GARFIELD BOWLS
The new pennant season started with both Saturday sides losing their opening games and the midweek side out of action.
The Division 2 side played away at Moe and it was a tough day for the Garfielders, playing with diminished teams as some of their big names were not yet available to play, resulting in a 107-62 loss.
The team of Wes Goodman, Bob Lamport, Joe Lenders and skip Shane Oliver were outplayed all day; they were down by 11 shots after five ends and although it was fairly even after that, the home team put on another four shots at the end to inflict a 15-shots to 31 loss.
Alan White skipped the team consisting of Roger Worden, Henry Breteler and Gerry Fuller.
The visitors started well and were tied at six-apiece before the home side got going.
From there, it was mostly one-sided, with the Garfield team losing 28-16.
Frank Prins, Rick Sillett, Ron Saunders and skipper Les Pumphrey scored the first shot of the day, but from there it was a struggle; they made a minor comeback in the middle of the game but, in the end, lost 27-10.
The only team presenting any sort of face was that of Lexi Taylor, Cheryl Breteler, Gary Helmore and skip Richard Ross.
They bolted out of the gates, going 10 shots up before their opponents got on the board.
They remained in front for all but the last end, when the home team scored four shots to square-up the scoreboard for a 21 shots-all tie.
It was a tough start to the season for the side, but the return of some regulars next week will hopefully improve their lot.
The Division 5 side played host to the side from Traralgon RSL in beautiful sunshine at the Garfield arena.
A very close match resulted in a mere one-shot loss for the home team.
The team of Ken Place, Damian Brick, Steve Hyam and first-time skip for Garfield, Jasmine O’Shea, started strongly, leading by six shots after five ends.
They extended that lead to nine shots by the afternoon tea break.
The after-tea curse then set in and the opposition came back to almost level things up, with Garfield winning 21-20.
The team skipped by Bian Fox and consisting of Brad Fowler, Maureen Lamport and Malcolm Newham, had a rollercoaster ride against their opponents, with the lead changing six times during the game to be 16-all after 19 ends.
Unfortunately, the visitors came home strongly to leave the locals with a 20-16 loss.
Helene Newton skipped the team of Jan Moxey, Len Preece and Luke Moncton.
Their game was played in three parts; in the first, the Garfielders scored 12 shots to a mere two by the visitors.
This was followed by a resurgence by their opponents, who tied the scores at 14, however the third part of the game belonged again to the home team, which finished up winning 19-17.
A very good start to the season, with the promise of more to come.
-Damian Brick
