Wet weather played havoc across the Geelong Bowls Region on Saturday as rain-affected greens cancelled several matches.
With a ruling which requires three out of the five scheduled matches in a round to be completed, clubs were keen to get games finished.
At Ocean Grove the consistent drizzle ended the hopes for Division 6 and 8 as their matches ended at half time.
Playing on the synthetic surface Division 1 and Division 3 went into the break with healthy leads. Division One in a battle with sixth placed Drysdale got a big jump early whilst Division Three against Belmont were keen to keep the game rolling.
The weather was on and off for the rest of the afternoon which was enough to see Belmont pull the pin and hand the Grovers the points whilst the battle in the Ones continued.
Shane Thorley lead the way for the home side playing consistent lead bowls with Jackie Webb, Terry Brady and Michael Allen in full flight against Drysdale’s John Fry. The Michael Allen team was too good on the day 29-17.
On the adjacent rink Grove’s consistent Elaine Price laid the platform for the Chris Deppeler team getting them off to a great start. With the most capped player at Ocean Grove, Norm Thomas, following Price and Terry Thomas in the third position they proved to be too strong for Drysdale’s Danny Williams winning comfortably 32-9.
Manager Alan Callow survived the pressure of not only skipping his rink to a one-shot win against Drysdale coach Cal Inderberg but also having the added pressure relating to the conditions and decisions that had to be made. In a neck and neck battle all day with some great bowls played, Andrew Wright, Steve Parry and Peter Jolley along with Callow prevailed 21-20.
Luke Benson returned to the skipper’s position and guided his side of Garry Redford, Peter Uthmeyer and Warren Davis to a 24-21 win against the enigmatic Brad Prior. Going into the match in third place and the top two sides in this division both Highton teams winning, it was an important match for the Grovers to firstly complete and then the added bonus of clean sweeping all match points. All players involved deserved a pat on the back, despite some testing times with a few interruptions the game was completed as all matches in that round were also finished with a result.
Captain of the Division 4 side James Rogan took to the green for his 500th appearance in the Ocean Grove colours. The side made sure their was something for Jim to celebrate at the end of the day getting the points in a wet affair at Belmont. Muriel Williams, Andra Kuschert, Terri Rudge and Bill Ryan delivered the goods 29-20 and Brian D’Elton continued his run of good form to win 22-19. Sitting atop the ladder after eight rounds was deserving of a 500th game beverage for the Captain.
The only other team to get their match completed was Division 7 in their battle at Geelong. John Forde, Bob Bone, Pat Culton and promoted skipper Peter Townsend dominated to ensure the points returned to OG with their rink 32-14 winners. Alby Touwslager 25-24 and Harold Curwood 26-19 delivered the goods to add 16 points to the seasons total.
Midweek Division One lowered their colours in their away match at Leopold last week but were able to salvage two rink wins and four points.
Sitting second on the ladder behind Queenscliff the Grovers will need to fire all bullets as their round 11 clash with in form Torquay turns to a must win.
Grove’s second Division One team returned with the points against a struggling Portarlington side on the turf at home. Marianne Rogan, Jean Luke, Shirley Olsen and stand in leader Kevin Beardsley dominated the contest winning 30-12. Just as convincing was Val Cook as she skipped her team to a 33-11 victory.
Jim Rogan rounded out the clean sweep of points finishing 27-21.
For the first time in 2017-18 both Ocean Grove division three teams celebrated success. The third side escaped with a four-shot win against Belmont at Belmont whilst the fourth side an eight-shot win against Geelong Cement at home. Lyn Stonehouse, Nancy Quinton, Kerrie Simpson and skipper Peter Corcoran made every bowl count as they made sure the Grovers would win their first match of the season finishing 32-17.
Peter Eberle keeps enjoying his role of skipping along with Sandra O’Keefe, Elaine Hager and Barb Nicol they demolished their City of Geelong opponents 35-14. Harold Curwood knows how to win at the moment and his 23-19 win provided the double.
The Sixers continue to fly the flag for the Grovers as they sit second on the ladder with 7 wins from 9 matches.
Victorian Open 2017
Ocean Grove players stood proud on the greens at Shepparton last week and featured heavily in the business end of the week long championships.
Marg Carroll and Faye Richardson capped off a tremendous week of bowls earning themselves a Victorian Open silver medal in the Ladies Pairs event. Carroll and Richardson played great bowls in the lead up to the main event but fell at the last hurdle to local Shepparton Park pair skipped by Bev Cahill.
Defending Men’s singles champion Matt Flapper was again on track to replicate his performance from last year. Meeting with last year’s finalist Tasmania’s Lee Schraner in the semi-final this time Schraner proved that bit more consistent and advanced to the final beating Flapper 21-14.
Flapper also made it to the quarter final of the Men’s Pairs along side Altona star Dane McKinnon and quarter final of the Mixed Pairs along side Leopold’s Nicole Shortis.
