BERWICK BOWLS
SIDE 1 – Division 1 Section 4
Def Mulgrave CC 1 (Away) 82-80 (14 points)
What a difference a week can make! After a disappointing effort against Cheltenham in round two, Side 1 needed a big game this week away at Mulgrave. Touted as a finals side, Mulgrave was out to atone for its defeat last week against Beaumaris. Behind all day really until about the last 15 ends, the top side fought hard to stay in the game and give themselves a chance. Peter Hodgson’s rink, including Paul O’Day, Darren Bellingham and Karyn Mackie had Dalton’s rink on the back foot all day and eventually won by 14 shots. Rich’s rink of John Horwood, Andrew Bunnell and Jeff Parker made up for last weeks drubbing to win well by nine shots and that proved enough with our two other rinks going down by 14 and 7. Getting the win by two shots starts the season off for the ones and should give them confidence hosting Clayton 2 this week. Clayton has some great bowlers in their side that can’t break in to their Premier Division side so they’ll need to be good again to get the win.
SIDE 2 – Division 2 Section 8
Def Dandy Club 3 (Home) 86-50 (18 points)
Wow…what a smashing by the twos. At home against the fancied Dandy Club, the twos never gave them a chance! They won all four rinks on the day to take all the available points. Notably Jeff Janetzki’s rink, including the unlucky Marcus Zammit – being demoted to the twos in a controversial selection – Malcolm Garner and Lynn McCurran winning by 13 shots, and Brucey Anderson and Rob Morley showing all their years of experience to belt their opposition by 12! A massive win for the twos and one that will also kick start their 2023/24 campaign which, like the ones, needed to happen this week. The task is much harder though this week as the twos travel to Narre Warren to play the top-of-the-ladder side that are brilliant throughout the home and away season every year. Selection will be interesting this week with the ones, twos and threes possibly looking at being tweaked.
SIDE 3 – Division 3 Section 8
Def by Parkdale 2 (Home) 66-71 (4 points)
The threes were so close but just couldn’t get over the line this week! Parkdale 2 is a reasonably strong side and playing at home on the grass we hoped would be the advantage to get them over the line. It wasn’t to be as the thirds went down in a tight one. Ron Lake and Chris Jones’ rinks tried valiantly to stretch the margins in their rink wins, getting over the line by seven and six respectively. With a win on the board, and some great efforts going down last week on the last bowl of the day and this week by five, the threes really need to dig in and show resilience to get over the line against a strong Beaumaris this week. Their green will be quick and our threes need to ensure that plenty of practice this week on the quicker grass will help them on the weekend get over the line. Tough couple of weeks for the thirds but we’re backing them this week to bounce back.
SIDE 4 – Division 4 Section 8
Def Churchill/Waverley Golf (Away) 75-69 (14 points)
The fours snuck over the line in what is a fantastic effort away against Churchill Waverley Golf’s top side. Trevor Tormey’s rink of Wendy Cantwell, Scott Waterfall and Sue Conrad set it up for the fours with a resounding 15-shot victory over their opposition. Although Ralph Jans and Bob Gladman couldn’t get their rinks over the line, the rink of Rowan Hogben, David Conrad, Sue Reber and Paul Hunt backed up Tormey with a three-shot win to get the fours over the line. Sitting in the top four in the early stages, but this week at home come up against Cranbourne 3 who sits second. This is set up to be a cracker of a contest as the fours look to consolidate a top-four spot early on.
SIDE 5 – Division 5 Section 8
Def Noble Park 2 (Home) 91-56 (18 points)
Another massive result; this time for the fives who absolutely dominated Noble Park 2 and come away with a great 35-shot overall win and take all 18 points along the way. Tony Wynen’s rink was the standout on the day with Jan Lapinskas, Ron Wheeldon and Annette Kirby winning their game by 17 shots. This catapulted the fives into third spot on the ladder and this week is an all important opportunity for them to consolidate against a Pakenham 3 side that has only had the one win. More than likely under the Pakenham roof there’ll be no excuses for the fives so plenty of practice this week and another win will only ensure they are heading towards the break in a great spot.
SIDE 6 – Division 6 Section 8
Def Sandringham 2 (Away) 82-76 (16 points)
Another huge result with the sixes getting a win over the second side from Sandy! It’s always a tricky place to play, but with three rink wins and 16 points to come home with it is a mighty fine result by the sixes. Terry Wood, Avril Steere and Tom McDermott all steered their rinks to great wins and Peter Childs rink fought hard all day to go down by seven and keep the result in the Berwick side’s favour.
Parkdale 3 had a draw this week so they’ll be looking for a win as they travel to Berwick. Likely the sixes will play on grass against Parkdale 3 so there’s a great home ground advantage that the sixes must make the most of to get the win and jump Parkdale in to the four.
SIDE 7 – Division 8 Section 4
Def by Parkdale 4 (Away) 67-54 (2 points)
It wasn’t to be for the sevens who travelled away to Parkdale on the weekend. The Parkdale synthetic is not an easy green for away teams to win on, which the sevens found out on Saturday, but they kept their season going with a win on the board last week. Phil Giles’ rink of Beth McFarlane, Peter Adair and Ricky Guest tried hard to increase the margin late in the game to give the sevens a fighting chance, but big losses to Tinschert and McGrath by eight and 16 respectively just didn’t give the sevens much of a chance. The sevens are not going to find it any easier either this week as they head to Glen Waverley to take on their fours that are on fire under the tutelage of new club coach Rod Peterson this season. Sitting on top of the ladder, unbeaten, the sevens are going to have to take their A game to upset the Peterson charges.
Summary
It’s amazing what a week can do! Five out of seven wins provides some renewed confidence after a slow start to the season. Some sides can build on the confidence created from this weekend as their seasons have now kicked off and they’re on the board. Others continue to be consistent and will need to continue practicing and working on their own games as well as a team first focus. Great weekend by the Berwick sides and we hope to have positive outcomes this coming weekend.
-John Rich-
