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Sport

9 March, 2023

Dunolly bounces back to win Tuesday decider

Dunolly Blue claimed the midweek title in a tense affair over Highland Tartan, easing the pain of their Saturday pennant grand final loss with a 61-51 victory at the Avoca Bowling Club. For large parts of Tuesday’s affair, the game was separated...

By Michael Thompson

2022/23 midweek pennant grand final winners Dunolly Blue. Photo: 100323 05
2022/23 midweek pennant grand final winners Dunolly Blue. Photo: 100323 05

Dunolly Blue claimed the midweek title in a tense affair over Highland Tartan, easing the pain of their Saturday pennant grand final loss with a 61-51 victory at the Avoca Bowling Club.

For large parts of Tuesday’s affair, the game was separated by no more than three shots, given the variation of all three rinks, with Highland, who were looking to complete a sweep of all Goldfields Playing Area titles, taking control at stages, before Dunolly hit back.

However, quite fittingly for Dunolly Blue, it was a gain of five shots with just a handful of ends to go from Tony Galofaro’s team, dominant throughout the midweek pennant season, which helped them claim the title.

Galofaro capped off an unbeaten season when his team defeated Leanne Wallis 28-10, while in a tense middle rink, Margaret Davies helped preserve Dunolly Blue’s lead with a 22-17 victory.

Those two rink wins was required, as Greg Shay was able to take a significant victory for Tartan with a 24-11 win over Alan Weir which helped keep them in the game.

After many of their bowlers played in Saturday’s 70-37 grand final loss to Tartan, it was a big effort to pick themselves up and bowl their way to victory on Tuesday — a point not lost on Dunolly Bowling Club president Chris Williams, who reflected on the team’s achievements after falling short last year.

“I’m very happy. I was very disappointed with what happened last year when we lost the midweek final, and bowed out in the prelim for the Saturday pennant. Then Saturday was a cause of further disappointment — realistically, it was a belting. So this is a terrific recovery. I congratulate all the players, the way they played and how they participated. Commiserations to Highland, they had a brilliant weekend,” he said.

Williams shared his method to success, saying that playing good shots early in every end was the secret to earning victory.

“Bowls is all about getting the shots early around the kitty. If you can get them as early as possible, then you can manipulate the head and it leaves the other team scrambling and defending. But you can get a lot of shots if the opposition don’t bowl well early,” he said.

Williams joined Galofaro’s team later in the season, but formed a formidable force throughout the midweek competition, with Galofaro, teammate and team manager Sandra Chaplin and Karen Stephens all going undefeated throughout the season.

“We get on well. We’ve played a lot together during the year and we’ve had good fun and that’s been a big factor in the team being the best on the player ladder,” he said.

Chaplin, for her part, made some small moves out of necessity, but was also thrilled that everyone in the team pulled their weight to ensure they could take the midweek pennant home.

“No one gives up until the season finishes, and that was the case on Tuesday. Everybody tried their best and it helped them stay in the game when Highland made a run,” she said.

“We had one of our leaders in Alice Raven miss the game due to COVID, and we changed the team a little bit to cover her loss.

“At the very least, we’ll be taking one premiership home, and Dunolly had a happy end to the season as a result.”

Playing alongside Galofaro, much like Williams, Chaplin was in awe of Galofaro’s ability to lead from the front and complete his own unbeaten season, which was key to helping Dunolly Blue claim the flag.

“Everybody helps most importantly, but playing alongside him, Tony is a very good skipper. He can read ahead and he’s able to draw shots for the team as well,” she said.

Williams is now looking ahead to next season, and while acknowledging that health issues can force teams to change, he’s hoping that everyone continues to stick around for another flag tilt, while also looking to bring new talent to the team.

“We never know what’s going to happen around the corner. You hope we can keep everyone and also bring a few younger ones into the team in due course. That’s sport, though. Teams change,” he said.

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