Tuross Head made use of the general bye in Pennants to play our 2019 Fours Championship. Although the entries were a little disappointing the event resulted in some tightly contested matches. In the only quarter final Stan Peck, Alan McLeod, Ray Downey and John Fahey had a very tight tussle with Des Jackson, Col Fletcher, Lawrie Riley and Stuart Graham.
Graham had the better start and managed to hold the lead for the first ten ends. Fahey gradually edged in front but the result was not decided until the very last end. Based on excellent display of lead bowling from Stan Peck, Fahey managed to clinch a 17 – 15 victory.
Fahey’s team had to back up in the afternoon in a semi final against Ben Hewison, Brian Currie, Ken Drew and Doug Williams. This was another very close affair with the lead changing several times. Fahey seemed to be gaining the upper hand when he moved to a 17 – 14 lead after 14 ends. The game was then turned on its head as a dominant performance from lead, Ben Hewison, put relentless pressure on Fahey’s side. Williams won 6 of the last 7 ends to move into the final with a well earnt 25 – 18 win.
The other semi final was not as close. The very strong side of Jim Macklan, Noel Downie, Peter Davies and Joel Hilliard had too much class for Lou Kozlik, Alan Skelton, Alf Winch and Patrick Sager. Sager’s team held their own for the first part of the game and trailed by just one short at 9 - 8 after 9 ends. However, class and experience came to the fore with Hilliard’s team winning all by one of the remaining ends to win convincingly 29 – 9.
The Final between Hilliard’s highly rated side and the determined four skipped by Williams had an extra twist when Williams had to find a sub for Hewison who played so well in the semi. The task looked even more daunting after 3 ends when Hilliard raced to a 7 – 0 lead. However, Williams’ side, with Ian Wratten (subbing for Hewison) at the forefront, never gave up. All four players contributed to a fighting team effort.
Hilliard’s four managed to stay in front but were never totally in control. After 14 ends, although ahead 19 – 8, they could not take victory for granted. In fact, Williams piled on the pressure to narrow the score to 20 – 15 after 19 ends. Hilliard added another shot to go into the last end 6 shots in front. The game had one final turn on the last end when a courageous bowl from Drew opened the head up to give his side a change of a remarkable win. Hilliard was able to hold on when he restricted Williams to 2 shots. The final score was 21 – 17.
Congratulations to the winners (below) – Jim Macklan, Noel Downie, Peter Davies and Joel Hilliard -who become our first 2019 Champions!!
The runners up (below)– Ian Wratten, Brian Currie, Ken Drew and Doug Williams – also need to be recognised for the way they pushed the champions all the way!!
