West Gippsland Bowls Division
Midweek Pennant Grand Final Report 30 March 2021
Midweek Pennant Bowls Semi Finals were held on Tuesday with some excellent play in good conditions indoors at Traralgon for Divisions 1 and 3 and outdoors at Moe for Divisions 2 and 4.
Division 1
Top teams Drouin and Newborough had a rematch from the second semi final with Drouin repeating their efforts of the Semi Final with a another resounding victory. Sheryl Atkinson and her rink of Les Firth, Mark Atkinson and Mary Firth won with a 21 – 12 score over Fran Clark and her rink of Barry Daley, Bev Luck and Heather Mooney after Atkinson raced away to an 11 – 1 lead before Clark began to peg her back. Maureen Leighton and her rink of Andrew Blaby, Arthur Moore and Jan Aubrey had a similar score of 21 – 12 over Jo-Anne Michaels and her rink of Jeff Wetzel, Nosha Michaels and Mary Whelan after champion bowler Lorraine Steel was unfortunately unable to play in the Grand Final. Denise Hamilton and her rink of Graeme Aubrey, David Tayles and Elaine Thorpe continued the excellent work for Drouin with a 23 – 17 win over Joan Goldie and her rink of Bob Goldie, Charlie Ward and Julie Jackson in a repeat of the semi-final action.
Drouin now go on to the Strzelecki Region final against Inverloch to be held at Mirboo North on Tuesday 6 April with the winner heading to the State Playoffs to be held at Moama later in the year.
Drouin 65 defeated Newborough 41
Division 2
Morwell (2) (winners of Division 3 last year) took on Traralgon (2) who narrowly won their semi final over Newborough (2). Prior to the match Morwell suffered the loss of two players isolating following a Covid scare after a recent trip to Brisbane and they needed two emergency substitutes to enable them to play with full teams.
Julie Klein and her rink of Jack Prendergast, Max Duncan and Shirley Kolcze led the way for Morwell (2) with a 24 – 16 victory over May Cross and her rink of Barbara Baker, Graham Cross and Maureen Rooney. Letti Mizzi and her rink of Helen Cook, Denise Pigdon and Lou Edge had a 25 – 17 win over Jan Moody and her rink of Jeanette Green, Greg Swan and Muriel Johnson. The lone winner for Traralgon (2) Lyn Moffat and her team of Hannelore Jeffrey, Barbara Scott and Lyn Bloomfield with a 25 – 17 win over Linda Gurney and her team of Graham Hutchinson, John Kuhne and Palma McNeill. Unfortunately this was not enough to bridge the gap leaving Morwell (2) to win Division 2 after winning Division 3 last season. They are unable to have a second team in Division 1 so they will not be able to continue this trend next year.
Morwell (2) 68 Traralgon (2) 60
Division 3
Top team Drouin (2) remembered their loss to Newborough (3) in the last round of pennant and were determined to reverse the result after their big win against Yarragon in the Semi Final. Gwen Price and her team of Necip Akarsu, Andre De Waele and Pat Cole had a 31 – 9 win over Marcia Evans and her rink of Phil Zappelli, Barbara White and Lyn Akarsu to put Drouin (2) in a winning position.
Jenny Woolard and her team of Ruth Waring, Clive Newman and Mary Andrews had a 21 – 18 win over Joan Lee and her rink of Galena Gregory, Michael Holroyd and Sheila Derooij. Ann Mary Ryan and her rink of Stuart Wilson, Steve Cunningham and Lyn Madden were the best Newborough (3) team with a 17 – 17 draw with Lyn Jeffrey and her rink of Ron Westrup, Brian Thorpe and Margaret Rhodes.
Drouin (2) 69 defeated Newborough (3) 44
Division 4
Top teams Yinnar (2) and Yallourn North had a repeat of their semi final match at Morwell with the Yinnar rink of Jo Bolch and her team of Kevin Young, Ray Tanti and Marion Newton winning 28 – 12 over Dianne Thomas and her rink of David Tuck, Mavis McAllister and Pat O’Donnell. The remaining match between Yallourn North’s Marce Mallia and her team of Charles McArthur, Laurie Whateley and Bev Wilson and Liddy Davidson and her rink of Gordon Smith, Chris Ellis and Jann Summerhayes resulted in a 17 – 16 win to the Yallourn North four.
Yinnar (2) 44 defeated Yallourn North 29
Michael Holroyd
0434 146 865
Midweek Pennant Grand Finals Tuesday 3 March2020
Division 1
Warragul 54 defeated Drouin 53 at Traralgon
Warragul broke the drought from 1986 – 87 with a win in Division 1 over near neighbours Drouin by one shot. Warragul lead by two shots going in to the last end and Drouin picked up a shot early and Drouin skipper Maureen Leighton narrowly missed picking up the jack with her first bowl and perhaps putting Drouin in a winning position. With her second bowl Leighton ran in to a Drouin short bowl and many of the spectators thought she had got a second shot to ensure an extra end would be played as a tie-breaker. Not to be, the shot fell short and Warragul won by the narrowest of margins.
Janette Gallasch of Warragul and her team of Greg King, Peter Gallasch and Shirley Melsen had a day long battle with Maureen Leighton and her team of Bob Cole, John Leighton and Denise Hamilton with the score being 16 all after the allotted 21 ends.
Elsie Hefford and her team of John Vickerman, Steve Pallot and Gabrielle Draisma battled early against Sheryl Atkinson and her team of Andrew Blaby, Les and Mary Firth and fought back to get on level terms before Atkinson had a 18 – 14 victory in another low scoring match.
Pat Hammond and her team of Ian Belling, Graeme Davis and Kerry Currie lead the way for Warragul going away to an early lead only to be pegged back late in the game by Jan Aubrey and her team of Graeme Aubrey, Brian Thorpe and Pauline Appleyard. Hammond’s score of 24 – 19 was certainly the difference in a very close match as the Warragul team celebrated their first premiership for 33 years.
Warragul goes on to play Leongatha at Moe on Tuesday 10 March in the Strzelecki Playoff to determine which side represents Strzelecki in the State Championships at Moama in May
Divison 2
Newborugh (2) 70 defeated Warragul (2) 41
Newborough hit form early and built an unassailable lead which they maintained for the whole match. Adrienne Birchall and her rink of Ruth Verhagen, Lorna Risol and Christine Cunningham were the star team winning 28 – 10 against the rink of Margaret Keefe.
Heather Disisto a late replacement for an injured Carmel Goss with her rink of Peggy Reed, Joan Lee, a late replacement for Jenny Cocks and Glenys Perkins settled in to a 20 – 17 win over Roma Rippon and her team.
Helen Grubb and her team of Sandra Gates, Christina Wagstaff and Dianne Bertoli made it a complete sweep for Newborough with a 22 – 14 win over Chris Wilkins and her team.
Newborough already have a team in Division 1 so they will remain in Division 2 next season and Traralgon RSL will remain in Division 1 for another year.
Division 3
Morwell (2) 66 defeated Garfield 49 at Trafalgar
Palma McNeill and her team of Kevin Pigdon, Bob Skinner, Ann Kuhne lead the way with an 23 – 12 victory over Margaret Ratcliffe and her team. Lou Edge had a 21 – 19 win over Maureen Lamport and Rita Reddiex completed the sweep with a 22 – 18 victory over Judy Pocklington. Morwell (2) now goes up to Division 2 with Newborough (3) returning after a spell in Division 2.
Division 4
Drouin (3) 37 defeated Traralgon (5) 35
Margaret Owens and her team of Ruth Waring, Andrfe De Waele and Irene Dawson defeated Marie Gunnulson 19 – 12 to lay the foundation for the Drouin victory with Maria Wans and her rink of Lorraine Fox, Ian Haughton and Maureen McMillan losing to Rita Fleming and her rink of 18 – 23 leaving Drouin the winner by 2 shots overall. Drouin (3) now has the opportunity to climb in to Division 3 and remove the bye from that competition.
Midweek pennant played in much better conditions for most of the season than their Saturday counterparts. It has been a trying season considering the variable weather and the level of humidity since Christmas. Well done for everyone who played pennant during the season and we look forward to seeing you out on the green again next season. Enjoy your bowls during the Autumn and winter seasons either on your travels or locally in the outstanding winter facilities.
Michael Holroyd
0434 146 865
