The champions of three 2022 season competitions were crowned at the Narrabri Bowling Club on Saturday afternoon after some sensational bowls was produced by both male and lady bowlers throughout the day.
Cindy Neil and Dawn Armstrong are Narrabri Women’s Bowling Club’s pairs champions after they outscored Lisa Pillar and Eva Sadler 20-13 in the 18-end decider.
Narrabri Bowling Club’s men’s fours final was also played on Saturday. It was won by the team of David Slack-Smith, Scott Dewar, Graham Rose and Trinity Kelly, who defeated Terry Wilson, Ian Macmillan, Larry Scott and Kevin Baguley 26-15 in the 21-end match.
The men’s major singles final was then contested by Kevin Baguley and the defending champion Norm Walford after the other two finals had wrapped up. Baguley won the first-to-31 match by a point after the score was locked at 30 apiece going into the 36th end.
There was a fourth final scheduled to be played on Saturday. However, David Field was unavailable for the minor singles final between himself and Terry Wilson, and that match has been rescheduled.
The major singles final was a highly-anticipated game between two of the club’s form bowlers, and they certainly delivered as they contested a 36-end thriller.
Walford scored one shot on each of the first two ends to establish a 2-0 lead before Baguley claimed three consecutive ends to lead 4-2 after five.
The score was then 7-6 in Baguley’s favour after 10 ends of play, and he extended that lead to seven shots as he made the score 13-6 after 12.
That seven-shot lead was the largest of the final, but it was short-lived as Walford fought back to score eight shots to nothing across the next three ends to go ahead 14-13.
A two on the 16th end put Baguley back in front at 15-14, and he led for five more ends before Walford scored a two on the 22nd end to lock the score up at 18-all.
The defending champion scored one shot on each of the next two ends to take a 20-18 lead, but Baguley got back in front again when he scored three shots on the 25th end.
Both bowlers scored four shots each across the next five ends as Baguley held onto his one-shot lead with the score at 25-24 after 30 ends, and he extended that lead to 30-24 when he scored five shots to nothing across the next three ends.
With Baguley needing one shot for victory, Walford rallied and a second consecutive major singles title was in sight as he levelled the score up at 30-all after scoring a four on the 34th end and a two on the 35th.
With both players needing one shot to win the contest and be crowned champion, Baguley held shot close to the jack as Walford played his last bowl. It touched the shot bowl but did not do enough as Baguley claimed the 2022 title.
Earlier in the day, Armstrong and Neil contested the Narrabri Women’s Bowling Club’s pairs decider against Pillar and Sadler.
Armstrong and Neil claimed the first end to establish an early 1-0 lead, but Pillar and Sadler scored three shots on the second end and five shots on the third to go ahead by seven shots.
Pillar and Sadler led 11 shots to five after eight ends of play before Armstrong and Neil went on a game-changing six-end run during which they outscored their opponents 13 shots to nothing to go ahead 18-11 with four ends left to play.
Both sides scored two shots each across those last four ends as Neil and Armstrong won the match 20-13.
In the Narrabri Bowling Club’s men’s fours final, Slack-Smith, Dewar, Rose and Kelly led from the first end until the last. They established an early dominant lead as they won three of the first four ends to go ahead eight shots to one.
Wilson, Macmillan, Scott and Baguley then went on a three-end run during which they piled on five shots to nothing to reduce the deficit to two.
However, it ballooned back out to seven after 11 ends of play after Slack-Smith, Dewar, Rose and Kelly scored five unanswered points during a four-end run.
Wilson, Macmillan, Scott and Baguley scored a four on the 12th end to bring the score to 13-10, but their deficit became seven again when Slack-Smith, Dewar, Rose and Kelly scored a four of their own on the 13th end to go ahead 17-10.
That lead became 23-10 after they scored six shots to nothing across the next two ends.
Even though Wilson, Macmillan, Scott and Baguley provided a little resistance with a two on the 16th end and a three on the 17th to make the score 23-15, any hopes of what would have been a remarkable comeback were dashed as Slack-Smith, Dewar, Rose and Kelly scored one shot on each of the 18th, 19th, and 20th ends.
With the trailing side unable to get back in front, the 21-end match was called after 20 ends of play as Slack-Smith, Dewar, Rose and Kelly secured a 26-15 win.
Social bowls was also contested at the club on Thursday and Saturday.
On Thursday, Yvonne Hardman and Di Chessells defeated Gloria Campey and Berice Eather 22-10 in three-bowl pairs, and Kay Carolan, Carol Demamiel and Glennis Godden beat Rhonda Fitzgerald, Janet Coleman and Lyn Tuckey 18-14 in three-bowl triples.
In Saturday afternoon social pairs matches, Tony Redman and Di Chessells downed Graham Rose and Marie Redman 15-12, and Eva Sadler and David Dewar defeated Janice Foxe and Bill Rosewarn 19-12.
Narrabri Women’s Bowling Club’s 2022 club triples competition will commence this week with one game on Thursday and two on Saturday.
On Thursday, Rhonda Fitzgerald, Cecile and Lyn Tuckey will take on Ronnie Dewar, Dawn Armstrong and Sue Solomon.
On Saturday, Carolynne Tomlinson, Jan Etheridge and Berice Eather will meet Marie Redman, Cindy Neil and Lisa Pillar, while Glennis Godden, Di Chessells and Eva Sadler challenge Janet Coleman, Debbie Gleeson and Lorraine Scott.
Narrabri Bowling Club’s men’s pairs competitions will get underway on Saturday. Fixtures are as follows:
Club pairs at 9.30am:
Col Armstrong and David Field v Ian Macmillan and Bill Rosewarn.
Veteran pairs at 9.30am:
Bob Cantrill and Laurie Gilbert v Ron Ryan and Graham Rose; Terry Wilson and Steve Daskey v Rob Wolters and Len Ryan; David Briggs and Tony Redman v Bruce Tomlinson and Larry Scott.
President pairs at 1pm:
Scott Dewar and Graham Rose v Rob Wolters and Larry Scott; David Briggs and Len Ryan v David Field and Tony Redman.
