Great week for Neerim
Neerim District bowlers had a great week with all three teams winning and moving up on their ladders.
Saturday
Neerim District played a nail biter away against Newborough.
Newborough trailed by two going into the last end of play. They could only manage a one to give Neerim the one-shot win.
Division two: Neerim District defeated Newborough (2) 106/105
Angus McGillivray (skip), Shane Hogan, Ray Throup and Graeme Wingrove lost to Gary Ingley’s team 25/35.
Neerim got off to a great start and a magical eight on the fifth end had them leading 13/1. Newborough trailed 11/20 on the 12th end before winning eight ends straight to lead 28/20 on the 20th. They went on for a 10-shot win.
Trevor Kuhnell (skip), Pat Fraser-Aurisch, Tony “ThorNton” Thornton and Karren Sheers defeated John Wasiukiewicz’s team 41/13.
Neerim dropped a six on the third end but retaliated with a seven on the seventh end, and never looked back. Neerim dominated, picking up numerous twos and threes while only conceding the occasional single. One of these was on the last end of the day.
Ray Watts (skip), Chris Hogan, Jim Fallon and Greg Bond lost to Graham Cocks’ team 16/31.
A horror start for Neerim had them trailing 5/24 at the break after dropping five threes along the way. They came out and reversed the flow, winning eight of the last 12 ends to cut the margin by four, but went down by 15 shots.
Peter Brooks (skip), Neil Adams, Ross Pollard and Colin McKay lost to Joan Goldie’s team 24/26.
A five on the third end was a good start for Neerim who led 14/6 by the 10th end. Two twos and a four on consecutive ends to Newborough had the scores level at the break. Neerim won five of the next six ends to lead by five, only for Newborough to close within one on the 22nd end. A five to Newborough on the penultimate end was the sealer as Neerim lost by two shots.
Division five: Neerim District (2) defeated Garfield (2) 68/58
Jim Schroeder (skip), Rob Cook, Neville Cousins and Stephen Halligan defeated Donald Knight’s team 27/15.
A poor start had Neerim trailing 1/8 after four ends. They clawed their way back with ones and twos to level at nine-all on the 11th end. They followed up with a three and seven to break clear by 10. The remaining ends were predominantly singles as Neerim marginally increased the lead to win by 12 shots.
Mal Collins (skip), John Rochford, Gerry Engelstad and Des Pelly defeated Barrie Smith’s team 31/14.
Neerim trailed 2/4 after five ends before a winning streak of eight ends saw them lead 16/4 on the 13th end. A four on the 19th end extended the lead to 19 shots. Garfield managed to trim that by two shots as Neerim won by 17.
Russell Meehan, Cookie Halligan, Mick
Talbot and Gerald Winter lost to Barry Johnson’s team 10/29.
It was hard going for both teams early as Garfield led 4/3 after seven ends and by just two after 15 ends. The close fought battle suddenly changed as Garfield won nine of the last 10 ends to win by 19 shots.
Midweek
Neerim District moved up to third on the ladder - just one point behind Traralgon - after a 27-shot home win over Drouin.
Division two: Neerim District defeated Drouin (2) 66/39
Pat Fraser-Aurisch (skip), Fish Halligan, Thelma Schroeder and Gerald Winter defeated Lynette Jeffrey’s team 21/13.
After dropping a four on the second end, Neerim soon dominated. They won nine out of 11 ends to lead 19/7 on the 15th end. Drouin managed to win four of the last six ends but Neerim had an eightshot win.
Cookie Halligan (skip), Jim Schroeder, John Rochford and Neville Cousins defeated Margret Owens’ team 22/11.
Neerim had a great start to lead 11/1 after six ends. Drouin got into the flow and cut the lead back to eight on the 12th end. However, Neerim won five ends in a row to extend the lead to 15 on the 17th end. Drouin cut the margin back by four but it was an 11-shot win for Neerim.
Karren Sheers (skip), Kay Cousins, Gerry Engelstad and Graeme Wingrove defeated Gwen Price’s team 23/15.
There was very little between the two teams with neither able to get ahead by more than three shots. By the 15th end, it was a one-shot lead to Neerim. They finally got out to a five-shot lead only for Drouin to cut it back to three with two ends to go. Neerim finished off the stronger for an eight-shot win.
Karren represents
Neerim District bowler Karren Sheers lined up in the over 60s championships last week.
Representing Strzelecki region, Karren was competitive but bowed out in round one of the event featuring the top 16 region winners.
In round one of the women’s singles, she faced Yarra representative Alison Hall and lost 16/21.