PAKENHAM BOWLS CLUB
BOTH of Pakenham Bowls Club’s midweek pennant sides and two of the four Saturday pennant sides made the finals this year with both the semi’s and grand finals having been played in the past week.
MIDWEEK
PAKENHAM One (Div. 3) finished in second spot on the ladder thus earning a home semi-final which was played on Tuesday 24 February on the faster of Pakenham’s two greens in front of a good number of enthusiastic supporters.
From the outset, Pakenham looked to be in control of the game and that was the way it panned out with the home side victorious by 72 shots to 44.
Paul ‘Hot’ Currie’s rink of Sue Hudson, Ashley Graham and Ian ‘Lefty’ Anderson were on fire, winning 33-14 including an eight count – rare in any game but extremely special in a final. With the assistance of “his ladies,” Joyce Andrus, Beth Webster and Fiona Samson, Keith Emms also had a great win, 26 shots to eight.
The One’s travelled to Clayton on Thursday 26 February to play the grand final on grass against the powerful Mulgrave Country Club. It was fitting that these two sides should meet in the final showdown as between them they had dominated the competition all season. Unfortunately, from quite early in the game it was apparent that a number of Pakenham’s players were finding it difficult to adjust to a holding green and they were forced to play catch up bowls for the greater part of the match, eventually losing overall but only by 14 shots – generally outbowled but certainly not disgraced. The only winning rink from Pakenham was again Keith Emms (s), Joyce Andrus, Beth Webster and Fiona Samson with a score of 20-14.
Despite missing out on the flag, the One’s will be promoted and will play in Division Two next season, a great effort.
Pakenham Two (Div. 4) also earned a home semi-final by finishing second on the ladder and shared the Crowley green and the crowd support with the One’s on Tuesday 24 February. At stages during this game against Vermont South, the Two’s looked as if they may have been in trouble had it not been for the dominance of Leon Brown’s rink – at one point they led their opponents 18 to two! In the end, Pakenham won on two rinks out of three with an overall score of 61-51. Needless to say, the best rink, with a final score of 27 to eight, was Leon Brown (s), Alan Wilcock, Joy Tomlin and Gail Wilcock.
The venue for the grand final against Cranbourne RSL was Waverley Golf at Rowville and the Twos left Pakenham on a mission, pumped up with confidence. Those positive feelings were carried through into the game itself with Pakenham establishing an early lead which they did not relinquish until about the half way mark, when for some reason they took their collective foot off and allowed the RSL an eight shot advantage. However from that point all three rinks lifted, regained the momentum and brought home a win across the board, 69 shots to 51 with all rinks up.
Results: D. Laird (s)/A. Jones/K. Clifton/J. Montgomery won 27-16. R. Leggett (s)/ J. Coote/J. Hickman/G. Solomons won 26-20. L. Brown (s)/A. Wilcock/J. Tomlin/G. Wilcock won 16-15.
The Two’s have now won another flag to pin up on the clubhouse wall and will be promoted to Third Division next season – a magnificent achievement.
SATURDAY
By finishing the season in second spot, Pakenham Three (Div. 6) earned a home semi-final and this game against Mulgrave Country Club was played under grey and at times blustery conditions in front of a very vocal group of local supporters on Saturday 28 February.
From the start of proceedings, Joyce Andrus’ rink monstered their opponents with Joyce herself virtually walking on water. It was a credit to the opposing skipper’s temperament that she maintained her good humour for most of the game, given that she was almost always down when she left the head. However Kev (The Prez) Donald’s rink found themselves in almost the reverse of this situation and spent most of the afternoon on damage limitation.
Paul Currie and his crew simply soldiered on and never at any stage looked seriously challenged, eventually winning 28-16 while Charlie Harris and company were engaged in a tight battle which went right down to the wire for a one-shot loss on that rink. At the close of play, Pakenham had a comfortable 90-65 win including a great 39-10 by Joyce Andrus (s), John ‘Giovanni’ Donazzan, Ashley Graham and Graham Andrus.
Pakenham Four (Div. 7) played their semi-final against Narre Warren at Narre where after being down early, they grabbed a narrow lead just short of the halfway mark only to drop away, eventually going down across the board 64-97. The best of Pakenham’s rinks with a close 18-19 loss were Ron Hawkins (s), Ave Jones, John Siekman and Julian Dyer.
The Fours may not have earned promotion but they are to be congratulated on having a successful season – a far cry from the dark days in the Peninsula Pennant Competition where as a result of being placed in an inappropriately high division they were regularly beaten.
Pakenham Three were then left as the sole Saturday Pennant side to advance to a grand final which was played on the first day of autumn on the grass at Glen Waverley against the ‘old enemy’ Berwick, a team more experienced and practiced on that surface.
Unfortunately for Pakenham, the greens were rendered more unfriendly by the rain which fell overnight and it was with a little trepidation that they commenced play on a heavy 12.75 second green. However despite the fact that a number of Pakenham’s players were having trouble getting up during the early stages of the match, they were soon able to establish a narrow lead, mainly due to a strong start on Charlie Harris’ rink. By about the half way mark, this lead had been extended to 16 shots with three rinks up and one square.
However as often happens in a game of bowls, the momentum shifted after the afternoon tea break and by the eighteenth end, Berwick was winning on three rinks and up by three shots overall. Then, encouraged by a small but vocal group of supporters, Pakenham’s players lifted across the board and brought home a magnificent 81-74 win, two rinks up and two down. Best rink for Pakenham was Charlie Harris (s), Paul Walter, Lois Mashado and Roger Till with a score of 25-15.
The other winning rink with a come-from-behind 21-19 win was Kev Donald (s), Gian Pianezzola, Anne-Marie Emms and Norm Buckley. The game was worthy of a grand final with some great bowls played by members of both sides.
Pakenham Three have brought home another flag and will be promoted to Fifth Division next season.
