Mixed bag for Garfield
The first week of finals was a mixed bag for Garfield Bowling Club.
The sides which had home field advantage won, but the side which travelled had a loss.
Garfield’s division three side played host to Morwell in a win-or-go-home first semi-final.
Garfield had a five-shot win in a thrilling match which came down to the last end.
Division three: Garfield defeated Morwell (3) 64/59
The team of Judy Pocklington, Peter Stansfield, Gordon Moxey and skip Lexi Taylor started well, scoring three shots in the first two ends. Morwell got into gear and things became bleak for the home team, down 4/12 after 10 ends. However, the magic came into play, and Garfield won all but three ends for the rest of the game. Garfield stole the rink result by one shot on the last end, 19/18.
Sue Stansfield’s team, consisting of Damian Brick, Gillian Harper and Barry Johnson, played a close fought game. They were up 13/12 at the half-way point. After that, nothing went right for the Garfielders and they lost 19/26.
Maureen Lamport’s rink, with Jan Johnson, Malcolm Newham and Bob Lamport, were down by nine shots before they started scoring. But start they did. Morwell weren’t in it for the rest of the game, except for the last end, which made the match exciting.
With the two skips left to play their bowls, Morwell was holding four shots, which was exactly the overall difference between the sides. With a draw on the cards, Maureen came through the head, took the jack cleanly to the back and stayed with it for one shot.
This magnificent bowl clinched the end by one shot, the game 26/15 and the overall match.
Garfield will continue its finals run, playing Newborough in the preliminary final today.
Saturday
Garfield took advantage of its first place on the ladder to host a semi-final against Traralgon.
With three rinks winning, they won the overall match by 17 shots.
Division three: Garfield defeated Traralgon (3) 101/84
The team of Frank Prins, Ron Saunders, Alan White and fill-in skip Tom Cleary bolted out of the gate and led by seven shots before their opponents scored. Nor did they let up the pressure, allowing Traralgon to win only seven ends for the game. Garfield won convincingly 39/19.
While Graeme Burton, Maureen Lamport, Shane Oliver and skip Anthony Young couldn’t limit the number of ends their opponents won, they did manage to limit the amount scored on each end.
Traralgon was kept to mostly singles, with a couple of twos, while the Garfielders scored multiples on the ends they won. This enabled them to win 22/15.
Stephen Whyte’s team of Alan Wilson, Joe Lenders and Gary Helmore played a close game until half-time, when they were two shots in front.
The Garfield boys took the third quarter off, while Traralgon shot to a nine-shot lead. But the roles reversed and Garfield stormed home to win by the slimmest of margins, 23/22.
Gary Payne, Les Pumphrey, Bob Lamport and skip Steve Bassed started well, winning the first four ends with five shots. However, then Traralgon started to play, and Garfield found themselves down by 11 shots at the halfway point.
The match was even after that, but the damage was done. Garfield lost 17/28.
This win moves the side directly to the grand final in two weeks.
Division five: Garfield (2) lost to Churchill 64/69
Garfield returned to Churchill – the site of a large loss two weeks ago - to play the semi-final.
While the performance was much better by the Garfielders, they still lost overall by five shots to be knocked out of premiership contention.
Barrie Smith’s team, consisting of Lois King, Lexi Taylor and Gwen Fabris, were progressively further behind in the first half of the game. But they came out refreshed from the break and fought their way back. They only allowed their opponents to score three times in the second half.
With three ends to go, Garfield was still down by three shots. But one shot on each of those ends drew them level to finish at 22/22.
Wes Goodman, Gillian Harper, Damian Brick and skip Don Knight started slowly and were down 10 shots before they scored.
They wasted no time in catching up and a very close game ensued, with the scores tied six times.
With one end to play, Garfield held a threeshot lead. But a stray ricochet placed the jack near three Churchill bowls and the score was again tied 22/22.
The team of Brian Fox, Helene Newton, Judy Pocklington and skip Barry Johnson started out evenly with their opponents.
A mini-rush by Churchill saw Garfield four shots down at the break. A couple of two-shot ends after tea saw that deficit wiped away, and the remainder was close.
Garfield was down by two shots with two ends to play but unfortunately Churchill won both those ends. Garfield lost 20/25.
Despite this loss, Garfield had a good season and can be happy with its final performance.