The zone 11 bowls championship season has commenced with the playing of the triples at Forster Bowling Club.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the seniors division, the first semi was a replay of last year's final with Errol Ruprecht (West) up against Rex Johnston (Tuncurry Beach).
Unfortunately for Errol's team the result was also a replay, with Rex's team running out 28-17 winners.
Rex jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, and although Errol's team fought hard they could not bridge that early gap.
The second semi was between Steve Pell (Forster) and Ross Logan (Tuncurry Beach).
Steve scored singles on the first three ends to have an early lead.
Ross then scored nine shots straight to lead 9-3, and was never headed from there.
Steve's team did keep them honest, and a four on the 23rd end got them back to 17-20, and kept them close, but a two on the next end to Ross gave them a five-shot lead going into the last.
A two to Steve just wasn't enough on the last and the final score was 22-19.
The final then came down to two Tuncurry Beach sides: Toby Murphy, Noel James and Rex Johnston against John O'Keefe, Wayne Wright and Ross Logan.
As they did in their semi, Rex's side jumped out to an early lead, and after eight ends enjoyed an 11-4 lead.
Ross then employed his favourite tactic of minimum length ends, and they won the next four ends to get within two shots.
Rex scored a two and a three and the lead stretched out to 16-9.
Ross's team then scored a one to get the mat back, and again went to minimum length.
This paid off big time, as they won the next five ends and scored 13 shots in the process, to lead 23-16.
Shots were shared over the last four ends and Ross ran out a 26-19 winner.
In the presidents reserve division, Neville Brymer (Tuncurry Beach) played Steve Crain (Leagues) in the first semi, and what a cliffhanger it turned out to be.
Steve's team got out to a 5-0 lead, and managed to maintain that until the 13th end, where Neville's team scored the maximum six to tie the game up at 12-12.
They were then level again at 15-15, then Steve's team jumped to what appeared to be a match-winning lead of 24-16, and then 25-18 with just four ends to play.
Neville's team rallied to win those last four ends, and scored seven shots to once again tie the game up, and go into an extra end.
With Neville holding two, Steve drew the shot to take his team into the final.
The second semi had Greg Mayo up against his West club mate Robert Piper.
In a one-sided game, Robert's team ran away with it to the tune of 33-5.
The final saw Jim Matthews, Bill Hilton and Robert Piper (West) up against John Bown, Bob Bruce and Steve Crain (Leagues).
This turned out to be another thriller. The games in the reserve event really kept the spectators interested.
Leagues had a 9-0 lead before West troubled the scorers when they scored a one.
Although West were trying to hang in there, Leagues had stretched the lead to 11 after 15 ends.
After 21 ends the lead was still 10 shots, and the West team was at long odds.
It seems that nobody told the West boys how much trouble they were in, because they came home like a runaway train.
Over the last four ends they scored a three, two, three and three, to tally up 11 shots and win the game 27-26.
While the seniors and presidents reserve divisions have been completed, the open division is down to the semis where P. Lindfield (Leagues) will play S. White (Forster), and S.Harris (Tuncurry Beach) will play M.Boyd (Buladelah).
Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Great Lakes Advocate newsletter here.
