Bowls NewsLast Saturday the members of
Churchill-Waverley’s bowls side were quietly confident following several very
good wins since Christmas which had elevated the club to second on the
ladder. Notwithstanding the unfortunate 3-shot loss the previous week, we
were playing the Preliminary Final at home and that was a benefit – or so we
thought. We lost the toss against what turned out to be
an exceptionally strong, accurate-bowling side from Hampton Park. After 9 ends Ken Hargreaves (skip), Colin
Jeffery (third), Geoff Walker (second), and Colin Jones (lead) were leading 9
shots to 6, and they were looking confident. Jim Scoular’s team of Daryl Leask, Els Hogan and
Lance Britt had played 9 ends but had lost the last five ends to terrific
bowling by the opposition skip who single handedly took our holding bowls out
to score 5,1,3,3, and 1, leaving our team down 6 shots to 14. Gary Billing’s team of Tom Brennan, Thomas
Burton and Elaine Stow were playing reasonably well but their opponent team’s
lead player was making things very difficult with his two bowls always within a
foot or so. After 9 ends the team was down 6 shots to 9. Graeme Hattwell’s team of John Hewitt (third),
Jackie Jeffery (second) and Yvonne Davis (lead) were doing very well on their
rink and were holding a 7 shot lead 10 to 3. At the halfway mark, after each team had played
11 ends, the score board showed that we were only 6 shots adrift of Hampton
Park – 39 shots to 45. But there must have been something in the tea
and coffee because after the break, except for one bright light and using a
cricketing cliché, three of our teams were “hit to leg”. At the end of the day, Jim’s team went
down 17 shots to 26, Gary’s team went down 12 shots to 36, and Ken’s team went
down 13 shots to 25. Graeme’s team was the bright light of the day,
and he, John Hewitt, Jackie Jeffery and Yvonne Davis, deserve a special mention
for a terrific win 29 shots to 8. The disappointing Preliminary Final score was
Churchill-Waverley 71 shots to Hampton Park 95 shots and they proceed to the
Grand Final this coming Saturday against Willow Lodge. Season summary It was a good season for a small lawn bowls club
such as ours and all players should be proud of their individual and collective
efforts throughout the past five months. We held our heads high. The future Don’t forget that we will still have practice
sessions each Monday and Friday morning at around 9:30am followed by an
enjoyable coffee and a chat from 10.30. All members are welcome, even if you haven't bowled before - you may like a change of scenery now and then. Come along
on a Monday or Friday morning for a bowl – you’ll enjoy the change – and there
are plenty of bowls available for your use. Daryl Leask - Bowls | 
1 November - 31 March
