CRANBOURNE BOWLS
On a glorious sunny day and playing on the synthetic green Cranbourne 4 Div 6 went into the section preliminary final against Dandenong Club 5 with the winner advancing to the section final against Mulgrave CC5.
For the loser; their season would be over.
It was a strange day of bowls with some of the scores not telling the whole story.
The breeze was a little tricky and when you expected the bowl to come in, the breeze tended to hold the bowl up on its axis.
Two rinks won by Dandenong Club were significant, one being by 15 shots and one by 12 shots, but these rinks were just out bowled or weren’t able to hold the shot.
The only other bad errors were two of our rinks losing a six and a four each.
The two best rinks for Cranbourne 4 were skipped by Hans Worsteling, with Ron Fenton 3rd, Lesley Deal 2nd and Bruce Harper Lead winning their rink by 25 shots by playing some great bowls. Everyone contributed and played brilliantly 32-7.
The rink skipped by Harry Van Soest, with Bill Sherriff 3rd, David McMaster 2nd and Frank Verco Lead won their rink by four shots 21-17.
With about four ends to play, Dandenong Club 5 had a 15-shot lead and things were looking grim for Cranbourne 4.
Then all of a sudden, the supporters and team members came to life and were cheering and encouraging the players to keep at it.
The crowd were cheering wildly for Cheryl Wright’s team which included Scott DePiazza, Jo Alsop and Jacqui Warner lead.
The crowd went wild for them, but the rest of us just quietly worked away chipping the lead down to the point where with one end to play the scores were 77-77 all.
It was left to Hans Worsteling’s team to bring It on home.
This they did with two ripper bowls from Lesley Deal and Ron Fenton.
Hans then provided the supporting back bowls which allowed Cranbourne 4 to get the shots necessary to put them over the line and proceed to the section final against Mulgrave CC5 on Saturday at Burden Park.
This team and the players who’ve played most of the season have been fantastic in their endeavours to get our team into finals and promoted to Div 5.
As team manager, I can only thank all of them for their efforts and hard work.
They’ve been brilliant and I want them to enjoy the game next Saturday irrespective of the outcome.
Thankyou Dandenong Club for a great game, played in very good spirit and very magnanimous with regards to the result.
• Cranbourne 4 Div 6 (79) def Dandenong Club 5 (77).
MIDWEEK PENNANT
Both Midweek teams travelled to take on their opponents in semi-finals with the winners advancing to section finals and earning a week’s break.
Cranbourne 1 Div 1 travelled to Narre Warren to take on their number-two team.
Cranbourne was a very determined team and set themselves a goal to win over their opponents and advance to the section final…and this is what transpired.
The rink skipped by Peter Elgar, with Chris Stevenson 3rd, Steve Bentley 2nd and Loui Magri Lead, defeated their opposition 31-22.
The rink skipped by Lyn Quigg, with Peter Colthup 3rd, Dennis Tomlin 2nd and Kristi Hickson Lead won their rink 25-17.
The third rink skipped by Nick Arnold, with Wayne Stevens 3rd, Karen Hickson 2nd and Vic Butera Lead had a great tussle with their opponents, going down by two shots 18-20.
Finals are always going to be hard to win, but Cranbourne 1’s resolve was steadfast and their reward is a grand final spot against Dandenong Club 2 at Noble Park.
• Cranbourne 1 Div 2 (74) def Narre Warren 2 (59).
Cranbourne 4 (6-A-Side) shuffled on down to Black Rock to take on the top-of-the-ladder team.
Being the two top teams in the Division, both clubs played some very close bowls with very little between them.
Winning one rink each, Cranbourne 4 came out on top to the tune of seven shots.
The rink skipped by Dale Henry, with John Stanley 2nd and Jeanne Tomlin Lead won their rink 20-12, followed closely by Black Rock 1’s second team who beat our team skipped by Steve Muhi, with Rod Challis 2nd and Lead Helen Blake by one shot 15-16.
Cranbourne 4 will play the winner of the preliminary final between Black Rock 1 and Cranbourne RSL 2 in the section final on Tuesday 11 March.
• Cranbourne 4 (35) def Black Rock 1 (28).
Congratulations to the two Midweek Cranbourne teams and I’m sure the club, it’s members, family and friends will be at both games to provide you all the love and support they can.
Well done players, selectors and team managers on a great day for the club.
-Derek Maguire-
