BERWICK BOWLS
At the midway part of the season the Berwick Bowling Club sees six of the eight pennant sides sitting in the top four at the break with a great opportunity to consolidate their positions on return to pennant on 17 January, 2023.
With many changes to pennant sides from last season this is a fantastic result and proof of the depth within such a large club as Berwick.
We may see more changes to sides as we look to strengthen and settle as many sides as possible with the lead up to finals which start for divisions 2 to 8 on 17 February and division 1 finals commencing on 4 March.
• Berwick 1 – Def by Pakenham – Ladder Position: 4th
It’s fair to say the ones loss on the weekend was possibly the worst of the season to date. The cross-town rivalry always produces great games and with Pakenham getting stronger with player inclusions and availability they came to Berwick with one of their strongest line ups to date this year. It’s been hard to settle the top side rinks this season. More strength, but getting the combinations right has been a huge task for selectors with players out of form and unavailable it has proven a tough ask to date. The game on Saturday was neck and neck to the break but Pakenham were strong after the break and broke the Berwick sides resolve way too easily. Poor shot selection, poor attitudes and a lack of fight saw Pakenham storm home to get the win and a loss for Berwick which brings fifth-place Whittlesea closer and closer in the make-up of the ladder. When the ones have a great positive attitude and are willing to play 84 ends of bowls they are a hard side to beat, when this isn’t there, they are proving to be easy beats! It’s time to ‘man up’ ones and play every game with the same positive attitude that is required at Div 1 level. No predictions here as we can’t predict attitudes so we’ll see how it all plays out in the new year.
• Berwick 2 – Def Cheltenham 2 – Ladder Position: 1st
The rink of Tom Cantwell, Malcolm Garner, Ron Lake and Charlie Azzopardi were the difference in this game on the weekend. With only one rink win and a draw this rink won by 22 shots to set up the day for the twos as they continue sitting on top of the ladder. They’ll go all the way the twos, they will finish on top and win the section is my prediction as the depth is just proving too strong for their opposition. The experience in our twos is showing that great teams (not individuals) win far more games than they lose and it’s a credit to the way they are going about it. Pleasing also to see Azzopardi back on the winners list too after a couple of tough weeks where the results weren’t going his way.
• Berwick 3 – Def by Cranbourne 1 – Ladder Position: 8th
The development side is continuing to show improvement week after week. It is probably more experience that is getting the better of them at this stage and as a development side, this will come in time. Going into the break with a 20-odd shot lead, the threes were giving the top of the ladder Cranny boys a scare. But as stated above, experience of the Cranbourne side came to the fore, composing themselves and they managed to power home after the break. The improvement though in the players is showing with many of them giving a great insight during club championships and pennant. Was this the right decision making the threes a development side? Absolutely it was, the experience they are gaining is invaluable and the fast track of their development will only improve the club in time.
• Berwick 4 – Def Mulgrave CC 3 – Ladder Position: 2nd
Well, we said the fours were coming and they’ve continued on their winning ways with a hard fought close win over Mulgrave CC 3 by nine shots after 84 ends. The rink of Ron Wheeldon, Susan Balkwell, John Kleverlaan and Karl Lapinskas were the standouts with a nine-shot win, with only the Alan Thompson rink going down by three shots in a great win. With finals qualifications important for all players in the new year it may just be that we continue to strengthen this side with those more experienced players helping out our development side. This will probably see the fours go into the top of the table clash against Pakenham 2 on Jan 21 with a big chance of toppling the top side and gearing up for a big finals campaign.
• Berwick 5 – Def Keysborough 3 – Ladder Position: 1st
After a tough year last season the fives have hit the top of the table going into the Christmas break. What a fantastic effort to bounce back and continue to improve and to the point now where they have jumped to the top! The Rob McGrath rink including David Purdon, Ralph Jans and Vaughn Smith dominated the day with a resounding 18-shot win. Ralph Jans, although not overly impressed playing as a two, is proving to be a winning move and Rob McGrath’s effort through illness fantastic. It’s tight at the top of the table with only seven shots separating first to fifth but if the fives can continue to fight during their games they’ll be right in it come finals.
• Berwick 6 – Def Burden Park 3 – Ladder Position: 2nd
What is commonly known as a complete smacking! The sixes doubled Burden Park’s total on the weekend 102 to 51 to score four big rink wins. They are now only two points behind the ladder leaders and are threatening to finish as well and as strongly as they did last season where they finished on top of the ladder. The sixes have probably been the most stable of the eight sides this year with very little unavailability it has been a very consistent selection process. Avril Steere’s rink won by 13, Tom McDermott’s by 11, Tony Wynen’s by 11 and Brucey Shearer’s by 16 after he pleaded with selectors to have his side reunited after his absence. Well done the sixes and maybe, just maybe, they can repeat their 2021/22 season result.
• Berwick 7 – Def Keysborough 4 – Ladder Position: 1st
The sevens are still taking all before them. Green 1, Green 4, it doesn’t matter where they play, they don’t complain, they just get out there and get the job done! Finishing on top of the ladder in 2022 we are predicting their ladder position won’t change this season and they’ll take out the section. They are as hard as nails and proving tough to beat against any side they encounter. The Adairs’ were back and had their sea legs back to take a good six-shot win and as usual, if Alf Reina gets beaten, it’s never by much going down by two shots; but it was the rink of Helen Mathieson, Scott Waterfall, Marg Jorgensen and Terry Wood who set up Saturday’s win to get over the line by seven.
Berwick 8 – Def by Armadale 7 – Ladder Position: 6th
The poor old eights fell just short at Armadale on Saturday after a hard fought tussle. The poor old eights cop it every week, 21 unavailable last week, another 18 this week sees the eights cop the brunt of it! They haven’t had a settled side at all this season and we are thankful to those who continue to step up at the last minute when asked to fill the side. They aren’t completely out of finals contention yet and if we can get some stability down there they may be able to crack a finals spot.
Now that most get the rest we’ve been waiting for there is still plenty going on at Berwick!
With over-35 functions and 2000 barefoot bowlers through the door we see more functions this week as well as our Mixed Club Pairs Final on Tuesday night between Carmel and Ron Lake taking on the might of Karyn Mackie and Ethan Mills.
The club pairs semi-finals are on Monday night which sees some cracking games and of course our $13000 Berwick Mazda and Victorian Statewide Conveyancing Casey Fours tournament on 6-7 January.
It’s the biggest prizemoney event Berwick Bowling Club has ever hosted and the tournament is full with 42 teams and 168 bowlers vying for the $13000 in prizemoney.
Region representatives, NSW and Victorian U18 Representatives, State representatives and premier division players are all coming along to play in the event so pop down and have a look at some great bowls over the two days.
-John Rich-
