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The Seagulls swoop at Howrah to steal the chips

A Premier Division report for The Mercury by Peter Kirby

Sandy Bay maintained their position at the top of the leaderboard in Bowls South’s Leumas Accounting Saturday Premier Division Pennant at Howrah, clinching a tight split rinks decision by seven shots overall, 85-78.

On Howrah’s indoor green, Sandy Bay split the rink wins with Howrah, but won overall by seven shots, 85-78. Sandy Bay started well on the nice synthetic surface at Howrah and led on all rinks by a total of twenty shots after twenty ends played.

Bay were sixteen shots in front after sixty ends with State player Josh Lording twelve shots in front of Howrah’s Bill Butler and Josh Mabb nine shots in front of Steve Hyland.

Howrah reduced the margin to only four shots with two ends to play, thanks largely to Adam Butler and his team of Stuart Potter, Rex Lowe and Rosie Geeves, who won seven consecutive ends in the game with Sandy Bay’s Justin Plummer and led, 23-13, after twenty ends played.  Plummer and his team of Peri Buckley, Chris Bye and Bryce Guy picked up three shots on the last end to keep Sandy Bay a few shots in front, with Adam Butler winning, 23-16.

Sandy Bay’s Josh Mabb and his team of Stewart Cashion, Andrew Chamberlain and Phil Hobbs were next to finish with a 25-16 win over Steve Hyland.

The other two contests, between Sandy Bay’s Josh Lording and Howrah’s Bill Butler, and Sandy Bay’s Alby Norris (Sandy Bay) and Howrah’s Peter Jenkins, both had one end to play to decide the overall winner, with Sandy Bay’s lead still four shots after eighty-two of the ends played ends played.

Josh Lording and his team of Tony Rowe, Kyron Daly and Lucas Howell picked up two shots on their last end to win, 27-15, against Butler to seal the win for the visitors. Peter Jenkins, Howrah’s other winning skip, with his team of Tony Wileman, Danny Neal and Glenn Frame, came back from 1-9 down after five ends to win, 24-17. Rohan Cooper playing two for Alby Norris, secured one shot on the last end, a little added bonus for the visitors.

Although only winning on one rink against visitors, Brighton, Rosny Park almost stole the bickies, conceding to Brighton by a single shot, 69-70. This was a closely fought contest on all rinks, with Rosny’s Andrew Blake’s defeat of Grant Wakefield by six shots, 22-16, the biggest winning margin for the day.

Brighton’s Michael Daniels all but equalled Blake’s winning effort, with his four-shot margin over Rosny’s Darren Monks, 20-16, and Riley Davie’s two-shot win against Rosny’s Nic Courto, 16-14, had the two sides equal on the overall scoreboard. Brighton’s Matt Breward broke the deadlock with his one-shot win against Peter Bannister, 18-17, his winning margin the difference between the two sides.

Dover consolidated their place in the top four, winning three rinks at Buckingham by thirty-seven shots, 103-66. Bradley Carver accounted for George Kovacs by twenty-three shots, 32-9, while Roger Dale dominated Stuart Rees, 31-12.

In a tighter encounter, Cameron Norris defeated Jeanette Lane by five shots, 22-17, while Craig Owen celebrated a rare rink win for Buckingham with a 28-18 result over Chris Norris.

Reigning premiers, Kingborough, flexed their muscles at Cremorne, winning on three rinks by a comfortable 31 shot margin, 92-61.

The Kingborough rink skipped by Nathan Dinning, consisting of brother Callum, Mark Burgess and Jarrod Long played the perfect team game with all four players contributing through the entirety of the contest, restricting the scoring opportunities of their opponent, Cremorne’s Brad Knight, to take the match by twenty-one shots, 30-9. A battered and bruised Knight, and his lead, Leigh Munnings, tried valiantly to keep Cremorne in the contest to no avail.

Jason Fowler was the other big winner for the visitors, accounting for Pat Hoffman by eleven shots, in the process winning thirteen of the twenty-one ends played, the final score being 22 –11, in Fowler’s favour.

The other two matchups were closer affairs. Inform Cremorne skip, Phil Ions, and his team were up against Will Coad and in a dingdong battle, with Coad one shot in front at the start of the last end. Ions was holding two crackers with only five bowls to come, but a Treb O’Neill special proved the difference for Coad to win the end one up, and the match by two shots, to win by two, 21-19.

Ash Banks and Ryan Guy-Rees played a high standard game from start to finish. Cremorne’s Banks had a strong six-shot lead at the halfway mark but a five to Guy-Rees on the twelfth end reduced the margin to one. Scores were level at the start of the last end but sound leading from Jeff Beard backed up by Garry Banks, then 13-year-old Mitch Banks set the end up for skip Ash Bank, who proceeded to play the perfect bowl for a three to win by that margin, 22-19.

Glenorchy Rodman’s trip to nearby Claremont ended in success, the travellers defeating their hosts on three rinks, sixteen shots up, 83-67. Rodman’s biggest winner of the day was Grant Allford, beating Chris Chalker by twelve shots, 26-14.

Rod Turner, 17-13, against John McDonald, and Anthony Clifford by three shots over Paul Hart, 20-17, were Rodman’s other winning skips. Dean Shaw’s three-shot defeat of Cam Tegg, 23-20, was Claremont’s only winning skip on the day.

Articles in The Mercury are limited to 400 words (or less if editorial requirements dictate). The above is the “full” report that would be published if said restrictions did not exist.