” clash
A report for The Mercury by Peter Kirby
Buckingham’s winning effort to avoid relegation and Kingborough’s return to form were the highlights of Round 14 of Bowls South’s Divergence Built Premier Division on Saturday. The battle between the bottom two sides, Buckingham and New Norfolk, at Buckingham, was decided in the final ends.
In a narrow, come-from-behind, 6 shot victory, 69-63, Buckingham won the battle of the cellar dwellers, winning on 2 rinks, drawing a third and losing on the other rink to leave New Norfolk languishing in last position, 10 points behind Howrah in ninth.
Bucks’ Andrew Chamberlain led all day against Greg Kingston to win convincingly by 10 shots, 19-9. Bucks’ other rink win came via Grant Chamberlain who, after trailing all day, finally overtook Gregory Banks in the final few ends to secure a 17-14 result for Bucks.
Todd Oakley also overcame a significant early deficit to draw 19-all with New Norfolk’s Barry Bone. New Norfolk’s Samuel Winter secured one rink for his with a strong 21-14 win over Stuey Rees.
Kingborough surged back to form in emphatic style at Sandy Bay, defeating the home side on 3 rinks, by 21 shots, 98-77. Will Coad was the big winner for Kingborough, never headed in his match with Ryan McCoull, scoring on 13 of the 21 ends played to finish 12 shots up, 25-13.
Ryan Guy-Rees’ match with Sandy Bay’s Josh Lording was evenly balanced for the first half of their encounter, before Lording broke away on the 12th end for a commanding 6 shot lead. Guy-Rees countered with strong attacking play to claim each of the final 7 ends to close out the match 7 shots up on the former leading skip, 27-20.
Regaining top spot on the Division’s skips’ ladder, Nic Courto fought back from being 5 down to Sandy Bay’s Josh Mabb after 9 ends to take the lead with a 5 on the 12th end to stay in front for the remainder of the match to be 8 up at the finish, 26-18.
Skipping for the first time for Sandy Bay, Lochie Sims picked up a 5 on the second end against Jason Fowler, to hold on to his lead for the remainder of the match for a solid 6 shot win over his Kingborough opponent, 26-20, and a rink gain for his side.
Glenorchy Rodman was tested by a gallant Cremorne side before settling on a 3-rink win, by 18 shots, 85-67. Rodman’s Cam Tegg was always in control against Ash Banks to win by 18 shots, 30-12, but it required a massive effort from the other three rinks to keep Cremorne at bay. The win maintains Rodman’s 5 point advantage over Kingborough at the top of the table.
Cremorne’s Leigh Munnings led Anthony Clifford 14-0 after six ends but conceded 22 shots to 6 over the remaining ends to lose by 2 shots, 22-20. Jack Ellis survived a late comeback from Tex Marshall, who scrambled to 15-all after 18 ends, before Ellis played some great bowls to also win by 2 shots, 18-16.
Brad Knight led Rodman’s Grant Allford by 9 shots after 11 ends, before Allford mounted a fightback, drawing level on the 19th end, but dropped the final 2 ends to go down by 4 shots, 15-19. While both sides missed some crucial players the fighting spirit of the players for both teams cannot be questioned.
It was heartbreak time for Brighton at home to Claremont, winning on 3 rinks but failing to claim victory overall, going down to the visitors by a solitary shot, 69-70. Paul Hart did the damage for the Mont with his huge 19-shot gain on Mick Daniels, 29-10.
Grant Wakefield did best for Brighton, defeating Chris Chalker by 9 shots, 19-10, and young Riley Davie continued his recent winning form, 8 shots up on Michael Taylor, 20-12. Matt Breward snuck in by a shot, 20-19, against Nicholas Chilcott, in his first appearance for Claremont in several years, but their winning margins not enough to offset Hart’s big haul for the visitors.
Howrah and Dover shared the rink wins on Howrah’s indoor surface but the visitors came away victorious, 10 shots up, 91-81. Bill Butler and John Sutcliffe did their best for the hosts, Butler defeating Dover’s Shane Garth by 12 shots, 25-13, and Sutcliffe getting the better of Roger Dale, 24-17.
Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain, as both of Dover’s winning skips had double digit victories, Chris Norris taking out his match with Peter Jenkins by 18 shots, 35-15, and Brad Carver 11 shots up on Glenn Frame, 26-15, to seal the win for their side.