Narrabri ladies qualify for the 2021 grade three State Pennant Playoffs

Narrabri Women’s Bowling Club has qualified for the Women’s Bowls NSW State Pennants Playoffs for the second time in four years after eight Narrabri ladies were crowned regional champions last week.

Narrabri was the grade four runner-up at state level in 2018, but this year will have the chance to play for grade three glory.

Nine Narrabri ladies travelled to Bingara on Tuesday and Wednesday where they competed for regional glory in the state playoff qualifier against Armidale City and Quirindi.

In a round robin style finals format, Narrabri won both rinks in both of its games at the Bingara Bowling Club to be crowned regional champions and earn another opportunity at state level.

The eight Narrabri bowlers who competed at Bingara last week included Rhonda Welchman, Lyn Wedesweiler, Cecile and Marie Redman, who played together in one team, and Helen Woodward, Di Chessells, Cindy Neil and Eva Sadler, who played together in the other.

Dawn Armstrong was the side’s manager across the two days.

Narrabri took on Armidale City in what was the first of the three regional playoff matches on Tuesday morning.

The two Narrabri teams were both victorious on their respective rinks as they combined to claim a 51 shots to 30 victory on the big board.

Welchman, Wedesweiler, Cecile and Redman won their rink 23 shots to 17 after flying out to a 13 shots to 0 lead following the first six ends of play.

Their Armidale City opposition fought back to make the score 14 shots to 11 after winning six of the next seven ends, however, the Narrabri ladies never gave up a lead which they established on the first end.

On the other rink, Woodward, Chessells, Neil and Sadler downed their Armidale City opponents 28 shots to 13.

The Narrabri ladies trailed 10 shots to 6 after nine ends, but won eight of the next nine ends by a combined 17 shots to 2 to take an unassailable lead.

The second of the three regional playoff games was contested between Quirindi and Armidale City on Tuesday afternoon. It was won by Quirindi, which meant that Armidale City was out of contention for the regional title and the winner of Wednesday morning’s match between Narrabri and Quirindi would advance to the state playoffs.

Narrabri got the job done with a 48 shots to 30 win across the two rinks.

On one, Welchman, Wedesweiler, Cecile and Redman scored a comfortable 24 shots to 12 victory.

The Narrabri ladies flew out to another early lead after outscoring their Quirindi opposition 14 shots to 0 after winning all of the first seven ends.

From the fourth end of the game, the Narrabri ladies led by at least nine shots for the remainder of the contest.

On the other rink, Woodward, Chessells, Neil and Sadler trailed 13 shots to five at the completion of the 11th end, but scored a 5 on the 12th end to reduce the deficit to three shots.

The Narrabri ladies trailed from the fifth end until the 20th when they hit the lead after scoring a 3 to take a 19 shots to 18 lead.

The game came down to the 21st and final end in which Narrabri scored its second 5 of the game to make the final score 24-18.