Pennant Round 6 Wrap Up
In grade 1 at Tuggeranong, I suspect even the most loyal Tuggeranong supporters were surprised by the result! Languishing in 8th place, most would have predicted a win to 5th placed Belconnen. However, with one rink drawn (Watts v Taylor), and one going to Tugg by 3 shots (Thomas v Freebody), it was Craig Southwell’s rink that blitzed Jeffery’s rink to steal the show! Whilst he was well supported by all of his players, Ben Griffiths in particular, Southwell was clearly the man of the match. Where Dave Thomas had another strong game, Darren Fitzpatrick was seemingly cursed – with no luck going his way. Tuggeranong led all the way, Belconnen getting to within 4 shots at one point, but the score blew out by the end. Gusty winds on the end green made everyone’s task more difficult. (Final score 72-48 (2.5 – .5). In the QRSLM / Norths match, the big board score didn’t necessarily reflect the closeness of the game. Two of Norths rinks were playing quite well and leading at the halfway mark but on a comeback trail Ebsworth’s team pulled it together winning by 8 overall to the current singles champion Paul Totterdell’s team. Skips Wade Turner and Beau Johnston had a close tussle, Beau playing some great bowls, but Wade and team pulled it together to win by 3 by the end of the game. Robert Craven was the best performed skip with a 32-11 win over Deeves. Final score 80-48 (3-0). At Forrest, Canberra gave Queanbeyan their second loss on the trot with a 57-54 (1-2) win. Queanbeyan’s Rob Chesher and Sean Robertson both won their rinks but it was the huge win (24-11) by Peter Bowman’s rink that gave Canberra the points. The win cements Canberra into third spot on the ladder, 8 points behind Queanbeyan (who are yet to have their bye) and only 14 points behind table leaders Weston Creek. Speaking of Weston Creek, they remain undefeated after overcoming a struggling City team. It didn’t go all their way, however, with Eric Johannes tasting his first rink loss of the season against seasoned performer Charles Smith! There was only one point separating David Hill and Andrew Ashlin’s rink but once again, a blowout rink (in this case Whybrow over Gilbert) sealed City’s fate. Final score 71-59 (2-1). Johannes rinks loss sees Sean Robertson back on top of the skips ladder. Last but not least, the chaps from Yass enjoyed the weekend fishing!
In grade 2, second placed Canberra North had another huge win, this time over fourth placed Belconnen 73-47 (3-0). Glen Morris had the best performed rink for Norths with a 29-13 shot win over Frankcom’s rink. Both of the other Norths rinks had 5 shot wins. The previously undefeated Weston Creek went into this round on top of the table but had their bubble burst by an invigorated Queanbeyan team. Both teams boast a host of well-known players and it may just have been the match of the round across all grades! Final score 56-53 (2-1). This win puts Queanbeyan and WC equal on points, with Qbn ahead with a slightly better shots difference. Canberra’s grade 2 had the bye.
In grade 3, City and Belconnen had a close match with City ta In grade 1 at Tuggeranong, I suspect even the most loyal Tuggeranong supporters were surprised by the result! Languishing in 8th place, most would have predicted a win to 5th placed Belconnen. However, with one rink drawn (Watts v Taylor), and one going to Tugg by 3 shots (Thomas v Freebody), it was Craig Southwell’s rink that blitzed Jeffery’s rink to steal the show! Whilst he was well supported by all of his players, Ben Griffiths in particular, Southwell was clearly the man of the match. Where Dave Thomas had another strong game, Darren Fitzpatrick was seemingly cursed – with no luck going his way. Tuggeranong led all the way, Belconnen getting to within 4 shots at one point, but the score blew out by the end. Gusty winds on the end green made everyone’s task more difficult. (Final score 72-48 (2.5 – .5). In the QRSLM / Norths match, the big board score didn’t necessarily reflect the closeness of the game. Two of Norths rinks were playing quite well and leading at the halfway mark but on a comeback trail Ebsworth’s team pulled it together winning by 8 overall to the current singles champion Paul Totterdell’s team. Skips Wade Turner and Beau Johnston had a close tussle, Beau playing some great bowls, but Wade and team pulled it together to win by 3 by the end of the game. Robert Craven was the best performed skip with a 32-11 win over Deeves. Final score 80-48 (3-0). At Forrest, Canberra gave Queanbeyan their second loss on the trot with a 57-54 (1-2) win. Queanbeyan’s Rob Chesher and Sean Robertson both won their rinks but it was the huge win (24-11) by Peter Bowman’s rink that gave Canberra the points. The win cements Canberra into third spot on the ladder, 8 points behind Queanbeyan (who are yet to have their bye) and only 14 points behind table leaders Weston Creek. Speaking of Weston Creek, they remain undefeated after overcoming a struggling City team. It didn’t go all their way, however, with Eric Johannes tasting his first rink loss of the season against seasoned performer Charles Smith! There was only one point separating David Hill and Andrew Ashlin’s rink but once again, a blowout rink (in this case Whybrow over Gilbert) sealed City’s fate. Final score 71-59 (2-1). Johannes rinks loss sees Sean Robertson back on top of the skips ladder. Last but not least, the chaps from Yass enjoyed the weekend fishing!
In grade 2, second placed Canberra North had another huge win, this time over fourth placed Belconnen 73-47 (3-0). Glen Morris had the best performed rink for Norths with a 29-13 shot win over Frankcom’s rink. Both of the other Norths rinks had 5 shot wins. The previously undefeated Weston Creek went into this round on top of the table but had their bubble burst by an invigorated Queanbeyan team. Both teams boast a host of well-known players and it may just have been the match of the round across all grades! Final score 56-53 (2-1). This win puts Queanbeyan and WC equal on points, with Qbn ahead with a slightly better shots difference. Canberra’s grade 2 had the bye.
In grade 3, City and Belconnen had a close match with City taking the big board points 59-57 (1-2). Ron Hawke’s rink struggled against Derek Byars’s rink going down 25-15. (Incidentally, this rink also contained Bill Donovan, fresh from playing in the winning ACT team that last week in Wagga played the Quadrangle tournament against the RNSWBA, Norfolk and Lord Howe Island!). However, a strong win, again (!), by Jim Gillespie’s rink (29-16) gave City the points. Weston Creek had an even closer win over QRSLM 60-59 (1.5-1.5). WC started off slowly on the QRSL greens and Flaps even commented how beautiful the greens were and how they were struggling to adapt to them….however they must have worked them out because on a huge comeback Flaps’ team took several large ends including a 6 on the last. With one drawn rink, the other was down by 11 and the third was up by 9. On the big board it came down to the wire – last end, last rink still playing and skipped by Darren Walsh and Kevin Antoine respectively. Walshy needed 3 to win the big board and drew his last shot closest to kitty in the ditch to give his team 3 overall. Antoine on a pressure last bowl drew a superb shot, touching Walshy’s and cutting down the QRSL end win to just 1 giving WC a one shot win. In the final match of the grade, Yass had a 61-40 (1.5-1.5) win over Tuggeranong. However, the overall score is skewed because of one huge rink win – this time by Barry Bush’s rink over Joe Zimoch’s 27-8. (This may not be correct as I don’t have the score sheet! Hint hint!). The other two rinks were a 17 all draw and a win to Yass by 2 shots. Yass and Belconnen are on equal points on top opf the table with Yass ahead with a superior shots difference. City and WC are also equal, 8 shots behind the ladder leaders. Fifth and Sixth placed teams are again equal, with only 17 shots separating first and last.
In grade 4, Queanbeyan had a big win over Weston Creek 76-43 (2-1) with the massive 39-10 rink win by Greg Bateman’s rink over Peter Clarke’s being the deciding factor. The other two rinks went one each way. The last time these two teams met, the score was a similar 74-48 win to Queanbeyan. In the Yowani v Tuggeranong match, the round one results were reversed with Tuggeranong overcoming Yowani 63-46 (2-1). Brendan Spaven’s rink was the best performed on the day with a 21 shot win over Jeff McCaskill’s rink. Flynn O’Shaughnessy’s rink had a win – I hope the O’Shaughnessy boys are benefitting from BACT Life member and rink mate Ron Tuckerman’s expertise! In the final match of the grade, Belconnen were again too strong for Canberra defeating them by 68-57 (1-2). In yet another example, one huge rink win was the story of the day! John Hammond’s rink defeated Victor Pulling’s rink by 33-8. After this round, Tuggeranong sits on top of the table on 51 points, closely followed by Queanbeyan on 47, Belconnen 41, Yowani on 30.
Grade 5 results were close across the board. Despite going down in two rinks, Yass defeated QRSLM 68-59 (1-2) thanks largely to the 12 shot win by Matt Waters’s rink over Gerry Hordijk’s. City had a 3 shot win over Belconnen 64-61 (1-2) with Frank Hornblower’s rink being the best on the day. Queanbeyan at home went down to Weston Creek 61-77 (0.5-2.5). Good rink wins to Graeme Rickert and Ian Barlow. Tuggeranong at home gave Canberra North a bit of a shellacking 66-47 (2.5-0.5). Jim Douglas and Jeff Richards had good rink wins for the Vikings. In the final mach of the round, Bungendore went down to Canberra 50-62 (1-2) with Canberra’s Brewer having a good rink win. The table after 6 rounds has Yass on top on 59 points, followed by QRSLM on 49, Norths on 47 and Tuggeranong on 45. QRSLM skips Gerry Hordijk and Michael White head up the skips ladder, closely followed by two Yass skips, Grant Brewer and Matt Waters.
Grades 2-4 have the double header this weekend.
In the women’s grade, QRSLM and Queanbeyan shared the rink honours with Queanbeyan taking the major points 59-45. The good result for QRSLMs Catherine Hunt’s rink was not enough to counter the Maggie Johnston rink win 35-11. In the Weston Creek v Belconnen match, the Creek took all the points winning 46-35 (2-0). Sharon Harmer returned to the winners circle with a 27-17 win over rep team mate Nicole Mengel, whereas Marg Bacchetto scraped over the line by one shot against Helena Megee’s rink. In the final match, City was too strong for Canberra North defeating them 47-33 (1-1). Ruth Moore had a good rink win, setting the pace for her win the following day in the ACT Singles! Go Ruth!
(With thanks to C Hunt and S Harmer for words and photos!)
