Joel Hilliard has continued his domination of the Tuross Head Men’s Bowling Club Championships when he teamed with Col Fletcher to win the 2022/23 Major Pairs Championship. He spearheaded their victory over Stuart Graham and Doug Williams in the final that was played in absolutely perfect conditions on Saturday.
Graham and Williams started well picking up 2 shots on the first end and were dominating the second end on the back of great lead bowls from Graham. Hilliard then showed his intent, and that he was in good form, when he played a controlled drive to ‘kill’ the end. From this point he controlled the game. When Graham had the better of the early bowls in an end, Hilliard was able to neutralise any advantage with great draw bowls.
As Hilliard took control, Fletcher played his part as he started to draw with confidence to support his skip. After 11 ends they had opened a 14 – 4 lead. This lead could have been greater if it wasn’t for some excellent bowls from Williams who was able to cut back the ‘damage’. This was shown on the scoreboard with half of the total ends resulting in just a single shot to the winners of the end.
While Fletcher and Hilliard dominated play the highest tally they scored on any end was 3 shots. In fact it was Graham and Williams who managed to pick up the biggest score of the game when they scored 4 shots on the 18th end to create a glimmer of hope for their chances. It was not to be with Fletcher and Hilliard scoring a comfortable win by 24 to 9.
Despite their efforts Graham and Williams were outplayed on the day. Fletcher and Hilliard were both in great touch. The improvement in Fletcher’s draw bowls is quite noticeable and a testament to the effort he puts into practise. Hilliard was in top form using all of the shots in his arsenal to great effect. Well done to all four players on reaching the final and for the spirit in which they competed. Special congratulations to the winners especially to Hilliard who has now won this title for the fifth year in a row!!
2022 Major Pairs Runners Up - Doug Williams and Stuart Graham
2022:23 Major Pairs Champions -Joel Hilliard and Col Fletcher
