Garfield remain steady
Garfield Bowling Club’s pennant teams had two wins and one loss this week, but all remain steady on their ladders.
Midweek
Garfield’s division three side visited local club Drouin on Tuesday. With two of the three rinks winning, Garfield had a nine-shot overall win.
Division three: Garfield defeated Drouin (3) 59/50
The team of Judy Pocklington, Peter Stansfield, Gordon Moxey and skip Lexi Taylor fought out a close tussle. Scores were tied no less than four times during the game, including with just two ends to play. However, Drouin made a better fist of those ends, and Garfield lost 16/18.
Maureen Lamport’s rink, with Jan Johnson, Malcolm Newham, and Bob Lamport, were at a complete loss in the first half of the game, only winning four of the first 13 ends to be down 5/19. But turning to the second column of the scorecard turned the game around, and Drouin didn’t win any of the last eight ends. Garfield strormed home to win 24/19.
Sue Stansfield’s team, consisting of Damian Brick, Gillian Harper and Barry Johnson, bolted out of the gates and, after 10 ends, were up 12/2. A timeout by Garfield saw Drouin make a comeback to only two shots behind. However, Garfield fired up again and finished strongly to win 19/13.
Garfield remains in third place on the ladder, with only two games left before finals.
Saturday
Garfield hosted fourth placed Newborough
who needed to win to maintain fourth place. But it was not to be as Garfield recorded a 22-shot win.
Division three: Garfield defeated Newborough (3) 112/90
The team of Frank Prins, Ron Saunders, Tom Cleary and skip Nick Henwood jumped out to a six-shot lead before their opponents scored. Newborough got started, levelled the scores and drew away. Despite a comeback by Garfield, they lost 20/23.
Graeme Burton, Alan White, Shane Oliver and skip Anthony Young, on the other hand, started slowly and were down by four shots before they got going. But get going they did. They powered away to win 34/21.
Stephen Whyte’s team of Alan Wilson, Bob Lamport and Gary Helmore were in charge of their match all day, steadily pulling away to win 35/19.
Gary Payne, Les Pumphrey, Joe Lenders and skip Steve Bassed started well, but then fell behind. While they made a comeback towards the end, they lost 23/27.
Garfield remains in first place on the ladder and set for finals. Newborough, as they feared, have dropped out of the four.
Division five: Garfield lost to Neerim District 58/68
Garfield went to the hills to play against Neerim District.
It was always going to be difficult, as they are hard to beat at their place. But the total was a reasonable number.
The team of Brian Fox, Lexi Taylor, Judy Pocklington and skip Barry Johnson were in charge from the word “go”, and stormed ahead to win 29/10.
Barrie Smith’s team, consisting of Lois King, Maureen Lamport and Gwen Fabris, started well and were up 4/2 after five ends. But an eight-end drought had them well down halfway through the game. Although they scored 10 shots in the second half, they lost 14/31.
Wes Goodman, Gillian Harper, Helene Newton and skip Don Knight had a very similar experience, being six shots up after nine ends, only to capitulate and lose 15/27.
The balance gods continue to smile on Garfield, and they remain in fourth spot on the ladder. However, they face another third versus fourth battle on Saturday. How long will their luck hold?