PAKENHAM BOWLS
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
A small but enthusiastic crowd turned out on Friday evening to watch the finals of the Ladies’ and Men’s Club Singles Championships for season 2024/25 and they were treated to a wonderful display of bowls.
The Ladies’ final was contested by Claire Smyth and Karen Oosthuizen.
Claire bowls in the Div 1 side whereas Karen is in Div 5 but that difference was not evident during the game with both ladies playing excellent bowls.
Karen took it right up to Claire and the scores were dead level on a number of occasions.
In the end however, Claire’s greater experience made the difference and she eventually won a hard-fought contest by just five shots.
Congratulations to Claire who is a worthy champion and also to Karen who deserves recognition for a mighty effort.
The Men’s final saw Div 1 Skip Geoff “Voota” Van Vugt pitted against Div 1 Lead, David “Sainter” Saint.
This was also a great match with some amazing, precision bowls played by both men.
“Voota” had the upper hand for the majority of this game but “Sainter” certainly made him earn it (although it was remarked on more than one occasion that “Voota” always seemed to be relaxed).
In the end it was “Voota” who was the first to reach 25 shots with David not far behind.
Congratulations to “Voota”, our champion, and commiserations to the “Sainter” after a wonderful display of skilful bowls.
WEEKEND PENNANT
The final games of the home-and-away rounds were completed on Saturday with all four Pakenham sides earning a spot in the finals.
Pakenham One (Div 1) was seeking retribution, at home, against Cranbourne, a side which had beaten them (away) in round seven.
With Voota’s rink leading the way, winning the first seven ends on the trot, the Lions scooted away to an early lead and after the completion of the first twenty ends were in front 33-9, with three up and one down.
By the half-way mark that margin had grown to 51-24; the home side in front on all four rinks.
As is usual practice for the Ones, there was no break taken (it can disrupt the momentum) although everyone was fed and the (very noisy) game continued without any easing of intensity.
By the start of the business ends the Lions held a comfortable 70-42 lead, still with four up.
They then outscored the visitors over the final twenty ends by 34 to 12 to romp home 104-54.
That’s not just revenge; that’s putting the boot in!
Best rink with 33 to 12 was “Nifty” Nev Brown (S), Tom Van Vugt (3), Claire “The Champ” Smyth (2) and David “Sainter” Saint (L).
This rink was down 3-11 after the first five ends but recovered to win 15 of the 24 ends, including the last six on the trot!
The Ones finished in second spot and will play top-of-the-ladder Mentone at Mentone in the semi-final on Saturday.
Cheltenham, third, play Mulgrave, fourth, in the elimination final at Cheltenham.
A win for Pakenham will see the Lions progress to the following Saturday’s grand final, while a loss would see them host the preliminary final against the winner of Cheltenham and Mulgrave this Sunday.
Pakenham Two (Div 3) were away at Edithvale, a venue which has proven to be something of a graveyard for Pakenham teams recently, particularly in the wet and windy conditions which had been forecast.
From the outset it was obvious that the Lions were in for a battle; after the first twenty ends, although they had three rinks up, at 18 to 17, they led by just one shot.
By the midway point they had relinquished that lead and at that stage, with two up and two down, they trailed by four shots.
The arm wrestle continued over the next twenty ends but it was the Lions who held a one-shot lead with three up and one down at the start of the run home.
In what was one of the toughest games of the season, the Lions eventually prevailed by just three shots with two up and two down.
Best rink with 25 to 16 was Peter Bott (S), Paul Currie (3), Vince Bevilacqua (2) and Luis Aguilar (L).
The Threes finished the season in third position with Edithvale fourth, and will therefore host Edithvale on Saturday in the elimination final.
The winner will line up again on Sunday and visit the loser of the semi-final between Narre 2 and Dandy 3.
Pakenham Three (Div 5) has been travelling well recently and were sitting on top of the ladder.
On Saturday however, they encountered a significant roadblock in the form of second-placed Upwey Tecoma and were knocked off their perch.
The Lions expected that the Tigers would be hard to beat, even with the home-ground advantage.
The visitors took an immediate liking to Pakenham’s green and with twenty ends completed they led by 18 shots to 15 with three rinks up.
By the half-way mark that situation had been remedied somewhat, with the Lions in front by 10 shots with two up and two down.
By the start of the business ends the home side’s lead had been reduced to just five shots but it was still two up and two down.
Then in the latter stages of the contest, with two of the previously strong rinks failing to fire and a complete meltdown on a third, which had been holding a good lead, the Tigers took over and ran out winners by six shots.
It was left to the rink of Rick Burns (S), David “Davmo” Moore (3), Judith Ferrari (2) and Mark “Lumpy” Dalton (L) to fly the flag for Pakenham, winning 28-7.
Pakenham and Upwey Tecoma finished the season equal on points but the Tigers took top spot by virtue of a marginally better percentage.
Those two clubs will therefore play the semi at Upwey Tecoma on Saturday with Dandy and Berwick to play the elimination final at Dandenong.
Pakenham Four (Div 7) ended the home-and-away rounds with a good win at Narre Warren.
They got away to a good start to hold a lead of 21-13 with three up, by the completion of the first twenty ends.
By the midway mark the Lions had two up and two down but the lead had been reduced to just four shots.
After the break, Pakenham pushed hard and by the start of the business ends again had three rinks in front and had increased their lead to 10 shots.
That pressure was maintained for the remainder of the game and the Lions took an 83-66 win with three up.
Best rink was “Stormin” Norm Box (S), Russell Jones (3), Brenda Moloney (2) and Graham Cooper (L).
The Fours finished the season in second spot and will play the semi at Berwick next Saturday. Mulgrave will play Narre in the elimination final at Mulgrave.
MIDWEEK
Pakenham One (Div 1) second, played ladder-leader Mulgrave at home.
The visitors came out firing to dominate the first half of the game; after fifteen ends the Lions trailed 5-19 and had only one rink in front and that by just one shot.
There was improvement by the half-way mark at which time the locals had two rinks level but with the third haemorrhaging badly they were still down by 14 shots.
During the second half however, the Lions staged a remarkable comeback, outscoring their opponents across the board by 31 shots to 13 to snatch victory 49-45 with two winning rinks.
Best rink with 19 to 13 was Terry “TMac” McRedmond (S), Max Mannik (3), Vince Bevilacqua (2) and Paul Philip (L).
With one round still to play, the Ones are still in second spot but are now only three points behind Mulgrave, 14 up on Dandy and 24 on Keysborough.
They will be away to Keysborough for round 14 while Mulgrave have an (easier) home game against Clayton, sixth.
Pakenham Two (Div 2) continued their frustrating season with yet another close loss, on this occasion at Narre Warren.
They were behind at all the milestones yet were always in the hunt and continued to gradually peg the Panthers back, only to fall agonisingly short by just two shots with two rinks up.
Best rink with 19 shots to 16 was “Stormin” Norm Box (S), Bruce Perry (3), Paul Currie (2) and John Hines (L).
The Twos sit squarely at the bottom of the ladder, but hopefully they can end their season with a win at home in round 14 against Cardinia Waters, sixth.
Pakenham Three (Div 4) joined the Ones at home, also against Mulgrave, which was also top of the ladder.
However, they got away to a better start than the Ones and after the first fifteen ends had a slender lead of two shots with one up, one level and one down.
The situation had improved considerably by the half-way mark at which time the Lions had two up and a slightly more comfortable lead of eight shots.
By the start of the business ends that lead had grown to 14 shots.
However, disaster struck in the run home, as one of the rinks which had been leading completely lost its way and went down by nine shots.
Fortunately, Jim Williams’ rink heavily outscored its opponent in the second half to more than cover the damage and Pakenham finished with one up and an 11-shot lead.
The winning rink with 36 to 12 was Jim Williams (S), Gary “Crow” Crowley (3), Graham Cooper (2) and Wayne Oosthuizen (L).
The Threes remain in fifth spot and will finish in that position regardless of the outcome of round 14 games.
They are to play Keysborough (fourth) away in the final round.
HI-LO
The winner for Round 14 (Bonus Round) was Peter Bott with number 14.
-Des Leigh-
