Sport
17 February, 2024
Finals for indoor bowls
THE first week of summer pennant finals was enjoyed by Warrnambool’s indoor bowlers last Monday night.
There were some exciting finishes in good, close games.
In a high-quality match, the top two sides in division one, Heytesbury Honeys and Allansford Cougars, were neck and neck for the first nine ends.
The Honeys, skippered by Allen Armistead, drew away to hold a four shot buffer by end 16, and were victorious winning 17-10 after the 18th end.
This puts Heytesbury straight into the grand final on Monday February 26, while the Allansford Cougars have a double chance and will compete for the second spot in the grand final next week.
The other match in division one was Maureen Drennan’s Wannon Park Dogs versus Barb Draffen’s Allanford Panthers.
The Dogs got off to a flying start, claiming five shots on the first end.
The Panthers clawed their way back and by end seven had their noses in front 8-7.
The score was level at 14 shots each on end 16, with only two ends remaining in the match.
The Panthers went into the last end one shot down on the card and one down in the head as the skippers crossed to play their bowls.
Two great shots by skipper Barb made three shots on the last end for a tight victory.
The two Allansford sides will now meet in the preliminary final next week to see who will compete against Heytesbury in the grand final.
In division two, the double chance match was played between Debbie Keane’s Koroit Hornets and Ian Heatly’s Allansford Jaguars.
The Hornets proved too strong on the night, winning six of the first nine ends to lead 14-5.
The Jaguars fought back to win five of the last eight ends but the Hornets proved too good and so will progress straight into the grand final.
The knock-out match was played between Gill Phillip’s Port Fairy Seagulls and Scott Pierce’s Dennington Dashers.
The Seagulls held a strong 13-5 lead after end 12, but a strong finish by the Dashers saw them win five of the last six ends to trail by five shots, 9-14.
On the last end, the Dashers had the kitty surrounded by yellow bowls and only a terrific shot by Gill Phillips cut the Dashers score back to two on the last end to secure victory for Port Fairy, who will now meet Allansford Jaguars next week.
Division three was fought out between Keith Cameron’s Dennington Devils and Clarrie Matthews’ Allansford Pumas.
Although the Pumas won 7-11, the score was heavily in favour of the Devils who managed a 26-7 shot win.
The knock-out game in division three was played between Max Heard’s Koroit Jets and Rylan Pech’s Grangeburn.
This game came down to the wire with Grangeburn one shot behind going into the last end.
Koroit was able to secure two shots to win 21-18.
Preliminary finals will be played next Monday, February 19 from 7.30pm at the Val Bertrand netball stadium in Caramut Rd.
