PARKES BOWLS

Championship matches

A high-quality semi-final of the Mens’ Major Singles Championship was played on Friday evening between Warwick Parker and Mark Fitzalan, in front of an appreciative crowd.

Warwick got off to a dream start to lead by 9 shots to nil after just 4 ends. From that point onwards, Mark was playing catch-up bowls.

Warwick showed his class and craft, bowling unbelievable draw weight bowls with perfect grass, completely shutting out Mark. Warwick powered into the Championship Final after outclassing his opponent, winning by 25 shots to 12.

There were 2 Major Pairs Championship matches played over the weekend.

The first match played on Sunday resulted in a win to Steve Turner and Guy Ellery over Father & Son duo of Warwick and Matty Parker, by 25 to 8.

The other Major Pairs match played ended in a close win to Brad Teague and Shane Hodge over Greg Townsend and Mick Went.

Brad and Shane soaked up the pressure over the first 2 ends, allowing the nerves to settle, as Greg and Mick powered away to lead by 5 shots after 2 ends.

Brad and Shane switched on in the 3rd end, to score 6 shots and it was then ‘game on’! Brad and Shane pocketed 8 shots over 4 ends to lead by 15 shots to 7 after 10 ends.

Greg and Mick staged a great comeback to level the scores at 15 each after the 14th end. Brad and Shane withstood the challenge, and won 5 shots over the remaining ends, to win the match by 20 shots to 18, in a classic pressure match of Pairs Bowls.

Social bowls

Thursday social bowls attracted 18 bowlers who played 1 game of triples and 3 games of pairs.

Bernie ‘just a phone call away’ Mitchell led for Rob Irving and Gary McPhee against Steve Parker, Graham ‘popeye’ Davis and John Wright in a competitive game of triples. Team McPhee led from the first end to the last end, withstanding several strong challenges from Team Wright, to prevail in the end, winning by 26 shots to 20 over a gallant Team Wright.

A super competitive pairs game resulted in Col Woods and Ian Simpson narrowly losing to Col Hayward and Brian Townsend.

Brian and Col waited until the 5th end to trouble the scorers, and trailed by 8 shots heading to the next end. They scored 5 shots on that next end to considerably close the margin.

Simmo and Col Woods talked, and then bowled their way clear again, to lead by 4 shots after the 13th end. Col Hayward and Brian Townsend pounced over the 2nd half of the game, to win every remaining end to enjoy a nice 2 shot victory, by 17 shots to 15 over a stunned, and quiet, duo in Woods and Simpson.

Graham Dixon and Steve Ryan were too good for John Ward and jetlagged Marty Tighe, winning comfortably by 26 shots to 15.

Graham was in stunning form, drawing his perfectly weighted bowls beautifully, continually saving ends against John and Marty, who tried valiantly to stay with their opponents, but in the end they were no match for Graham and Steve.

The closest scoring game of the day featured Max Tomkins and Warren Bevan against Mike Valentine and John Corcoran.

Max and Warren won by 1 shot, 13 shots to 12 against the wily old duo of Mike and Corky. The scores were level 5 times throughout the tight game, with the difference being the 2 shots Max and Warren picked up on the penultimate end to lead by 2 shots. Mike and Corky won the last end by 1 shot, to fall short by that margin.

Brilliant sunny and warm weather on Saturday prised 16 social bowlers out of their respective lairs to play 4 games of social pairs. Donna Day and Darren Cassidy from Tottenham were welcomed to club, and it was great to see young Frasier Beaton continue his bowls journey playing Saturday social bowls.

John Ward was unlucky two days in a row as he again partnered Marty Tighe, and to another loss! John and Marty were soundly beaten by Donna Day and Ian ‘midnight and no etiquette’’ Simpson.

Donna bowled exceptional bowls, keeping her partner in the game, as she virtually single-handedly thwarted all comebacks from John and Marty. Donna and Ian won the game by 21 shots to 16.

Josh White and Steve Ryan enjoyed a nice 5 shot win over Frasier Beaton and Col Mudie, winning by 20 shots to 15. Col and Steve were providing age old and sage advice to young Fraser, who drank it in, improving with each end he played. The scores were level after 15 ends, the deadlock only broken by Josh and Steve scoring two 3 shot winning ends over the remaining ends, to win by 5 shots.

Darren Cassidy and Brian Townsend led by 7 shots to nil after the first 6 ends in their game against Steve Turner and Guy Ellery.

Steve and Guy fought back nicely to tie up the scores at 8 shots each after the 13th end, and then kept Darren and Brian scoreless for the next 5 ends, to lead by 17 shots to 8 after the 18th end.

Steve and Guy won by 19 shots to 11 after the regulation 21 ends were played, although the game continued for another 3 ends, at which time Steve and Guy were still in the lead by 20 shots to 17.

Colin Hayward and Rob Irving won by 18 shots to 14 over Col Woods and Mike Valentine in another close game. The scores were level after the 13th end, with the game-breaker coming in the 14th end when Hayward and Irving scored 5 shots.

This result opened up an insurmountable margin for Col and Mike, who battled on, but were unable to trouble the scorers in the second half of the game. Colin and Rob enjoyed a nice 4 shot win.

In other ‘Pirates at Play’ news over the weekend, Gary McPhee and John Wright competed with distinction in the Champions Pairs at Orange Ex-Services Club.

Gary and John won their first 3 matches and narrowly lost their 4th match by just 4 shots to a Majellan Club pairs duo, to finish just out of the money in 5th position.

Friday evening and Sunday morning social bowls are proving extremely popular with both events well supported by new bowlers and a few old hands as well.