IT was a great day for the Hampton Park Bowls Club on Saturday with the RVBA Division 3 side winning by 29 shots.
This was the game the side had to win to get promoted to Division 2 – and they did it.
The big winner on the day was the team of Jim Westwell, Lance Davis, Andrew Brandolin and skip Graham Slight when they took off right from the start to record a 19-shot win (36-17).
Ron Beverly, Neville Hendrie, Mark Paton and skip Geoff Ladner had a touch-and-go game, pulling away in the finish to win by 10 shots (28-18). Tom Kirkpatrick, Jeff Crozier, Geoff Ampt and skip Lionel Williams kept their noses in front all day to win by eight shots (25-17). Sean McDonald, Ken Cobden, Zak Storm and skip Ian Bartlett lost their way in the second half to go down by eight shots (16-24).
The club’s other side playing in the finals did not fare as well against Coatsville on their home green. The Parkers only had one team getting over the line with a win. That was Les Unwin, Keith Damon, Bob Nicol and skip Bob Naismith, leading from start to finish to win by eight shots. The other teams went down by 9, 10 and 13 shots with the side losing overall by 24 shots.
It was disappointing for the Parkers in the final on Sunday when they fronted up at Bentleigh to play Mulgrave CC. Hampton Park had the overall lead at the tea break but then the opposition came right back to draw away and win by 12 shots.
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The VLBA A2 side played its last pennant game before the finals against Berwick, picking up the points with a 20-shot win. Mavis Kelly, Gail Wilcock, Neville Hendrie and skip Grace Hogan had the big win for the day of 15 shots while Mary Hose, June Damon, Helen Lambert and skip Ann Westwell hung on to win by three shots. Dot Carr, Geri Graafsma, Rob Woff and skip Bob Naismith left it to the last end to get up and win by two shots.
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Hampton Park played Murrumbeena Park at home and were found a little wanting in their game with only the team of Sean McDonald, Ray Wood, Christine Hendrie and skip Geoff Ladner finishing very strongly to win by just two shots, while the other two teams went down by seven and 10 shots.
It is now time for the ladies to shine as far as finals go with the B2 side playing at Burden Park on Tuesday while the A2 side will have to wait till Thursday to get their chance.
