Sport
7 February, 2025
Everything to play for in Saturday pennant
It all comes down to this — all questions surrounding the finals picture will be answered this Saturday as both weekend pennants hit their regular season crescendo.
DIVISION ONE
While the question of who will participate in division one finals has been answered, it remains undecided who will join Highland Tartan in obtaining the always crucial double chance.
Heading into round 14 in second place, Talbot Gold looked golden to grab that final spot, however, Avoca Red ruined the shine on those ambitions by claiming a superb 75-43 win.
Ian Proctor was excellent in his 30-12 victory over Peter McLaughlan as was Allyson Hearnden in her 26-10 win over Chris Crossley.
Matthew Vernon kept his winning ways going for Talbot Gold, defeating Daniel Giddings 21-19 to salvage two points from his team.
Maryborough Golf Blue took full advantage of Talbot Gold’s misfortune, claiming a massive victory over Dunolly Blue 56-54 to snatch back second by only 2.3 percent.
Maryborough Golf Blue grabbed the first two legs with Anthony Chambers beating Alan Weir 24-17 and Gerry Carmody victorious over Peter Waters 20-16.
Tony Galofaro did his best to salvage the game for Dunolly Blue, but his 21-12 win against Kevin Prime just wasn’t enough to turn the tie.
Dunolly Blue now sees themselves sitting in fourth, two points away from second and third.
Highland Tartan have continued to tune themselves up for finals, coming out victorious in a Highland clash against Highland White 71-46.
Gregory Shay’s 30-8 win over Robert Bursill made the final scoreline look more lopsided than it was, with the other two rinks producing close encounters.
Roy Crawley grabbed one rink for Highland White when he prevailed over Garry Coburn 21-19 while Tartan’s Zac Stewart answered back with a 22-17 win against Albert Spencer.
DIVISION TWO
Carisbrook, Maryborough Golf, Maldon and Talbot could all mathematically finish with a double chance, or could be out of finals entirely by the end of round 14.
It speaks volumes to the closeness and excitement of the competition which is sure to continue into the final round.
Talbot has kept themselves in a position to compete for a finals place after defeating Carisbrook 66-45 and denying them a chance to qualify for finals before the final round.
The match got off to a somewhat shaky start for Talbot as Carisbrook’s Ross Gregory managed to hold off Laurie Vernon 17-15, but they managed to keep their nerve and took out the remaining two rinks.
Robert Jackson defeated Malcolm Milne 33-16 while Barry Laws got the better of Ron Baker 18-12 to give Talbot a crucial victory.
Despite the win, Talbot saw themselves outside of the finals places in fifth by percentage as Maldon grabbed a dominant 87-36 win over Dunolly Green.
Wesley Honeyman defeated Sandra Chaplin 27-19 to put Maldon on the right foot and Jim Brookshaw continued that momentum with a 30-7 win against Paul Chase.
Annette Gillham finished the clean sweep for Maldon in a 30-10 triumph against Justin Ritchie.
With Carisbrook’s defeat to Talbot, Maryborough Golf had the opportunity to jump in second with a victory, but Highland was up to the challenge, holding on to a one-shot victory in a 61-60 classic.
Frank Mifsud and Tilleke Wadeson were key in Highland’s victory with the former victorious over Ross Andrews 22-14 and the latter winning against Harold Patullo 28-13.
While Kort Gay’s 33-11 victory against Tony Lacey just wasn’t enough to turn around the tie, it did give his team two points to put Maryborough Golf four points clear of Maldon and Talbot in fourth and fifth.
Dunolly Gold was unable to keep their final chances alive against Newstead Blue but gave a great showing in their 83-48 loss to the undefeated ladder leaders.
Ian McKenzie managed to grab a point for Dunolly Gold in a 19-19 draw against Brian Daly, but Newstead Blue took control of the other rinks.
Bill Burnett vanquished Peter Freemantle 33-10 while Bernie Gervasoni overwhelmed Fabio Delconte 31-19.
Newstead White managed their second win of the season against Bridgewater 78-44.
David Cobden was too good for George Mabon in his 34-13 win and his Newstead White teammate Noel Bott followed suit with a 32-15 win over Ron Brown.
Ian Clutton managed to grab two points for Bridgewater overcoming Rod Jackson 16-12.
Avoca was handed the bye in round 13.
Round 14
An exciting regular season of bowls in both divisions will conclude on Saturday, with many games sure to feel like do-or-die finals games.
In division one, Maryborough Golf Blue will be looking to grab a convincing victory when they host Avoca Red to stay in second and secure the double chance.
Even if Golf Blue wins, Talbot Gold can still leapfrog into second, but a more convincing victory will be needed on home soil when they welcome Highland White.
In a 2024 grand final rematch, Highland Tartan will look to get a psychological advantage when they take on Dunolly Blue.
With a higher percentage than the teams above them, Dunolly Blue needs to claim two points more than Golf Blue and Talbot Gold to snatch second.
Division two is even more spicy with only 11 points separating second and fifth.
Carisbrook is in the same position as last week — grab a victory over Newstead White who sit in 10th and they will punch their ticket for second chance.
With none of the chasing pack facing each other in round 14, a loss could see Carisbrook drop out of the finals entirely.
Maryborough Golf would have the most to benefit from a Carisbrook loss, but they will need to focus their attention first on a Dunolly Gold team motivated to play spoiler.
Currently sitting in fourth, Maldon will take the long trip to Bridgewater to try and clinch a finals place after finishing sixth last season.
Talbot has the hardest challenge of them all to claim a finals spot, as they travel to Newstead to face the undefeated Newstead Blue.
Dunolly Green and Avoca will look to add a win in their final game of the season when the two square off in Dunolly.
Highland have officially completed their season with them on the bye for round 14.