Sport
2 March, 2023
Old rivals meet in clash for Saturday pennant title
After a dramatic preliminary final weekend in wet conditions, the grand final for the Saturday pennant has been set. Dunolly Blue avenged their loss to Talbot Gold in last year’s preliminary final by moving to the decider in this year’s edition...
After a dramatic preliminary final weekend in wet conditions, the grand final for the Saturday pennant has been set.
Dunolly Blue avenged their loss to Talbot Gold in last year’s preliminary final by moving to the decider in this year’s edition, thanks to a 62-57 victory.
It was a tight encounter throughout on the fast Avoca rinks, with a game of momentum swings.
Talbot Gold took the first rink, with Paul Radstock narrowly defeating Tony Galofaro 23-22, but Dunolly hit back on the two deciding rinks, with Peter Waters taking a 17-14 victory over Peter Fletcher, before Alan Weir sealed victory for Dunolly Blue with a 23-20 win over Peter McLoughlin.
It means that Dunolly Blue will now play Highland Tartan in the centrepiece decider at Newstead tomorrow, while Talbot Gold miss out and are instead confined to a straight sets exit.
The two teams have met twice in 2022/23, with Dunolly coming out on top on both occasions, inflicting both of Tartan’s losses throughout the season.
In round four, Dunolly travelled to the Highland Society and came away with 14 premiership points, thanks to a 60-50 victory.
It was a tight encounter throughout, with Greg Shay taking first points for Tartan thanks to a 21-19 victory, but Dunolly took the remaining two rinks 20-17 and 21-12.
In round 11, Dunolly Blue had an even more convincing victory over Tartan, protecting their home rink with a 66-48 victory.
That encounter saw Dunolly take two convincing rinks, with Chris Williams defeating Fryar 25-16, while Galofaro defeated Coburn 24-12. Shay prevented the sweep with a 20-17 win over Dobbin for Tartan.
A quick look at some stats throughout the season shows that perhaps these two teams are the most fitting opponents for one another throughout the season.
Both teams enjoyed the most dominant seasons in terms of score differential, attack and defence, with Highland ranked first during the home and away season for most shots throughout the season with 845, while Dunolly Blue were second with 795.
The two teams were also the only two who conceded under 600 shots for the season, with Tartan clearly the best defensive unit, conceding 547 shots, while Dunolly conceded 592. It led to a score differential of +298 for Tartan, and +203 for Dunolly Blue — again, ranked one and two in the competition.
In terms of the player ladder, both teams are responsible for nine of the top 10 spots, with the team of Greg Shay, Geoff Shay and Roy Crawley sitting on top, with 11 wins, a draw and a loss from 13 games. Harvey Pearce and Coburn are also in the top 10 on the player ladder, while Steven Wintle, Terry Long, Waters and Chris Williams are also in the top 10 for Dunolly.
FINAL WORD
“You could describe it as a traditional, friendly rivalry. We’re feeling confident given we won at Newstead a couple of weeks ago in the semi-final.
“We’re very upbeat and confident about the task at hand. Of course, anything can happen.” — Alan Muggridge, bowls president, Maryborough Highland Society
“It’s very nice for the club and its members to be in the grand final and I wish all participating players all the best. It’s great to be back in it after missing last year.
“We’ve had success against Highland this year, and we know we have the capabilities to beat them. But it all comes down to how the day pans out and how we play.” — Chris Williams, president, Dunolly Bowls Club