Saturday & Sunday January 14 /15 saw the staging of the conclusion to the GDSC Men’s Bowling Club Major/ Minor Pairs Championship for 2022/23 with the two semifinals and final.
On Saturday the two semifinals provide the many spectators with two of the best matches one could ever hope to see, with both games not decided until the final bowl was played.
Our first semifinal matched Chris Lawler & Allan Knox up against Des Clark & Tony Lickiss.
Des & Tony began well to take the early advantage to lead 10 – 4 after the fifth end, however by the completion of the tenth end, Chris & Allan had narrowed the deficit to 2 shots to trail 11 – 13 and continued their recovery to take the lead 16 – 13 after 12 ends.
Des & Tony were not going away though, winning the next three ends to regain the lead 19 – 16 with six ends to play.
The next five ends saw Chris & Allan “produce the goods”, to surge to the lead 24 – 21 with the final end still to play.
With Des & Tony requiring 4 shots on the final end for victory, the pressure was on all four players, and in the end the umpire was called to decide the outcome with a close measure for the fourth shot going Des & Tony’s way to secure them a one shot victory.
Final score: Des Clark & Tony Lickiss 25 defeated Chris Lawler & Allan Knox 24….great game boys!
The second semi-final saw Paul Sutton & Gary Ahrens up against Gregg Maxted & Matty Shorten.
Gregg & Matty had switched positions over their past two matches, with Gregg moving to the lead position, and Matty to skipper, the result being some very decisive victories…but could they pull it off again in the semifinal ?
The beginning of the match suggested that Gregg & Matty’s positional change was about to come unstuck, with Paul & Gary winning the first four ends to lead 6 – 0. This trend continued over the following five ends, & Paul & Gary found themselves leading 12 – 2 after 9 ends.
Gregg & Matty however, were about to “put their skates on” winning five of the next six ends to take the lead for the first time 15 – 13…game on!
With six ends to play the semi was well and truly in the balance, and ends sixteen through twenty only emphasised that fact, with the scores all tied up at 18 all with the final end to play.
The deciding end saw the jack trailed to approximately 30cm from the ditch with both teams having one bowl ‘jack high’ about 40cm away.
The shot bowl was Paul & Garry’s by a ‘smidgen’, but Matty had the final bowl of the match in his hot little hand.
With that, ‘Big Brother’ Gregg instructed ‘Little Brother’ Matty to play a weighted shot hoping to trail the jack or Paul & Gary’s bowl into the ditch for 1 shot and victory.
Matty stepped onto the mat and ‘Cooley but Calmly’ played the ‘Shot of the Day’, trailing the jack into the ditch for 1 shot and victory.
What a shot, and what a finish to another great semi-final.
Final score: Gregg Maxted & Matty Shorten 19 defeated Paul Sutton & Gary Ahrens 18…another classic semi-final.
It was then decided that the final of our Major/Minor Pairs would be played the following day, Sunday January 15, Des Clark & Tony Lickiss would take on Gregg Maxted & Matty Shorten.
The final began with an even start with the scores locked at 3 all after three ends, but Gregg & Matty had the better of the next seven ends to lead 10 – 5 at the half way mark in the final.
The following five ends saw Gregg & Matty continue to dominate their opponents and increase their lead to seven shots after fifteen ends 17 – 10.
With six ends to play, Des & Tony needed some multiples to narrow the gap, but in the end, it was Gregg & Matty who scored two 3’s and a 2 over the concluding stages to take the final by eight shots.
Final score: Gregg Maxted & Matty Shorten 25 defeated Des Clark & Tony Lickiss 17.
Congratulations to all four players on what was a highly competative final.
Our club also had the pleasure of hosting the Woolgoolga Bowling Club on Saturday January 21 for an inter club Pennant trial before Pennants begin in a couple of weeks.
The Woolgoolga club brought a contingent of thirty-six players from their various Pennant grades to take on our Pennant teams and a great afternoon of friendly competition was had by all…the results were as follows;
In Grade 4 the Grafton teams were successful 68 shots to 55. In Grades 5/6 it was again the Grafton teams on top 70 shots to 60 & in Grades 6/7 the Woolgoolga teams got some revenge defeating the Grafton teams 68 shots to 44.
We thank the Woolgoolga club for paying us a visit, for some valuable practice for both clubs before we go into battle over the coming Pennant season, and wish them the very best of luck.
In social bowls results from last week, we had 34 players on the greens for our Wednesday pairs on January 18, with the winners on the day being Gregg Maxted & Ray (Rocket) Grant; runners up went to Brian Buckley & Darren Brown, while the Consolation prize went to Robert Ulrich & Keith Garner. First ‘Resting Touchers’ for the day went to George Mallison on green 1, and Peter Madden on green 2.
On Friday January 20, we had 42 players for social pairs, with the winners on the day going to Alan Gough & Jamie Pye; runners up were Col Clark & Keith Garner, while the Consolation prize was won by Brian Rapley & Ben Gaardsted.
First resting touchers for the day went to Alan Gough on green 1, and Brian Rapley on green 2. Our three ‘free game winners’ were Brian Buckley, Terry Dwyer & Leith Basset.
Finally, a reminder to all members that our ‘Handicap Singles’ nominations will close on January 27 at 5pm.
Also, a reminder that this report is published free of charge to our club by the Clarence Valley Independent. Please support the business houses who advertise in this publication so that this may continue in the future.
Wrong Bias