City finishes on top in clash against Country rivals

It's been a busy week at The Greens On William, starting off on Tuesday with the women's club putting on a mixed game, followed by a great lunch.

The usual social games were played on Wednesday and then on Saturday, the fiercely-contested Country vs City. Following the contest, awards for various categories were presented.

Christmas Bowls: Tuesday, December 14

It was a beautiful day with 24 players taking to green four.

Game one, rink 17: Had Kevin and Marg Miller with Julie Martello against Ray Noonan, his grandson Brayden and Annette McPherson. Kevin's team had an early start with five shots in the first two ends but Ray's team soon caught up and passed them. A five for Shorty's team had them up 11-9 but Kevin's team rallied and had a strong run of six ends including a five to finish the game on 21-12.

Game two, rink 18: Denis Oxley partnered Annette Myers and L.Selwood against Garry Hotham, Bob Foster and Lola Noonan. It was a close game for the first 10 ends, with Denis' team leading 8-6 They then came home strongly with a five to finish up winners on 19-10.

Game three, rink 19: Jim Grives, Brian Burke and John McDonagh played against Pat Duff, Jack Smith and Maureen Josh. Pat, Jack and Maureen led from the start so that at the 13th end the score was 18-11, then 22-12 in the14th. Jim, Brian and John then got their act together and won the last five ends to take the game 25-22.

Game four, rink 20. Norm Hayes had Barry McPherson and Faye Medway play against Bryan Bromfield, Paul Rodenhuis and Sue Merton. Again, it was a tight game with scores level at 6-all and 10-all. From there, Norm, Barry and Sue applied the pressure and took the game 18-14.

Social bowls: Wednesday, December 15

Game one, rink 17: Ken Fulton and Robert Keady had a handy win over Ray and grandson Braydon Noonan 27-16. It was quite close at the ninth - 11-10 - when Ken and Robert dropped only three ends on their way to victory.

Game two, rink 18: Geoff Thorne and Arch Ledger had a good win over Mick Sewell and Ian Cunningham. Mick and Ian had eight on the board after the first four ends. They lost the lead in the middle section then came good to lead again 16-11 in the 12th end. Geoff and Arch then found their groove and took all but the last end to take the game 31-17.

Game three, rink 19: Bob Lindsay and John Martin defeated Denis Oxley and Ian Shaw 24-16. Denis and Ian led 10-1 after six ends, then had a quiet spell while Bob and John scored a couple of fives in the next nine ends to lead 20-14.

Game four, rink 20: A drawn game was the result between Ron Cambey, Jack Smith and Phil Murray against Kevin Miller, Trevor Kellock and John Fulton. At the 10th end, they were only a shot apart, 12-11 when Ron and his team went ahead with wins in five of the next six ends, leading 20-11. It was then Kevin's team's turn to get ahead with a couple of fours thus leading 24-21. Ron's team then drew the game with three in the last two ends.

Across The River: Saturday, December 18

This is a keenly-contested competition which City has consistently won. And this time was no different, City won 139-130.

Game one, rink one: A very close game saw the City team of Ken 'Boof' Waddell, Ron Cambey and Chris Stafford defeat Ray 'Shorty' Noonan, Kevin Miller and Braydon Noonan with a score of 19-18. After eight ends, Country led City 7-6; four ends later it was 12-6. City came back with four wins out of five, including a six to lead 17-13. 18-15 into the 20th end, Country scored a four in the last to win 19-18.

Game two, rink two: John Archer (City) found himself without a partner so played Lead and Skip against Jim Grives and Paul Rodenhuis in a game of two-bowl Pairs. By the ninth end it was 8-all; John had a good run to take the lead 20-10 in the 16th end. Jim and Paul fought back, winning the next six ends and ten shots to equalise at 20-all in the 22nd end. Going into the last end a shot-down, Jim and Paul scored a three to win 24-22 in the 25th end.

Game three, rink three: Another City win when Garry Hotham, Mick Simmons and John McDonagh met Richard 'Buddy' Simpson, Nev and Louise Townsend. Country led 6-5 at the seventh end, when City won six ends and 12 shots to lead 17-6. Country came back to reduce the gap to nine with the score 26-17.

Game four, rink four: A Country win! Geoff Thorne, Ian Shaw and Anthony Morrissey defeated Alex Birkens, Pat Duff and Brian Burke 21-17. A four in the 10th for Geoff's team had them equal on 10-all. Another four in the 14th end had them in front 17-11; they held that lead to the end.

Game five, rink five: City won this one too! Phil Gray, Norm Hayes and Arch Ledger defeated Bryan Bromfield, Trevor Kellock and Ian Schofield. City were well in control with a 12-1 scoreline after five ends. This became 18-6 after 13 ends.

Country then narrowed the gap by winning the next four ends to trail 18-12 but City took the last three ends and four shots to win 22-12.

Game six, rink six: A Country win! Bob Lindsay (although living in the City, claims to be a Country man), Paul Reece and Phil Murray beat Susie Simmons, Ray Fitzalan and Bruce Rich 23-15.

After being six-all at the sixth end, Susie's team led 12-6 at the 10th. Bob and his crew won four ends to trail by a shot, 12-11 in the 14th end. Two ends later, Susie led 15-11 but that was the end of their scoring - Bob and his team took the next four ends, including a four for the win.

After the games, the annual presentation of awards followed.

Bowler of the Year: Mick Sewell.

Club Fours: Ross James, Ken Waddell, Ron Hollebone and Paul Reece.

Club Triples: Mick Simmons, Susie Simmons and Ian Shaw.

A Pairs: Geoff Thorne and Alex Birkens.

B Pairs: Jim Grives and Arch Ledger.

A Singles: Mick Sewell.

B Singles: Anthony Morrissey.

Major-Minor: Phil Gray and Pat Duff.

Most Improved Bowler: Anthony Morrissey.

Clubman of the Year: Paul Rodenhuis.

By The Bowling Shark

This week at the Majellan saw the continuance of the mixed fours with some surprising results.

With the festive season in full swing, it was pleasing to see a full house at the club last Friday with five company Christmas parties filling the greens for barefoot bowls.

This is how the week rolled:

Tuesday, December 14

Rink nine: George Ballard and Ron McGarry were behind early against Ted Parker and Terry Burke who had the lead 13-7 by the 10th.

But from there Team McGarry opened the scoring gates and went out to a 24-14 lead by the 18th. Team McGarry taking an eight-point win in the end 28-20.

Rink 10: Peter Phegan, Ron Hogan and Peter Drew were behind from the fourth (4-2) against Russ McPherson, Dick Graham and Max Elms. From there Team Elms dominated the scoring and the match to take a 20-16 win.

Rink 11: Terry Chifley, Jim Clark and Glen Miller struggled against Robert Raithby, Greg Hallett and Kevin Howard. Team Howard held Team Miller on seven points for eight ends and comprehensively took the win 20-10.

Rink 12: Mick Burke, Ian Warren and Alan Clark had a fight on their hands against Paul Jenkins, Brian Hope and Jeff Adams. With the scores level on the 6th (4-all), 10th (6-all), 18th (11-all) and again on the 21st (14-all) an extra end was played to find the winner and Team Adams came up trumps 15-14.

Saturday, December 18

Rink one: George Ballard and Trevor Sharpham were behind all the way against Max Elms and Tony Urza who showed how it is done. Team Urza taking a eight-point win 19-11.

Rink two: Graham Scott (swing bowler), Ron Hogan and Lacie Kostza were level pegging on the 9th (8-all) against Graham Scott, Des Sanders and Paul Francis. From there it was anyone's match with Team Francis taking the win 20-14.

Rink four: Ron Hollibone, Dave Josh and Peter Naylor had a commanding lead against Kerry Connors, Tiger Smith and Mick McDonald by the 18th 26-16. However, Team McDonald fought back but just fell short three ends later going down 27-25.

Rink five - mixed fours championship semi-final: Ted Parker, Merle Stephens, Mel Parker and Craig Bush were 11-0 down by the sixth against Liz Draper, Leonie McGarry, Ron McGarry and Hugh Brennan. Team Brennan continued the lead until the match was drawn on the 20th end (21-all).

It came down to the last bowl and Team Bush snatched victory with a 23-21 win.

Rink six - mixed fours championship semi-final: Pauline Clark, Sue Murray, Alan Clark and Noel Witney were dominate against Anne Pickstone, Dick Graham, Peter Zylstra and Tim Pickstone with a 19-9 lead by the 14th. Team Pickstone struggled to be in the match and went down in the end 25-17.

Rink seven: Glenn Miller and Terry Burke opened their match against Jeff Adams and Terry James with 6 points, and from there dominated the scoreboard being 21-9 up by the 16th.

Team Burke taking an easy win in the end 27-14.

This wraps up this week at the Majellan and for the year. From all at the Majellan Bowling Club, Merry Christmas and happy new year.

We look forward to seeing you next year and here's hoping with no more lock downs that the club and the community get a full year of enjoyment from lawn bowls.

So until next time, be kind to each other, see you on the green and stay frosty.