Wee Waa Bowling season underway

Finalists: Steve Berger, Jay Hall, Brett Pillar and Brock Allen.

Wee Waa Bowling Club’s 2023/24 bowls season is underway after four club fours competition matches were contested across the weekend.

Six teams entered the knockout competition this season, meaning two quarter-final games were played and two teams progressed straight through to the semi-finals with byes in the quarter-final stage.

Both quarter-final-winning teams took their form from Saturday’s games into Sunday’s semi-finals where they got the job done to advance to this Sunday’s decider.

Those two teams included Graham Amos, Clancy Hamilton, Hunter Doring and Paul Andreassen, and also Brock Allen, Brett Pillar, Jay Hall and Steve Berger.

Amos, Hamilton, Doring and Andreassen downed the team of Gary Nolan, Peter Hennessy, Kay Dewson and Peter Doring 24 shots to 23 in their quarter-final on Saturday, and then backed that up with an 18 shots to 17 win on Sunday against Ross Smith, Dot Dewson, Phil Lawford and Bruce Cowan in their semi-final.

Allen, Pillar, Hall and Berger beat Charlie Thompson, Kyne Allen, Chris Crutcher and Dustyn Allen 19-9 in their quarter-final on Saturday, and then won 19-15 against Ellis Allen, Melissa Allen, Steven Dewson and Wayne Booby in their semi-final on Sunday.

On Saturday, the team of Amos, Hamilton, Doring and Andreassen scored a four on the first end to take an early lead in their quarter-final contest, but Nolan, Hennessy, Dewson and Doring responded with a one on the second end and then a three on the third to tie the match up at 3-all.

Amos, Hamilton, Doring and Andreassen scored a three on the fourth to retake the lead and they were in front for 16 consecutive ends before Nolan, Hennessy, Dewson and Doring scored a three on the 20th end to lock the score up at 23-all with one end to play.

Amos, Hamilton, Doring and Andreassen got the job done with a one on the 21st and final end to win the match 24 shots to 23.

In the other quarter-final, Allen, Pillar, Hall and Berger established their dominance early when they won the first six ends to set up a 7-0 lead.

Thompson, Allen, Crutcher and Allen got on the board with a one on the seventh end, however, Allen, Pillar, Hall and Berger never led by less than six shots as they went on to prevail 19 shots to nine after 21 ends.

In their semi-final on Sunday, Amos, Hamilton, Doring and Andreassen found themselves behind 5-0 after the first end and 10-2 after the sixth when Smith, Dewson, Lawford and Cowan got off to a flying start.

However, Amos, Hamilton, Doring and Andreassen won five of the next seven ends to reduce their deficit to one shot as the scoreboard read 13-12 after 13 ends.

Smith, Dewson, Lawford and Cowan won the next two ends to make the score 15-12, but Amos, Hamilton, Doring and Andreassen scored three shots across the next two ends to level it up at 15-all with four ends to play.

Smith, Dewson, Lawford and Cowan won two of those and led 17-16 going into the final end, but Amos, Hamilton, Doring and Andreassen rallied with a two on the 21st end to win the match 18 shots to 17.

In the other semi-final on Sunday, Allen, Pillar, Hall and Berger got off to another flying start as they claimed the first six ends and led 12-0.

Allen, Allen, Dewson and Booby won 11 of the next 14 ends, however, they trailed 18-15 going into the final end as their early deficit was proving to be too difficult to overcome.

Allen, Pillar, Hall and Berger got the job done with a one on the 21st end to prevail 19 shots to 15.

All four of those matches across the weekend were played on the club’s synthetic green, but this Sunday’s final is expected to be played on the grass green, dependent on weather.

That final will be contested from 10am on Sunday morning.