Play in the 2020 Championships has started with five round one matches in the Major Singles completed. The third round of the Pennant season has also been played with mixed results for the Tuross sides.
In Pennants the Grade 5 side returned to the winners list after a very closely fought battle with Dalmeny at home. Despite losing two of the three rinks, Tuross managed an overall win on the back of an excellent performance from the team of Ivan Balentovic, Mick Atkinson, Peter Davies and Noel Downie (below). They had a convincing 28 – 12 win on their rink. While the other two rinks went down 15 – 19 and 19 – 24, Tuross won overall by 62 shots to 55 shots. This meant that they received 8 points to Dalmeny’s 2.
The Grade 6 side suffered their second consecutive big loss when they travelled to Tomakin. Tomakin had big wins on two rinks to rack up a 79 shots to 35 shots margin. The one highlight for Tuross was a hard fought win by the team of Alan Skelton, Lou Kozlik, Stan Peck and Carol Williams. They held on to win 20 – 19 despite losing the last 3 ends. Tomakin took the points to the tune of 9 – 1. Next week the Grade 5 side travels to Moruya while the Grade 6 side hosts Narooma.
There was some great bowls played in the Major Singles. Joel Hilliard and Lawrie Riley had a great tussle. Riley held a slender 11 – 10 lead before Hilliard pulled away to a 20 – 11 advantage. While Riley was able to keep his hopes alive Hilliard kept his nose in front. The game was well and truly alive when Riley managed to reduce the margin to just 4 shots at 29 – 25. Hilliard then played the shot of the match to grab a 31 – 25 victory.
Brian Currie and Mick Challice (above) also had long, close battle. Currie looked well placed when he established a 16 – 7 advantage. However, Challice found his range and within six ends the scores were level at 17 all. The scores remained close and after 27 ends Challice led 23 – 21. Challice then dominated by winning the next six ends to take the match 31 – 21.
While the three remaining matches did not finish with close score lines, all the players involved played some excellent bowls. Defending Champion, Noel Downie, found Lou Kozlik a tough nut with Kozlik leading after 12 ends. From this point Downie pulled away to win 31 – 11. Peter Davies has been in great recent form and he showed his consistency in accounting for note singles player Stan Peck 31 – 10. Alan Mcleod showed a welcome return to form with a 31 – 11 win over Len Downie. This score line does not reflect the closeness of the game. Downie often dominated an end only to see McLeod take the spoils with one excellent bowl. Three games in round one remain to be played.
