Warragul’s top team win thriller
Warragul Bowling Club’s number one division two team has made the West Gippsland Bowls Division preliminary final.
It follows a close but well deserved two-shot win over Neerim District in Saturday’s semi-final.
Despite the team finding itself in the bottom half of the ladder for the first half of the season, the players got their game going in the second half with several wins and two draws to edge Traralgon and Garfield out of the four.
Division two: Warragul defeated Neerim District 96/94.
Things weren’t looking good early on Saturday with Warragul down 17 shots after five ends by each team. By the half time break, Warragul was just one-shot down overall.
It was tight in the second half. Stats will see that Warragul got four fours and 10 threes, while dropping a five, two fours and six threes.
Clive Padgham’s team went head to head with Ray Watts’ team, leading 12/11 at the break. They got three but lost eight in the next three ends to trail 15/18.
Warragul fought back with 15 shots to three over the last seven ends to win 30/21. They won 13 ends with three fours and three threes, but dropped two threes.
Janette Gallasch’s team was under the pump from the start and 1/13 down after seven ends. They hung in there to be 6/20 at the break.
Angus McGillivray’s Neerim team kept applying the pressure and Warragul lost by 18 shots.
Graeme Davis had a tight game against Shane Hogan. They were six-all after eight ends and 12/11 after 13. They won the next three ends to be 18/11, then lost some ground to be 19/17.
They regrouped to score seven shots to three over the last five ends to win by six. They won 14 ends.
Bill Clappers’ team was eight shots down after four ends, but won the next five to lead 11/8. They got nine shots to two over the next five ends to lead 20/10.
They lost ground over the last 11 ends but still managed to secure a five-shot win. They won 14 ends. Results: John Vickerman, Darren McDonald, Ken Scammell and Graeme Davis defeated Shane Hogan’s team 26/20. David Alderman, Des Stephens, Peter Gallasch and Clive Padgham defeated Ray Watts’ team 30/21. Ian Belling, Necip Akarsu, Jim Power and Janette Gallasch lost to Angus McGillivray’s team 13/31. Ken Landman, Pat Hammond, Paul Simmons and Bill Clappers defeated Peter Throup’s team 27/22.
Warragul will take on Traralgon (2) in the preliminary final at Trafalgar on Saturday.
A large band of spectators were described as awesome on Saturday and it’s hoped they will support again on the weekend.