“Sundee” - the bowler’s dream

DREAM became reality on Sunday for the 28 bowlers who hovered over their mats to roll the first of the day at RSL Sporties North Dubbo.

16 ends of Vitamin D absorption on our first fully sun-filled, funfilled day in months.

On Rink 4, two contenders for the ‘bowler of the year’ Allan Stratford and Col Cottee were teamed with John Kennedy and opened their account with a wellplayed triple on the first. They followed up against Sue Armstrong, Doc Livingston and Pete Sinclair with a single, then double and triple to lead 9-1 after 5. The pendulum swung on end six with Sue’s mob adding back-to-back doubles then a massive six at the turnaround time lead 11-9.

Not unexpectedly, Al, Col and John dug deep into their collective kit bags and somehow found a triple, double and a couple of singles to surge ahead 16-13 and then slammed the door shut with another double/triple on 15-16 to win 21-15. Super game!

‘A game or a shame?’ Four pretty good rollers playing pairs. Helene Emblen and Bryan O’sullivan grabbed the mat early and controlled it till end five when they led Cooper Mcmullen and Pete Ruzans 6-1. The ‘trailers’ held hope, but... the word used often by all four bowlers was “unbelievable”! Bryan played his best bowls for a dynasty; Helene was just as wonderful. The pair led 9-1 after eight and just like Sully’s beloved Fishies at Apex Oval later in the day, didn’t give their opponents a sniff. The leaders applied enormous pressure with a couple of twos and finished with a grunt, adding three singles on top of a four and another triple to leave their opponents mesmerized. A brilliantly bowled game by Helene and Bryan saw their dream become a reality – 23 shots to 4; 13 ends to 3!

‘Two Chris’s’ Strojny and Crisante, started confidently with a two shot early lead before Gaye Cottee and Karen Greenhalge posted a single shot and struck again with a masterful five on the third. A quadruple on end five was inspiring but the ‘Two Cs’ chalked up seven shots over three productive ends – two, three, two – to trail by a mere shot. Gaye and Karen were not phased and fought back scoring consistently and then a super four saw them home 19 shots to 13.

Sue Mccauley, Frank Armstrong and Eric Satchell scored first on Rink 3 to lead Ron Morrison, Leo Balstad and Kevin Scott. The ‘boys’ weren’t impressed and put two singles and a three; Sue and Co replied with a triple on four, double on six and four at the eighth to turn ahead by 12-5. However, this was not to be “a game of two halves” as Ron, Leo and Kevin scrambled a further five shots on the first end after the break, followed by another three to crawl to a narrow lead. Sue, Frank and Eric squared it 13 shots all after 12 but a four-shotter on the next by Ron, Leo and Kevin could have been the clincher. ‘Could have been... but... the never-say-die attitude of Sue, Frank and Eric got them back within one shot with one end to play. Then R, L and K sneaked home 19-16 after a coolly compiled double on the last.

The game of the morning could have been on Rink 2 where Ron Mccauley, Pete Bennison and Al Andriske shut out their opponents for the first six ends. Their comfortable nine shot lead was pegged with a couple of ones by Gordon Lummis, Shirley Marchant (having her first game back since suffering a back injury many weeks ago) and Paul Goodstat. This was to be “a game of two halves”. Gordon, Shirley and Paul took control with a triple on nine and a lot of singles to produce a ‘finish unseen’. Ron, Pete and Al added three shots during the second eight and led by four with two to go; Gordon, Shirl and Paul claimed the last two ends, scoring four shots for an incredible draw.

This last game reflected the spirit of Sundee Combo Bowls – a game played with zest and an ambience of friendliness. It’s a pack of contagious social attitudes!

Winners – Helene Emblen and Bryan O’sullivan;

Runners Up – John Kennedy, Al Andriske and Col Cottee; Rester – Chris Cristante’; Lucky numbers – Doc Livingston, Gordon Lummis and Paul Goodstat.