PAKENHAM BOWLS
Given the prevailing weather conditions on Saturday it came as no surprise that the Pakenham Div 1 team’s scheduled game at Mulgrave was washed out; what was surprising however was that the game still went ahead.
By mutual agreement, the match was relocated to Pakenham, to be played under cover that night after the day games had been completed.
As this involved a delay of some hours, most players took the opportunity to drop by their homes to rug up for the weather – it was freezing and some players in the earlier games even had trouble holding their bowls.
Yet at least one hardy/optimistic soul turned up in shorts and a short sleeved shirt; oh for sure, it was bound to get warmer as the night closed in!
By the time play commenced at around 5:30pm, at least the rain had eased but it was still very cold and windy.
From early in the piece there was a problem with the live on-line scoring system yet again but bowlers are resourceful and were able to adapt…when will BowlsVic add a reset button to their app?
The game was close all night and at any stage either side might have won.
Rink by rink, there were never more than a few shots in it which was reflected in the final scores, with the biggest winning margin being just five shots.
However when hostilities ceased, at 70 to 59 Pakenham won the chocolates by 11 shots overall and with three winning rinks collected 16 valuable Pennant points – a good night’s work.
The Lions’ best rink with 20 to 15 was Paul “Trouty” Twyerould (S), Ned Courtin (3), Darren Webster (2) and Debbie Parker (L).
The Ones will be home to the Dandenong Club this Saturday.
Pakenham Two (Div 3) was involved in another very close game, on this occasion against Keysborough Two.
The margins in this game were always small but although the Lions remained within striking distance of the Kookaburras at all times, they could never quite bridge the gap.
After the completion of the first twenty ends, the locals had two rinks up and one level but with the score at 16 to 18 were just behind overall.
By the half-way mark, Pakenham had three rinks in front yet at that stage was down by seven shots overall.
After the break the Lions made some inroads into the deficit, which by the start of the run home had been reduced to just four shots; however at that point both sides had two up and two down.
From that point forward, although there was quite a bit of movement on individual rinks, there was no change to the overall margin and at 72 to 76, the Lions finished four shots in arrears with one winning rink and one drawn.
Pakenham’s best rink, with 19 to 15, was “Stormin” Norm Box (S), Paul Currie (3), Wendy Pownall (2) and Jan Moore (L).
The twos will take on Frankston One away, next round; this will be their first ever game at Frankston which has not previously been part of the Metropolitan competition.
The game between Pakenham Three (Div 5) and Cranbourne Four was washed out – the Pennant points were therefore shared equally at nine apiece.
The Threes next outing will be at Keysborough.
Pakenham Four (Div 6) was home to Edithvale Three.
The visitors caught the locals with their pants down and absolutely bolted out of the blocks to grab a lead of 34-6 with four rinks in front by the completion of the first twenty ends.
From that point forward the shell shocked Lions were playing catch up bowls against a side playing with all the confidence in the world – however they had an almighty crack at it.
By the half-way mark, the deficit had been reduced from 28 shots to 23 and by the start of the business ends it was back to 18 shots.
However, it was always a bridge too far and although outscoring their opponents by 61 shots to 46 over the final 64 ends of the game, the Lions eventually finished with just one rink up and 13 shots in arrears.
After losing the first eight ends on the trot and being down 0-9 at that stage, the rink of Ray Illing (S), Frank Webber (3), Ken Swifte (2) and Reg Mattingly (L) fought back to finish just five shots down, at 15 shots to 20.
However the best effort was from the only winning rink, which pulled off an absolute Lazarus to come back from 2-10 down to finish 23 to 18 up; that was Dave Moore (S), Ken Robertson (3), John Barlow (2) and Lloyd Mathers (L).
The Fours will be at home again this week against Carrum Two.
MIDWEEK
Both Midweek teams had home games under the Paky Dome last Wednesday.
Pakenham One (Div 1) simply overpowered Berwick One from ‘Go to Whoa’.
After the first fifteen ends the Lions had three up and already held a commanding lead of 20 shots to eight.
By the half-way mark, at 42 to 21, the home side had doubled the visitors’ score although at that stage Foxy’s rink was down by one shot.
By the start of the business ends the Lions were again in front on all three rinks and the score had blown out to 60 shots to 30.
From that point they cruised home, collecting all 16 Pennant points and with the score at 83 to 35 more than doubled the Wickers’ tally.
Best rink with 34 to 10, including winning the last six ends on the trot, was “Nifty” Nev Brown (S), Ned Courtin (3), Claire Smyth (2) and Fernando Aguanta (L).
After being down eight to nine at half time, Foxy’s rink picked up 15 shots to four in the second half to win 23 to 13.
The Ones’ next outing will be away against Keysborough One.
In contrast to the Div 1 side’s dominant performance, Pakenham Two (Div 3) had a battle on their hands all day against Mulgrave Country Club.
The game could not have been much closer in the early stages; after the first fifteen ends the Lions had two up and one down with the score at 12 to 11 in favour of the home side.
However in the period leading up to lunch Mulgrave really put the foot down, outscoring Pakenham by 21 shots to eight during that time to arrive at the half-way point with all three rinks up and a score of 32 shots to 20.
After the break, Pakenham pushed back hard and by the start of the business ends, with one up and two down, and the score at 41 to 45, had almost bridged the gap.
Unfortunately, Mulgrave picked up a couple of multiples in the home straight to take the win by just eight shots overall with all rinks up.
The Lions still had an opportunity at the very end to walk away with at least a couple of points when Paul Currie called “Stormin” Norm Box to the head to point out a near impossible shot; take out the opposition’s bowl (second shot) by hitting it on the very edge (all he could see) to pick up a multiple. Norm ambled back to the mat and let rip, removing Mulgrave’s bowl and converting from one up to three up; unfortunately, however, it was not enough.
The Twos will be at Cranbourne next round.
HI-LO: The winner this week was Jan Moore with number six.
-Des Leigh-
