GARFIELD BOWLS
The 2023/24 pennant season has come to an end for Garfield after the Division 2 side lost its first semi-final against Morwell Club on Saturday.
Playing at Morwell, and with only one team bringing home the bacon, the Garfielders returned home with a 78-88 loss to be eliminated from the finals race.
Graeme Burton, Bob Lamport, Richard Ross and skip Shane Oliver bolted out of the boxes to be up by 10 shots after five ends.
After that, the game was exactly even, with the Garfield team winning by 26 shots to 16.
The team of Bob Clarke, Les Pumphrey, Steve Bassed and skip Nick Henwood lost three shots on the first end and, from there, the game trickled away.
Without any significant scoring, they were down by 8-19 after 15 ends.
They won five of the last six ends, but even so could only reduce the gap by four shots, leaving them with a loss by 17 shots to 24.
Steve Whyte skipped the team of Alan Wilson, Joe Lenders and Gary Helmore.
They played a very close game, filled with mathematical precision, being 7-all after seven ends, 14-all after 13 ends and 21-1 all after 20 ends.
Unfortunately, the last end belonged to their opponents and they lost the day by a single shot, 21 shots to 22.
Rick Sillet, Ron Saunders, Alan White and skip Tom Cleary played a game in three parts.
In the first part their opponents scored 13 shots, while the Garfielders failed to open their account.
In the second part it was Garfield’s turn and they scored 9 shots to 1; but the opposition owned bragging rights of the third part, scoring 12 to Garfield’s 5, resulting in a loss by 14 shots to 26.
Despite the loss, it was a commendable effort for the team to make it to the finals in their first year back in Division 2…well done guys.
Thus ends Garfield’s pennant run for 2023/24 and we already look forward with enthusiasm to our 2024/25 journey.
The Midweek Division 3 side visited ladder leaders, Churchill, for their last home-and-away game for the season on Tuesday 20 February.
Unfortunately, as things turned out, it was also their last game for the season, as they lost by 44 shots to 69 and did not qualify for finals.
The team of Margaret Hyam, Trevor Peters, Bob Lamport and skip Lexi Taylor had a ding-dong battle with their opponents.
It was a very close match where the score was tied four times, right up to 18-all after 20 ends.
However, a single shot to Churchill on the last end meant the Garfielders lost by 18 shots to 19.
Shirley Cooke, Malcolm Newham, Luke Monckton and their skip, Helene Newton, looked to be going on the same path, with the scores tied three times by the ninth end.
However, that’s when the wheels fell off for them, leading to a loss by 11 shots to 26.
Gwen Fabris skipped the team of Rick Sillett, Keith Cooke and Cheryl Breteler.
They started well with three shots on the first end, but their opposition quickly caught them up and pulled away.
Despite a mini-comeback at the end, they finished up losing by 15 shots to 24.
Thanks to all pennant players for their tremendous efforts this season.
We have one more tournament to go, on Saturday 23 March, to close out the season.
-Damian Brick-
