PAKENHAM BOWLS
After a night game a week earlier Pakenham One (Div 1) found itself out in the bright sunshine at Keysborough on Saturday engaged in an absolute arm wrestle all afternoon.
There was no let up; the two sides elected not to have a break so there was no easing of the pressure or opportunity for a shift in momentum.
As it transpired, there may have been an awful lot of energy wasted during that game as the outcome was only decided over the final two ends.
At that stage, with two up and two down, the Lions were behind by a single shot overall when Tommy Lodge’s rink picked up one shot on its twenty first end to take the score to 69 all.
Also on end 21, “Nifty” Nev Brown’s rink were holding two when the opposition third played an excellent conversion shot to give the Burra’s a four-shot lead.
Tom Van Vugt then let rip with a magnificent drive and killed the end.
When that final end was replayed, the Lions won it by two shots which was the overall winning margin.
Best rink was “Nifty” Nev Brown (S), Tom Van Vugt (3), Claire Smyth (2) and David Saint (L).
That rink recovered from 7-15 down early in the game to win 22-16!
The Ones are still second on the ladder, 32 points behind Mentone but only five up on Cheltenham and nine on Mulgrave.
They will be home to Parkdale (seventh) next round for what will be another Friday evening/night game under lights; play is scheduled to commence at 7pm.
Pakenham Two (Div 3) was the only side to play at home on the weekend and the opponent was Hampton Bayside; who were never in the hunt in that game.
By the completion of the first twenty ends Pakenham was up on three of the four rinks and had established a lead of 25-14.
By the mid-way point, that lead had blown out to 60-23 and the Lions had all four rinks in front.
The Sea Dragons fought back hard during the following twenty ends but only succeeded in slowing the rate at which Pakenham was adding to its score.
By the start of the business ends the home side had extended its lead to 75-41.
The Lions then ramped up the pressure again and stormed home to win 98-53 and with all four rinks up, collected the maximum 18 Pennant points.
Best rink with 34-10 was Ned Courtin (S), Darren Webster (3), Debbie Parker (2) and Gary “Crow” Crowley (L).
With Dandenong and Edithvale both losing on the weekend, the Twos have leapfrogged those sides to take top spot on the ladder but are only one point in front of the former and five up on the latter. They have a hard run home and in the coming three weeks are to play both those sides which are currently breathing down their necks…Dandy Three at home and Edithvale away (always a tough assignment).
Their next outing will be at Cheltenham (sixth).
Pakenham Three (Div 5) joined the Ones at Keysborough and they also found that the locals were not prepared to give up without a fight.
After the first twenty ends the Lions trailed the Burra’s 19-23 with two up and two down and at that stage one of Pakenham’s rinks had yet to register a score.
It was still two up and two down at the half-way mark at which point the locals had increased their lead to seven shots overall.
The rations at afternoon tea may have been meagre (cheese and crackers), but they seemed to provide the spark the Lions needed as they came out after the break to outscore the home side 28-15 over the following twenty ends to arrive at the start of the run home with a lead of 65-59.
The pressure was maintained over the final twenty ends and Pakenham came home with the chocolates (and the meat tray, incidentally) to win by eight shots overall with two up and two down.
Best rink (despite an embarrassing wrong bias bowl by “Grizzly”) with 30-13 was Des “Grizzly” Leigh (S), Peter Wilson (3), Wayne Oosthuizen (2) and Jan Moore (L).
This rink outscored its opponents 17-7 over the second half of the game.
The Threes have retained top spot on the ladder, now 12 points up on Dandy, 13 on Berwick and 14 on Upwey Tecoma.
They will play Berwick at home next round, followed by Narre away and then Upwey Tecoma at home.
The Fours (Div 7) had the bye on Saturday and were therefore unable to collect any Pennant points. Having previously established a healthy buffer however, they retained second spot on the ladder, now seven points behind Berwick and 19 (more than a full round) ahead of Narre.
They will be home to Upwey Tecoma (seventh) in round 12.
MIDWEEK
Play resumed in the Midweek competition on Tuesday 21 January following the Christmas break.
Pakenham One (Div 1) kicked off with an excellent win at home against Berwick.
With “Nifty” Nev Brown’s rink leading the charge and winning the first nine ends on the trot, the Lions got away to a good start and after the first 15 ends were in front by seven shots, with two up and one down.
By about the half-way mark, the home side had doubled the visitors’ score and took a healthy 23 point lead into the break.
Both sides were more or less on equal terms over the following 15 ends and as the game entered the home straight, the Lions were 24 shots ahead with two up and one level.
They then coasted home to win by 28 shots, with all three rinks up and collected the maximum 16 Pennant points.
Best rink with 33-9 was “Nifty” Nev Brown (S), Claire Smyth (3), Vince Bevilacqua (2) and David Saint (L).
The win elevated the Ones up to the second rung of the ladder, now 12 points behind Mulgrave, three ahead of Dandy and 17 up on Keysborough.
They will be away at Burden Park (Eighth) next round.
Pakenham Two (Div 2) continued to battle hard but suffered yet another loss – on this occasion at the hands of ladder leader, Dandenong.
The Lions never looked like winning that game but salvaged some pride with a spirited fight back over the final stages.
However, it was too little too late and they were eventually beaten by 72 shots to 57 with only one winning rink.
That successful rink was Rick Burns (S), Judith Ferrari (3), Wendy Pownall (2) and Gayle Harkness (L). In a remarkable effort, they recovered from 4-11 down after five ends to outscore their opponents by 28-7 over the remainder of the game for a 32-18 win.
The Twos occupy the bottom rung of the ladder, well behind the pack, and will be at home to Edithvale (Fifth) next round.
Pakenham Three (Div 4), fifth on the ladder, may have pencilled in a win from their home game against bottom side, Ferntree Gully.
However, that was not the way their encounter worked out.
After the first fifteen ends the shell shocked Lions were down on all three rinks and trailing overall by seven shots.
The situation had improved by the half-way mark when Pakenham had its nose in front on two of the three rinks but at that stage the visitors still held a four-shot overall lead.
Remarkably, one of the home sides’ rinks won eight ends on the trot during the mid-stages of the game to provide the Lions with some hope, only to follow up by losing the last eight in a row to go down by 10 shots.
In the end, there wasn’t all that much in it but the Lions lost by eight shots with two down and one up.
The one winning rink with 23 to 14 was Jim Williams (S), Peter Wilson (3), Maree Taylor (2) and Karen Oosthuizen (L).
Despite the loss, the Threes held onto fifth spot, 25 points behind Keysborough and 12 up on Churchill Waverley Golf.
They will be home to Monbulk Three (eighth) next round.
HI-LO
This week’s winner with number five was Lindsay Stevenson.
-Des Leigh-
