CARDINIA WATERS BOWLS
Midweek Report
Both Cardinia Waters midweek sides played Dandenong Club last Tuesday.
Side one was away, and enjoyed a pleasant day under the roof at Dandenong, and after the heat earlier this year the comfort level for the players was appreciated.
Cardinia Waters came very close to upsetting Dandenong, who are firmly entrenched in the four. After Dandenong got an early break Cardinia Waters came right back into the game, and were just one shot behind the home side at lunch.
The Tiger Turf surface was a pleasure to play on, and some excellent bowling was displayed from both sides, however Dandenong hung on to win by just two shots after the 63 ends were played.
Not to be denied Cardinia Waters won on two of the three rinks albeit by just one shot on each.
Ever-reliable Bill Hite’s rink gave all in a great winning effort.
Bill had Stephen Hale, Dennis Patmore and Robert Mitchell in the team.
The other winning rink was skipped by Bryan Stevens, accompanied by John Moore, Del Dance and Ian Kennedy.
Next week Cardinia Waters side one get to play away again, this time at Keysborough.
This should be a ding-dong encounter as Keysborough are just above Cardinia Waters on the ladder by two points.
A win will give either team some breathing space.
Side two weren’t quite up to the visiting Dandenong team, and were beaten by eight shots.
The bright side of the game was the win of Stuart Tokely’s rink which won by a most convincing score line of 25-17.
Stuart played with Peter Mitchell, Therese Mitchell and Terry Nye.
A mighty six on the second last end was the catalyst of this rink’s victory.
Side two can only dream about finals as it will take a miracle for them to get above the fifth place they hold now.
Fifteen points separate them from Dandenong, but Cardinia Waters have a bye in the last round which won’t help their cause.
Next week’s game is at home to Cranbourne, followed by the bye.
Saturday Pennant
Cold, wet and windy conditions fronted the Cardinia Waters side on Saturday when they faced Mulgrave Country Club at home.
After hot and humid Saturdays lately, it was rain coats and jumpers for this week.
Mulgrave jumped out from the blocks and early in the game had a good lead over the home side.
At the afternoon tea bell Mulgrave led the Villagers by a commanding 32 shots.
True grit prevailed late in the afternoon for Cardinia Waters and a strong fight back saw them get within fifteen shots of the visitors after 84 ends.
Leading the way was Bryan Steven’s rink that ran their opposition out to a 24-24 draw.
Bryan played with Marion Stevens, Del Dance and Ian Kennedy.
Two of the other three rinks got within three and four shots of the strong Mulgrave side.
Their strong revival probably wasn’t enough for Cardinia Waters to make the four.
With one game left before the finals they languish in fifth spot, and next week play an away game against fourth-placed Upwey Tecoma.
They need to gather all eighteen points available in this game, and some percentage, to expect to appear in the finals.
One really interesting game next week will be Pakenham v Mulgrave Country Club.
This game is first playing second and these two teams are so evenly matched, it may come down to home ground advantage.
So I’m tipping the Mulgrave side, by a small margin.
-John Moore-
