by Ray Downs posted 17.12.2024
Hamilton Bowling Club’s Alison East is congratulated on her singles win by Mick Swan
The knockout rounds of the State Singles were contested at Portland last Sunday, Dec. 15.
Contrary to what a lot of members say about the ‘usual weather’ the southerners turned on
a beauty. No wind, great temperatures and that led to a constantly consistent green speed.
Speaking of wind, the only hot wind was that being exhaled by non-player experts behind
the glass. All in great fun.
So, the women’s and men’s games were all played on ‘A’ green. On rink one Chris Fleming
and Ken Prewett played for a spot in the last four. Flemo had the better of the game and
after 21 ends the scores were 26 to 10. Thanks to Kerrin Jennings for marking. On rink 2
Rhonda Dunbar played Alison East and the latter took no hostages with 25 to 17. Thanks to
Naomi Pye for marking. Rink three a 30 ender between Rowdy Arthur and Mick Swan. It was
a great one to watch. Something mystic must have happened as Mick led 18 to 8 on 19. At
25 it was 21 to 19. Then Rowdy got it to 23 all, Mick held three Rowdy came down, put the
jack in the ditch and then Mick cut one out, but the measure was still 2 to Rowdy. Thanks,
Lionel Shelton, for marking.
Rink four saw Kim Overall play Jules Pollock. It went for 24 ends and Jenny Garner marked.
For numerologists it was 17 to 17 on 17. Nineteen all on 21 and then Jules got three 2s in a
row to take out the game. Rink 5, Jason Dean and Troy Greed faced off for 21 ends and
again some superb bowls. At end 12 scores were Troy 11 to Jason 12. Then things went awry
for Troy or exceptional for Jason as he won eight of the next 11 ends. To show how great the
contest was even given the final scores, on one end Troy had three within a couple of inches,
one behind and one either side. Yes, Jason played a great draw that split them up and down
went Troy’s great work. Ken Place marked the game, thanks Ken.
Rink six Heather Burgess played Wendy Kosch. Again 21 ends the duration and a 25 to 21
result. Uh oh 14 to 14 on 14. Then Heather had a health glitch where I think she had some
giddy problems and had to sit on the bank for a while. Myra got some goodies to get things
back in balance and on resumption the scores ended as above. Thanks to Di Huppatz for
marking this one. So, on rink seven Chris Elford and Peter Graham. Pete went well in the
early part to be 11 to 4 at 10. Then as often happens the trailer got up and going and won
the next nine then lost the next four but a 3 and 1 got the card to 25 to 15. President John
marked this one, thanks John.
A break and onto the last four in each section. Alison and Jules played a marathon with 32
ends being contested and the final margin was four. There were 16 ones on Alison’s side of
the card. Jules had a couple of ones, but the rest were two and threes. Anyway, after a long
and hard wearing on the body match Alison won 25 to 21. Rhonda marked this one, thanks
Rhonda. Chick Trotman had the bye to this round and played Heather. Chick played some
beauties and the previous game had probably taken its toll on Heather. Chick won 14 ends to
finish the game at 25 to 10. Koshy marked the game thanks Wendy.
Chris Elford played Jason Dean and no matter what Jason did, Chris did it much better. Only
18 ends used and when Chris won thirteen of them the outcome was fixed, on to the grand
final. Troy marked the game thanks mate. Last game of the preliminaries was between
Rowdy and Flemo. Another battle that went on for twenty-six ends. Flemo won nine of the
first 13 and then Rowdy won eight of the next 13, 24 to 21 on end 25 and then a one to
Flemo moved him to the play off.
Grand finals on rinks 6 and 7. Chick played Alison and it went for 31 ends. Close all the way
with 10 all on fourteen. Twelve – 13 on 19 then Alison had a purple patch with 8 and moved
to 21 by end 19. Chick fought back to be 19 to 21 on end 29 but Alison was back on track to
get a three and one plus a big hug from Chick at the end. Congratulations Alison and all the
contestants in the women’s singles. Their game finished at around 6:15.
Nearly all over and Flemo took on Chris. No mercy here. Nine to 3 at end 7. Seventeen to 7
at 14 and Chris was only allowed ones or 2 twos. Yes, it was a battle but the outcome
favoured Flemo on most ends to have a win at 25 to 12. Congratulations Chris making it two
in a row. Well done to all the entrants, hope you liked the sectional format to try and
encourage more entrants.
A little anecdote to show resilience, Alison put down 348 bowls and Chris 284, so a great
effort by all players.
Thanks to Portland for hosting, the markers for making themselves available and to Lindsay
Gruar for umpiring.