PAKENHAM BOWLS
Pakenham One (Div 1) played host to the Dandenong Club on Saturday.
Dandy’s players are accustomed to playing under a roof on a synthetic surface and they quickly made themselves right at home under the Paky Dome.
After the completion of the first twenty ends, at 24 to 12, they had doubled Pakenham’s score and were well in front on two rinks.
The other two all square while at two shots to ten down, one of the home side’s rinks appeared to be struggling.
By the mid-way mark, the situation for the Lions had improved considerably with two rinks up at that stage, while the margin had been reduced to seven shots.
In particular, John Parker’s rink was firing – they scored 14 shots to nil over six ends.
However, the other two rinks were in real strife.
But this was to be a classic example of a game of two halves.
There was no pickle juice to be seen but the Lions really got a second wind in the second half, outscoring Dandy by 42 shots to 16 during that period to record what was eventually a comfortable 21 shot win with three rinks up.
‘Nifty’ Nev Brown’s rink, for example, came from seven to 14 down at half time to win by 20 to 16!
After having been level at four shots all after five ends, Pakenham’s best rink with a whopping final score of 27 to nine was John Parker (S), David Leitch (3), Peter Bott (2) and David Laird (L).
They won 15 of the 21 ends, including 10 on the trot, mid game.
The Ones will be away at Beaumaris for round five.
Pakenham Two (Div 3) made the trek down to bayside Frankston where by way of distraction there was an aircraft performing aerobatics; remember the days when Pakenham had skydivers on a Saturday?
Given that Frankston’s (natural grass) greens are based on sand, the surface was not as affected by the recent heavy rain as it would have been at a different location; however, it was still a little on the slow side.
This Dolphins outfit is a quality side and had previously competed at Div 1 level in the Peninsula competition before entering the Metropolitan ranks in Div 4 last season and they displayed their class from the very start.
Des ‘Grizzly’ Leigh’s rink even faced something rarely seen at the level, an accurate, driving lead who hit her target eight times out of ten.
As well as Karen Oosthuizen bowled, more often than not, her bowls were nowhere near the jack after her opponent had attacked.
After the opening twenty ends Frankston had a lead of 25 shots to 12, with all four rinks up.
From that point the visitors more or less kept in touch and at the half-way mark the deficit had been reduced to 10 shots and the Lions had one rink in front.
By the start of the business ends things were looking very interesting as at that point the Dolphins’ lead had been reduced to just five shots although they still led on three of the four rinks.
However, Frankston was just too good in the run home and eventually won by 15 shots with three rinks up.
Pakenham’s only winning rink with 24 to 10 was Jen Bainbridge (S), Luis Aguilar (3), Graham Cooper (2) and Brenda Moloney (L).
After being one shot behind after the first five ends, this rink dominated for the remainder of the game, scoring 22 to seven over 16 ends.
The Twos will be home to Hampton Park One, next round.
Pakenham Three (Div 5) also had an away game – their opponent was Keysborough Three.
The Lions got away to a promising start in that game.
After the first twenty ends they held an 18 to 14 lead with three rinks up.
However, from that point forward, things went decidedly pear shaped.
Peter Wilson’s rink, which was already down by six shots, dropped 11 to one over the next six ends to be 19 to three down at the half-way mark and although at that stage the other three rinks still had their noses in front, Pakenham had lost the lead and trailed by eight shots.
During the second half of the match, Wilson’s crew completely turned the game around on their rink and won every remaining end, scoring 17 shots to nil in the process and finishing the day one shot in front.
However, two of the other rinks lost momentum and the side eventually fell short by 11 shots overall with two rinks up.
The better of Pakenham’s two winning rinks with 19 shots to 17 was Dave Moore (S), Russell Jones (3), Jane Ryan (2) and Derek ‘Delboy’ Fenn (L).
In a low scoring game, Dave’s rink had been in front all day, lost the lead on the seventeenth end then fought back to snatch a two-shot win.
The Threes will host ladder leaders Burden Park Two next round.
Pakenham Four (Div 6) was at home to Carrum Two.
The visitors arrived one player short but that elicited little sympathy from Pakenham’s players as they had already been in that situation themselves, this season.
In the end it probably made little difference to the outcome as, according to one observer, the Lions absolutely “smashed” their opponents.
In the early stages though, Carrum was more than competitive and at the completion of the first twenty ends held a lead of 22 shots to 16 over the locals.
However, from that point until the half-way mark the Lions really got their act together; Alan Waterson’s rink scored 17 shots to two, Ray Illing’s crew scored seven to five, new skip Joe Van Zuflen’s team scored six to two and after being well down at just three shots to 12, Brian Norton got those aching joints warmed up and his lot picked up 16 shots to two!
The cumulative effect of those efforts was that Pakenham took the lead on all four rinks with an overall score of 62 shots to 33 and with 40 ends left to play, the opportunity to build an even bigger score.
The second half saw more of the same, with the home side outscoring the visitors by 46 shots to 26 over that period to finish with all four up and a percentage boosting score of 108 shots to 59.
The Lions best rink with 33 to 12 was Alan Waterson (S), Darrell Falls (3), Frank Webber (2) and Gary ‘Crow’ Crowley (L).
The Fours will be away against Cranbourne RSL One in round five.
MIDWEEK
Despite the weather conditions, both Midweek teams were able to complete their games on Remembrance Day and both recorded wins.
Pakenham One (Div 1) were away at Keysborough where they got away to a good start with two up, one level and a score of 15 shots to seven after the first fifteen ends.
After establishing that solid foundation, the Lions continued their good work and by the half-way mark with the score at 37 to 19, the game was still very much in their control, although one rink had dropped behind (but only by one shot) at that stage.
During the period immediately following the break, Pakenham’s players eased up a little and by the start of the business ends their lead had been reduced to 10 shots, still with two up and one down. In the run home however, they outscored the Kookaburras by 21 shots to five to finish 68 to 42 and with two up and one level, collected 15 of the available 16 Pennant points.
Both winning rinks doubled their opponents’ scores with identical figures of 26 shots to 13.
However, the better of the two, on ends won (14) was Terry ‘TMac’ McRedmond (S), John Hagen (3), Dave Leitch (2) and Mark Ryan (L).
The Ones will tackle Mulgrave One away (again), in round four.
Pakenham Two (Div 3) had a somewhat lopsided game against Cranbourne Two; while Lindsay Stevenson’s rink dominated all day, the other two struggled.
In the early stages, with the first quarter of the game completed, the Lions appeared to be coasting; two rinks were well up and at 20 shots to 12, the score was heading in the right direction.
By lunch time however, Pakenham had just one rink in front and the lead had been reduced to a single shot.
After the break, Cranbourne continued to come back hard and with just 15 ends left to play had taken the lead by four shots and looked like they might run away with the game.
But Stevo’s rink saved the day; they won the last five ends on the trot, scoring 10 nil in the process and with one up and two down, the Lions snatched victory overall by 55 shots to 53.
The best rink by a country mile was Lindsay ‘Stevo’ Stevenson (S), Shane Hamblyn (3), Brenda Moloney (2) and Eric Peterson (L).
The Threes will be at Churchill Waverley Golf for round four.
HI-LO
The winner for round four was John Parker with number 44 – he also skipped the best winning rink in Div 1 on Saturday.
-Des Leigh-
