The Tuross Head Grade 5 Pennant side has maintained its position at the top of the competition table following a near miss against Moruya at Moruya. With just two ends to be played Moruya had a 51 – 45 lead on the master board with two of the three games completed.
John Fahey’s team paid for a very slow start. After 10 ends they trailed 14 – 2, but despite a better second half of the game, they could not bridge the gap. They lost 18 -13. John Monks (below) fared better but stumbled at the back end of the game. His side led 17 – 13 after 16 ends only to be ‘pipped at the post’ going down 19 – 18.
The real action happened on the third rink with Alan McLeod, Noel Downie, Peter Davies and Joel Hilliard involved in a very tight match. With just two ends to go the scores were locked at 14 all. All of the pressure was on the Tuross side that needed to win by at least 7 shots to grab victory. On the 20th end they managed to score 5 shots that meant they needed at least 2 shots on the last end. They proved the difference when they grabbed a critical 3 shots on the last end to give Tuross a remarkable overall win of 53 to 51.
As result Tuross scored an important 8 – 2 win to keep their healthy margin with just two more rounds to be played.
The Grade 7 side kept their hopes alive with an important away win against Bodalla, the competition front runners. Des Jackson, Doug Williams, Lawrie Riley and Ray Downey led the way with a very strong 31 – 11 win. They dominated the match and won 17 of the 21 ends. They coped well with a couple of ‘hiccups’ where they dropped a ‘four’ and a ‘five’.
Allan Etheredge played some very crucial bowls as he steered his side to a very good 21 – 17 win. They established a strong position at 20 – 9 after 14 ends but had to hold off a fast finishing Bodalla side to win 21 – 17.
The third game was tight throughout with the lead fluctuating. The Tuross side of Brian Currie, Alan Skelton, Stuart Graham and Ronnie Richardson had a narrow 19 – 18 advantage after 18 ends and were striving to get the very important 10th point. To their credit the Bodalla side had other ideas and finished strongly to grab a 25 – 19 win.
Tuross won overall 71 – 53 and collected 9 points to Bodalla’s 1. Though still behind Bodalla, Tuross has a game in hand due to a washed out game. The season is far from over!!
The semi-finalists for the Major Singles Championship have been decided following four exciting, high quality quarter finals. John Monks and Joel Hilliard had a great battle before Hilliard pulled away and looked the likely winner. He led 29 – 22 before Monks stormed back into the game. Monks was able to prevail 31 – 30.
Ben Hewison had his nose ahead for most of his game with Noel Downie. He led 21 – 16 and then 25 – 19 but Downie always seemed to have the answer. Downie hit the lead for the first time of the game when he moved to 27 – 25 only to see Hewison strike back to make it 27 all. Downie (below) then won the next two ends to run out a 31 – 27 winner.
Stuart Graham (below) and Peter Davies had a very similar game. The lead fluctuated in a very tight battle – in fact the lead changed six times before Davies looked to have made a game winning break to lead 28 – 21. Graham then staged a great finish to win the next 7 ends to move into the semi-finals with a 31 to 28 win.
Lawrie Riley (above) won the fourth semi-final berth when he outlasted Lou Kozlik. After moving to a 19 – 9 lead Riley was challenged by Kozlik who narrowed the lead to just 3 shots at 22 – 19. Riley then rallied to take the match 31 – 23.
