Lady bowlers are a tough lot, and this was especially so at Yamba recently. Conditions certainly conspired against them during the first rounds of both the Mixed Pairs and again the Major Minor pairs, when strong winds and intermittent rain made play very challenging. But raise to the challenge they did, and some very fine bowls were played despite the conditions. The 1st Round of the Major/Minor Pairs, played simultaneously with the same event for the men on Sunday, June 12 proved a great spectacle with so many players on the Greens. The ladies’ games saw spirited competition in what is a great opportunity for the them to mix up and play with different partners. One of the closest games was that between the formidable combinations of Margaret Durante and Lorraine Ashbury who had a three shot win over Lily Medhurst and Wendy Ballantyne. Margaret and Lorraine got off to a great start and dominated in the early ends until Lily and Wendy got their combination working and edged their way back into the game, on the 18th end holding the shots needed to force an extra end until Lorraine’s very last bowl. As she had throughout, Lorraine played a wonderful bowl to deny her opponents and score a well-deserved win. Others to go through to the second round are their opponents, Barb Cross and Denise Burey, who got up over Ros Dickson and Cathryn Aitchison, one of the winners from last year. Cathryn’s co-victor, Kerry Pedder is now a Major and teamed up with Jenny Scobie to proceed to the next round with a win over last year’s runners up, Gabby Freeman and Sonia Graham. They will meet Sandy Owen and Helen Aitkinson who were too strong for Judy Abbott and Maria Sakac. Also through is the Ruth Fletcher/Joan Scadden pairing, by virtue of their win over Helen Scott/Robyn McPherson. They will play Judy Sinclair/Chris Cole who downed Bev Shatte/Kaye Mason. Both the other second round combatants Carol Casement/Val Terry and Cheryl Deveney/Judy Pryor had a first round bye and the game between them should prove interesting. But there are bound to be some great contests in hopefully finer weather. After the first two rounds of the Mixed Pairs, congratulations to those who have made it into the semi-finals. Kaye Mason /Marty Wood play Marjorie Thompson/Peter Forrester while Denise Burey/Graham Meany take on Judy Abbott/Steve Kleindeist. Poor weather again intervened to disrupt social bowls on Tuesday, June 14 with only a few ends possible. However, lucky rinks were still drawn and the winners were visitor Pat Stevens and Jane Pearson. Runners up were Raels McKibbin and Margaret Durante while the consolation bucks went to Glenda Davis/Maria Sakac/Kerry Pedder. Coffee then became the order of the day. However, on Thursday 16, 40 ladies enjoyed great conditions, and some welcome sunshine brought forth some close games. Lucky rink winners Helen Atkinson/Kaye Mason/Lorraine Ashbury had a one shot win over Helen Scott/Cathryn Aitchison/Wendy Ballantyne, in one Pennant practice combo; while in the other Maria Sakac/Ruth Fletcher/Judy Sinclair/Denise Burey snared the runners up prize when they defeated Cheryl Deveney/Roz Moore/Judy Pryor/Judy Button. The consolation winners were Glenda Davis/Jennifer Gill/Carol Casement. Case knew she was on a good thing when she was teamed up with these two regular lucky winners! On Monday-Wednesday this week our Grades 2 and 4 Pennant teams will be at Park Beach Coff’s Harbour, contesting the Regional playoffs. We are hoping for both sides’ ongoing success, to proceed to the State Pennant finals. Iluka’s Grade 3’s will also be there, and we will be supporting them and wishing them good luck too. We also wish the Yamba Men’s Grade 3 team every success in this weekend’s Pennant Zone One playoff at Maclean on Saturday and Sunday. Wendy Ballantyne