Ocean Grove holds sway on top of the Geelong Bowls Region Pennant Division ladder after 15 rounds.
Last Saturday (March 5) the Grovers defeated Drysdale by 30 shots to remain on top of the table from Highton, which is only four points adrift.
Mick West’s rink enjoyed a 26 to 13 over Ashley Rees while all other rinks were fairly even.
The loss ended Drysdale’s finals hopes while Ocean Grove is guaranteed a top two finish.
Ocean Grove coach Matt Flapper said the club was in a strong position leading into finals.
“It’s all going well with several teams in contention,” he said.
“The pointy end of the season has arrived, it’s finals time and Grovers will be heavily involved.
“It’s been a challenging season, however we have rallied, stayed united and teams have performed well.”
In Division 1, Ocean Grove 2 defeated Ocean Grove 3 with Allan Callow’s rink emerging victorious by 22 shots.
The win strengthened Ocean Grove 2’s finals chances. Grove 2 is in fourth place while Grove 3 is out of finals contention.
A seven-shot win against Geelong Cement has given Ocean Grove a genuine shot at playing Division 3 finals.
Bob Poole, Elaine Price, Pat Virtue and Garry Redford were superb in a thumping 27 to 11 win on their rink.
Grove is in third spot on the ladder and seems destined for finals action.
A surprise four-shot to Point Lonsdale hasn’t dented Ocean Grove’s Division 5 finals chances too much.
The side sits in second place despite the loss although Michael Briers’ rink played its role with an 11-shot win.
In Division 6, Ocean Grove and Portarlington shared the points with a rain affected draw.
St Leonards proved too strong for Ocean Grove in Division 7.
The Grovers are still a chance to play finals, but must win every game. Peter Eberle and Harold Curwood each won their rinks.
Ocean Grove and Anglesea didn’t get on the rinks in the combined Division 8 and 9 competition, sharing the points. Grove’s main aim now is to avoid the wooden spoon, which is currently in Queenscliff’s hands.
They finish off with Geelong Cement next week.
In Midweek bowls, Tuesday March 15 will see the culmination of the 16-round home and away fixture for the Pennant competition.
Reigning premiers Ocean Grove again sit at the helm having knocked over second placed Torquay last week to secure the minor premiership with one round left to play.
Ocean Grove 2 is in fourth spot after suffering a loss to Lara. It plays fifth placed City of Geelong for a spot in the finals.
Ocean Grove 3 is in third spot on the Division 3 ladder while Ocean Grove 4 is in eighth place.
Grove 3 plays Belmont in the final round. Only 14 points separates the two sides although Grove could lose and still retain third spot.
Ocean Grove holds second spot on the Division 5 ladder by just five points from Geelong.
Both sides should win their final round matches, but Ocean Grove won’t want to take Barwon Heads lightly.
In Division 6, Ocean Grove 6 is top of the ladder while Ocean Grove 7 sits just outside the top four.
Grove 6 will finish first with a healthy buffer between it and second placed Torquay 4. Grove 7 faces a tough match against Torquay 4 to climb into the finals, although Highton and Belmont would also need to lose heavily.
Ocean Grove 8 has a stranglehold on fourth spot on the Division 7 with an 11-point buffer, but will still need to take points from Torquay to make sure of a semi-final berth.
