Howrah starts season with monster win
A report for The Mercury by Peter Kirby
Howrah was ruthless in its match with Glenorchy City in the opening round of Bowls South’s 2024-25 Thursday Women’s Division 1 Pennant season, winning on all rinks by 64 shots, 98-34. Glenorchy City’s Margaret Poulter started strongly against Howrah’s Denise Tanner, leading 6-1 after five ends.
A six to Tanner on the sixth end changed the momentum of the match and, although Poulter levelled 9-all after the eighth end, Tanner limited Poulter to a gain of just five more shots in the last twelve ends while claiming twenty-eight shots for herself, an eight on the seventeenth end underlining her dominance, winning comfortably, 37-14.
Charon Foster’s rink was relentless in their match against the Glenorchy City rink of Miriam Garrett, establishing a winning break after eight ends to lead 14-0. The match remained a one-sided affair with Foster closing out twenty-seven shots up, 35-8.
Leonie Hyland’s Glenorchy City rink created a contest for Howrah’s Rosie Geeves rink, and although always trailing in the contest did well to finish within fourteen shots of Geeves, losing the match, 12-26.
Kingborough Div 1 Ladies travelled to Orford and had a great start to the season, defeating Orford on 3 rinks and winning by 41 shots overall, 79-38.
Kingborough’s Maddie Johnston, filling in for the day for Crystal Brooks (on the Gold Coast with Bowls Tasmania’s Women’s Side), maintained a good lead all day against Jill Morgan’s rink, who tried hard but found their Kingborough opponents too good on the day. Johnston enjoyed great support from her front end, with Sally Bowes leading well, and strong support at two from Louise Wallace. Leonie Price, at three, performed very well with her new bowling arm and along with her skip, Johnston, clinched wins on many ends to finish 28 shots ahead of their Orford opponents, 32 -5.
With all team members contributing strongly Kerrie Lane secured another convincing win for Kingborough against Orford’s Carol Bannister, winning by 9 shots, 25-16. Special appreciation for a good game by Pauline Connell, playing two for Lane, who is stepping out for health reasons.
The Orford rink of Jenny Martyn remained competitive throughout their match with Kingborough’s Sue Clark. After a tight tussle in the morning, Clark’s rink scored well after lunch to edge out Martyn’s rink by 5 shots, 22-17.
The Claremont Division 1 Ladies team kicked off the 2024-2025 lawn bowls season with an impressive performance, securing an all-rinks win away to Rosny Park, 82-51.
In almost perfect conditions, Rosny Park provided a beautiful setting for the season opener, and it did not disappoint as Claremont delivered an exciting and hard-fought victory.
The match began slowly for Claremont, with all three rinks feeling out their competition, initially. However, Maree Morgan’s rink quickly gained traction, consolidating their lead by the sixth end and not allowing their opponents to score until the 14th end. Facing some pushback from Mimma D’Amico’s team, who put the pressure on from the 14th to the 16th ends, Morgan and her team retaliated sharply on the 17th end, scoring 4 shots to solidify their commanding lead, ultimately finishing with a 17-shot margin, 32-15.
The action was just as gripping on Jan McPherson’s rink. After leading for most of the match, McPherson faced a challenge as Rosny Park’s Elizabeth Deburgh surged ahead, scoring 5 shots on the 14th end, led by the Rosny skip. Yet, in a striking comeback, McPherson’s team scored 7 shots on the 19th end, putting Claremont back in front. In a nail-biting finish, with the match hanging in the balance, McPherson’s rink emerged victorious by a narrow one-shot advantage, 22-21.
In an interesting parallel, Trudy Davis and her team also made a significant move on the 14th end, scoring 4 shots, which helped them to secure a comfortable 13-shot lead over Rosny’s Gaylene Ridgeway by the conclusion of their match, 28-15.
Overall, it was a thrilling start to the season for the Claremont Division 1 Ladies team, setting a promising tone for the matches ahead.
In an exciting game at Sandy Bay, the home side won on two rinks but drew the match with visitors, Buckingham, 54-all.
Sandy Bay’s Sally Knott, skipping for the first time in Division 1, was ably supported by her team. A 4 in the seventh end set them up for a win by 6 shots over Buckingham’s Lyn Hall, 22-16.
Peri Buckley and Bucks’ Chris Thompson were evenly matched throughout their game, with the Sandy Bay team edging out the Buckingham rink by 3 shots, 16-13.
The Buckingham’s rink, skipped by Ailsa Milburn, had a strong second half against Sandy Bay’s Jac Phillips, scoring a 6 on the thirteenth end, and then 4 on the fifteenth and twentieth ends, multiples which determined a good win to Bucks by 9 shots, 25-16.
Glenorchy Rodman, at home to Brighton, had a good start to the season, winning on two rinks, twelve shots up, 64-52. Cheryl Ann Nielsenbeck contributed most to Rodman’s win, defeating Brighton’s Lyn Triffitt by 13 shots, 25-12.
Lyn Flack continued the winning trend for Rodman, defeating Brighton’s Tayla Munro by 5 shots, 21-16. Skipping against her old side, Michelle Moate claimed a win for Brighton, defeating Rodman’s Di Peck by 6 shots, 24-18.