Wee Waa Bowling Club lead pennants ladder following a top-of-the-table contest victory

The 2023/24 Zone 3 Bowls season’s open gender pennants competition got back underway on Saturday when Wee Waa Bowling Club continued their undefeated run in section two of grade five with a top-of-the-table match victory over Lightning Ridge in round three.

Wee Waa travelled to the Lightning Ridge District Bowling Club for the fixture and were on top of the table going into it following their round two victory in Narrabri in round two on Saturday, March 9. Lightning Ridge also went into the contest having won in Narrabri, in the first round on Saturday, March 2.

It was Wee Waa who got the job done in round three as they claimed nine of the 10 competition points on offer following a 59 shots to 52 overall victory after winning two of the three rinks on the day.

Dot Dewson, Kyne Allen, Phil Lawford and Steve Berger beat Michael Mitchell, James McCarthy, Phil Morris and Anthony Kelly 17 shots to 13, and Clancy Hamilton, Kay Dewson, Kevin Baker and Peter Doring outscored Heidi Monch, Sheila Nagy, Jamie Cubby and Darren Richards 25 shots to 16.

The other rink saw Lightning Ridge’s Raymond Brown, Thomas Stanton, Phil Morris and Jay Morris defeat Wee Waa’s Charlie Thompson, Melissa and Dustyn Allen and Paul Andreassen 23 shots to 17.

The overall win saw Wee Waa make it two from two and move to 19 points at the top of the table, 10 clear of Lightning Ridge and 17 clear of Narrabri.

However, Lightning Ridge reduced that lead to one point on Sunday with another win against Narrabri in round four. The second-placed side won two of the three rinks and earned a 73 shots to 40 overall victory to claim nine of the 10 competition points. That saw them move within just one point of Wee Waa on 18, however, Wee Waa have a game in hand.

Wee Waa will play their final two section two matches at home when they host Narrabri on Saturday, April 20, and Lightning Ridge on Saturday, April 27.

If Wee Waa earns all 10 competition points on offer against Narrabri, they will top the group regardless of the round six result.

In Lightning Ridge on Sunday, the Narrabri team of Rebecca Taylor, Cindy Neil, Richard Little and David Dewar beat the Lightning Ridge team of Tracey Coglan, James McCarthy, Phil Morris and Anthony Kelly 19 shots to 16.

Narrabri’s Janice Foxe, Stuart Coleman, Graham Rose and Len Ryan went down 29 shots to 11 against Heidi Monch, Victor Murray, Jamie Cubby and Darren Richards, while Helen Woodward, Di Chessells, Steve Daskey and Tony Redman were beaten 28 shots to 10 by Ray Brown, Thomas Stanton, Phillip Morris and Jay Morris.

Narrabri can no longer finish on top of the section two ladder.

South Tamworth currently lead the section one ladder with three rounds still left to play ahead of the playoff between the two sectional winners to determine who progresses to the state finals in Cabramatta and St Johns Park in June.